I started an album in 2020. It is now 2023 but, finally, on March 21st you will be able to hear the first single from my new project Ruthless Trust. The track is called Light Has Come. I wrote it in 2016 about Boris Johnson, Brexit, poverty, inward-looking people and the risk I could see that nice things like eugenics might be around the corner. All infused with the fact that, try as we might, no human being can individually or even in conjunction with lots and lots and lots of others come close to providing the kind of life and hope that we all need. The light we need has come in to the world, so why bother walking in the dark? Seems a bit silly, no? That’s what the song is about. It rocks hard. We (Harun and I) made a video for it last year when I had had one of the worst night’s sleep I’ve ever had in a very loud and too expensive hotel the night before. You can see that on March 21st too. There’s a link all set up and ready on the Videos page. The song sounds like a big mix of what people who liked British rock c1995-8 might make when they reach the point of being so frustrated with the world that they just want to play everything as loudly and aggressively as possible. It sounds like me, but better than I ever have and I’m delighted with it. Which makes it ironic that to all intents and purposes I am a brand new artist as I haven’t released anything at all in nearly 10 years. Please help by listening and telling other people to listen too.
The album Ruthless Trust will follow in May. Before that there’ll be two more singles, which I’ll be saying a lot more about soon.
And so I’m gently grinding my way into gear to get ready to promote something new. It’s been a long time and the whole landscape of music and promotion has changed to the point that I feel oooooollllld as I come to trying to ask you to listen to my songs. But, you know, please do. I think this album is by far the best thing I’ve ever made and this first song is a really good kick off for it.
Since I last wrote anything here I also changed jobs and am now in what the manager of the football team I Chaplain for calls ‘holy recruitment’. I help those who are thinking of being ministers in the Church of England in the area I live in to work out if that is what they are actually being invited to do. It’s been a big shift. There is lots that’s good about it. It meant leaving Emmanuel, where I’d been working and enjoyed being part of a community since 2014, which even 9 months later feels like a fresh loss and a lack in my life.
I’m also older and grumpier. Cerebral Palsy is remorseless and my body, whether I look after it well or not, changes and finds new ways to ache and fail. Tremendous stuff.
But, mostly, things are actually pretty good and I have a new single out on March 21st, so how could things be better? Pre-save it by clicking on the beautiful cover below.
Today is quite an exciting day for me. I start recording on my first musical project since 2013. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but a lot has happened in our world since then. Back then, when we were working on Mirrors, my friends and I, on both sides of the Atlantic, had no idea what would happen to each of us, to people we love and care for, and to the world at large over the next few years.
In the intervening time, I’ve become quite, ahem, busy, with my Church work and all the other things I’m privileged to do. I’ve also missed music. A lot. Writing about something is not the same as actually doing it, so I’m really excited to record these songs and see what everyone else thinks of them. I’m really glad and grateful, too, to be working with some fantastic people on this project. What’s best is that all of us have other things going on in our lives, so we can make this album at our pace, release it when we’re happy with it, and make sure that, as best as we can, we capture what we feel needs saying at the moment and how it needs to be said. It’s a sign of the times in my life that we’re beginning this recording with a three day session. That’s the time I have spare…
A couple of years ago now, I was at Lee Abbey in Devon, and Simon, who was the warden of the house at that time really grabbed my attention when he used the phrase ‘ruthless trust’ about how he felt I would need to live in the months and years to come. A lot of people say a lot of things to me. I say a lot of things to people, too. It’s interesting though that the odd phrase or few sentences of all of the conversations we have can really stick with us and either change the course of our lives or at least give them a renewed focus and vision. That’s what Simon did for me that day. He probably didn’t even realise it, either.
More than anything else that this year has demanded from all of us, a ruthless trust in the people, institutions or gods we follow has to be one of the most important. All of us follow something or someone, from a football team, to a political party, to the calendar of the social club or group we belong to. Or a religious faith. For me, leading the Churches I serve and trying to support the huge and wonderful community it is my privilege to work with as part of my ‘job,’ from the schools I visit, to Northampton Town, Weston Favell Centre Foodbank, to MPs and everything in between, a ruthless trust is the thing that has kept me going, even as I’ve been doing most of it over the last 7 months from an office at home. I would be lost without the confidence that the One I trust most of all is actually worthy of that trust, that it really is worth basing my life around being a friend and follower of God – what a gift that is – and so it seems like a good time to be making an album of songs that reflect that trust. The songs are also angry, aggressive, disappointed, frustrated and plenty more besides. They will, I hope, be pretty loud, and I’m so fortunate that I have a great team of people joining with me to bring them to life. I have no idea when the songs will see the light of day but I’m posting this so that whoever reads this can see that my intention is there and that I’m getting started on the endeavour. There’s something good about admitting publicly that you’re doing something. It brings with it a sense of purpose, but also an accountability that the aim is to see this through to completion and bring whoever chooses to give time to listening to the songs something to actually enjoy.
So, this is Ruthless Trust. It’s just getting started but I feel like we’re all going to need a lot of it before all this is over.
I’ve loved all sorts of music in 2019. I’ve not been able to write about as much of it as I would’ve liked – life is quite different in my world to how it was a few years ago and writing about music has never paid a single bill of mine – but music has given me joy at times this year, comfort at others and often accompanied me in times of stress and pressure. I’ve made quite a long playlist with songs from albums of mine that were particular favourites, but a list longer than 10 albums takes too long to read, so in that vein, here’s my top 10 of the year
Her Name is Calla ‘Animal Choir’
Sadly, this is the final album from the majestic Her Name is Calla. I have no doubt that they’re the best band that most people who claim to like music that falls into lazy categories like Post-Rock, Indie, Alternative and so on have never heard of. They’re truly a great band and this is their best album, a marvellous coda on a fine and, so far, grossly underappreciated career.
Shalosh ‘Onwards and Upwards’
I love me a good piano trio. Shalosh are an exceptional piano trio, particularly if you like your jazz trio’s to have rock leanings too. Which I very much do. So there you go.
Rymden ‘Reflections and Odysseys’
Another jazz trio, this time on the excellent Jazzland Recordings from Scandinavia, this one came as a pleasant surprise to me as I knew nothing about it when I pressed play. Enegetic, playful and muscular. This is high-quality stuff.
Son of Cloud ‘Son of Cloud’
Some albums are quick listens, the kind that you know are good, even excellent, but that don’t stay with you for weeks, months, perhaps even years afterwards. The self-titled album from Son of Cloud isn’t like that. It’s the best singer-songwriter album I heard this year by a million miles. A thing of true beauty and power, with some great songs and a thread of narrative to the album that will stay with you long after you’ve finished listening. More people should know about this album. Many, many more.
Flight Brigade ‘Chased By Wolves’
Indie rock bands who forefront guitars seem to be an endangered species in 2019. I love Flight Brigade because everything about them, their sound and their songs are impeccable and timeless. Their songs stay with you and their show is one of the best you’ll see from a band of any stature in the contemporary scene. Don’t miss them in 2020.
Pedro the Lion ‘Phoenix’
Listen to this, listen to “Quietest Friend” and then come back and tell me that the genius of David Bazan hasn’t grown with the resurrection of his awesome band Pedro the Lion. One of the greatest songwriters of this or any other era, full stop. And when he rocks, it’s extremely satisfying. Oh for a visit to the UK in 2020.
Portico Quartet ‘Memory Streams’
Probably the best live band in the UK right now, this newest record from Portico Quartet is among the most cohesive and potent of their career, even rivalling ‘Isla’ for power and emotion. Some of my favourite moments of this year have been watching them play, too.
Telefon Tel Aviv ‘Dreams Are Not Enough’
I have such a strong connection with the music of TTA. It has been with me through some of the best moments of my life, as well as some of the hardest. To find Josh coming back with the first new album under this name for a very long time this year was a joy tinged with sorrow as to what was lost and a hope that the great music of that past could be matched. I didn’t dream he could surpass the beauty of previuou records, but he pulled it off. A great album.
Hammock ‘Silencia’ and ‘Undercurrents’
Hammock are absolutely at the top of the game as regards ambient music and they only cemented that position and reputation in 2019. Not only did they complete a recent trilogy of albums with the beauty of “Silencia” but they released a monthly series of longer-form pieces named “Undercurrents” throughout the year too. Do seek that one out.
Sugarfoot ‘In the Clearing’
A glorious slice of country rock from Norway to close out the top 10. It will make you smile, no doubts at all.
And to finish things off, here’s the longer playlist:
Have a fantastic Christmas and a great start to 2020.
I’m listening to a cover of ‘Take On Me’ (don’t tell me you don’t know which song I’m talking about) and I feel myself being transported. Music used to make me feel like all the time. Not so much these days. I’m getting old. And now I find that what is doing it for me in my mid-thirties is a ridiculously thunderous drum solo in a jazz trio version of an 80s classic. We do all become our parents eventually after all.
I’ve written often about not having enough time to write about all the music I get sent to review. It piles up in my inbox and around my office, accusingly. And then there’s the music that I find out about the way everyone else does. On this occasion, I discovered Shalosh through a magazine advert. So pre-internet. They looked enigmatic in their photo and the sparse, carefully chosen description drew me in, promising songs which built in intensity (check!) and passion (check!) to a tumultuous conclusion (check! or I might have invented that last one myself).
So off I toddle to my streaming provider of choice (so millennial) and I press play, before picking my jaw off the floor a few minutes later. What a sound. Shalosh are newly-signed to ACT Music and their new record ‘Onwards and Upwards’ is quite simply the best jazz trio album I have heard in many a long year. I’m not going to go on and on and on about it, just implore you to listen to it. And then listen to it again.
This is a special return from Ex Libras. Much fancied around the time of the release of their debut album Suite(s) and its follow up EP Cut(s), the band went off the radar for several years leading up to the release of this comeback EP, which is undoubtedly something of a triumph. I missed them first time around (more fool me) so as the first bars of the title track’s sinuous groove kicked in I was taken aback. The press release likens the band to Radiohead and Foals and this is not too far wrong. There’s something of the compositional creativity of the former mixed in with the aggression of the latter as each of the EP’s four tracks wend and wind their way to some particularly fascinating musical destinations. On this evidence a full length album can’t come soon enough. Ex Libras are certainly a band to watch.
Andrew Wasylyk – Soroky
Now a member of Idlewild, previously a member of The Hazey Janes and sessioned for Electric Soft Parade and School of Language, Andrew Wasylyk has a stellar pedigree and. on the strength of this musically strong and lyrically emotive album, a promising future. Beginning with the woozy piano of ‘Last of the Loved’ and its intelligent use of chromatics (not to mention a fabulous Crowded House-apeing chorus), Soroky is a fine album. Centrepiece and high point ‘Empress Ballroom’ calls to mind Grizzly Bear at their most opulent, whilst ‘Morning Falls to Blue’ builds gloriously to a cinematic climax. This is an album full of musical intelligence and with enough twists and turns to keep even the most demanding listener happy.
Nova Heart – Nova Heart
Watch the video for Lackluster No. below
I get a lot of music sent to me. A lot. Not much of it is classified as ‘minimalist post-punk/electro from Beijing’ so when the debut album from Nova Heart landed in my inbox my interest was piqued. The band feature Helen Feng who, the press release reliably informs me, ‘has been dubbed the Blondie of China’. The record was mixed by Rusty Santos (TV On the Radio, Animal Collective) and there is something of a Dave Sitek influence throughout. As you’ll hear from ‘Lackluster No.’ if you watch the video above, things brood and shape-shift without ever really losing control. ‘No Controversy’ and ‘Evil’ both ricochet along percussively, the latter one of several tracks here to feature some wonderfully jarring guitar effects work. ‘Right Wrong’ has a synth-driven, disco-infused chorus to die for, and ‘My Song 9’ could pass for some of the best recent work of Russian shoegazers Pinkshinyultrablast. This is a wonderful unexpected surprise.
Jono McCleery – Pagodes
Watch the video for an acoustic version of ‘Desperate Measure’ below
When you’re blessed with the kind of voice that Jono McCleery is (it’s the kind that could stop you in the street singing the phonebook, or whatever the modern equivalent of that is) the temptation could be to skimp on the other crucial element of the solo artist’s art: the songs. On ‘Pagodes’ everything works beautifully in tandem. McCleery’s vocal performances range from wistful and intimate, as on ‘Age of Self”, all the way to the understated yet complex ‘Fire In My Hand’ where the emotion causes cracks to appear on more than one occasion. Having been featured as a vocalist with Portico this year, perhaps it’s no surprise that there is plenty of jazzy electronica here. ‘Halfway’ draws you in with its syncopation before letting rip with a gorgeous chorus that wouldn’t have been out of place on the recent Grasscut album. Allied with this, tracks such as ‘Bet She Does’ position McCleery as an acoustic singer songwriter par excellence, whilst ‘Pardon Me’ takes things in a piano-driven Benjamin Clementine direction. What is clear at the end of the listening experience of this album, and it is an album to be experienced rather than consumed, is that Jono McCleery is a prodigiously talented artist deserving of a much wider audience. Don’t miss this album.
If you’re eagle-eyed, or your memory is better than mine, you’ll remember that I swooned over the performance Esther gave at this summer’s Irregular Folk Festival in Oxford. The best compliment I can pay this driving EP of dark, brooding techno, is that as I listened, I remembered each of the songs from that performance. These are four beautifully crafted tracks. Esther has a haunting, spectral voice, which cuts through even the most densely populated track. She also has a winning way with a vocal hook. Each song here contains within it the kind of chorus that pop hit factory songwriters kill for. The fact that the emotion of each song is so keenly felt is even more to Lane’s credit. At times reminiscent of the best bits of Poliça, this is sterling stuff that should be all over the radio. For me, the best track here is ‘You Know’, which grows and grows in to a real electronic mini-symphony, but to pick favourites is to potentially diminish the power of this collection as a whole. Just listen to it.
USA Nails – No Pleasure
Watch the video for ‘I Am Normal’ below
USA Nails brings together members and ex-members of Oceansize, Hawk Eyes, Kong, Future of the Left, Silent Front and Dead Arms. So you know what you’re getting. This is fast, loud, uncompromising, technical and downright heavy and fun post-hardcore. At times it reminds me of These Arms Are Snakes, but I may well be ignorant in this regard. The album barely lets up from the first to the last. ‘You Sing For Yourself’ is monstrous and its time signature changes are a joy. The distorted bass of ‘Laugh It Up’ gives the pummelled listener something to hold on to in a sea of musical chaos, and ‘Make Me Art’ really tips things over the edge in to an extra dimension with some brazen guitar work. If you like your rock records to actually rock, this second album from USA Nails is for you.
Victories At Sea – Everything Forever
Listen to ‘Bloom’ below
Victories At Sea are probably the most exciting band to have emerged from Birmingham this decade. They’ve been supporting Editors this month, so their progress in to the hearts and minds of the indie-loving nation is virtually assured. But is the record any good? Well, in a word, yes. Citing influences ranging from Slowdive to Mogwai and all the way through to dancefloor fillers Factory Floor, this is a record the like of which 2015 has not seen. That in itself is a great thing to be able to say about a debut album from a British band. Much more than the sum of its parts or influences, Victories At Sea make a truly unique artistic statement which is a real joy as the year wanes to its end. ‘Florentine’ is a driving indie pop song with a pumping rhythm bed. So is ‘Up’, which reminds me of the brilliant Losers from a few years ago (featured members of Cooper Temple Clause as I remember). DMC is darker and largely instrumental, creating a foreboding atmosphere which leads in to ‘Poles Apart’, a song with another great pop chorus, and swathes of guitars which envelop the listener like a winter fog, before the track lets go in a percussive coda. Is this a pop album? Yes. Is this a post-punk album? Yes. Is this a rock album? Yes. Is this album beyond simplistic categorisation and simply one of the best of 2015? Most definitely.
So, dear readers, I’ve been extremely remiss recently and not posted about any of the myriad records I’ve been sent. I bet you were having palpitations. This will be a long post. There are a lot of records to cover. As such I will be perhaps somewhat more cursory than I can be on occasions, prone as I am to verbosity in the Word Count department. Take it from me though, there’s a lot to love in each one of these releases. Some of them are very special indeed. I’m writing about them in no particular order. See you on the other side.
Lovedrug – Notions
Watch the video for Spinning Out of Control below
I’ve loved the music of Lovedrug for almost half my life. That’s a scary thought. ‘Everything Starts Where It Ends’, the band’s second album, was a vastly underrated indie rock masterpiece. “American Swimming Lessons” from that album remains one of the most wonderfully bombastic American rock songs of recent memory. Whereas, in the past, the band were driven on an urgent alternative rock plane, now things are a lot straighter, more radio-friendly. On this album, Michael Sheppard plays almost everything, as well as producing and mixing. In a sense, it feels like more of a follow-up to his recent album with the Boys on the Radio moniker than it does to Lovedrug’s last album Wild Blood, but this is still a potent record full of great songs. I just wish, personally, though that the handbrake had been let off a few more times. Maybe on the next album!
Any trio which claims to root themselves in jazz and heavy metal (not that there are that many, admittedly) is going to get my attention, and that’s exactly what Zeitgeist have done. Their self-titled debut album may only contain five tracks, but they are all weighty, both in terms of length, and in terms of ambition compositionally and in terms of performance. The off-kilter ‘Haiku’ is a particular highlight, as melodic and rhythmic shifts you might normally expect to see on a Meshuggah album are carried off delightfully in the realm of the more traditional jazz setting. For me, this band have no true reference points. They’re closer to The Bad Plus than, say, Trichotomy, with the odd nod to Neil Cowley Trio, but something about the way the three instrumentalists combine leaves them out in a realm all of their own. One to seek out.
Get the Blessing – Astronautilus
Watch the video for Phaenomena below
Show me a fan of modern jazz or, to hell with it, intelligent progressive music, who finds it hard to fall in love with Get the Blessing and their incredible blend of rhythm and brass and I’ll show you….well, I don’t know what I’ll show you, because I’ve not met anyone who’s spent any time in the company of any of their albums and failed to fall head over heels in love with them. “Astronautilus” continues the band’s recent form, with a series of solid-gold grooves and crescendos which build so meticulously that they’re on top of you before you even realise they’re there. Opener ‘Carapace’ is an astonishing example of one such. ‘Monkfish’ shows another string to the band’s bow, as wailing brass compete with a head-spinning drum track. This has to be one of the finest jazz releases of 2015. Do not miss it.
Fred Abbott – Serious Poke
Watch the video for ‘Adrenaline Shot’ below
You might have already clicked play on the video for ‘Adrenaline Shot’, the opening track on Fred Abbott’s debut album. If you haven’t, and your day is on the drab side and needing a boost, I strongly recommend you stop what you’re doing this instant and listen to this song. There, feel better? I thought you would.
Fred Abbott used to be part of Noah and the Whale, the ultra-intelligent pop band who achieved dizzying success a while back. Now Abbott’s back, and he’s brought all the musical intelligence which characterised his former band at their best moments, whilst adding a heady dose of straight ahead rock and roll. At times, this touches on Tom Petty, at others, such as on ‘Awake’, it is Bruce Springsteen’s name that most easily comes to mind when searching for a comparison. If you like your singer-songwriters to have a widescreen sheen, ceiling-high choruses and just the merest hint of an alt-country twang, then “Serious Poke” is the album you’ve been longing for.
Sons of Kemet – Lest We Forget What We Came Here To Do
Sons of Kemet emerged with their twin drum and twin brass attack two years ago in a blaze of publicity and a Mercury nomination. Most of the publicity seemed to centre on the presence of the huge hair and huger talent of Seb Rochford in their ranks, but in a sense, this was an unfair distraction from the visceral and vibrant qualities which characterised their debut album, “Burn”. Instead, as on “Lest We Forget What We Came Here To Do”, it is the compositional talent of Shabaka Hutchings which most persistently demands, and merits, attention. These are simply brilliant pieces of music, fantastically conceived, and faultlessly executed. Whether it’s on the understated yet insistent ‘Breadfruit’, or the gloriously expansive ‘Tiger’, this is a band which, far from being at the peak of its powers is only just seeing top gear in the distance. The sky is the limit for the potential of this quartet.
What we have here is some fine, mostly very chilled and downtempo, electronica. Ash has been receiving support all over the shop from BBC 6Music DJs, so there’s no doubt that this debut album is going to make quite a dent. His roots in trip-hop are obvious throughout, particular for me on the gorgeous ‘They Do Not Know Yet’, while ‘Six Eight’, which is in…..6/8 immediately follows, showing the jazzier leanings which lift this from being a one-paced slow groove record into being a collection suffused with gravitas and beauty. At thirteen tracks, the album is quite a lot to digest in one sitting, but it works well as an extended snapshot of the breadth and depth of Walker’s talent and potential. The gloriously named and otherworldly ‘Root Veg’ is a woozy late album highlight not to be missed, too.
Autobahn – Dissemble
Watch the video for ‘Society’ below
This is gloriously uncompromising stuff. Seemingly universally lauded, “Dissemble” is a hard pill to swallow at first, but one that has serious restorative powers. Equal parts Cooper Temple Clause-esque squall, as on opener ‘Missing In Action” and foreboding, krautrock-esque drive on ‘Immaterial Man’, which immediately follows it, the album is really singularly indescribable. Built on unshakeable melodies, and with the unmistakeable vocal performances of Craig Johnson giving the band an extra string of individuality to its bow, there is simply no way that this album will not end up as one of the albums of 2015. By the time the dissonance of ‘Passion’ cavorts its way into your heart and mind any thought of resistance will be long gone. Autobahn must be a fearsome proposition live. Make a point of checking them out.
Sweet Baboo – Boombox Ballads
Watch ‘Walking In the Rain’ below
Like the most impenetrable prog rock album, now our attention turns to a gorgeous album from folk-influenced singer and songwriter Sweet Baboo. Don’t be fooled by the winsome strumming that begins opener ‘Sometimes’, there’s a depth and resonance to this album which is on show the moment the strings, brass and what sounds like an accordion, spring into action at the song’s coda. ‘Two Lucky Magpies is a beautiful piano ballad augmented again with legato strings, whilst the yearning of ‘I Just Want to Be Good’ would be bound to cause anyone who heard it to invite Sweet Baboo in for a nice cup of tea. Chock full of memorable choruses, and meticulously constructed soundscapes, if this is your introduction to Sweet Baboo, as it is mine, you won’t be disappointed.
Maserati – Rehumanizer
Watch the video for ‘Rehumanizer II’ below
Something special here from Maserati. I’m new to the band, and a search to try and work out where this fits in the canon of the band is less straightforward than it might first appear to be, but I make this their eighth album. Whether it turns out that I can’t count, or not, all the evidence suggests that Maserati are a band who are still on the up. Their blistering amalgam of metronomic krautrock, programmed drums and explosive passages of full on psychedelic rock wig outs is a potent combination. Best exemplified in the stupefying end to ‘End of Man’, really there are few bands as exciting as Maserati in full flow on the scene at the moment, on this evidence. Only ‘Montes Jura’ breaks the mould on this set, with more of a focus on the glistening synth-driven 80s element of their sound, it is a nice diversion, a brief pause, before the rock returns with a vengeance. This isn’t out until October 30th, but get prepared, this is a fine album.
Hills – Frid
Watch the video for ‘Milarepa’ below
Once again, this is heavy stuff, on the third album from Gothenberg-based Rocket Recordings (Goat et al) signees Hills. This is cited as their ‘most intense and out of mind outing yet’ and it’s not hard to disagree. Opening groove ‘Kollektiv’ may very well take you over. By the time it lets you off for a few seconds with a Sitar-esque interlude, you will probably be under the band’s spell, not to emerge until 60s influenced closer ‘Death Will Find A Way’ has wound its, erm, way round and round your subconscious. In between times, ‘Natural Drone’ proves itself one of the most correctly-titled songs of recent times, carrying within it some lovely squalls of guitar, while ‘Och Solen Sänkte Sig Röd’ really stretches things out, it’s near 11 minute peaks and troughs among the record’s most satisfying moments. Best taken as a whole though, “Frid” adds to Rocket Recordings’s stellar recent output. Hills appear to be another band not to miss live, should the chance arise.
Muncle – Hot Brain
Watch the video for ‘Chicken Or Egg’ below
Muncle is the brainchild of one Mike Griffifths, a Bristol-based multi-instrumentalist and longtime member of several fine bands, some of whom I think (if I have this right) I shard a stage with in a previous life. On ‘Hot Brain’, which was mastered by Ed Woods ((Jamie Lenman, The Xcerts, The Who, Idlewild), but otherwise self-recorded, produced and mixed, Mike presents a stark study of his personal and private frustrations, doubts and questions. So, you might think this would be an introspective record. You’d be wrong. It explodes in to life with the wall of sound that is ‘Kick Up A Fuss’ and barely lets up from there. ‘Glass To the Wall’ is a fantastic, Reueben-esque series of melodic twists and turns. ‘Obituary’ has a chorus that Blur would be more than happy to steal, while the breakdown in ‘Mother Was Right’ is a spellbinding moment. Lots of people make records at home. Not many of them turn out as good as this one.
I could write reams and reams about why Laura Cannell and her album, “Beneath Swooping Talons” are among the very most exciting of my most recent discoveries. I could wax lyrical about the sheer emotional power and resonance of her instrumental performances, about the meaning they convey without recourse to anything as trite and trivial as words. I could tell you that this album has reduced me to an awed hush on more than one occasion even as I’ve been preparing this post. But really, when it’s all said and done, you’d be better served clicking the link above and spending some time immersing yourself in the these pieces yourself.
Alif – Aynama-Rtama
Watch the video for Holako (Hulagu) below
I can’t claim for one minute to be a World Music aficionado, but something about the heady mix of Eastern and Western styles on this debut album from Alif has quite beguiled me. As you’ll hear from the track in the video above, Alif are a band bridging the gap between cultures, in a similar way to another of this year’s success stories, Mbongwana Star. Listening to the way the Buzuk and the Oud dovetail so beautifully with keyboards, bass and drums, all topped off with traditional Arabic poetry, the feeling really does come that a kind of musical and consensus has, if it has not been reached, been made possible. If ever listening to an album can make me feel ignorant and narrow-minded in my appreciation of what music has to offer, this one is it. There isn’t an album I’ve heard in the last few months which has caused as deep an emotional response in me as this one. Make a point of seeking it out.
Light Music, from Milwaukee, Canada, are described as an ‘epic pop band’. Rarely has a genre description for a new band with a debut album been more apt. As you will have heard if you’ve clicked on the link to listen to ‘Nessum Dorma’, the opening track from “Ocean’s Daughter” there is a lot going on with this music. The button marked ‘skyscraping ambition’ has been pressed in the studio. Everything about this record is huge. The mix is full and layered, the drums sound huge (just check out the build in the part on ‘True Colours” for one example) and the songwriting wilfully seems to take things in unexpected directions. At times, the scope is Muse-sized. At others, Civil Twilgiht and Circa Survive are the closest reference points. Tiis is beautifully executed heavy modern pop music.
Shannon and the Clams – Gone By The Dawn
Watch the video for ‘Corvette’ below
‘Gone By The Dawn’ is the fourth album from Shannon and the Clams. Unless you were there the first time around, it’s unlikely that you will have heard anything like their mix of 50s surf rock (‘I Will Miss the Jasmine’), bar ballads (‘My Man’) or stomping dancefloor fillers (‘Point of Being Right’, which, itself reminds me of the best of Nicole Atkins) before. This is music full of attitude, and with a clear aesthetic, but without the songs such acts rarely get as far as a fourth album, and Shannon and the Clams have songs aplenty. The title track is a luscious waltz which teeters on the blink of melodic collapse throughout to an enormously satisfying degree, whilst ‘Telling Myself’ swings and rolls along at quite a lick with a trademark 50s guitar riff whilst lead singer Shannon Shaw, whose vocals are fantastic throughout the album, somehow contrives to sound a little (a very little) like Julian Cassablancas at his most rasping. You’ll find yourself humming the chorus for the days. This is a fun album. Remember when people made those?
“Spark”, the new album from exceptional talent Kat Reinhert shows her vocal and compositional versatility. She has a a voice which seems to crest melodic waves endlessly, and these thirteen songs provide ample moments with which she can show her prowess to its full extent. Over the mournful groove of ‘Heavy’ her tone is easy, light and precise. “My Arms’ gives her a chance to show her depth and warmth over a light and playful melodic backing. ‘Little Compartments’ builds from an ominous-sounding beginning into an atmospheric climax. What is most pleasing about this set is its musicality. Each player is enabled to show their chops as the record is peppered with solos and instrumental passages which, rather than merely filling time, add greatly to the whole. What cannot be escaped however is that it is Reinhert’s voice which makes this album as special as it is. She is a special talent.
Small Feet – From Far Enough Away Everything Sounds Like the Ocean
Watch a live video for ‘Gold’ from this album below
Simon Stålhamre, the main driving force behind Swedish band Small Feet, is purported to have learnt English from watching television as a virtual recluse after leaving school early. I wish watching television did me that much good. Small Feet’s debut album is as extraordinary as the backstory of its primary songwriter. ‘Gold’ the opener is a strident, acoustic-driven piece of emotive 60s pop. It is immediately followed by ‘River’, which sounds like a Simon and Garfunkel offcut, by way of Scandinavia, yet with a much deeper emotional depth than even the much-lauded duo could match. Quite a claim that, but there we are. When the chorus hits, and the reverb-drenched vocal harmonies find the sweet spot, there’s nothing else in the world that matters apart from seeing what happens in the rest of this song. Very few debut albums can grab and hold a listener to this extent.
There are too many other strong moments here to describe them all. The haze which floats above the groove of ‘Backwards Falconer’ is an unusual and enticing touch, while ‘Lead Us Through the Night’ has a lovely instrumental break which we hear through a fug of reverb and delay before vocals return with crystalline clarity.
I was going to say that perhaps this is the album Neil Young would make if he had spent his life in Scandinavia. Perhaps Justin Vernon’s process and output would be similarly affected by a spell in Northern Europe, but in actuality, there is only one Small Feet. This is a deep, important piece of art.
HeCTA – The Diet
Watch the video for ‘Sympathy For the Auto Industry’ below
So by now you will have heard that members of Lambchop, noted alt-country mainstays as they are, have decided to take a turn not just leftfield, but have planted an entirely new field of their own. In case the listener is in any doubt, the uncompromising four-to-the-floor of ‘Till Someone Gets Hurt’ opens the album and, within seconds, any worries about this being a pastiche or tokenistic attempt at electronica are dispelled once and for all. This is the real deal. As an organ pulses in the song’s latter section we could be on any refined and discerning dancefloor in all of the world.
And nor does the pace slow down, either. ‘Prettyghetto’ has an outrageously funky bass riff as its jumping off point, which is oddly reminiscent to me of short-lived hitmakers Hockey, while ‘The Concept’ utilises atmospheric synths and quirky vocal samples to make its point.
Throughout everything, hooks abound. There is a beating pop heart in the midst of this record, but it never once, not even for a second compromises on its primary objective: this is music to get you moving. It is impossible that it will fail.
There’s just too much music in the world. I can’t listen to it all. Why should I bother? You might think be thinking such thoughts as the seemingly endless stream of fairly average music spews all over the internet. It’s a good job you’ve got me then, isn’t it. Loads of releases to get through today. A lot of different genres. There’s something for everything.
This band features Max Portnoy, son of Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater. Max and the rest of the band are 15 or 16. Some reviews of this record I’ve read are quite snide in saying that the age, or lack of experience, of the band members tells. I think this is nonsense. This is straight-up high quality progressive metal. Throughout, Max’s drums are stellar. So much nuance in the playing. The songwriting throughout is killer too. Opener ‘The Edge of Sanity’ is a strong start, with effervescent instrumental solo-ing and a great hook of a chorus. The genre might be somewhat esoteric, but if progressive metal is your thing then Next To None are a band you need to watch out for.
Daniel Blue, lead singer of Motopony, has one of those voices. It is instantly reognisable. It can turn its hand (or should that be voice, I don’t know) seemingly to any genre or style of song and give it a beauty, an intensity, a vulnerability, that other, often much-vaunted singers just can’t reach. This is a welcome return for the band, now featuring new members and something of a new sound, following a long wait from their splendidly woozy self-titled album. Whereas that record was marked by an almost spectral beauty and the electronics of erstwhile colleague Buddy Ross, this album takes much more of a 70s glam stomp approach to proceedings. The first half of the album is dominated by fuzzed out guitars, competing with Blue’s caterwauling vocal to splendid effect. This is Motopony but not as we knew it. As he sings “Life, in 1971, I wanna be there, I wanna have fun” it is clear that Daniel Blue and his cohorts have got as close to living in 1971 as it is possible for a bunch of bearded wonders in 2015 to manage. One listen to this joyful summer record and you’ll be wanting to join them.
Watch the lyric video for ‘Don’t Forget the Joker’ below
It’s wrong, isn’t it, that one of the first things I notice about Mike Vennart, live guitarist for Biffy Clyro, member of British Theatre, former member of Oceansize and now solo troubadour extraordinaire, is that he has grey hair. Yes, yes it is wrong. I have grey hair too. I also have a lot less talent than Mike Vennart. I’m just jealous.
If you like any of the aforementioned bands, or you like your guitar rock literate and inventive one minute and crushingly heavy the next, this is an album for you. Time signatures change all over the place, like its effortless. It isn’t. The songs are chock full of hooks. Just watch the video above and tell me you can’t remember the chorus by the end. More than that, though, it just rocks. ‘Retaliate’ is a muscular song with a buzz-saw riff and a skyscraper of a chorus. ‘Infatuate’ explodes into a glorious groove and when the release of the chorus hits it feels just like people tell me Opium does.
It takes a special musician to marry progressive technicality with pop song structures and hooky riffs, but Vennart manages this to a tee. Don’t miss this record.
It feels almost superfluous to write about Wolf Alice and their debut album, “My Love is Cool”. You might have seen them at Glastonbury last weekend. You’ve probably heard or read people swooning and raving about them. The album has quickly garnered the status of being the most exciting British guitar music debut of the year. There is an assuredness about the band, and the album, that makes it plain that they know that stardom beckons. So, what of the record, is it worth giving in to the hype and giving Wolf Alice a chance?
Well, in a word, yes. This is a beautifully-constructed, shoegaze-leaning album. Songs like ‘Bros’ will work splendidly on the radio but serve notice of their explosive potential in the live setting. ‘Lisbon’ begins taut before, in point of fact, exploding. The song does this twice. It is exhilarating. There’s really no other word to describe the evocative nature of the visceral and yet intensely melodic coda at the song’s climax.
Elsewhere, ‘Swallowtail’ and ‘Soapy Water’ show a more considered and nuanced side to the band. At times it feels like Wolf Alice are a band yet to truly settle down in to their final identity. While they’re figuring it out, it’s a lot of fun being a fly on the wall.
With Son Lux freshly expanded to a three-piece, the seemingly boundless compositional creativity of main man Ryan Lott has a fresh scope and impetus. “Bones” is a gorgeous album. ‘Change is Everything’ is the closest thing there has ever been to a Son Lux single to my ears, a spine-tingling moment on an album of tingle-inducing moment. ‘Flight’, with its (synthesised?) flutes, gives the listener a real sense of, well, flying. “Are we now what we’ll be, are we fixed or free?” Lott asks. This is music which feels free, free to explore the recesses of the possibilities of orchestrally-infused electronica. It’s the kind of music that is so intricate, layered perfectly realised that it has the potential to cause the head-shaking wonderment of other musicians, if not their outright retirement.
Elsewhere, the rolling percussion of ‘Undone’ as it breaks down into a bossa nova slink and then continues upon its merry, rolling way, is a contrary centrepiece for the album. We might not know what it is trying to be, but Son Lux are in constant and complete control. Just follow meekly after them. It’s for your own good.
This is the debut full-length album from Mutoid Man. This band features members of Cave in (Stephen Brodsky) and Converge (Ben Koller and Nick Kagaeo). If you don’t like your music hard and fast, with hints of melody, then you should probably move along;. If you’re still with me, then we’re on to something special here.
I must be one of the only people still allowed to post on the internet who thought that Cave In’s album for major label RCA, “Antenna” was something of a masterpiece. Apparently if you like the band you have to hate it, which is a shame, as I really quite like it. It blended heavy pop-rock (herein lay the problem, I believe) with progressive passages, and enough aggression to make you sit up and take notice. Cave In toured with Foo Fighters. They played them off the stage, and then sank without trace. This was unfortunate.
All of which to say, I was pre-disposed to liking “Bleeders”, in spite of the fact that it is a lot faster and harder than anything on “Antenna”. Brodsky’s crystal clear melodic vocals remain intact. He really has a fantastic set of pipes. Throughout the riffs are intricate, yet accessible. The experience of these guys shines through. They sound like they’re having fun, but also at great pains to show that they can really play. It’s not right to single out individual tracks. This is the best punk/post-hardcore album of the year. Nothing else will come close. Mutoid Man are an exciting, potentially important band.
It’s interesting how wrong you can be about a band. I saw Vant in Northampton on their recent tour. They were very….competent. Having been supported by two local bands who were well supported and brought energy in abundance, Vant came onstage, with a more polished sound, and plenty of attitude. They appeared not to want to be there (who can blame them? Northampton on a Friday night being not exactly the height of cool), fairly listlessly played for about 35 minutes and got off stage as quickly as possible. Sure, they had a couple of strong choruses (both featured on this single) but their best song was a country and western swing-along which felt like a throwaway, but was actually really very strong indeed. I couldn’t really fathom how they were going to be the “next big thing”.
And then I heard the two tracks that make up this double A side. With a combined playing time of 3 minutes and 59 seconds, the band are certainly not hanging around. Opener ‘Parasite’ is a furious blast of snarling punk energy. It could be a lost Strokes classic. If only they played songs like they meant them. It lasts 1 minute and 24 seconds and still finds time for a ripping guitar solo. As a statement of intent it is unimpeachable.
As yo will have gathered if you’ve spent some time with the second song here, ‘Do You Know Me’ is something completely different. It is infused with a thunderously-beating melodic heart. It has a soaring chorus. It crests and bests anything put out by any band in the Britpop + sub genre in recent times. It’s the kind of thing that people used to get over-excited about The Vines for, or Cooper Temple Clause, or perhaps Nine Black Alps for, but it’s better than all of them. Seriously. If there’s more where this came from then Vant could be on to something very special indeed.
Sorry, I was wrong. Please forgive me.
Leprous – The Congregation
Order the album here
Watch the video for ‘The Price’ below
Leprous are a Norwegian prog metal band.
Still reading?
Good. That’s seen off the ones with weaker stomachs.
Released on the renowned Inside Out label, “The Congregation” is an eleven song exercise in melodic progressive metal. My initiation to Leproous, this album is not, perhaps, as heavy as you might expect from something termed “metal”, but the musicality at play here more than makes up for any shortcomings in the aggression department. This is a band with some serious chops. ‘Rewind’ is driven by some great tom work as it convulses through a soaring verse which, honestly, could only be created by a Norwegian band. I have no basis for that, except to say that the whole section, and indeed the whole song just sounds, well, Norwegian, in the best possible way. There’s no other part of the world that creates music that sounds like this. The way that guitars and synths augment one another, the almost complete lack of screaming in the vocals, their beautiful purity. ‘Triumphant’ features some lovely rhythmic work. If you can find and keep hold of the “1” you’re a better man than me. Later in the album, ‘Moon’ tastefully incorporates Rhodes and a bed of synths before exploding in to another glorious chorus. Again, I’ve lost the 1. Again I don’t really care. This is just too good.
To all intents and purposes, these could be the best kind of pop songs, except that most listeners would end shaking their heads in disbelief. If only people would persist! They are delivered with an alarming conviction. I can only imagine what they must be like live.
This EP is the follow up to the self-titled debut full-length from Bells Atlas. Again, an entirely new band to me. Coming in I had no idea what to expect. This is what their website says about them:
☀ kaleidosonic•soul•punch ☀
⚡ afro-soul, rhythm pop-sicles ☄ taste the r’nbow //// missy elliot meets bjork meets shadowcats and jolly sludge monsters ⚡
So, basically, anything goes, right? Well, yes, basically. As you’ll gather if you listen to the opening track from this EP above, there is plenty of soul, funk and groove here. Arguably it touches on reggae too. There are fantastic vocals, choppy guitars, and the kind of rhythm parts that make you sway in spite of yourself. There are time signature changes (always a plus, I’m sure you’ll agree). At points, it seems to me to touch on Eska or Laura Mvula of recent vintage, but this is far more creative and out there than either of those admittedly masterly artists have produced thus far. The beauty of this track is that it contains approximately three sections which could be argued to be its chorus, whilst never over-emphasising any.By the time the song is complete, I’m almost dizzy with the journey that I’ve been taken on. I don’t know what Bells Atlas are trying to say, I haven’t understood their language yet, but it’s the first language I’ve wanted to learn in a long time.
‘Sugar For the Queen’ swings in a 70s soul direction for a while. It has some glorious vocal harmonies in its tag section. Again, the interplay between bass and drums is fantastic.
I know I’m always raving about music. That’s the point of this section of my website, but seriously, SERIOUSLY, what is in the water that these guys are drinking? I want some.
‘Mess It Up’ rolls along on a dub groove and features an obvious “grab hold of me and never let me go” chorus, which is quite comforting amid the sheer musical turncoatism of the rest of this EP. It is, of course, a brilliant song.
Closer ‘Bling’ develops from some processed vocals and distant drums into another swinging wonder. These guys can seriously play. Just to prove that they don’t want to be pigeonholed once again (!) there is some crunchy guitar on this one too. Just, you know, because.
I’ve never seen or heard of an Atlas like Bells. Immerse yourself in this brave new world. Don’t ever leave it.
Do you ever wish the 1990s and its College Radio Rock boom hadn’t ended? Did you love Built to Spill the first time round? If you answered yes to either of these two questions then “Untethered Moon” is the album you’ve been waiting for.
I missed Built to Spill the first time round, but when I heard that they were back and with a new album on the way, I was intrigued to find out what they were all about. I have to admit to total ignorance. I was expecting some kind of shouty post-hardcore. Shows you how much I know. Some of these albums are wasted on me.
Of course, devotees of the band, and I’m certain there are many, know exactly what they will be getting with this new record. To my ears, sprawling opening duo ‘All Our Songs’ and previous single ‘Living Zoo’ offer a fuzzier, much more progressive take on peak-period REM (sacrilege! heresy!), with an added musicality and glorious propensity for wigging out. You have to wonder why Built to Spill’s reformation is not causing even more of a stir on the basis of these opening tracks.
Elsewhere, ‘Another Day’s’ driving 6/8 and heavily crunched Leslie organ (I hope that’s what it is) is a major highlight, as the aggression is amped up. Conversely, ‘Never Be The Same’ is almost sweet, festooned as it is in 60s pop vibes, This is a band at home in a variety of styles, but in vocalist Doug Martsch they have a leader distinctive enough to make them stand out from the crowd. For a band formed in 1992, “Untethered Moon” feels like a surprisingly youthful and jaunty record, the sound of a band maturing and improving ever more with age.
Chuck Ragan & Rocky Votolato – Kindred Spirit Split EP
Chuck Ragan and Rocky Votolato are fine singer/songwriters in their own right, but these long time friends, Kindred Spirits if you will (fnar, fnar, fnar) have joined together to showcase each other’s tracks, and draw attention to their individual releases and forthcoming tours. Fans of either will find much to love here. Opening with three from Votolato, you will be able to see and hear for yourself that ‘Sparks of Recovery’ is a gorgeous folk rock song with a chorus to die for. ‘St. Louis” begins gently but contains a hint of snarl. Again, a fantastic chorus is the centre of the song. By the end of ‘Let Go’, if you’re not making a plan to immediately check out Rocky’s 2015 album “Hospital Handshakes” I’d be surprised. I know that I will be doing so.
Chuck Ragan’s half of the EP begins with ‘Justice and Fair Shake’, immediately lifting the tempo and the intensity of the EP. Where Votolato’s voice is tender, Ragan’s is strident and powerful. The driving fiddle on this track is something of a standout. We very much know we’re in the Deep South now. Again, perhaps unsurprisingly, a cast-iron gold chorus will ensnare you if you give it a chance. Chuck sounds somewhat like a vagabond, so that this is the title of the next track is apt. A bar-room stomp of a song, with some tasty Hammond, this makes it 5/5 on the stonking chorus front. Closing out the EP is ‘Before Dust’, a 3/4 full of violin and soaring guitars, where, if it’s possible, the vocal intensity raises up a notch. The weather-beaten story swings along carried on an almost chanted gang vocal and a walking bass part par excellence.
I have to admit (again) that this was my introduction to both artists, and for that I have to thank Side One Dummy. As a sampler of where both these fine songwriters find themselves as 2015 rolls towards summer, this is unbeatable. Delve in to the back catalogues of both. I fully expect not to be disappointed as I do in the coming days.
If you fail to fall in love with this album, I’d have to question whether you love music. It is a simply beautiful collection of songs. Understated, largely centring on the piano and vocals of Paul Marshall, “Lodge” is the first album Marshall has created since his split with Bella Union. He certainly seems to benefit hugely from his new-found independence. Full of moments, this is an album to resonate with the deepest parts of the soul.
‘Alligator’ is a truly stupefying track. It’s percussive piano opening gives the mistaken impression that it will turn in to a Coldplay pastiche. Blissfully, the eventual outcome couldn’t be further from the truth. The entrance of muted trumpet at 1.12 is a hairs-on-the-back-of-the-neck moment, as the album truly takes off. So much emotion is conveyed in those short stabs of brass, as they’re joined by bass and distant drums, as Marshall’s falsetto simply soars. It is one of those rare moments in music which words cannot do justice to. Honestly, I shouldn’t even be bothering to try. The second time it happens, and the trumpet of David Warmegard begins to improvise, carefree in the midst of such tension and barely concealed agony, the effect is merely doubled.
‘Crimes’ (video above) is a more straight ahead song, the syncopated piano bass riff drives the song, as Marshall unleashes his inner soul man, calling to mind and surpassing the work of the brilliant recent album from Benjamin Clementine.
Undoubted highlight of the album though is ‘Mess’. Its’ chord progression is perfect, shifting between major and minor at the drop of a hat, but always at just the right moment. Marshall breathes and aches every single drop of emotion out of every lyric and vocal note. Time signatures subtly shift, but never obtrusively. Synths and guitars drift in and out, never denying front and centre position to the pleas of the writer to be taken away from the mess he finds himself in. By the song’s end, it feels as if a real emotional breakthrough has been made. Or at least you have to hope so.
This is an album to get lost in. We are fortunate that Lone Wolf had the emotional capacity to make it, and that it has been communicated so wonderfully to tape for posterity.
How do you go about reviewing a Jaga Jazzist record? It’s virtually impossible. Their fusion of jazz, psychedelic rock, synth rock and assorted other genres as the mood takes them is unparalleled. Let’s face it is, is virtually impossible to imitate. The band’s seemingly never-ending well of direction shifts and stylistic feints makes them impossible to pigeonhole. Just watch the video above if you don’t believe me. Recurring melodic figures are present and correct, but it is a song which has to be taken as a whole. This is no bitesize nugget of pop goodness. This is akin to an orchestral symphony purloined, bastardized and spat out through the medium of contemporary instrumentation. It should be a tough listen, or at least tough to focus on, but this is no background music. This is music to be lived in and through. It can change you. It can open your eyes and ears to the musical possibilities that exist at the very fringes of what might be considered popular. It is, finally, a simply fantastic piece of music. There are very few, if any, active bands in Europe at this point who could imagine, and then carry off successfully, the kind of thing which Jaga Jazzist does as a matter of course.
There are four other tracks on this album. They are all similarly epic in scale. They all show that the genius of Jaga Jazzist only continues to grow and find new outlets of musical possibility. To describe them is redundant. To seek to understand them feels almost rude. Instead I can only ask you to note the sheer unbounded enthusiasm I have unburdened myself of in these short paragraphs and suggest that the very next thing you do upon finishing reading this is pre-order this album. You simply must.
Chris Davids and Liam Ivory make up Maribou State. This, their debut album on Counter Records/Naim has been a long time coming. If you are an electronica aficionado you probably knew about them before I did (about a week ago), but now I’ve heard them I once again, as I often seem to in the course of compiling these posts, am kicking myself for not cottoning on earlier. I really should stop kicking myself. It hurts.
What we have here is a fine, warm sounding dose of relatively low key electronica. The ten tracks here combine subtle guitar licks (see ‘Home’ and ‘Say No More’ for key examples) with sweeping synths (‘Wallflower’ and its insistently eastern vibes) and some fine guest vocals from Pedestrian, Holly Warren and Jono McCleery (whose work you may have enjoyed on the recent Portico album I reviewed on Drowned in Sound)) to great effect. Of course, underpinning it all, and the thing on which the album either stands or falls, are the beats and production of Maribou State’s core pair. These are inventive throughout. Always impressive, yet never really seeking to be the centre of attention. ‘Raincoats’ is a key example of the duo’s primary expertise, as all the elements which make this such a fine album are amalgamated together in one deeply satisfying track
One listen to this album will, I predict, be all you need to accept unequivocally that Maribou State are a coming force in electronica. A fine summer album, this is the perfect time for Maribou State to mount the next offensive in their campaign to take over the world one pair of ears at a time. The news that the band hope to bring their vibes to the live arena in the coming months can only be intriguing. Something to watch out for.
O-Face are a New York band who came together during their time at Bard College, which is just about to come to an end as they graduate. Congratulations guys. Oh to be young again with so much possibility ahead.
As graduation gifts and memorials go, a new EP is a creative and lasting one. Fortunately from the sound of this record, the members of O-Face have definitely not wasted their time in their chosen seat of learning. ‘740 Turbo’ starts big and gets bigger. An ode to a “luxury station wagon”, it seems, this has all the propulsive jingle jangle (that’s a technical term, naturally) which should see the band become a hit on College Radio on their side of the pond. The disarming urgency of the vocals, possibly from a guy named Seth (it is not clear) elevate this track to unforseen heights of fist-pumping rockness. By its end, I want a luxury station wagon. I do not drive. Good job guys.
‘When You Assume’ is a more restrained effort. It has a mid-section which appears to be the band’s George Michael moment (the synths and funk guitar, in case you’re wondering). ‘Yolanda’ develops a lovely 6/8 groove, reminding me at times of Menomena or Ramona Falls, before exploding in to a glorious coda. Yolanda is the one for him, apparently. Let’s hope she agrees. Next, they tell us that ‘O-Face is Breakin’ Up’. Let’s hope not. This song could soundtrack one of the epically emotional bits on American teen drama. The good kind. If there is one.
Final track ‘ Torres’ (is it about the footballer, or the singer-songwriter or some other Torres? We will never know) has a fantastic groove. Instrumental, it grows and grows and keeps on growing, ending with a the kind of grin-inducing squall of feedback and general cacophony which shows that O-Face have it in them to transcend genre. They are simply a rockin’ band. I sincerely hope they are not breaking up, and that we will hear more from them soon.
This is the debut album from Rainer. That it sounds far too mature, assured and confident to be a debut album is perhaps no surprise. Both of the bands’ members have been around the block several times in acts which met with varying degrees of success. The joys of success and the challenges of supposed failure have done nothing, it seems, but hone the talents and heighten the drive of Nic Nell and Rebekah Raa. On this record, Nell’s glitchy yet confident production and beats (see ‘Trouble’ and ‘Leave’) for particular key examples, are augmented by vocals from Raa which sound completely in control, even through dynamic shifts, beautiful layering and harmonies, and great use of different vocal tones. The field of indie-pop is a crowded one, but there are elements to Rainer’s approach, not least their strong sense of song craft, that should stand them in good stead. I can think of no greater compliment to pay them that, at times, this debut album sounded like a more focused Imogen Heap. I have no idea whether they’ll see it that way, but there we go. It will be interesting to see how things develop for them in the months and years to come. The flecks of glockenspiel, clarinet and other instruments not normally associated with this genre which appear throughout the album suggest that there is major scope for the development of a wider and even more enticing sonic palette on future releases. For now, though, this is a fine introduction to an intriguing new (to me) act.
Do you love Joni Mitchell? What about Leonard Cohen? Perhaps the recent re-emergance of Linda Perhacs on Asthmatic Kitty has got you really excited. Maybe the folk work of people like Holly Williams has captivated you. Well, to that august list of deceptively gentle sounding titanic songwriters we can add the name of Tamara Lindemann, aka The Weather Station. “Loyalty” her new album is a beautiful folk release, one of the best of 2015. Recorded with members of Feist’s band, the combination of gentle strumming and careful augmentation (banjo, piano, organ, brushed drums) do their job wonderfully in supporting The Weather Station’s primary asset, Lindemann’s crystal clear vocal. Equal parts smoothly relaxing, yet urgently exploring lyrical themes of suffering and sorrow, the eleven tracks of “Loyalty’s” duration can slide by seemingly in a lilting moment, but engage with them and you’ll find a purposefully beating heart within. ‘Floodplain’ moves melodically and harmonically in unexpected directions, while ‘Shy Women’ makes splendid use of subtle changes in time signature to bring its effect firmly home. Those are my highlights, but this is an album best taken as a whole. If you’re looking for some new folk in your life, this is the record for you.
And now for something yet completely different. And yet, the voice and chilled piano stylings of jazz man Anthony Strong feel so comfortingly familiar that you feel like he, and his new album “On a Clear Day” have been part of your life forever. Anthony has a clear voice, seemingly from a bygone era when jazz was the most prominent of popular music forms. The title track of this album (video above) has an effortless groove which will draw you in. You will not escape it. The horns and flutes may grab the attention, but it’s the floating arpeggios and the ease with which Strong crests the melodic highs and reaches in to his boots for their depths which will impress most.
His takes on jazz standards ‘Whatever Lola Wants’ and ‘As Time Goes By’ show that he truly has the chops you need to make a dent in this most crowded of areas, while strong and intricate arrangements bring life to tracks which would otherwise run the risk of sounding tired and dated. And so the album progresses. Strong’s vocals fantastic throughout, a solid collection of songs, and an inventive band giving just the right amount of light and shade throughout.
And this is the pitfall for this kind of album. This is not a genre where it is easy to come up with a “new” way of showcasing your wares. It really has all been done before. As such, it is unlikely that this will be a life-changing album, unless this is your introduction to smooth vocal jazz. But it is a very fine album, and provides Anthony Strong with an opportunity to gain the attention at home which he richly deserves, and which has already been coming his way in spades in Europe. What’s not to love about a good old-fashioned jazz crooner after all? Go on, dig in and enjoy a smooth bank holiday Monday.
