Moses Sumney – Grae
A highly confident and in many ways extraordinary double-album follow-up to 2017's Aromanticism by the American singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles, marked as only part 1, mixing chamber pop, R&B, soul, art pop, jazz, digitals and spoken word in a swirling mix of soulful profundity. muscle and movement and a voice, with an impressive falsetto, something of David McAlmont voice. Evasive to definition this is an artist promising, and delivering, the unexpected and indefinable, evading pigeonholes, skipping agilely between genres, as well as selling to redefine gender stereotype. As he puts it on Virile, “I insist upon my right to be multiple." He most certainly is. Out on Jagjaguwar.
Moses Sumney - Virile
Caribou – Suddenly
First new record after five-year gap filled by personal problems from electronica artist Dan Snaith, who records as Caribou and Daphni. After the surprise hit Sun a decade ago, he returns more to his experimental roots, although the single Never Come Back is the most upbeat, and dancey house-style. Overall though the album, filled with his fragile vocals, is full of reference to loss, grief, and emotional turmoil. Key tracks include Sister, and Home. Out on City Slang.
Caribou – You And I
The Orielles – Disco Volador
The Halifax trio, also a quartet when live, who have now moved to Manchester, return with a second album of highly original indie, a follow-up to 2018's Silver Dollar Moment suffused with a woozy jazz funk inspired by a space theme. What characterises them is an ability to escape from the standard verse-chorus structure and experiment with a series of clever, tightly played sections morphing into further new rhythms, a kind of pop-prog led by vocalist and bass player Esmé Dee, in particular the track Space Samba. Bobbi’s Second World has an organ funk edge with nicely vocal interchanges, and Come Down On Jupiter captures what is becoming their signature sound. Out on Heavenly.
The Orielles - Come Down On Jupiter
Soccer Mommy – Color Theory
Second album from Sophie Allison as Soccer Mommy is a collection of heartfelt indie suffosed with grief and despair – the fact her mother having a long-term illness is present in many lyrics. Crawling in My Skin, Bloodstream, Yellow is the Color of Her Eyes and Lucy among the outstanding tracks. Health, or lack of it, is the recurring theme, and visceral, telling lines mark this moving album throughout. "Sedate me all the time / Don’t leave me with my mind." Out on Concord.
Soccer Mommy – Bloodstream
The Lost Brothers – After The Fire After The Rain
Oisin Leech and Mark McCausland release more fireside, gently beautifully melancholy Americana material, but while the album was made in New York City, the inspiration is their native Ireland, its songs written in an old hotel in County Monaghan, a land of “rain, dreams and storms”. Key tracks include Fugitive Moon, inspired by the Boyne, with mournful pedal steel and lonesome harmonica and featuring M. Ward. Howe Gelb and Tony Garnier feature on the exquisite After The Fire, while After The Rain is another very lovely separate track, while Medicine Wine, and Venus give them an air of an Irish Simon & Garkunkel. Out on Bird Dog.
The Lost Brothers – Fugitive Moon
Myrkur – Folkesange
Better known as something of a queen of Danish black metal pop, such as on her previous album 'M', Myrkur, aka Amalie Bruun's new album takes a softer, but no less bold direction in the form of traditional Scandinavian folk songs. On Två Konungabarn, for example, she accompanies herself with the Swedish nyckelharpa, and also plays mandolas and lyres on this album. A fascinating collection then, from Ella to Fager Som en Ros, as well as the song House Carpenter, previously sung by the Watersons and Joan Baez. Darkly beautiful, traditional, though with quite a big, OTT sound with those strings and almost bowed vocal overlaid harmonies, almost Enya-ish in parts, particularly on Leaves of Yggdrasil, sung in English. Out on Relapse.
Myrkur – Ella
Vladislav Delay – Rakka
You can feel fire in the air, and rain teeming down in this ambient techno electronica inspired by the arctic tundra and the climate crisis, by Finnish producer aka Sasu Ripatti. Atmospheric noise is infused with lots of subtlety, and often anger across seven instrumental tracks that sometimes include disembodied voice. Best known for his great 2012 album Kuopio, this is a more disturbing affair coloured by the current and future crisis we face, with distortion and rage affecting this still powerful work. Out on Cosmo Rhythmatic.
Vladislav Delay – Rakka
The Heliocentrics – Infinity of Now
The tenth album of grow-on-you cosmic, otherworldly psychedelia from the band created by brilliant drummer Malcolm Catto and bassist Jake Ferguson, with a mishmash of whizzing, scratching, beeping, whirring, funk, jazz, psychedelic, electronic, and avant-garde influenced by Can and Sun Ra. 99% Revolution has a mesmeric vocal, Elephant Walk a wonderfully lazy jazz feel, Burning Wooden Ship a beeping metronomic rhythm and echoes of the wonderful band Beak. Out on Madlib Invazion.
The Heliocentrics – Burning Wooden Ship
Alabaster DePlume – To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1
Wonderfully ethereal, otherworldly and beautiful LP of free jazz by the self-taught saxophonist aka Gus Fairburn, who has previously released spoken word and other forms. Here also including flute, percussion, strings, vocals and more, the album’s title came about when working for Manchester charity Ordinary Lifestyles, which supports people with learning disabilities live in their own homes. Here he brings together some older and newer material of a coherent style, at times sounding like a scene from some gorgeous old Japanese film with a Celtic twist. DePlume has a refreshingly positive and improvisational approach, and at a series of off-the-cuff live regular shows named Peach at Hackney’s Total Refreshment Centre studios, out of which this album came about, he was, and still is more likely to direct his group to start each piece not by reference to a title, but to “the one that goes like this”, with melodies making up starting points for each composition. DePlume says: “We made these things to help each other be calm. Three labels and I have collected them together, in case they might do you good.” And so they do. Out on Total Refreshment Centre/ Lost Map Records.
Alabaster DePlume – Whisky Story Time
Cold Beat – Mother
Early Human League, Depeche Mode and of course Kraftwerk are clearly big influences on the San Francisco band, who release their fifth LP, and their first on DFA. This is especially evident on the title track, Prism, Double Sided Mirror (with a more American slant) and while Smoke and Gloves have elements of New Order. The track Through meanwhile is particulary Old-school techno pop that has a timeless joy. Out on DFA.
Cold Beat – Mother
Kevin Krauter – Full Hand
The Indiana artist releases album of relaxed, airy pop that has echoes of Arthur Russell, Wild Nothing, and Prefab Sprout, mixing 60s flower pop, 70s easy listening, 80s new wave, 90s alt-radio and '00s indie. Kept, Pretty Boy, and Patience are key tracks and there's also an air of Teenage Fanclub here. "“Look ahead, say I see me now / Smiling at what used to stress me out". Out on Bayonet.
Kevin Krauter – Pretty Boy
This week's selection is by The Landlord.
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