FEATURE:
A Slow Rush and Future Nostalgia
IN THIS PHOTO: Dua Lipa
a lot of albums that were due in the next few weeks and months have been held back. There is not a lot we can do, but artists are having to think about sales, and there is little point releasing an album when they can do little promotion and we are all stuck inside. Regardless, there have been some great albums released this year so far so, if you are looking for albums to enjoy whilst you wait for more big ones to arrive, I have compiled the ten finest of the year – including a link where you can buy that particular album. I am going to write quite a few features that relate to albums, as we have a great chance to sit down and really investigate them. This year has been a pretty exciting one for music, and some sensational L.P.s have been released. Here are the very best of a year where we will see…
IN THIS PHOTO: J Hus/PHOTO CREDIT: Crowns & Owls/CRACK
A lot more tremendous albums.
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Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia
Release Date: 27th March
Label: Warner
Producers: Jeff Bhasker/Jason Evigan/KozIan Kirkpatrick/SG Lewis/Lindgren/The Monsters & Strangerz/Stuart Price/Take a Daytrip/TMS/Andrew Watt
Standout Tracks: Don’t Start Now/Physical/Love Again
Review:
“She demonstrates an unfaltering ability to hook the listener in with enticing earworms like ‘Hallucinate’ and ‘Break My Heart’, while her biting wit shines through on ‘Good In Bed’, a ballsy and amusing song reminiscent of Lily Allen circa 2008. ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ is a track that deserves a special mention for being Dua Lipa’s ‘Beychella moment’ for female empowerment. It is a fitting finale with its composed attitude and eloquent lyrics, dismissing the outdated misogyny that has long permeated society as she finishes with the line: “Boys will be boys, but girls will be women.”
Her decision to release this album early could not be more perfectly timed. ‘Future Nostalgia’ is just what’s needed in this time of social distancing – whether it’s dancing around the house, answering emails or during your chosen outdoor exercise of the day, this record will uplift and power listeners through. Dua Lipa has created a pop record that is equally perfect for being homebound alone, and for accompanying the endless jaeger bombs that’ll eventually be had when the bars and clubs reopen.
‘Future Nostalgia’ is exactly what this record conveys, chiming with the current collective consciousness, longing for past freedoms that we’ll be reacquainted with soon. It’ll keep us going in the meantime, and will surely be the soundtrack to a safer summer once this is (hopefully) all over” – CLASH
Key Cut: Break My Heart
Tame Impala – The Slow Rush
Release Date: 14th February
Labels: Modular/Island Australia/Interscope/Fiction/Caroline
Producer: Kevin Parker
Standout Tracks: One More Year/Posthumous Forgiveness/Lost in Yesterday
Review:
“That same song showcases Parker's wizardry on various keyboards. Whether he's pounding out cheesy classical-meets-disco chords -- Silvetti's "Spring Rain" seems to be a major influence here -- or dialing up fat sounds from a vintage synth, he shows the same skill level here that he did on guitar in the band's early days. Guitar also shows up on "One More Hour," a powerful song that delves deep into Parker's fears and hopes while serving up majestic chords, soaring leads, and Zeppelin-sized wallop; it's one of the emotional pillars of the record. Another is "Posthumous Forgiveness," a heartbreaking ode to Parker's dad that sees him pouring out his soul and lamenting all the things his dad isn't around to experience, like a phone call with Mick Jagger for one. It's not all big emotions, though, as there are quite a few songs that either dip into a kind of languorous twilight groove ("Breathe Deeper"), bop hard as steel like the tightly wound "Is It True," which sees Parker at his most Pharrell-like, or lope along peacefully ("Borderline"). The Slow Rush is the final nail in the coffin as far as Tame Impala being a guitar rock band goes; the psychedelia is more diffuse now, softer and more likely to bring a tear with a lyrical turn or a synth wash instead of raising goose bumps with wild guitars. The change began on Currents, where it was handled inelegantly. Here it's brought about smoothly and with great skill, and the album's a comeback that once again makes Tame Impala an artistic force equal to their commercial appeal” – AllMusic
Key Cut: Borderline
Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud
Release Date: 27th March
Label: Merge
Standout Tracks: Can’t Do Much/Hell/Witches
Review:
“Because Saint Cloud is so fresh and budding on the outside, Crutchfield can hide her anger and fear inside it. This new contrast gives great dimension to her storytelling, allowing all the sourness and rot at the fringes of her songs to come and go at will. “War” takes on a rambling ’60s Dylan feel, that lets her talk about how she’s prone to “come in hot” and “fill up the room,” but she’s quick to add—as we all do in heated moments—that it has “nothing to do with you.” The trauma buried at the heart of “Arkadelphia Road” is so palpable that the slow-burn tempo makes it glow white. She sings softly, “If we make pleasant conversation/I hope you can’t see what’s burning in me.” Crutchfield is still the patron saint of emotional chaos, but her songs suggest that she’s becoming more of a protector, a homebody, looking to take everything out of storage and either throw it away or keep it safe in a home.
The climax of the record, “Ruby Falls,” is where all of the ambition and aesthetics come together. As she walks down 7th Street in Manhattan, Crutchfield’s wisdom collects into buckets: “Real love don’t follow a straight line/It breaks your neck, it builds you a delicate shrine,” and, “You might mourn all that you wasted/That’s just part of the haul.” Her pen moves ornately across the page, the aperture of her songwriting flies open. The unsparing indie style of Chan Marshall or Liz Phair remains, but Saint Cloud is something far bigger. It isn’t just talking to Lucinda Williams’ 1998 album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, it pulls up right beside it, a vivid modern classic of folk and Americana. It’s a record that suggests maybe if you slow down, life slows down with you, and everything is in bloom” – Pitchfork
Key Cut: Fire
Grimes – Miss Anthropocene
Release Date: 21st February
Label: 4AD
Producers: Grimes/Dan Carey/i_o/Hana/Chris Greatti
Standout Tracks: So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth/Violence/My Name Is Dark
Review:
“There’s brilliance here, but it’s when the album slows down that it becomes transcendent. “So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth” is a perfect storm of the slinky and the tortured, Grimes urging a lover to “weigh me down”. “You’ll Miss Me When I’m Not Around” is a gloomy synth-pop ballad that brings to mind Til Tuesday and Bauhaus.
New single “Delete Forever” is akin to a fresh bruise. Inspired by the death of rapper Lil Peep, along with a number of friends who have succumbed to opioid addiction, it finds Grimes’ voice cracking, her sticky vocal placed over banjo, guitar and strings. It’s a song that marks Miss Anthropocene at its most emotionally potent, and Grimes at her most human. She might consider that an insult, long having adopted the public image of a demonstratively wacky robot-girl on the arm of a madman. For her more wavering fans, however, it’ll be a blessed relief” – The Independent
Key Cut: Delete Forever
Baxter Dury – The Night Chancers
Release Date: 20th March
Label: Heavenly
Standout Tracks: I’m Not Your Dog/Carla’s Got a Boyfriend/Daylight
Review:
“Where its predecessor was concerned with Dury’s collapsing relationship, The Night Chancers – as its title suggests, is more character-driven. “He’s just a slobby spiv / With an open shirt, scales breath / And high level bronzer / Covering up what you campaigned against,” he intones on Saliva Hog. Or there’s the man in Carla’s Got a Boyfriend, who’s got “Horrible trousers / And a small car / Bit of designer hair / Sloppy facial looks”. It’s dependent on Dury’s narration and peculiarly downbeat charisma – the music (written with guitarist Shaun Paterson and co-produced by Craig Silvey) is designed to serve the voice: you’re not coming to The Night Chancers for big hooks and singalong choruses.
Dury carries it off. His phrasemaking and delivery is immaculate: he plays with accents, albeit within a limited palette, and you listen to The Night Chancers believing it to be a real world” – The Guardian
Key Cut: Slumlord
Georgia – Seeking Thrills
Release Date: 10th January
Label: Domino Recording Company
Standout Tracks: About the Dancefloor/24 Hours/Feel It
Review:
“Seeking Thrills’ is front-loaded with the fun-but-cool Robyn-influenced bangers that saw Georgia tipped to inherit 2020, and it’s true that a few more muted tracks cause the pace to slacken in the second half. The languid minimalism of ‘Ultimate Sailor’, despite its haunting, Lynchian lyrics (“I’d travel the world for you… I’d jump from the waves in high heels”) can’t help but feel flat after the breakneck romanticism of ‘Never Let You Go’. Closer ‘Honey Dripping Sky’ is similarly anticlimactic, Georgia lamenting the end of the party, watching in dismay as that sense of community retreats.
Overall, though, her second album leaves you with the overwhelming sense of a music buff whose work transcends its influences through its author’s evangelical self-belief and faith that the dancefloor can bring people together. There’s a quicksilver quality to a track like ‘Feel It’, which morphs from pop confection to something much more jagged.
Georgia knows her dance music history, and what she wants a rave to look like in 2020: inclusive, celebratory and communal. She’s immersed but, with a chip of ice in her heart, watches on in a writerly fashion. It’s not quite picture perfect, but ‘Seeking Thrills’ is” – NME
Key Cut: Never Let You Go
Lanterns on the Lake – Spook the Herd
Release Date: 21st February
Label: Bella Union
Standout Tracks: Baddies/Swimming Lessons/A Fitting End
Review:
“Even in the quietest moments on Beings, it felt as if there was always something ringing out, from Angela Chan’s violin to Wilde’s effect-laden vocals. There were no gaps left unfilled, as if there was anxiousness on the band’s part about giving the sound too much room to breathe, tomeander. That’s dissipated on Spook the Herd, and they sound so much freer as a result; if there’s a throughline, it’s Ol Ketteringham's drumming, which has always had a cascading, jazzy feel to it but this time out, he anchors the group in a way he hasn't previously.
The overarching effect is one of the calm during the storm, as if the realisation of some of the band’s worst fears has cleared their heads, sharpened their senses, and compelled them to look for the light breaking through the clouds, however dim. The results are musically elegant, emotionally eloquent, and absolutely vital” – The Line of Best Fit
Key Cut: Every Atom
The Big Moon – Walking Like We Do
Release Date: 10th January
Label: Fiction Records
Producer: Bern H. Allen
Standout Tracks: Dog Eat Dog/Don’t Think/Barcelona
Review:
“This collection of songs take far deeper meaning. They constantly reference life’s relentlessness. ‘Why’ questions the longevity of love. From the early perfections of a relationship’s honeymoon period comes uncertainty and crossroads. ‘Waves’ builds on this, with its reflective air and exceptional lyricism. How does one react to the collapse of eternal love? In many ways, tracks such as these act as the thematic antithesis to fan favourites such as ‘Sucker’ and ‘Cupid.’
However, in such uncertainty comes release. There is an overbearing sense of hope and empowerment throughout the album. ‘Holy Roller’ traverses the negatives of modern life (porno sites, contour kits, payday loans, etc), its chorus offers joy in the face of emptiness. ‘A Hundred Ways To Land’ is the album’s greatest act of resilience. “When the leaves drop down It doesn’t mean the trees are dead” will echo through a listeners mind with every listen. It is this unparalleled hopefulness which will define the album in years to come.
In thirty years time we will look back at Walking Like We Do as a true reflection of youth in the 2020s. By considering themes such as love, social injustice and all round perseverance, it is both mature and engaging. The Big Moon are constantly breathing new life into a genre which sometimes runs stale. For that we should be eternally grateful” – CLASH
Key Cut: Waves
Poppy – I Disagree
Release Date: 10th January
Label: Sumerian
Producers: Chris Greatti/Zakk Cervini
Standout Tracks: Concrete/Bloodmoney/Fill the Crown
Review:
“From there, the listener is sent toppling down a rabbit-hole of bewitching strangeness. BLOODMONEY seethes with heavy electro and hip-hop sensibility, similar to what we heard on last year’s Scary Mask collaboration with FEVER 333. Elsewhere, Fill The Crown sounds like Nine Inch Nails jamming with Swedish pop singer Robyn, Sit/Stay balances sublime melody and looming menace, and Bite Your Teeth veers between juddering metalcore and nursery-rhyme playfulness. It’s like Code Orange filtered through a fever dream. Even when the madness subsides and ultra-sugary pop bleeds through, as on the almost cloying Nothing I Need and Sick Of The Sun, it feels cracked, repurposed to skin-crawling effect. Repetition reveals many similarly inspired sleights of hand, and repeat listens are a must.
As we learned when we spoke to her last week, it’s hard to truly know Poppy. Where does the creation end and its creator begin? Strain hard enough and can you find the line between artist and art? The answer, even after the most focussed plays of this album, remains tantalisingly unclear. But therein lies the thrill of straying into her Poppyverse. For every comparison you can make of individual moments, there is little here that you can honestly say you’ve heard before, and little that can be judged on traditional terms. But that’s what makes her such a fascinating force. Pop is dead – long live Poppy” – KERRANG!
Key Cut: I Disagree
J Hus – Big Conspiracy
Release Date: 24th January
Label: Black Butter
Producers: J Hus (exec.)/Jae5 (also exec.)/IO/Levi Lennox/Maestro/Nana Rogues/Scribz Riley/Sunny Kale/TSB
Standout Tracks: Play Play/Repeat/No Denying
Review:
“What hasn’t changed is his ability to switch between an array of musical styles – the Afrobeats-flavoured Love Peace and Prosperity; Repeat’s collaboration with current dancehall queen Koffee; the mesh of live guitar and bass that underpins Helicopter. More impressive still is that the album’s musical transitions never jar. As on his debut, they feel natural and unforced, an expression of growing up in London surrounded by an array of different cultural influences, tied together not just by J Hus’s flow, but his pop smarts – he has an unfailing ability to come up with earworm choruses. The latter skill is among his more overlooked, but it means that no matter how sombre his meditations on race, crime and identity get, virtually everything here feels like a single. The latest one is No Denying, and the ability to make something radio-friendly out of samples of high-tension soundtrack strings, scrabbling sax improv and divebombing bass is not to be sniffed at.
When the news of the album’s leak initially broke, J Hus seemed to take it hard, announcing that if he couldn’t be in control of his own music, he might give up making it entirely and concentrate on developing his fashion line. After you hear Big Conspiracy, that seems very rash. For one thing, he sounds completely in control throughout. For another, it would be a waste: the charts are currently packed with British rappers, but not all of them have their own niche quite as clearly delineated as his. Big Conspiracy leaves you wanting to hear even more” – The Guardian
Key Cut: Must Be