FEATURE:
Not a Bad Way to Start!
IN THIS PHOTO: Jessie Reyez
The Best Debut Albums of 2020 (So Far)
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I have compiled various features…
IN THIS PHOTO: Moses Boyd/PHOTO CREDIT: Eddie Otchere
recently regarding the best albums of the year – whether they are from the U.K. or the U.S. Today, I wanted to look at the best debut albums of the year. The debut album is a scary thing, and getting it right is very hard! From an established star like Hayley Williams (Paramore) stepping alone, or Porridge Radio releasing their first album to a major label, to a hot British talent like Rina Sawayama striking hard, this year has seen some great debut albums burst forth. I have collated the ten best of the year so far and, as you will see, there is plenty of variation and quality! These artists have started extraordinarily, and I think they will continue to grow stronger! Have a look and a listen to these…
IN THIS PHOTO: Hayley Williams/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
WONDERFUL debut albums.
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Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA
Release Date: 17th April
Label: Dirty Hit
Producers: Clarence Clarity/Chris Lyon/Valley Girl/Bram Inscore/Danny L Harle/Rina Sawayama/Jonathan Gilmore/Kyle Shearer
Standout Tracks: XS/Bad Friend/Chosen Family
Review:
“There’s a nod to the early 2000s through much of the album. But rather than being nostalgic for the era, ‘Sawayama’ reworks and gives new life to the music Millennials and Gen Z’ers grew up to. It’s a fitting ode to that period: the album’s inspiration comes mostly from Rina’s experiences with growing up, family and identity.
Rina’s vocal presence is just as impressive as the album's genre span. Across the 13 track span of 'Sawayama' you’ll hear the powerful tones of a woman whose passion and fierceness is undeniable - never more than in uplifting tracks such as ‘Love Me 4 Me’ and ‘Chosen Family’.
The tracks ‘Akasaka Sad’ and ‘Paradisin’ specifically explore those memories of growing up between two places (for Rina, Japan and the UK) and the conflicting emotions that must come with that challenge, the first being about feeling displaced wherever in the world, and ‘Paradisin’ honing in on rebelling against authority, AKA… mum.
Although ‘Sawayama’ is a deeply personal album, the range of emotions portrayed throughout can be felt and personalised by anyone. The use of heavy metal, theatrics, synth and pop each have their hand in portraying so many varied emotions - from anger to guilt, confusion to elation. Each of these layers add to the melting pot, and these tough emotions have ultimately contributed to the creation of a flawless pop record.
Raw artistry paired with rich heritage makes for a magnificent, spine-tingling first album for Rina Sawayama” – CLASH
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/rina-sawayama/sawayama
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3stadz88XVpHcXnVYMHc4J?si=nuGPCvmaQ1yNpWmjJbBjgw
Key Cut: STFU!
070 Shake – Modus Vivendi
Release Date: 17th January
Labels: GOOD/Def Jam
Producers: Clyde Ellison/Dave Hamelin/dom$olo/Francis and the Lights/Harry Mejias/James Shaw/Juan Sebastian Brito/Kenneth Gamble/Leon Huff/Mike Dean/Myles William/Sarah Schachner/Sean Solymar
Standout Tracks: Morrow/Guilty Conscience/Under the Moon
Review:
“Among the few highlights from Kanye West’s 2018 album, ye, were two features from emerging New Jersey artist Danielle Balbuena – known by the moniker 070 Shake. Most notably, the bilingual singer-rapper’s guest verse on Ghost Town swam with a heady feeling of darkness and freedom – something that carries through to Modus Vivendi, Balbuena’s debut album. It’s a record that blends genres with assurance as 070 Shake interrogates her nihilistic internal monologues. “I don’t know if I’ll be here tomorrow,” she refrains, catchily, on the propulsive Morrow, before the beat dissolves into new age multi-harmony vocals that, surreally, recall Enya.
That tender glimmer of fantasy recurs throughout the album, not least as Balbuena considers drug use in a liberating, matter-of-fact way, playing with the classic associations of drugs with mental health and romance (on Microdosing, she could be singing about any of these). There’s a sheen of yearning throughout as she spins between bright, light and very dark, be that via the synthpop glaze on Guilty Conscience or the beguiling Bollywood sample on Come Around. Though at times songs and sentiments blur a little forgettably, this is an impressive statement of intent” – The Guardian
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/6Q2rUMVAKj1DaDh3xB0IEU?si=DWE_7I3zRUuQmuUfSfeFfg
Key Cut: Nice to Have
Jessie Reyez – BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILL US
Release Date: 27th March
Labels: FMLY/Island
Producers: Jessy Aaron/Fred Ball/Bizness Boi/Rogét Chahayed/Alexander Delicata/Björn Djupström/Eminem/Tobias Frelin/Andre Harris/Hennedub/Blvk Jvck/KamoLazuli/Mura Masa/The Monarch/P2J/Jessie Reyez/R!o/Tim Suby/VegynYogi/TheProducer
Standout Tracks: INTRUDERS/IMPORTED/KILL US
Review:
“Anyone familiar with the range Jessie Reyez has shown since 2016 was not taken aback by news that the artist fought the pressure to make her first album a cohesive one. The uncommonly versatile singer and songwriter went multi-platinum in her native Canada with a sparse heartbreak ballad, "Figures." Its parent release, the Kiddo EP, also featured the glass-rattling "Gatekeeper" -- an alarming account of her experience with a sexual predator -- in which she sang from her perspective, and rapped and sang from that of the offender. She has co-written simple love songs like "One Kiss," a U.K. number one, U.S. Top 40 pop hit for Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa, and has also worked with Romeo Santos, Eminem, and Sam Smith. All of this has indicated that Reyez is a complex figure not cut out for unloading unified, easily digestible LPs. Before Love Came to Kill Us simply, if in a deliberately messy way, expands on her EPs, singles, and collaborations. Reyez makes her entrance with "I shoulda fucked your friends" on the adult contemporary quasi-trap ballad "Do You Love Her," and just before the reappearance of "Figures" finishes with a comparably wholesome form of remorse on the gospel-tinged "I Do." The in-between highlights are just as scattered. Reyez uses her voice as a protean instrument -- the settings of which include crooning child, squeaky-swaggering hedonist, high-velocity rapper, and raging Gwen Stefani -- and on the haunted ballad "La Memoria," she sings in her first language. Unsurprisingly, the emotions are varied and unfiltered. Reyez is obsessed enough to "jump off the roof" (the Eminem duet "Coffin"), willing to pledge her allegiance to XXXTentacion's "Fuck Love" ("Deaf [Who Are You]"), steadfast and grateful in the traditional ballad sense ("Love in the Dark"), and assertive in dominance ("Ankles"). That covers less than one-quarter of what Reyez relates here. Although it's all over the place, Before Love Came to Kill Us radiates conviction from front to back, and is without doubt a true representation of its creator” – AllMusic
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/Jessie-Reyez-Before-Love-Came-To-Kill-Us/master/1710332
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/42MQxlJENU0xJORW7byNNS?si=ppfKO8foTf66RCve7cA-jA
Key Cut: FIGURES
Public Practice – Gentle Grip
Release Date: 15th May
Label: Wharf Cat Records
Standout Tracks: Cities/My Head/Leave Me Alone
Review:
“‘Gentle Grip’ presents some conundrums for both listeners and the band themselves. In its subject matter, it ruminates on the “moral gymnastics” of life in 2020 – one where we’re trying to do our best for the world around us, but are also still driven by material wants and desires. The early Blondie gleam of ‘Compromised’ finds York torn between the two sides over tumbling guitar hooks, spinning circles around herself as she whispers: “House is important/Car is important/Shoes are important […] Trees are important.”
Sonically, though, the album is also a puzzle – namely, where on earth is it going to go next? That unpredictability exists as it changes from track to track but also within each individual song themselves. Opener ‘Moon’ is a dark, swirling piece that puts Public Practice’s love of the theatrical at the forefront, York presiding like a mythical higher being over a thunderstorm of drummer Scott Rosenthal’s beats and McClelland and Citron’s spiralling, spiky accompaniments. Later, ‘Disposable’ metamorphoses from chunky Rapture riffs ready to soundtrack the grimiest of DIY discos to something more fragmented and eerie, like morning sun piercing through warehouse windows and shaking you out of party mode” – NME
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/public-practice/gentle-grip
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5Q0eIN7O8l2D1boJlIc3CY?si=gW5_7udTSImmd_Onm8ABQQ
Key Cut: Underneath
Sports Team – Deep Down Happy
Release Date: 5th June
Label: Island
Producer: Burke Reid
Standout Tracks: Going Soft/Long Hot Summer/The Races
Review:
“London-based six-piece Sports Team managed to generate excitement from their inception. Packing shows as students at Cambridge University, they quickly drew the interest of indie labels like Nice Swan with their muscular guitar hooks and point-blank, chant-along choruses about class division, demagogues, friends who change, friends who won't, and actor Ashton Kutcher. Arriving on Island Records following a couple years' worth of independently released singles and EPs, their debut album, Deep Down Happy, delivers on the hype. Demanding attention from the start, simultaneous crashing drums, wailing guitar, and a yell (by guitarist Robb Knaggs) open "Lander," a frustrated rant about needing a job and maybe becoming a doctor or a lawyer -- "So, arthritis probably doesn't matter a lot/I've been thinking a little bit about that sort of thing." Alternating a raised voice over chugging, melodic guitars and bass with quieter passages that keep the syncopated rock groove going, the song's instruments carry rambling thoughts through to inevitable death ("wearing your nicest clothes"). There's no letdown from there, with the sleeker, spikier "Here It Comes Again" blowing by in two-and-a-quarter minutes. It's the second of 12 tracks in all that average three minutes apiece. Ear-snagging intros are another feature here, most notably on "Feels Like Fun," whose simple, two-chord dissonance makes it identifiable within seconds. A highlight among potential radio anthems is "Here's the Thing," an irresistibly catchy, takes-no-prisoners diatribe against the establishment: "If your parents worked to earn it then it's yours/(Here's the thing) And If you're barely getting by then that's your fault/(Here's the thing) Everything in life is fair and that's the rules/It's all just lies, lies, lies, lies...." Despite aggravated lyrics like these, the tone of Deep Down Happy is irreverent and fun, with rhymes like "friends" and "Thames" and "Thumblands" and "old bands," and lead singer Alex Rice's implied raised eyebrow keeping things in a playful zone. The album's length is just about right, going by in an efficient 36 minutes but feeling satisfying at the end, and while fans are bound to pick favorites, there's not a real dud in the bunch” – AllMusic
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/sports-team/deep-down-happy
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7IQGnVFNKh5oy8g6D1oq3y
Key Cut: Here’s the Thing
Louise Patricia Crane – Deep Blue
Release Date: 15th May
Label: Peculiar Doll Records
Producer: Stephen Carey
Standout Tracks: Snake Oil/Cascading/Ophelia
Review:
“Painted World” starts with the amazing tone of Uilleann Pipes before a heavier sound takes over. Crane shows a full range of vocals here, which add to the depth of the song, and the mix of acoustic and electric guitar works well. “Cascading” would be at home on any Cocteau Twins album – with Crane’s haunting and mesmerising vocals it has a beautiful dreamy edge to it, and for me is one of the stand-out tracks on the album.
“Moon” starts with the title track “Deep Blue”. Carey’s beautiful piano mixed with viola and violin supplied by Shir-Ran Yinon blend wonderfully. A stripped-back love song with yet more atmospheric vocal. This is followed by “Ophelia”, the first single from the album. A darker song which sees the return of Anderson’s flute to add more atmosphere. The first appearance of Gibbons on bass and fretless bass adds depth too – to the song and seemingly to the water that the girl is laid in. Church bells introduce us to “Isolde” – a sad and sombre 6-minute epic which is very prog-like in mood and time changes. Still a beautiful song, again using Yinon’s violin to great effect. Closing out the album is “The Eve of the Hunter”. Danny Thompson’s bass still has tones of Gabriel’s material in it, and the song could easily be one of his epic film soundtracks. The song builds to a crescendo and surely leaves you wanting more.
Put all of that together and you have an amazing album, atmospheric and ethereal. It will transport you on a journey that you just may not want to come back from. I would thoroughly recommend adding to your collection” – HRH Mag
Buy: https://louisepatriciacrane.bandcamp.com/album/deep-blue
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4HW2z4vvs15IggnPnhj3vq?si=wJBZ_GgkQxuWUGuJsCHd5A
Key Cut: Deity
Hayley Williams - Petals for Armor
Release Date: 8th May
Label: Atlantic
Producer: Taylor Yorke
Standout Tracks: Leave It Alone/Dead Horse/Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris
Review:
“Hayley Williams' artful and deeply personal solo debut, 2020's Petals for Armor, reportedly comes on the heels of a period of deep self-reflection for the longtime Paramore vocalist, and it shows. Along with Paramore's breakthrough chart success with their 2013 self-titled album and 2017's After Laughter, Williams and the band endured three frought lineup changes. It was also during these years that Williams married, divorced, and saw her beloved grandmother endure a life-altering injury. She brings all of these experiences to bear on Petals for Armor, digging with poetic intensity into the depression and self-doubt that have often clouded her success. Joining Williams is Paramore guitarist Taylor York who also takes the helm as producer. A fluidly inventive instrumentalist and songwriter, York brings the same level of empathetic creativity to Williams' work here as he does with Paramore. Also on board are Paramore touring bassist Joey Howard (who shares at least half of the co-writing credits), drummer Aaron Steele (Ghost Beach, Fences, Ximena Sarinana), and cellist/violinist Benjamin Kaufman. Together, they've crafted a series of intimate mood pieces that pair Williams' candid lyrics (she also plays guitar and keyboards) with arty post-rock arrangements and evocative adult-contemporary flourishes. There's a palpable sense of exploration on Petals for Armor, as Williams includes nods to the progressive Baroque pop and funky dance music of artists like Kate Bush, Tori Amos, and David Byrne. Cuts like the opening "Simmer" and "Leave It Alone" have a narcotic dream energy, punctuated by menacing bass grooves and icy string accents. They also showcase Williams' continued growth as a singer, her resonant voice pulled down to a hushed lilt one minute and a soaring, mellifluous shimmer the next. While there's a sculpted precision to many of these songs, they are balanced with a frank emotionality. On the dancey, Latin-inflected "Dead Horse," Williams details a toxic relationship, singing "Every morning I wake up/From a dream of you/Holding me underwater/Is that a dream or a memory?/Held my breath for a decade/Dyed my hair blue to match my lips/Cool of me to try/Pretty cool I'm still alive." Also helping to illuminate Williams' softly cathartic sound are singer/songwriter's Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker who sing back-up on the flowing, downtempo orchestral track "Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris." It's a textured, nuanced song, rife with an empowered and explicitly feminine eye for detail. Williams sings, "I think of all the wilted women/Who crane their necks to reach a window/Ripping all their petals off just cause 'He loves me now, he loves me not.' 'While there's certainly an audible sense of collaboration on Petals for Armor, it's Williams' ability to turn her dark, personal moments into anthems of survival that stick with you. As she sings on "Watch Me While I Bloom," "I'm alive in spite of me/And I'm on my move/So come and look inside of me/Watch me while I bloom” – AllMusic
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/hayley-williams/petals-for-armor
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4HXpQ5KQBVWN25ltjnX7xa?si=hYcOpgPLQta9V0EMhNw9WQ
Key Cut: Simmer
JARV IS… - Beyond the Pale
Release Date: 17th July
Label: Rough Trade
Producers: Jarvis Cocker/Jason Buckle
Standout Tracks: Save the Whale/Must I Evolve?/Swanky Modes
Review:
“With the group’s stated aim to explore the prospect of writing songs in collaboration with the audience, there’s a crackle of concert electricity at Jarvis’ fingertips throughout. ‘Children Of The Echo’ was recorded live at Primavera last year, and there’s a muscle, a tight-knit urgency that pushes JARV… IS forwards.
‘House Music All Night Long’ has that call-and-response festival feel, but it’s sense of missing out on the party - “God damn this claustrophobia / Cos I should be disrobing ya...” - is a wonderfully eloquent evocation of lockdown life.
A record draped in FOMO, it finds Jarvis Cocker resuming his role as the perpetual outsider. He’s tempted, but never fully gives in, by the cultural temptations around him; take album standout ‘Am I Missing Something’, and it’s waspish lyric “I don’t want to dance with the Devil / But d’you mind if I tap my foot?”
‘Beyond The Pale’ is bedecked in highlights, a project draped in fantastic moments. It’s a funny, theatrical, but intensely musical experience, with those curious flourishes and daubs of colour – the neat arrangement on ‘Swanky Modes’, the stop-start structure of ‘Sometimes I Am Pharoah’ - pushing JARV… IS out into a realm of their own.
It would be easy, given his illustrious catalogue, to judge Jarvis Cocker against his past, but that would unfair to what JARV… IS have achieved together. ‘Beyond The Pale’ stands alone – sure, there are parallels with his previous work, but neither should we expect the frontman to undergo some Doctor Who esque regeneration. Instead, JARV… IS grapple with fresh possibilities in a wry, recognisable, but incredibly fresh way.
‘Beyond The Pale’ is a triumph” – CLASH
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/jarv-is/beyond-the-pale
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/11TCoFgFirZuNc0qjXyjmW?si=JJq9TDedSlCQoYfmX4UbTg
Key Cut: House Music All Night Long
Moses Boyd – Dark Matter
Release Date: 14th February
Label: EXODUS Records
Standout Tracks: Stranger Than Fiction/BTB/Shades of You
Review:
“Drummer Moses Boyd has always been a difficult musician to pin down. Half of the fiercely propulsive free jazz duo Binker and Moses, he was heralded as a poster boy of the London jazz revival when they won a Mobo for best jazz act in 2015. But his first solo offering, 2016’s Rye Lane Shuffle, was a dancefloor-focused 12-inch that was closer to the jazz-inflected house of Theo Parrish than any regular improvised setup.
Boyd followed this with two more Binker and Moses releases and a production credit on singer Zara McFarlane’s reggae-jazz 2017 album Arise, as well as a collaborative release in 2018, Displaced Diaspora. Dark Matter, his debut solo LP, is just as variable and no less confounding.
Opener Stranger Than Fiction begins with a twinkling roll call of keys and cymbal washes before descending into a bouncy, tuba-driven rhythm reminiscent of a snappy early 2000s grime instrumental. A soaring trumpet solo then takes over, disregarding the leaden weight of the groove, as if sound-clashing two tracks at once. That clash is a staple of the record, as with Poppy Ajudha’s crystalline vocals on the broken beat Shades of You sequenced next to Obongjayar’s earthen growl on dubby following number Dancing in the Dark” – The Guardian
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/Moses-Boyd-Dark-Matter/release/14826090
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4XRA7yDYWSkO5BMvZinESW?si=6GJhcjWNRQWyWdH-xoC9xA
Key Cut: Dancing in the Dark
Porridge Radio – Every Bad (Debut Major Label Album)
Release Date: 13th March
Label: Secretly Canadian
Standout Tracks: Long/Pop Song/Lilac
Review:
“Repetition is key to Every Bad. On lead track “Born Confused,” Margolin endlessly chants “Thank you for leaving me / Thank you for making me happy,” and it’s the first of many tidbits of blinding maturity on this album. “You will like me when you meet me” from “Sweet” is another mantra, delivered in Margolin’s sinister tone, and it comes after acknowledging several personal flaws. This kind of not-so-rosy romantic sentiment feels so essential right now, and Porridge Radio are masters of it.
Porridge Radio’s effective use of varied tempos, tones and levels of aggression is what makes their indie rock songs stand high above their peers. There’s a punk-ish, reverb-filled fury in the middle of “Don’t Ask Me Twice,” before the song’s relaxed conclusion. Not only do they channel emotions that change from minute to minute, but their songs are never stagnant either.
They might not be able to get away with such pummeling seriousness and instrumental intrigue if it wasn’t also aided by moments of charm and sheer magnetism. One such moment is the brutal, backwards outro of “Lilac” that bleeds into “Circling.” “Lilac” could hardly have a more fiery ending, but when “Circling” opens with light-hearted, nautical keys, it’s easy to grin and remember that everything is going to be okay (even if it is a song about how hiding away is sometimes necessary). Though spooky, Margolin’s voice is strangely easy to trust, and it cuts through the bleakness that she experiences in abundance.
Through scratchy indie rock (“Don’t Ask Me Twice,” “Give/Take”), grand punk (“Lilac”) and even auto-tuned pop (“Something”), Porridge Radio take pop songs much further than listeners might’ve thought possible. They want us to know that it’s okay to not have all the answers, and it’s okay to feel contradictory emotions. They shout repeated lines like they’re therapeutically screaming into the void, but surprisingly, listening to it is just as therapeutic. It’s one thing for a band to capture a world in chaos, but it’s much more difficult to accurately capture a mind in chaos—Porridge Radio make it look like a cakewalk. Every Bad is the nuanced album that indie rock has needed for years” – PASTE
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/porridge-radio/every-bad
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4DN3XbB33kHTJA7HhI0RFI?si=9OjbIj27RHeQcFGTzQFjAw
Key Cut: Sweet