FEATURE:
Albums for the General Public
IN THIS PHOTO: Halsey
Underrated, Underplayed or Overlooked Records from 2020
___________
THROUGH the year…
IN THIS PHOTO: The Lemon Twigs
I have looked at the best albums (so far), and some great debuts. I do not think I have done a feature that looks at underrated albums and ones that those that deserved more press and better reviews - and whose songs are not played on the radio enough. In this list, I am mixing albums that might have been reviewed positively but not that many people know of that album and, in many cases, albums that did not get the score they deserved – and they warrant new listening. There have been so many triumphant records released this year, but there have been a lot that are really good that have not been given a fair shot. I may have missed some obvious albums, but here are a selection that I feel are either better than they have been credited, or they need to be pushed out to the general public more heartily. Perhaps you will hear some albums in this feature that you add…
IN THIS PHOTO: Squirrel Flower
TO your collection.
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Nubya Garcia – SOURCE
Release Date: 21st August
Label: Concord Jazz
Producers: Nubya Garcia/Kwes
Standout Cuts: Source/Together Is a Beautiful Place to Be/Stand with Each Other
Buy: https://nubyagarcia.bandcamp.com/album/source
Key Track: Inner Game
Review:
“Blending warm tones into genteel spasmodic flourishes that, in the same manner as a summer storm, rumble and crash when you least expect it but once the clouds have passed comes that fresh crisp air with warm undertones. Even the moments where Garcia steps back, allowing the rest of the instrumentation, provided by Joe Armon-Jones (keys), Daniel Casimir (double bass) and Sam Jones (drums), to flourish and crash around give a sense to her ability in knowing when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em.
The epic titular track, clocking in at just over twelve minutes, and featuring collaborators Ms MAURICE, Cassie Kinoshi and Richie Seivwright (also appearing on “Stand With Each Other”), rides along in a smooth wave. It also proves jazz’ adept nature; where if you aren’t paying attention you’re certainly guaranteed to miss things. But even if you are paying attention the depth of the matter can also be missed - it’s a genre that adapts to your context, and in the instance of Source, Garcia has created an album that wants to help you in any way it can, without overloading your surroundings, or becoming obnoxious in itself.
Delving into fusions of reggae (“Source”), afro-beat (“La cumbia me está llamando”) and everything in between, Garcia triumphantly tries to discover just who she is, while offering that sparkling sound of a world ripe for the taking. Chockful of jazz that embraces you in a familiar feeling, Source is akin to an old friend you may not see for a while, but whenever you do, the world feels that little bit brighter and it’s as if no time has passed at all” – The Line of Best Fit
Halsey – Manic
Release Date: 17th January
Label: Capitol
Producers: Halsey/Lido/John Cunningham/Louis Bell/Greg Kurstin/Benny Blanco/Cashmere Cat/Alex Young/The Monsters & Strangerz/Jon Bellion/Ojivolta/Andrew Wells/Andrew Jackson/Duck Blackwell/Suga/Pdogg/FRED/Jasper Sheff
Standout Cuts: clementine/you should be sad/Without Me
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/halsey/manic
Key Track: Graveyard
Review:
“Listen closely, certain stylistic aspects assert themselves -- a fingerpicked guitar line rolls along here, there's a reggae bounce there -- and her choice of guest stars is telling. Alanis Morissette -- who is by some measures a clear precursor to Halsey -- vies with rapper Dominic Fike and Suga of K-pop sensations BTS for splashiest cameo, with each of their appearances labeled as an "interlude." The lack of concrete song titles winds up emphasizing the presence of artists who cross genres, a clear sign of how Manic's seemingly scattershot appearance disguises how Halsey designed the album to appeal to as broad an audience as possible, streamlining all these sounds so they slide onto every conceivable playlist. It's a shrewd ploy that winds up not seeming crass thanks to Halsey's affectless emo bloodletting -- she never resists an opportunity to hit her target squarely on the nose, such as the "I'm so glad I never ever had a baby with you" refrain on "You Should Be Sad" -- and the clever way Manic is sequenced. The artiest, wobbliest songs start the record, followed by her saddest and starkest ballads, so it takes a while before it settles into its comfortable groove of adolescent angst doubling as AAA crossover pop. Such distinctions would be lost on the playlists individual tracks may later call home, but assembled in this fashion as a proper album, Manic showcases Halsey at her nerviest and at her best” – AllMusic
Poppy - I Disagree
Release Date: 10th January
Labels: Sumerian/Warner
Producers: Chris Greatti/Zakk Cervini
Standout Cuts: Concrete/Fill the Crown/Sit / Stay
Buy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/I-Disagree-Poppy/dp/B07YCS34V8
Key Track: I Disagree
Review:
“The record’s opening track, “Concrete,” is typical of her approach here. After an air-raid siren, she whispers about wanting to be buried alive, covered in concrete and turned “into a street,” before launching into a series of proggy vignettes. There’s a section that sounds like the Body’s sludgy electro-metal, a paisley pop chorus that’d be at home on a Kinks record, and a series of gurgly riffs that’d rank among Slipknot’s grossest, all before culminating in what sounds like an arena crowd chanting her name, followed by a coda that sparkles like “Blank Space.” Like, say, 100 gecs or the recent Grimes singles, part of the joy in I Disagree comes in how overwhelming it is. No single passage lasts very long, which gives even the prettier moments an unstable feeling, like everything might at any moment crumble into a void of distortion and noise.
Throughout, her lyrics are venomous and apocalyptic. “Bloodmoney” castigates hypocrites and evil men who hide behind the banner of religion. “Don’t Go Outside” evokes the imagery of biblical plagues, with frogs falling from the sky. The title track explicitly welcomes the end of the world, assuring, “We’ll be safe and sound when it all burns down.” None of the situations she explores are especially specific, but it’s striking—as the world burns and nuclear war once more feels like a distinct possibility—to hear a reminder that chaos can be cleansing, that calamity is the first step to starting all over again and building something new” – Pitchfork
The Lemon Twigs - Songs for the General Public
Release Date: 21st August
Label: 4AD
Standout Cuts: Hell on Wheels/Moon/The One
Buy: https://4ad.com/releases/916
Key Track: No One Holds You (Closer Than The One You Haven't Met)
Review:
“On 2018’s ‘Go To School’, New York sibling duo The Lemon Twigs concocted a bombastic rock opera based around the life and times of a chimpanzee named Shane. On its follow up, Shane is gone (RIP), but the nostalgic theatrics are still out in full force. If there was any question, three albums in, as to whether the D’Addario brothers had any inclination to stomp their platform boots closer to the 21st Century, then the ringing Brian May solo of ‘Hog’ should answer with a resounding “No”. Instead, we have a paean to the past, full of lovelorn warmth (‘The One’), Zombies-on-a-road-trip harmonies (‘Live In Favour of Tomorrow’) and Bugsy Malone-style ridiculous piano jams (‘Fight’). But for all the moments that tend towards fun-but-silly ‘70s musical theatre, there are plenty that, in isolation, ring with the kind of sepia-soaked sweetness that most genuinely don’t make anymore. The Lemon Twigs might not always take themselves seriously, but you’d be remiss to dismiss them as a joke” – DIY
Bishop Nehru - Nehruvia: My Disregarded Thoughts
Release Date: 8th May
Label: Nehruvia LLC
Standout Cuts: Colder/Too Lost/All of My Years
Buy: https://bishopnehru.bandcamp.com/album/nehruvia-my-disregarded-thoughts
Key Track: In My Zone
Review:
“One of the most joyously prolific young voices in hip-hop, Bishop Nehru has taken the opportunity that his relative success to date has granted to put together a project that has long been on his mind. Since eighth grade, he has envisaged a two-act tale that begins in what we now understand as the sunken place (described on this record as ‘The Abyss’), before emerging blinking into what we have learned never to describe as the sunlit uplands (Nehru instead goes for ‘The Escape’).
The result, which has been sitting on the shelf for a year now due to “managerial disputes”, is a polished and inviting addition to the 23-year-old’s already impressive résumé. His natural flow revolves around honing clear and memorable lyrical hooks through simple repetition, as on ‘In My Zone’ and ‘All Of My Years’, the latter boasting one of the choruses of the year. This ability to pass off earworm burrowers as seemingly lazy and thrown away is perhaps Nehru’s most enviable talent.
Nehru self produces here, save for the guest contribution from DJ Premier on ‘Too Lost’, and his sonic palette is similarly unfussy, relying on cut-up samples of smoky R&B and jazz, firmly in the Dilla/Madlib lineage. Don’t come for the new vanguard; Nehru believes in keeping his message direct and clutter-free.
The record rises through several gears on ‘Meathead’ with the appearance of Nehru’s previous collaborator DOOM, who’s trademark bulldozer delivery sees Nehru expanding his own game to meet the challenge. If anything, though, this exposes the easy-going energy that defines the rest of the album, which, whilst apparently reflecting Nehru’s natural artistic milieu, can leave you wanting a little more” – Loud and Quiet
The Orielles - Disco Volador
Release Date: 28th February
Label: Heavenly
Standout Cuts: Come Down on Jupiter/Bobbi’s Second World/7th Dynamic Goo
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/the-orielles/disco-volador
Key Track: Space Samba (Disco Volador Theme)
Review:
“You’d be hard pressed to find another band in 2020 who sound like Halifax young’ns The Orielles. On the follow-up to their adventurous debut ‘Silver Dollar Moment’, the trio-turned-foursome blend a ton of influences to create a lush soundscape with a kitschy, ‘70s finish. Single ‘Bobbi’s Second World’ introduced a punchier new element to the group’s already pretty out-there sound, and it remains a firm highlight with its zesty synth sections and gang vocals. It’s somewhat of an outlier though; the rest of the record has a more low-key energy in the vein of Yo La Tengo or Stereolab: perfectly pleasant, but definitely a more passive listen.
It’s aesthetic that hoists ‘Disco Volador’ safely away from the clutches of wishy-washiness. From the striking artwork via the wild, sprightly theme tune ‘Space Samba’ that caps the album off in a tsunami of bongos and guitar distortion, The Orielles succeed in painting a vivid world of colour and flavour to get lost in” – DIY
Katie von Schleicher – Consummation
Release Date: 22nd May
Label: Ba Da Bing
Standout Cuts: Wheel/Messenger/Power
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/katie-von-schleicher/consummation
Key Track: Caged Sleep
Review:
“Katie von Schleicher made such evocative and intelligent use of the lo-fi limitations of recording on a four-track cassette machine on 2016's Bleaksploitation and 2017's Shitty Hits that it was tempting to wonder if she could make her music work without it. It turns out she can; though 2020's Consummation may be a long way from glossy and still makes clever use of murk, the production and audio is significantly cleaner than what she delivered on her two breakthrough releases, and it expands her stylistic horizons as it eases up on the inward-focused gloom in favor of something more pointed and engaged with the world around her. Von Schleicher steps up her game as a vocalist on Consummation; the breathy force and ambitious sweep of her phrasing and her multiple overdubbed harmonies suggest this is what Kate Bush could have sounded like had she been an Brooklyn indie rocker born in the 1990s. Von Schleicher also focuses on personal issues that will resonate with the larger culture at the same time. Informed in part by Rebecca Solnit's book A Field Guide to Getting Lost and its analysis of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo from the perspective of the stalked woman rather than the obsessed man, the fine line between love and abuse is a frequent undercurrent in von Schleicher's lyrics, and this album sounds less like a document of depression than an analysis of a society that breeds the fear that can evolve into depression. If that sounds pretentious, it isn't in practice; once again, von Schleicher has offered us a look inside herself, and these songs are just as compelling and relatable as they look at a bigger picture. And von Schleicher's jerry-rigged version of indie pop is all the grander here, still melodic while aiming for a more majestic effect and finding it within its echoes and confident instrumentation. Shitty Hits was the sort of album that was destined to be a cult favorite while also leaving questions about where else the artist could next take their talent and vision. Consummation is a bold step forward and confirmation that Katie von Schleicher has a great deal to offer and should be creating satisfying music for a long time to come” – AllMusic
Squirrel Flower – I Was Born Swimming
Release Date: 31st January
Label: Full Time Hobby
Standout Cuts: Slapback/Headlights/Streelight Blues
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/squirrel-flower/i-was-born-swimming
Key Track: Home
Review:
“Williams’ most straightforward and ingratiating album as Squirrel Flower is 2015's Early Winter Songs From Middle America. That album’s standout track, “I Don’t Use a Trash Can,” proved that she can write a great chorus when she wants to. I Was Born Swimming suffers from its lack of them. Save for “I-80” and “Red Shoulder,” the album’s lyrics read more like poems set to music written after the fact. By side B, the disconnect becomes noticeable. The songs all have similar tempos and dynamics and lack clear centers, and the music starts to feel like an afterthought. When there is a chorus, like in “Honey, Oh Honey!” it’s the whole song, or it feels like a joke. At its most aimless, like on “Seasonal Affective Disorder,” the music just feels lost.
It’s OK for songs not to have choruses, of course, and it’s OK to write songs that feel more like poems than, well, songs. But in doing so, Williams puts some maybe-unintentional distance between herself and the listener. I Was Born Swimming is her most expansive and professional-sounding record to date, and on the whole, does more right than wrong. But it’s an MFA of an album. As a project, it’s admirable. As an album, it leaves you cold” – Pitchfork
CocoRosie - Put the Shine On
Release Date: 13th March
Label: Marathon Artists
Standout Cuts: High Road/Hell’s Gate/Ruby Red
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/cocorosie/put-the-shine-on
Key Track: Mercy
Review:
“It’s 17 years since Bianca and Sierra Casady materialised like a fever dream of New York’s 00s freak-folk scene, a new, weird American incarnation of Angela Carter’s Chance sisters, who recorded their debut album while drinking champagne in a bathtub, accompanied by kitchen implements and children’s toys. In that time, the siblings’ self-consciously naive collision of Billie Holiday-influenced blues croons, shonky hip-hop beats and found sound, sprinkled with Bianca’s bratty bohemian rap and Sierra’s Paris Conservatoire-trained avant garde arias, mellowed into self-analytical, new-agey meandering, while the early drive to provoke (Jesus Loves Me, from their 2004 debut, La maison de mon rêve, deployed the N-word seemingly for shock value amid an infantile critique of religion; their second album’s cover sported an infuriatingly childlike daubing of a trio of fornicating unicorns vomiting rainbows) that made them so hard to humour subsided.
Their seventh album continues to exorcise family trauma, but is more memorable and structured than recent efforts. Restless pays tribute to their mother, who died during the album’s recording, with jaunty piano, jabs of distorted guitar and shimmery keys, while Burning Down the House is not a Talking Heads cover but a dark, dubby trip-hop treat that weaves accordion and harp amid rattling-bones percussion. Many tracks, such as High Road, with its dark, fairytale imagery, cawing crows and skittering beats, feel like a conscious return to core idiosyncrasies. As such, it’s a shame that the album overstays its welcome a little. As always, the Casady sisters are best in small, surreal doses” – The Observer
SAULT - Untitled (Black Is)
Release Date: 19th June
Label: Forever Living Originals
Standout Cuts: Hard Life/Wildfires/Bow
Buy (pre-order): https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/sault/untitled
Key Track: Black Is
Review:
“This intensity dots UNTITLED, SAULT's latest and best album, and is a capital-B Black record that funnels rage and sorrow into contemplative streams of thought, over equally brooding music meant to slow your heart rate. UNTITLED is just as militant as any old Public Enemy record, but it digs into the everyday aspects of our existence, and celebrates who we are privately, not when we're donning the cape and saving humanity from itself — again. UNTITLED honors the whole being, not the monolith portrayed on TV and social media. It's a record for us and by us, a private convo with friends who get the inside jokes and cultural references.
"Black is safety," a woman declares on "Out the Lies," the album's opening track. "Black is benevolence. Black tells you it's all gonna be okay in the end." This mantra — "Black Is" — serves as the album's undercurrent, a gentle nudge back to reality. Here the voice soothes — "Black is Granny, Black is Auntie" — but just a few tracks later, on "X," named after civil rights leader Malcolm X, that same voice issues a stern warning: "Do not be surprised, the chickens have come home to roost." The line, from Malcolm's controversial statement about President John F. Kennedy's assassination, addresses the notion of violence begetting violence — that the years of systemic racism have reached a breaking point. When insinuated here, over light electric piano chords, the omen doesn't land with the same blunt force as Malcolm's. But the ferocity hasn't changed, even if SAULT's tone is tailor-made for the Calm app” – NPR
Hailey Whitters - The Dream
Release Date: 28th February
Label: Pigasus
Producer: Hayley Whitters
Standout Cuts: The Days/Dream, Girl/Living the Dream
Buy: https://haileywhitters.com/
Key Track: Happy People
Review:
“But “Janice” isn’t the only time Whitters emphasizes soul maintenance on The Dream. “The Days” urges us to make the most of every moment, because life is fleeting and time is ultimately scarce. “Dream, Girl” is a breakup anthem from a third party perspective that sounds a bit like Fearless-era Taylor Swift telling you to keep your chin up. Whitters reinvents Kacey Musgraves’ “Merry Go ‘Round” on “Heartland,” which, like the Same Trailer Different Park highlight, sports a simple banjo melody and plenty of anxiety. But there’s also some release from the unease when Whitters offers a simple solution to the societal noise we can’t escape: “When life is out of your hands, you gotta let your heart land.” Later, on the Lori McKenna-penned “Happy People” (which Little Big Town originally recorded back in 2017), she pushes happiness over suffering at all costs. “Do what makes you feel good”—it’s an easy command to follow. You’ve never met her, but Hailey Whitters has your best interests at heart.
Whitters rounds up McKenna and Clark again for “Loose Strings,” a funny tune about falling off the wagon and trying to forget someone in the process, in which that “someone” has to confiscate Whitters’ car keys so she doesn’t get “busted by the po-po.” Before you have time to register the change from rascal Southern girl to bar singer, Whitters slips into a slinky drawl on “The Devil Always Made Me Think Twice,” a reconciliation with temptation. The proceeding “All The Cool Girls” is a sneakily sassy takedown of vanity, as well as a bluesy Americana dreamscape” – PASTE
Nadia Reid - Out of My Province
Release Date: 6th March
Label: Spacebomb Records
Producers: Trey Pollard/Matthew E. White
Standout Cuts: All of My Love/Other Side of the Wheel/Get the Devil Out
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/nadia-reid/out-of-my-province
Key Track: The Future
Review:
“I am looking for something," Reid declares on the uncharacteristically jaunty "Oh Canada", which hides a wealth of restless unease beneath its sunnily romantic veneer. "I don't know what I'm looking for''. This uncertainty works for the benefit of the songs as it's hard to grow tired of something you've never quite properly figured out. It'd be lazily predictable to compare any female songwriter to Joni Mitchell, but it's also tricky not to draw parallels between the Canadian master and Reid's road-marinated accounts of personal growth and transformation. ‘’There is dust settling inside of me’’ Reid declares on "High & Lonely", a sturdy slice of low-lit swagger in the style of Stax studios, suggesting the change isn't quite complete yet.
The widened musical palette helps to pull you in while the songs are digging in their hooks. Pollard's production is astute enough to know when the most potent thing to do is to fade away: "Heart to Ride" is left essentially untampered with, little beyond Reid and long-time collaborator Sam Taylor's guitars. At the opposite end of the production spectrum, the shimmering opener "All of My Love" - a time and place shifting travelogue that provides a perfect introduction to Reid's multi-layered writing - packs all the organs and punchy horns you'd expect from a Spacebomb production, with a heavy-lidded swoon that nods towards Lambchop's Nixon and Cat Power's The Greatest. “The Future” grows into a blustery swirl of twang-fuelled guitars, whilst the haunting closer "Get the Devil Out" is enveloped in sumptuous strings. However, the more richly layered arrangements never detract from the intimate immediacy of Reid's vocals and lyrics” – The Line of Best Fit