FEATURE:
One for the Record Collection!
IN THIS PHOTO: Lorde
Essential August Releases
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AS we are ending the month of July…
IN THIS PHOTO: Maisie Peters
it is worth looking ahead to August and albums due then. I am writing this on 17th July - so there might be some albums I am listing that are pushed back; others might be announced or have escaped my radar. In any case, below are the August-due albums that you should investigate and save some money for. I am writing this on Record Store Day. It is the second day…so record stores around the country are seeing people come in their drove to buy special releases and browse for great records! Things start to hot up towards the middle of August. I will start with one album from 6th August that is worth pre-ordering. It is IDER’s shame. There are not a load of details available regarding the album. The London duo are incredible. I loved their 2019 album, Emotional Education. When the lead single, Cross Yourself, was released, DORK published an article. We discover a little bit about that track:
“News of ‘shame’ – which follows on from 2019 debut ‘Emotional Education’, and is due out later this year – arrives alongside lead single ‘Cross Yourself’. The record saw the duo move to Berlin for writing sessions.
“We got there, and we got COVID four weeks later,” they explain. “We had three weeks of heaven where we wrote so much new music and it was everything we dreamed of, living that chaotic, no-routine lifestyle. We Thelma and Louised it back, because the messaging at the time was “if you don’t come back to London now, you never will.”
Of the track, they add: “‘Cross Yourself’ is a reflection on how we search for purpose – how we often attach meaning to things or like the idea of something external to believe in, in exchange for believing in ourselves”.
I will move on to albums due on 13th August. You will want to get a copy of Jungle’s Loving In Stereo. This article from March gives up some details regarding a highly-anticipated album:
“Jungle has unveiled a new album Loving In Stereo, which will be released in August on AWAL. To push the LP, they have released the first single “Keep Moving” along with a music video. The album is about positivity and reflecting that, they have announced an extensive run of worldwide tour dates starting in September, running through the winter.
The video for “Keep Moving” was inspired by West Side Story and the “idea of two groups working together and in opposition at times,” explains Josh Lloyd-Watson, one half of Jungle.
The album’s themes are about new beginnings, new love and fighting back against the odds. “When we write music there’s hope,” adds Lloyd-Watson. “Maybe today we’ll create something that influences people and changes the way they feel. If you can make something that lifts people, that’s an amazing feeling”.
Do ensure that you pre-order a copy. I am excited to see what Jungle come up with. They deliver something exciting, multi-layered and full of life! This is what Rough Trade have to say about an album that many people will be adding to their collection:
“Jungle’s new album Loving In Stereo is the soundtrack for a summer quite unlike any other. The British producer duo have created a huge disco record for the post-social distancing age, with a life-affirming, dancefloor-igniting, sun-kissed celebration of all the things that make music irresistibly joyful. Both their Mercury Prize-nominated, Gold-certified debut and 2018’s follow-up For Ever landed in the UK Top 10 and charted globally”.
An album due on 13th August is Jade Bird’s Different Kinds of Light. It follows her eponymous 2019 debut. She is one of the U.K.’s brightest young songwriters. Go and pre-order her album. I want to bring in an interview from earlier in the year. So soon after the release of her previous album, Bird was looking ahead to her sophomore release:
“WERE THE TRACKS IN THE NEW ALBUM RECORDED THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC? HOW DID THE SITUATION AFFECT THE PROCESS?
Jade Bird: They were recorded in the summer in Nashville. It changed the process as I had to quarantine in Mexico for 2 weeks and ended up writing half the album in that time there, like some crazy last minute inspiration hit.
“HOUDINI” IS BUILT AROUND A METAPHOR BASED ON THE FAMOUS MAGICIAN. COULD YOU EXPAND ON THIS CONCEPT?
Jade Bird: It focuses on the male figures in my life doing a ‘disappearing act’, I thought Houdini was the perfect metaphor for this.
YOU EXPLORE THE IDEA OF ABANDONMENT IN “HOUDINI.” WHAT PROMPTED YOUR INTEREST IN THAT THEME?
Jade Bird: I think I needed closure on my past, it was the first song I wrote for this album and it felt cyclical to end the monologue of my childhood with this song.
THIS YEAR WILL SEE YOU RELEASING YOUR SOPHOMORE ALBUM. HOW HAS YOUR SONGWRITING PROCESS EVOLVED SINCE YOU STARTED RELEASING MUSIC?
Jade Bird: Leaps and bounds. I think my songs are more concise and clearer, whilst retaining the imagination. I love things to be direct without being entirely obvious – song titles really help me guide that.
YOU HAVE ESTABLISHED YOURSELF AS AN ARTIST TO WATCH IN THE AMERICANA SPACE. WHO ARE YOUR INFLUENCES AND HOW DID YOU DISCOVER THEM?
Jade Bird: I think Gillian Welch, Dolly Parton and Sheryl Crow have all been huge influences in that space, all discovered on my own I think… or maybe my grandma…
WHAT CONCEPTS AND SOUNDS WILL YOU EXPLORE IN YOUR UPCOMING ALBUM, AND HOW ARE THEY DIFFERENT FROM THOSE TOUCHED UPON IN THE FIRST ALBUM?
Jade Bird: They are very ‘90s British influences. The electric guitar tones have been huge, drawing from Blur to Cocteau Twins to Iggy Pop. It’s a bit more powerful in that aspect; that’s what I wanted to achieve”.
There are a few albums out on 20th August that are worth some money. One album that I am looking ahead to is Deafheaven’s Infinite Granite. Aside from having a great title, there are going to be some seriously great songs in the mix. The American post-Metal band are one that you need to check out. Go and pre-order your copy. It is shaping up to be a tremendous release:
“Over the course of their first ten years, Deafheaven’s music vacillated between tormented beauty and harmonic rage, a hybrid of black metal’s malice and shoegaze’s sublime wall-of-sound. On their fifth album, Infinite Granite, Deafheaven are no longer toying with the juxtaposition of pitting metallic abrasion against swirling grandeur. Quite the opposite: Infinite Granite is a bold and brave leap forward, a gorgeous and invigorating album brimming with style and splendor. In the context of their catalog, it takes on a whole other layer of defiant beauty.
Across Infinite Granite, vocalist George Clarke showcases a startling vocal range; falsettos, whispers, multi-part harmonies, and other adventurous vocal treatments, with his trademark black metal-inspired howls mostly absent. Guitarists Kerry McCoy and Shiv Mehra expand their sonic palette to include synth textures using them to enrich their astral guitar work rather than outright replace it. Drummer Daniel Tracy has always been a force to reckon with behind the kit, but where he used to floor audiences with his speed and stamina, he’s now free to broaden his approach and lay down authoritative drum patterns that together with bassist Christopher Johnson’s punchy bass lines anchor the band’s lofty arrangements. The refinement of their sound was further encouraged by producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen (M83, Paramore, Wolf Alice, Metric), who lent a pop ear to the record. Jack Shirley, who helped produce every previous Deafheaven album, remained on board to engineer the album at his Atomic Garden East studio in Oakland, CA along with additional engineering and mixing from nine-time Grammy Award winner Darrell Thorp (Foo Fighters, Radiohead, Beck). Ultimately, Infinite Granite is Deafheaven’s most goosebump-inducing album to date”.
Jumping in terms of genre, the legendary Kool & The Gang are readying their latest album, Perfect Union, for 20th August. Whilst you can order it as this U.S. site, I am not sure whether you can get it from a U.K. site (you will be able to buy it on Apple Music):
“25th studio release from Kool & The Gang, featuring the singles “Pursuit Of Happiness” and “Sexy (Where’d You Get Yours).”
Formed in 1964, The Jazziacs would play with McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Saunders, and other jazz greats. They would change their name to Kool & The Gang in 1969, sign with De-Lite Records and release their self-titled debut the following year. 1973’s Wild And Peaceful featured the Gold singles “Jungle Boogie” and “Hollywood Swinging.” The end of that decade and beginning of the next saw them collaborating with producer Eumir Deodato for a string of Platinum albums—Ladies Night, Celebrate!, and Something Special. They continued through the 80s with more Platinum albums, including Emergency, which featured four Top 20 singles.
The use of “Jungle Boogie” in 1994’s Pulp Fiction brought a new generation of fans to the group, and David Lee Roth invited them to open for Van Halen’s A Different Kind Of Truth tour in 2012, after catching their set at Glastonbury. 2016’s Kool & The Gang And Friends! had them collaborating with artists including Sean Paul, Angie Stone, Redman, Jamiroquai, Lisa Stansfield, and more. Kool & The Gang have won multiple Grammy® and American Music Awards, have been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and have sold over 70 million records worldwide!
Over five decades since their formation, Kool & The Gang returns with their 25th studio album—Perfect Union. Produced by Ronald Khalis Bell (a founding member of the group who passed away in 2020), this CD / Digital release contains 10 tracks including the new single “Pursuit Of Happiness” and “Sexy (Where’d You Get Yours),” which hit #16 on the Adult R&B charts and a rap version of “Pursuit Of Happiness.”
To make things even more special, the release is the first on Omnivore’s reactivated Ru-Jac Records label!
So, celebrate Kool & The Gang’s sixth decade of hit making with Perfect Union”.
Perhaps the album that most people are looking ahead to in August is Lorde’s (Ella Yelich-O'Connor) Solar Power. The third studio album from the New Zealand-born artist, it is going to be a staggering album! Following 2017’s Melodrama, you definitely need to pre-order a copy of Solar Power:
“Of the album Lorde says, “The album is a celebration of the natural world, an attempt at immortalizing the deep, transcendent feelings I have when I’m outdoors. In times of heartache, grief, deep love, or confusion, I look to the natural world for answers. I’ve learned to breathe out, and tune in. This is what came through.”
Of the single she adds, “The first song, also called Solar Power and written and produced by myself and Jack, is the first of the rays. It’s about that infectious, flirtatious summer energy that takes hold of us all, come June…”
To honor the natural world the artist is presenting the album in a first-of-its kind, discless format. An eco-conscious Music Box will be available for purchase as an alternative to a CD. This innovative offering will contain extra visual content, handwritten notes, exclusive photos, and a download card. The card will give purchasers a high-quality download of the music, two exclusive bonus tracks, and access to some special surprises along the way”.
In the same week, Martha Wainwright’s Love Will Be Reborn is out. The Canadian-American Folk-Rock singer-songwriter is one of my favourites. I love her songwriting and incredible voice. 2016’s Goodnight City was her previous album. I wonder how she will follow it with Love Will Be Reborn. I would encourage people to pre-order this must-hear album:
“Martha Wainwright is beginning again. The beguiling performer and songwriter makes a most welcome return with Love Will Be Reborn, her first new album in five years. It’s her first album since 2016’s Goodnight City, and the first since 2012’s acclaimed Come Home To Mama to feature so much original material. All eleven songs on Love Will Be Reborn are written by Martha. She wrote the first song, and what would become the title track, a few years ago in what was a very dark time for her personally. The title track hints at the ache of recent years while capturing a sense of optimism for the future. She wraps her wondrous, trademark vocals around the heartbreak to dizzying effect. “I wrote the song in its entirety within ten or fifteen minutes,” she admits.” I was bawling,”
Martha began to play the song live before she recorded the album and it became something of an anthem, giving her hope when it was most needed. The song, and the entire album, was produced by Pierre Marchand, best known for his work with Rufus Wainwright on Poses, the McGarrigle’s on Heartbeats Accelerating and much of Sarah McLaughlin’s 90’s catalogue. Recorded in Martha’s Montreal hometown, the album was made in the basement of café Ursa which also served as a studio and at PM Studios. Martha plays guitar and piano and enlisted the help of Toronto musicians Thom Gill (guitars, keys, back-ups) Phil Melanson (drums, percussion) and Josh Cole (bass). Pierre Marchand plays keyboards on Love Will Be Reborn plus two other tracks while Morgan Moore plays bass on several songs”.
There are a few albums due on 27th August that I want to point your way. The final one due on 20th August is Villagers’ Fever Dreams. Fronted by Conor J. O'Brien, the Dublin band are always incredible! Their fourth studio album, The Art of Pretending to Swim, was among the very best of 2017. Four years later, they are offering up an album that might be even stronger. Go and pre-order a copy of Fever Dreams when you can:
“Villagers' release their fifth studio album Fever Dreams via Domino. Escapism is a very necessary pursuit right now, and Fever Dreams follows it to mesmerising effect. It works like all the best records - it becomes a mode of transport; it picks you up from where you are and sets you down elsewhere.
These are songs with the strange, melted shapes and the magical ambivalence of dreams. The intent of the songs is both mysterious and as clear as a bell. With Fever Dreams, there is a sense of a deepening mastery and an expanding reach by O’Brien. Inspiration for the album was found in many places and came in from all angles, from night swimming on a Dutch island to Flann O’Brien, Audre Lorde, David Lynch, L. S. Lowry via the library music of Piero Umiliani and Alessandro Alessandroni and jazz from Duke Ellington and Alice Coltrane”.
I am intrigued to hear what Chubby and the Gang’s The Mutt’s Nuts will sound like. The London quintet are definitely out on their own and purveyors of arresting and uplifting music. I love the dichotomy of their music. They cover some quite bleak topics - though they also toss in witty lines and rousing compositions. Rough Trade talk about this a little bit:
“West London five-piece Chubby and the Gang are balanced by two energies on The Mutt's Nuts 'a casual 'fuckit' on one side, an active 'fuck off' on the other. For every moment of punk imperfection, there's an intricate flurry of detail. For every enraged statement about modern life as war, there's a lyric like 'Hello heartbreak, my old friend' that catches you off guard. Made up of musicians from across the consistently thriving and criminally overlooked UK hardcore scene (ft. The Chisel, Big Cheese and more), Chubby and the Gang marinate its characteristic speed and sick-of-it-all energy in a mixture of 50s pop sounds. The result is a prickly take on the older, more melodic genres that punk derives from, chewing them up and spitting them out into something mangled but revitalized”.
Go and get the album. It is going to be a treasure trove that will offer up rewards every time you listen. There is definitely a lot to recommend when it comes to Chubby and the Gang. I am a fan of the band and am looking forward to see where they head next and how far they can go!
IN THIS PHOTO: CHVRCHES
Another huge album that you will want to save some money for is CHVRCHES’ Screen Violence. Go and pre-order a copy now. The Glasgow band formed in September 2011 – their tenth anniversary is coming very soon. Their fourth studio album is among this year’s most-anticipated. I want to bring in a bit of an interview from NME. The band’s lead, Lauren Mayberry, revealed some inspirations behind Screen Violence’s first single:
“Some of Mayberry’s online interactions can be felt in certain songs on the record. Over the years, she’s had multiple perceptions placed on her by people that have never – and likely will never – meet her in the flesh.
She’s been criticised for wearing clothes on stage that are “too revealing”, but also had complaints coming her way when she retreated to baggier clothes – a reversal of the arc of criticism Billie Eilish recently experienced when she ditched the oversized outfits for her British Vogue cover. She has been labelled an “angry feminist”, “bitch” and “slut” for speaking out about things she believes are right or wrong has, and chastised for mixing politics and music. If she had stayed silent, you imagine she would have been scolded for not using her platform to talk about important issues too.
Although Mayberry may face more extreme reactions – and from a lot more people – it’s far from a unique experience. Women have to deal with these impossible and often contradictory standards in everyday life, and in trying to adhere to the patriarchy’s rules you can incur psychological whiplash.
“You could have offered me a collaboration with anyone and I would still choose Robert Smith” – Martin Doherty
It’s a feeling that takes centre stage on ‘Screen Violence’’s gigantic first single ‘He Said She Said’. “Get drunk, don’t be a mess,” Mayberry sings at one point, later following it up with more inconsistent commandments: “He said you need to be fed, but keep an eye on your waistline / Look good, but don’t be obsessed.” No wonder the chorus is her voice engaged in a disorienting call-and-response with a digitised echo of herself crying: “I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
“I’ve always been, for the most part, the only girl in a band, or the only girl on a lineup, or the only girl working in a venue,” she says. “I spent a lot of time trying so hard to be one of the boys because it’s just easier. When I was younger, it was like, ‘OK, well you need to be better, faster, smarter, tougher, quicker to make the dirty joke, because then that makes you less of an outlier”.
One huge album that is very much on my radar is Halsey’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. It is a great title from the hugely popular U.S. artist. If you have not heard Halsey’s music, go and check it out and ready yourself for the new album. You will want to pre-order what is going to be one of this year’s best:
“Capitol Records release Halsey’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. She recorded the career-defining album with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, known for their work in Nine Inch Nails and as Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy®-winning film/television composers. She continues to push creative boundaries, expanding her influence and impact beyond music. Named as one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People of 2020, she has won over 20 awards, including an AMA, MTV VMA, GLAAD Award, the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s Hal David Starlight Award and a CMT Music Award. Halsey recently introduced about-face, a multi-dimensional makeup line for made for everyone. Halsey continues to use her voice to speak up for causes she passionately believes in, including disenfranchised youth, women’s rights, mental health and the LGBTQ community”.
Halsey is an incredible artist who seems to get better and more astonishing with every album. I am really looking forward to seeing what she produces on this forthcoming album. It is going to be an album that you will not want to miss out on.
There are actually a couple of other albums out on 27th August that slipped my mind! Before that, I want to stick with Halsey. She spoke with Byrdie earlier in the year. We get a sense of what the new album might provide – in addition to how she has been raising awareness of terrific Black creatives:
“While About-Face and Manic are entirely separate creative projects, it’s easy to see a parallel between the makeup emphasizing one’s honest appearance and the album’s candid portrayal of Halsey’s thoughts. I Would Leave Me If I Could fits neatly into this picture as well, letting her express herself without the pressure of preconceived notions. “Everything changes when you're Halsey and saying it, instead of a writer,” she explains, “because then people are projecting years of every slutty outfit I've ever worn, or every guy I've ever dated, or every tweet I've ever tweeted, every song of mine they've ever heard.” The experience of writing and curating the poems, some of which are older works that inspired some of her lyrics, was freeing: “It made me feel like what I look like doesn't bastardize what I have to say. That made me feel confident, and I really loved doing that.”
Halsey once joked on Twitter that God made her and declared, “lmao and then she’ll create a new persona every 6 months.” However, this recurring theme of stripping back the layers behind which she hides—be they makeup, metaphors, or a stage name—feels less like the backstory of a temporary character and more like the makings of an entirely new era, in which Halsey takes the backseat. Her goal in her current projects isn’t to promote herself, but to amplify “lesser celebrated members of our community,” she says between bites of a salad that she can’t resist any longer. One such project is the Black Creators Fund, through which Halsey provides Black creatives with a platform and financial support.
It was an idea she had been toying with, but after participating in peaceful Black Lives Matter protests last summer at which police tear-gassed and shot rubber bullets at the crowd, she was spurred to do even more. “I wanted an opportunity for people to look at a database of amazing Black creatives, and see art that people of color had made in a time where you couldn't log on without seeing bodies on the internet,” she says. “That was the first thing. The second thing goes back to the amount of times that I'd been trying to hire a Black stylist, or a Black director, or a Black photographer and had been told that they can't find anyone, and me being like, ‘You're full of s–t”.
Maisie Peters’ You Signed Up For This is an album I am looking ahead to. Go and pre-order it if you can. She is an artist that many might not know. Her songwriting is so personal and impactful. I love what she puts out. You Signed Up for This is one you will not want to miss out on:
“Revered for her songwriting, Maisie has spent the past three years honing her craft in sessions across London, LA and Nashville, creating songs for You Signed Up For This alongside the likes of Ed Sheeran, Steve Mac, Fred again.., Johnny McDaid, Miranda Cooper, and producers Joe Rubel (Tom Grennan, Benjamin Francis Leftwich), Afterhrs (Niall Horan, GRACEY), Rob Milton (Easy Life, Holly Humberstone) and Brad Ellis (Jorja Smith, Little Mix).
With her knack for transforming everyday experiences in to vividly written diary-style songs, You Signed Up For This is both Maisie’s coming of age story and a love letter to girlhood; penned with the wit, charm and quiet confidence that has seen her ascend from busking on the streets of Brighton, to recently making her US TV debut on The Late Late Show with James Corden. Transporting us directly in to her world as she navigates from small town teenager to adulthood, there’s a universal sense of familiarity and nostalgia as she shares memories of blossoming relationships (‘Outdoor Pool’, ‘My Elvis Song’), being played (‘Boys’, ‘Volcano’), heartbreak (‘Tough Act’, ‘Villain’), and first holidays with her twin sister (‘Brooklyn’)”.
The last album from August (unless I have missed anything obvious) that you should save some pennies for is a reissue of Supergrass’ magnificent second studio album, In It for the Money (originally released in 1997). Even if you have a passing interest in Supergrass, you should definitely pre-order the new-look In It for the Money:
“Remastered version from original tapes of In It For The Money. From the vein-busting opener "In It For The Money" to the stoopid, human-beatbox closer of "Sometimes I Make You Sad", Supergrass's second album fairly defines the term "classic". "Going Out" swivels on an outrageous, 14-bar passage of Memphis brass and buzzes like the Beatles on the roof at Apple, while "Sun Hits The Sky" has all the furious bass-runs of the Who's "I Can See For Miles". And "Late In The Day" breaks into a guitar solo of such unindulgent homesick beauty it could cause pavements to weep. God would have to buy a Gibson and crib off John Lennon to top half of the songs on Money.
3CD - 43 extra tracks over two CDs of B-Sides, Rarities, Outtakes and Live Tracks.
2LP and 2LP+ -With bonus 12" featuring ‘Sun Hits The Sky (Bentley Rhythm Ace Remix)’ and ‘The Animal’”.
Those are the albums out next month that you will want to add to your collection As I said, some dates may change and there may be the odd album that comes out of nowhere. It looks like it is a strong and varied month for new releases. If you were curious which albums you should buy, then I hope that my recommendations above…
PROVIDE some answers.