FEATURE:
One for the Record Collection!
IN THIS PHOTO: Paul Simon/PHOTO CREDIT: Myrna Suarez
Essential May Releases
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I am casting my mind forward…
and looking to the great albums that are due for release next month. There are some phenomenal releases that people need to get involved with and pre-order. To start, on 5th May, there are a couple of albums that you need to check out. One that you might want to pre-order is Ed Sheeran’s ‘-‘ (Subtract). An artist who has had this run of albums using mathematical symbols, he now brings that series to a close. It seems like this might be his most open and vulnerable album yet. Even if I recently reacted to something Ed Sheeran said regarding the use of critics and whether we need them, I know there are people out there who will be interested in his new album and want to get a hold of it. Even if some critics may take against it, there is no doubting the popularity and place Sheeran holds in modern music. He is likely to score a chart topper with ‘-‘ (Subtract). This is what Rough Trade had to say about an album that will rank as one of the most anticipated and popular of the year so far:
“Ed Sheeran releases his new album ‘-‘ (Subtract) - the last in his decade-spanning mathematical album era. An album that revisits Ed’s singer / songwriter roots, and one that was written against a backdrop of personal grief and hope, ‘-’ (Subtract) presents one of the biggest stars on the planet at his most vulnerable and honest”.
An album that differs from Ed Sheeran’s is The Lemon Twigs’ Everything Harmony. Featuring one of the best album covers of this year, it is going to be another exciting and inventive release from the amazing American duo. I would urge everyone to pre-order this album from one of music’s most fascinating forces. I always love what The Lemon Twigs offer up:
“On Everything Harmony, the fourth full-length studio release from New York’s The Lemon Twigs, the prodigiously talented brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario offer 13 original servings of beauty that showcase an emotional depth and musical sophistication far beyond their years as a band, let alone as young men.
Everything Harmony successfully blends the brothers’ distinct personalities while giving voice to their eclectic influences. Opening the album with the unassuming acoustic folk of plaintive “When Winter Comes Around,” which echoes the sophisticated grandeur of classic Simon and Garfunkel recordings, they immediately switch things up to the sunny classic pop motif of “In My Head.” “Corner of My Eye” channels an Art Garfunkel-like vocal melody over a moody, vibraphone-tinged backing track suggesting the chamber pop of Brian Wilson.
While they had no grand concept for Everything Harmony, both the D’Addarios felt a “palpable mood of defeat” prevailed while writing and recording it. “New To Me” was inspired by their shared experience with loved ones suffering from Alzheimer’s, “What You Were Doing” is dressed in the tortured jangle of vintage Big Star, while “Born To Be Lonely,” written after watching John Cassavetes’ Opening Night, deals with what Brian calls “the fragility that often comes with age.”
Everything Harmony is a unified song cycle born of shared blood and common purpose. With two musical heads being better than one, there’s no shortage of ideas to draw on. Their only impediments are time and the challenge of keeping up with their own prolific musical inspiration. “We share an intuition and tend to be influenced by one another,” says Brian, “so the lyrical ideas on this record tend to complement each other. Writing has never been the issue for us. It’s completing, editing and compiling that takes the time. We’re trapped in a web of songs!”.
I am going to move things to 12th May, as there are a series of albums from this week that you will want to look out for. The first, Alison Goldfrapp’s The Love Invention, looks remarkable. We know her from Goldfrapp, but this is her debut solo album. An artist that is such a mighty talent, the singles we have heard from her debut solo album are sounding awesome! This is an album that you really have to pre-order, as I am predicting it will not only be among this year’s best. I think that it will be in the running for a Mercury Prize. You know that Alison Goldfrapp is going to deliver something sensational:
“Alison Goldfrapp has set a towering bar for British synth-pop in the 21st century and she’s only just getting started. The magnetic London-born singer, songwriter and producer’s seven albums with Goldfrapp were fuelled by an unfailing modernity and a sixth sense for sounds that were more timeless than any trend.
With the release of her debut solo album The Love Invention - an electrifying dance-pop suite - her multi-faceted musicianship reaches a new peak.
The Love Invention marks Alison’s reawakening as a dancefloor priestess, in an intoxicating showcase of the disco and house influences that have always been at the heart of her musical DNA. In Alison’s quintessentially complex way, the album's moments of sincerity are paired with a devious sense of fun. Lead single “So Hard So Hot” bottles the ephemeral joy of a dancefloor with its anthemic house beat, disco handclaps, and an exquisitely alluring vocal, whilst on “NeverStop,” Alison is flooded with the rush of an all-encompassing love over a buoyant, rubberised beat, and Balearic synths and a swooping punch-the-air chorus on 'Love Invention'.
Alison’s dedicated approach to pop innovation has firmly situated her as the rare leftfield artist who has been embraced by the pop mainstream without diluting one iota of her individuality”.
The American-born, Manchester-based BC Camplight (Brian Christinzio) offers up The Last Rotation of Earth on 12th May. An artist that I have so much respect and love for, his new album follows the incredible 2020 gem, Shortly After Takeoff. I have a feeling that this will be the most striking and memorable album from BC Camplight. If you have not heard his music before, I would proudly recommend pre-ordering The Last Rotation of Earth. You will definitely not regret it. Everything BC Camplight releases is so powerful and evocative. An artist that can draw you into a song, I am looking forward to seeing what The Last Rotation of Earth will sound like. It is definitely going to be among the best albums of this year:
“Is there a curse that says Brian ‘BC Camplight’ Christinzio cannot move forward without being knocked back? That the greatest material is born out of emotional trauma?
Whilst making his new album The Last Rotation Of Earth, Christinzio’s relationship with his fiancé crumbled after nine inseparable years. The album follows this break-up amid long-term struggles with addiction and declining mental health. The outcome is an extraordinary record, with Christinzio describing it as “more cinematic, sophisticated, and nuanced than anything I’ve done before. And more desperate”.
A group and album that may not be familiar with everyone, I would advise people to invest in Esben and the Witch’s Hold Sacred. Go and pre-order an album that is guaranteed to leave an impression. I am looking forward to it coming out on 12th May. In a strong week for music, this album is one that you will not want to let slip away:
“Esben and the Witch - comprising Rachel Davies, Thomas Fisher and Daniel Copeman - began in Brighton in 2008, later decamped to Berlin, and is now split three ways across the UK, Germany and the US. Their winding geographical journey feels representative of their path as a whole. The band have snaked through various scenes and sonic worlds across their 14 years together, while always squirming away from an easy genre classification. Their first two albums, 2011’s Violet Cries and 2013’s Wash the Sins Not Only The Face - both released on Matador Records - offered gothic, electronic-tinged dream pop and post-rock. Beginning with the Steve Albini-produced A New Nature (2014, self-released on their own Nostromo Records), they came to explore heavier post-punk and metal textures, which they intensified through 2016’s Older Terrors and 2018’s Nowhere (both via Marseille-based metal label Season of Mist).
Hold Sacred represents a reset in many ways. After Nowhere, Davies felt exhausted and disenfranchised with music, and for a while entertained the possibility that Esben and the Witch had come to an end. If they were to make a new album, they needed to take everything back to basics. They departed from their record label, returning to independence through Nostromo. They expanded operations, too, with the launch of Haus Nostromo, an online emporium and journal through which they branch away from purely music, selling “a curated collection of books, zines, art prints, clothing and more”. It’s aimed at building community, celebrating the act of collaboration, and offering an ethical, passion-driven and truly DIY platform for artists across various mediums. “Similar to the spirit of Esben, it’s always been essential for us to do everything on our own terms,” says Davies.
In the summer of 2019, the band retreated to a villa outside of Rome, with no expectations or pressures but simply the intention to enjoy each other’s company and see what musical inspiration may arise from that. This is where the rough sketches of the songs that would form Hold Sacred came to be. “It was a wonderful, restorative retreat,” Davies says. “It felt free again, and a reminder that perhaps there was still a spark left for us to unearth.”
The songs that were emerging were different than any previous. They’re brooding, gentle, almost ambient; there are no live drums, and the instrumentals comprise simple, sparse guitar and keys. “We wanted to create a softer, calmer record; a record we’d listen to when we need soothing, like the ambient records we find comforting and, dare I say, almost spiritual,” says Davies. The band used no outside producers or engineers, keeping the process limited to the three of them from start to finish — harkening back to the spirit of their earliest days when Copeman would record them in his bedroom and bathroom”.
One more album before we move on to 19th May. Madison McFerrin’s I Hope You Can Forgive Me is one you need to check out. An artist who I really love, go and pre-order this album. McFerrin blends a cappella, Electronic Pop, Jazz, and Soul. The daughter of Bobby McFerrin, she released two a cappella-based E.P.s before releasing 2019's You + I, produced with her brother Taylor McFerrin. I do hope as many people as possible buy and hear an album from one of modern music’s greatest voices. She is a phenomenal artist that we all need to embrace and highlight:
“Madison’s latest project, I Hope You Can Forgive Me, represents an evolution in her career as she finds ways to improvise and self-produce in the midst of an ever changing global pandemic landscape. I Hope You Can Forgive Me builds upon that next step sonically while exploring themes of love, self preservation, fear, and conjuring. What comes out of this work and Madison’s career thus far is a commitment to leave - leave fear and doubt behind in order to make space for what is next to come, all with a sense of style, fun, and invitation to dance through it”.
There are three albums due on 19th May that I want to suggest to you. The first is from a true legend of music. Graham Nash releases Now. It is an album from someone who, among his honours, founded The Hollies. I do not even think that he is an artist now that appeals to an older demographic and past generation. Here is someone creating remarkable music that needs to be heard by all. Go and pre-order a phenomenal new album from one of music’s giants and all-time greats. I am excited and primed for new music from the genius Graham Nash. For those who might not have heard Nash’s solo music, Now sounds like an album that you will want to get a hold of:
“Two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and founding member of both the Hollies and Crosby, Stills and Nash, Graham Nash returns with his first studio album of new material in seven years, titled Now. Now is produced by Nash and longtime touring keyboardist Todd Caldwell”.
Another album from 19th May that you will want to pre-order is Hannah Jadagu’s Aperture. This may be someone new to you. I only discovered Jadagu’s music last year, but I have really connected with it. I do think that you should pre-order Aperture, as it is going to be a stunning album from a rising artist that everyone needs to be aware of. Take some time out today to listen to the music of the wonderful Hannah Jadagu:
“Fresh out of high school, Hannah Jadagu released her debut EP, What Is Going On?, a collection of intimate bedroom pop tracks recorded entirely on an iPhone 7, which was, at the time, Jadagu’s most accessible mode of production. An off-the-cuff approach to music making and instinctive ability to write unforgettable hooks belied the intensity of Jadagu’s subject matter. What Is Going On? confronted some of the nation’s most urgent struggles through Jadagu’s compassionate perspective. What Is Going On? built on the small online fanbase Jadagu had developed by releasing music on SoundCloud for years as she realized her growing passion for songwriting.
Now, Jadagu is releasing Aperture, her first LP and most ambitious work to date. Written in the years between graduating from high school in Mesquite, TX and her sophomore year of college in New York, Aperture finds Jadagu in a state of transition. “Where I grew up, everyone is Christian; even if you don’t go to church, you’re still practicing in some form,” Jadagu says, laughing. “Moving out of my small hometown has made me reflect on how embedded Christianity is in the culture down there, and though I’ve been questioning my relationship to the church since high school, it’s definitely a theme on this album, but so is family.”
As a kid, Jadagu followed her older sister – a major source of inspiration – to a local children’s chorus, where she received choral training. “I hated it,” Jadagu admits. “But it taught me how to harmonize, how to discover my tone, how to recognize and write melody.” The aching single “Admit It” is dedicated to Jadagu’s sister, whose love and impeccable taste have been a constant since Jadagu was a kid. The siblings were raised on mom’s Young Money mixtapes and the Black Eyed Peas (to whom Hannah credits her love of vocoder) but it was in the sanctity of her sister’s car that Jadagu discovered the indie artists who inspire her work.
With Aperture, Jadagu faced the challenge of finding a co-producer capable of complementing her work without dominating it. Enter Max Robert Baby, a French songwriter and producer who captured Jadagu’s attention with his take on Aperture’s lead single “Say It Now.” The duo worked remotely, sending stems to one another via email, before meeting in-person for the first time at Greasy Studios on the outskirts of Paris. “When I recorded my EP, it was all MIDI, but in the studio Max and I worked with a ton of analog instruments,” Jadagu says. “Every track on this album, except for ‘Admit It,’ was written first on guitar. But the blanket of synths throughout helps me move between sensibilities. There’s rock Hannah, there’s hip-hop Hannah, and so on. I didn’t want any of the songs to sound too alike.”
An aperture is defined as an opening, a hole, a gap. On a camera, it’s the mechanism that light passes through, allowing a photographer to immortalize a moment in time. For Jadagu, the word perfectly encapsulates the mood of her debut album. In the years it took her to complete, she faced moments of darkness, sure, but the process of making it was ultimately a cathartic experience, one she now shares with you. Let the light in”.
There are three albums from 26th May that I will finish off with. An album whose presence was announced recently, Paul Simon’s Seven Psalms sounds so interesting. Few expected news of a new album from Simon this year. His previous, In the Blue Light, came out in 2018. His fifteenth solo studio album is like nothing he has done before. Every music fan needs to pre-order one of this year’s most important albums:
“Recorded entirely on acoustic instruments and predominantly performed by Paul, Seven Psalms showcases Simon’s craft at its finest and most captivating, simply with his voice and guitar. Intended to be listened to as one continuous piece, the 33 minute, seven movement composition transcends the concept of the “album".
A stunning, intricately layered work, it’s a record which establishes an engaging and meditative, almost hymnal soundscape, with Paul’s lyrics providing the gravitational center for constellations of sound woven from guitar strings and other acoustic instrumentation – including choral elements from the highly-regarded British vocal ensemble VOCES8, and a beautiful vocal appearance by Edie Brickell.
True to the origin of psalms as hymns meant to be sung rather than spoken, Seven Psalms reaches back to the very genesis of folk music: King David’s Psalms. The result is a quietly moving musical experience which uncovers a wealth of subtle details with every repeated listen. A step apart from anything Paul Simon has released before, Seven Psalms defies categorization.
The record’s tone is complemented by its artwork, which features a close-up extract of “Two Owls” by the celebrated landscape artist Thomas Moran”.
A terrific young artist who is going to go far, Gretel Hänlyn releases Head of The Slug Club on 26th May. It is her first two E.P.s, Slugeye and Head of the Love Club, combined into a vinyl. You can pre-order it here, and I would suggest you do, as Hänlyn is an immense talent. Head of the Love Club came out in March, so you may have it already. I would urge people to go and get an album that brings together two E.P.s that highlights an amazing artist. I will bring in an interview from The Line of Best Fit, as they spotlighted someone that is going to have a very long career:
“Hänlyn, aka Maddy Haenlein, has taken time out of her afternoon to catch up at a pub in central London for a chinwag over a pint. She sips on her Guinness contently, feeling better after a nasty infection earlier in the week. But also coming in armed and ready with the prospect of new music, a run of live shows in April and a festival slot alongside the legendary Iggy Pop this Summer, her drink is sure to taste that extra bit sweeter.
“I feel really happy with how things are working out,” says Hänlyn as she reflects on her musical journey to date. She first cropped up in 2021 with her distinctively brooding vocals marking her adrift from her contemporaries.
PHOTO CREDIT: Brennan Bucannan
The buzz around Hänlyn has only grown since. Her debut EP Slugeye gained her critical acclaim and this month she deliver its follow up Head of the Love Club. It’s a bold new body of work which showcases an evolving artistic persona with depth, vulnerability and a brazen edge that’s characteristically ‘Gretel’. Most of all, it’s a statement that showcases just who Hänlyn is.
“I wasn’t trying to please any majority,” Hänlyn assures. “A lot of the time during recording, I was messing around with different vocal lines and styles that made me go ‘eugh, I hate that, let’s do it!’. It’s often the things that are ugly and a little too honest that resonate with people rather than nice, romanticised lyrics. They’re the kinds of things that make people think about what’s going on in their lives.”
Hänlyn’s capacity to confront challenges in her own life as a 20-year-old adult has been resolute. As a teenager, she went through an illness which impacted her muscle growth. This particularly affected her diaphragm, meaning that she had to learn how to sing all over again. “Emotionless” is how Hänlyn says she felt during that time and the numbness she experienced then continues to pervade her today.
PHOTO CREDIT: Brennan Bucannan
“This is a little heavy, but I remember the time when I’d just finished my GCSEs, my mum sat me down and she told me that she had cancer," Hänlyn explains. "I didn’t feel a thing. Nothing happened inside of me. A few weeks ago, my aunt died. When I was told that, I didn’t feel a thing. It’s so weird. It makes me think like ‘what is wrong with me?’ But I think music is how I process emotions. I don’t get that catharsis without having processed it through a song first.
That cathartic release sprawls across Head of the Love Club, which fuses elements of Gothic fantasy influenced by her background in short horror stories with searing doses of introspection. From energetic lead singles like “Drive” to more pensive moments like “Little Vampire”, as well as the gloriously abrasive title track, there are a diverse range of soundscapes which paint the EP in a myriad of eerily dark and colourful tones. “When I go into a song, I don’t want there to be a reference track of what it sounds like,” says Hänlyn. “I had a clear idea of what of what I wanted and what I feel would impress me as a listener, which was how I approached the project.”
Her latest material has been essential for her to compose: “During the time when the majority of Head of the Love Club was written, I had quite a strange and unique relationship with someone who was a lot older than me,” she says looking down slightly nervously. “There was quite a strange dynamic; for around a year, I found myself being so confused and obsessed with this person that I felt powerless, like a little girl. So, a lot of the EP is me reflecting on that relationship and often how tiny it made me feel”.
There are two big albums to end up with. Following her award-winning 2021 debut album, Collapsed in Sunbeams, we are now going to get the anticipated My Soft Machine. This is an album that I suggest everyone pre-orders. It looks like it will another hugely successful and accomplished album from one of our finest and most important artists. Arlo Parks is truly sensational. Here are details of her second studio album:
“Twice Grammy-nominated, Mercury Prize and Brit Award-winning artist Arlo Parks is returning with her second album, My Soft Machine on Transgressive Records. My Soft Machine is a deeply personal body of work; a narration of Parks’ experiences as she navigates her 20’s and the growth intertwined. Explained ever-articulately in her own words below...
“The world/our view of it is peppered by the biggest things we experience - our traumas, upbringing, vulnerabilities almost like visual snow. This record is life through my lens, through my body - the mid 20s anxiety, the substance abuse of friends around me, the viscera of being in love for the first time, navigating PTSD and grief and self sabotage and joy, moving through worlds with wonder and sensitivity - what it’s like to be trapped in this particular body. There is a quote from a Joanna Hogg film called the Souvenir, it’s an A24 semi-autobiographical film with Tilda Swinton - it recounts a young film student falling in love with an older, charismatic man as a young film student then being drawn into his addiction - in an early scene he’s explaining why people watch films - “we don’t want to see life as it is played out we want to see life as it is experienced in this soft machine.” So there we have it, the record is called....My Soft Machine.” - Arlo Parks”.
Let’s finish off with the upcoming album from Sparks. The brilliantly-named The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte arrives on 26th May. From the L.A. siblings Ron and Russell Mael, you just know that this is going to be a real treat. Sparks are one of the most consistent groups (duos, technically) in music history. Their endurance and constant sense of invention is truly amazing. Their new album sounds terrific:
“Sparks release their hugely anticipated 26th studio album, The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte via Island Records. The LP marks Sparks’ first release on the venerable Island Records label in close to five decades, following such classics as 1974’s landmark Kimono My House, highlighted of course by the indelible hit single ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us’. The new album is described by Ron and Russell Mael as a record that is “as bold and uncompromising as anything we did back then or, for that matter, anytime throughout our career.” The album includes such instantly intriguing new musical vignettes as ‘Mona Lisa’s Packing, Leaving Late Tonight’ and ‘Nothing Is As Good As They Say It Is’, songs which once again display Sparks’ seemingly ceaseless ability to craft complete, intricately detailed stories within perfect three-and-a- half minute pop masterpieces. Both characteristically timeless and unequivocally modern, The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte once again affirms that, after more than a half century making such masterpieces, Sparks remain inimitable, ingenious and, as ever, utterly one of a kind”.
If you need other album tips, there are some more here, but the ones I have suggested and outlined are well worth thinking about. Huge releases from Sparks, Paul Simon, and Arlo Parks sit alongside treasures from Madison McFerrin, and BC Camplight. If you need some guidance as to which May-due albums are worth pre-ordering, then I hope the above…
WAS of assistance.