Happy 2023!
Despite the turn of the year, the constant stream of album releases, good and bad, stops for no one. 2022 produced a swathe of incredible releases. Weyes Blood, Alvvays, Kendrick Lamar, Jockstrap, Fontaines D.C., Pusha T, and Black Country, New Road all produced incredible albums and this is leaving out a handful of other releases also worthy of mention. The assured return of Beach House, the continuation of Nas’ Indian summer, five albums in a year from King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, the underwhelming Brockhampton farewell, Soul Glo breathing new life into the hardcore-punk genre, the glorious maturing of Big Thief, the mad genius of Richard Dawson, and the impressive consistency of Freddie Gibbs, Billy Woods, and Natalia Lafourcade. These just give an idea of what made 2022 so exciting for music lovers of all kinds.
2023 will no doubt also produce its share of fantastic and interesting music from established artists and newcomers alike, ranging from giants of the industry to underground newcomers, and everything in between. After a quiet December (which still included notable releases such as a new Little Simz project) that didn’t receive the round-up treatment, it’s time to get back to the exciting prospect of new releases.
January is a strange time, as music fans and publications put the finishing touches on their selections for favourite albums of the previous year, and fill in any big gaps in their listening. This means that January releases easily slip through the cracks. Furthermore, with new releases from the likes of Gorillaz, Shame, and U.S. Girls (to name three all slated to drop on the same day) promised for February, this month’s releases may well be overshadowed while people take their time to get in the groove of keeping up with 2023 releases. In an attempt to avoid this, I have, as usual, sifted through a selection of releases, and written a few thoughts on them. I hope that this may lead you to something you might enjoy.
Nicole Dollanganger – Married in Mount Airy (6th January)
Genres – Singer-songwriter
Canadian singer-songwriter Nicole Dollanganger is unique in her eerily childlike voice and often a dark subject matter, delivered over slowcore folk instrumentals. Married in Mount Airy is her best release since 2015’s Natural Born Losers. Her vocal delivery and melodies fall somewhere between Lana Del Rey and Julee Cruise, and the haunting instrumentals of the album resemble Grouper’s brilliant Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill. From the outset, the album is chilling. The title track recalls a 60s marriage consummation, with the ethereal vocals and instrumental creating a sense of mystery that is irresistible. Past love is again the theme of the second track, ‘Gold Satin Dreamer,’ which brilliantly evokes the fragility of memory. A particularly powerful lyric is: ‘All of those dreams left out in the sun // They run like syrup and clot like blood // Disfigured beyond recognition in the sun.’ This exemplifies Dollanganger’s obsession with the past, and its tendency to fade. Her music is concerned with storytelling and evocation of experience, often setting the scenes of her music years before she was born, treating them with a mixture of romantic nostalgia and fear. ‘Runnin’ Free’ is another powerful track, adding loud, shuddering guitars to the understated musical arrangements we have seen so far. ‘Bad Man’ takes a gothic turn, its lyrics mourning the death of an abusive ex-lover. As always with Dollanganger, it is the juxtaposition of her tender, child-like vocal delivery with the subject matter which makes the track so uniquely powerful and unsettling as it follows the threads of Gothicism that have run through Americana for decades. The album suffers from a lack of variety (to the point that it makes you look up in disbelief at the occasional introduction of heavier sounds), and those with short attention spans may struggle with the monotony which is inherent in the genre. However, the lyricism on the show is excellent, and if you can get on board with the sound, this album will be a rewarding listen.
Belle and Sebastian – Late Developers (13th January)
Genres – Indie Pop
Belle and Sebastian’s output has been a mixed bag since the hattrick of near-perfect albums that kicked off their career in the mid to late 90s. They took the theme of being outcasts (and all the angst and anxiety which comes with that) and presented it in a uniquely gentle and humorous way, instantly becoming unlikely indie mainstays. It would be easy to lose track of the band after 2010’s Write About Love (their last truly good album), but like many, I retain hope that the band will one day recapture some of the magic that made their early albums, and some of their mid-career pop albums, so enjoyable. Late Developers is a quickfire follow-up to last year’s A Bit of Previous. Anyone looking for Belle and Sebastian’s stripped-back, folky approach from their early material, may be disappointed. From the outset, the album is more cleanly produced and loud than their early efforts. However, the album starts solidly enough with ‘Juliet Naked,’ in which an acoustic guitar riff is overlain by sharp electric guitars and flutes, and Stuart Murdoch delivers typically witty and referential lyrics. The song carries a sense of urgency not always seen at this stage in the band’s career, which often falls into the trappings of middle-aged dinner party music. ‘Give a Little Time’ is a bright and breezy indie pop tune in keeping with their mid-2000s work. While the track sounds like it could be a cast-off from the days of The Life Pursuit (2006), it just isn’t quite as memorable or catchy as the songs on that album. The track, while pleasant enough, has an inoffensive quality that reminds us that Belle and Sebastian, as they have got older (and probably happier), have got more boring. With ‘When We Were Very Young,’ the band turned in a more electronic direction with mixed results. The instrumental doesn’t fit Murdoch’s vocals but the lyrics are some of the best on the album. The chorus is vintage Murdoch as he proclaims, ‘I wish I could be content with the football scores // I wish I could be content with the daily chores // With my daily worship of the sublime.’ Murdoch’s treatment of his self-pity has always been playful and sarcastic, and this is him at his best, though it’s a shame that the track itself isn’t particularly memorable.
‘I Don’t Know What You See in Me’ is a mind-bogglingly irritating slice of Radio 2 fodder which it’s hard to believe is from the same band whose opening statement was something as brilliant as ‘The State I Am In’. However, ‘When the Cynics Stare Back From the Wall,’ as the title would suggest, plays into the band’s origins. The instrumental is classic Belle and Sebastian, and Murdoch and Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell bounce off one another brilliantly. It’s twee in all the right ways and no doubt the highlight of the album. This is the story of the album. It bumbles along as a solid, radio-friendly, indie pop album. The occasional flash of the dour yet funny lyricism that made the band so unique in the first place will be enough to keep fans interested for the duration, though they may not feel the need to revisit it. The album is decent enough, but for anyone not familiar with the band, it would be worth checking out their first three albums first to understand their well-deserved place in the alternative music landscape.
Billy Nomates – Cacti (13th January)
Genres – Post-punk, dance-punk
Bristol-based indie newcomer Billy Nomates (the alias of Tor Maries) has made waves with her self-titled debut album, released in 2020, and a series of intriguing singles leading up to the release of Cacti, the highlight being the excellent ‘Blue Bones (Death Wish).’ While often placed under the post-punk banner, she is set apart from other proponents of the movement by her digestible, danceable sound and unpretentious lyrics. She has an undeniable ear for infectious pop melody, apparent in the aforementioned ‘Blue Bones (Death Wish)’ which has a certain ‘I can’t believe I haven’t heard this before’ quality, with its driving guitars and catchy chorus. The lyrics of the track have enough edge to keep things interesting, including a refrain of ‘death don’t turn me on like it used to.’ It’s easy to imagine this being sung at festivals. This whole album has a quality of music that would translate brilliantly to live performance. The album owes a debt to synth-pop and dance music, evident on the title track and ‘saboteur forcefield,’ a moody, synth-drenched highlight of the album on which Maries shows a soulfulness to her vocal delivery which recalls Karen O. ‘Spite’ returns to rockier territory, a catchy song about claiming control in a failing relationship. Again, there’s the sense that this would be great live. This is not fully to the album’s credit. While the washed-out instrumentals and the prevalence of electric drum sounds are creative choices, to my mind it teases something louder, brasher, and more powerful which only would be apparent at a gig. The album would benefit from some more raw production. Also, some of the slower tracks, while sweet and listenable, don’t leave that much of an impression. Despite a couple of shortcomings, this is a good album that will satisfy indie fans, and Billy Nomates is undoubtedly one to watch going forward.
Gaz Coombes – Turn the Car Around (13th January)
Genres – Indie rock, psychedelic rock
Despite a solid discography and one of the most iconic albums of the Britpop era in I Should Coco (1995), Oxford’s Supergrass have sadly often been relegated to the periphery of discussions surrounding the movement. Pulp and Suede have generally been treated as alternatives to the giants of Blur and Oasis. Each of these bands is done a disservice by being pigeonholed in this movement and Supergrass is no exception. Frontman Gaz Coombes’ latest solo offering is an at times sombre collection of thoughtful and mature tracks, a far cry from the cheeky, laddish upbeatness which Supergrass are associated with. Coombes’ voice remains instantly recognisable and, turned to a more serious and dramatic sound, carries over well. The instrumentation takes cues from the current movement of neo-psychedelia, especially its more indie-pop-oriented side inhabited by the likes of Tame Impala. The album combines an electronic, synthy sound with sharp electric guitar work. ‘Feel Loop (Lizard Dream)’ is a standout, a grooved-up answer to Radiohead’s mid-2000s output (in fact, Thom Yorke’s vocal intonations re-emerge at various points throughout the album) with backing vocals and guitar work which could have been lifted from a Queens of the Stone Age track. ‘Long Live the Strange,’ Coombes’ tribute to originality, is a stomping rock song reminiscent of The Last Shadow Puppets. A lot of this brief review has been spent comparing Coombes’ output to other artists, but this is to the album’s credit. Coombes’ versatility over these different styles, thanks in part to his matured vocal ability, makes Turn the Car Around a pleasantly surprising triumph for an indie rock veteran.
Rozi Plain – Prize (13th January)
Genres – Art Pop
London-based singer-songwriter Rozi Plain has been plugging away for years but her latest release, Prize, has already got more traction than anything that came before, and for good reason. What we have here is a pretty, lush-sounding art pop album with beautiful vocals and gentle yet intricate instrumental arrangements. The album starts strongly with ‘Agreeing for Two,’ which builds instrumentally from a beeping synth line which is joined by guitars, percussion and sax as the song goes on, complimented nicely by Plain’s pleasant vocals. Lyrically the album is charmingly simplistic. On ‘Help,’ Plain sings; ‘If it’s a feeling that’s going, when it goes you won’t even know.’ There is power in simple lyrics like this which is accentuated by instrumentals that, though they may seem ambient and stripped back at first, consisting of sounds intricately woven together to create the perfect accompaniment to Plain’s vocal and lyrical style. While the album doesn’t necessarily remain engaging for the duration, it is a very pleasant listening experience.
Italia 90 – Living Human Treasure (20th January)
Genres – Post-punk Revival
The post-punk revival (which has produced some of the best albums of recent times) is showing no sign of letting up, as London-based group Italia 90 finally throw their hat into the ring with their debut studio album. As well as staking an early claim for song title of the year with ‘The MUMSNET Mambo,’ the four-piece has produced a really solid post-punk album. From the opening track ‘Cut,’ there is a threatening, stripped-back rock sound with dour and funny lyrics. As with many bands in the scene (Shame especially), the influence of The Fall is clear to see. The instrumentals are tight, the vocals are raving and regional, and there is a dry, absurdist sense of humour. The band members even perform under the pseudonyms Les Miserable (vocals), The Edge (guitar), Bobby Portrait (bass) and J Dangerous (drums). Like Idles and Yard Act, their lyrics are socially and politically conscious. ‘Leisure Activities’ is a rip-roaring track about class snobbery which includes the lyrics: ‘And if the idiots can’t find jobs then how do they pay for leisure activities?’ Their sound is characterised by harsh, distorted, feedback-laden guitar tones but there is enough variety in tempo and style to keep things fresh. ‘Competition’ revolves around a single refrain but the sound bed of wailing guitars gets more and more intense as the song goes on, matching an increasingly angry vocal delivery. They comfortably slide into more of a radio indie-rock song structure on ‘New Factory’ but keep the overwhelming instrumental sound to brilliant effect. ‘The MUMSNET Mambo’ is a hilarious and topical moment of quiet reprieve in which the band again veer into class politics before upping the pace and noise again with ‘Funny Bones’. ‘Golgotha’ is another track which revolves around lyrical repetition at odds with instrumental variance. One of the lyrics repeated is ‘Kick you when you’re down // They blame you for flinching,’ one of the best write-ups of Tory governance I can remember. The brilliant ‘Tales From Beyond’ is the album’s defining statement and marks the entry of yet another promising band to join an already exciting group of artists in the genre. Rock is not dead.
Mac DeMarco – Five Easy Hot Dogs
Genres – Soft rock
Indie darling Mac DeMarco’s star has waned slightly after the disappointing release of ‘Here Comes the Cowboy’ in 2019. However, if you’re of a certain age, and move in any remotely indie or alternative circles, you’re bound to have experienced just how big Mac DeMarco was between 2012 and 2017, his name was inescapable. The music was good and could be played anywhere, and he always comes across as a lovely guy. It’s hard to know what to write about Five Easy Hot Dogs. On the one hand, it’s a bold departure from what came before, with DeMarco’s voice being absent from the album in favour of a more ambient style. On the other hand, this is a) not particularly well executed and b) having made his name as a singer-songwriter, this is bound to cause more fans disappointment. I have nothing against ambient music (or simply instrumental music), there are masterpieces of the genre, but this is not one of them. The album is perfectly pleasant and you might want to stick it on if you’re at a loss as to what to listen to while working or studying. Beyond this, it is hard to recommend. There are moments of prettiness and it’s an inoffensive kind of background noise but, much like Sufjan Stevens’ attempt at something similar (2021’s Convocations which, in its defence, was far more adventurous than this), it misses the personality apparent on the other albums.
The Murder Capital – Gigi’s Recovery (20th January)
Genres – Post-punk Revival
I have kept an eye on Dubliners The Murder Capital after accidentally stumbling into a festival tent where they were playing a set before the release of When I Have Fears, their 2019 debut album. On Gigi’s Recovery, the band has expanded their musical horizons, abandoning the consistently downbeat and depressing style and content of their debut in favour of something more varied. While the relentless drums and distorted guitars keep the group in touch with their old style, the effects are far more varied, as evident from the contemplative and unsettling second track, ‘Crying,’ which advances at great speed to a noisy and euphoric conclusion. The guitar effects, as well as James McGovern’s powerful vocals, are excellent here and throughout the album. ‘Return My Head,’ one of the album’s singles, follows on in the same vein, building up to a grander sound with much more of an arena quality than the band’s earlier work, with a hook that challenges that on ‘Don’t Cling to Life,’ the defining statement of When I Have Fears. Strings are the new addition on ‘Ethel,’ one of the album’s best tracks, which again exploits a full sound without losing their haunting post-punk pretensions. Like ‘Crying,’ ‘Ethel’ is an exercise in the build and it certainly pays off. ‘The Stars Will Leave Their Stage’ is also fantastic, as a ringtone-like stabbing synth riff is joined by punchy drumming from Diarmuid Brennan and twanging guitars from Damien Tuit and Cathal Roper. The album also has its slower moments, such as the haunting organ-led ballad ‘Belonging’ which brings in strange, Aphex Twin-like synth sounds. From the tender, beautiful moments (‘The Lie Becomes the Self’) to the raucous rock tracks (‘Only Good Things’), Gigi’s Recovery remains engaging throughout and marks an evolution from their debut into something much more ambitious. Comparisons with fellow Irishmen Fontaines D.C. (who have a similarly gothic approach to post-punk) seem unavoidable, and somewhere between them and Radiohead, you will find The Murder Capital, who are carving out their niche very nicely.
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