Wet Leg "Moisturizer" (2025)

Moisturizer

udgivet: 11. jul. 2025

format: digital (12 x File, FLAC)

[vurdering: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]

producer: Dan Carey

selskab: Domino - nationalitet: England, UK

Udvalgte numre: 1. "CPR" - 2. "Liquidize" - 3. "Catch These Fists" - 4. "Davina Mccall" - 5. "Jennifer's Body" - 6. "Mangetout" - 8. "Pokemon" - 11. "11:21"

2. studiealbum fra Isle of Wight-skabte band Wet Leg er opfølger til den selvbetitlede debut fra 2022. Oprindeligt var bandet et duo-projekt af forsanger og rytmeguitarist Rhian Teasdale og lead guitarist Hester Chambers, som havde startet musikprojektet omkring tre år før de albumdebuterede - en debut, der tog landet med storm, da det ikke bare toppede albumhitlisten i Storbritanien men også førte til to Grammy Awards for 'Best Alternative Music Performance' og for 'Best Alternative Music Album'. Alt dette skete som følge af flere positive hændelser og en række succesfulde singleudgivelser. Duoen udgav førstesinglen "Chaise Longue" jun. 2021, og den blev rost i flere magasiner og endte som et viralt hit takket været en (banal) original video, som duoen fulgte op med endnu et videohit i sep. '21 med sangen "Wet Dream". Allerede to måneder senere fulgte så en dobbeltsingle-udgivelse med sangene "Too Late Now" og "Oh No" - igen anset som hits og så fulgte femte- og sjette-singlerne "Angelica" og "Ur Mum" i hhv. feb. og apr. '22, inden albummet så udkom kort efter den sidste single. Albummet består af 12 numre og med halvdelen af sangene udgivet som singler, var det et album, der var imødeset som sjældent før, selvom bandet ikke havde taget vejen til udbredelse gennem mange års liveoptrædener og promoveringer på anden vis. Wet Leg blev først og fremmest et mediehit, der slog igennem både via traditionalle medier som magasiner og trykte medier, men måske især gennem visninger på sociale medier. Ganske vist fremstod Wet Leg på debuten som en duo, som her på Moisturizer er blevet udivdet til en kvintet med guitarist og tangentspiller Joshua Mobaraki, bassist Ellis Durand og trommelager Henry Holmes - både Mobaraki og Holmes medvirkede på debutalbummet. På Moisturizer er det især Teasdale og Durand der fungerer som sangskrivere, men også Mobaraki og Chambers er krediteret flere af sangene. "Catch These Fists" blev udvalgt som førstesingle, hvorefter tre følgende numre er udgivet som singler: "CPR", "Davina McCall" og "Mangetout".

Musikalsk og stimæssigt er der ikke meget nyt ved Wet Leg. De spiller også her en simpel og energisk rockmusik med rødder i indie rock og med navne som Pixies og The Breeders fra USA, engelske The Vaccines og elementer fra tidlig Björk som umiddelbare inspirationskilder, som måske kan ses som en slags revival og idolisering af girl-power. Albummet peger i flere retninger end den lidt enklere-skårede debut. Der har indsneget sig en portion inspiration og elementer fra den elektroniske musik, fra synth-pop og art pop, som både gør albummet til en original og samtidig ret enkel udgivelse båret frem af Teasdale's skarpe vokal, som alligevel ikke adskiller denne væsentligt fra debuten. Det er stadig forfriskende og ligefrem musik som bestemt er værd at lytte til. Som på '22-albummet savnes der lidt på originaliteten og jeg har det lidt sådan, at uden sociale medier, så havde bandet her nok blot været for de få - det er de jo så heldigvis ikke, kan man sige. Bandet er ikke mine nye personlige favoritter, men mindre kan bestemt gøre det. Wet Leg er værd at stifte bekendtskab med og albummet her fortjener en anbefaling uden, at det på den måde kandiderer til årets bedste albumudgivelse.

Anbefalet.

[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone, NME, The Guardian, Slant 4 / 5, Pitchfork 7,8 / 10 stjerner ]

Bob Mould "Here We Go Crazy" (2025)

Here We Go Crazy

udgivet: 7. mar. 2025

format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)

[vurdering: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]

producer: Bob Mould

selskab: BMG - nationalitet: USA

Udvalgte numre: 1. "Here We Go Crazy" - 2. "Neanderthal" - 3. "Breathing Room" - 4. "Hard to Get" - 9. "You Need to Shine" - 11. "Your Side"

14. studiealbum fra grunge-rockens far, Bob Mould, lander 4½ år efter Blue Hearts (sep. 2020) og er, ikke overraskende, et album fyldt med masser af energi. Albummet er Mould's første på BMG efter en lang række udgivelser på Merge Records, men da Mould selv indtager sine vante roller som sangskriver, komponist og producer, kan en ny udgivelse ikke give anledning til mange løftede øjenbryn, hvad angår stil eller temaer. Tidligere har Mould eksperimenteret med sit lydbillede og brugen af instrumentering, men siden Silver Age fra 2012 har han befundet sig ganske konsekvent på en energisk alt-rock-platform, dristigt formet af sin forkærlighed for power pop og med små strejf fra en fjernere fortid i Sugar og i Hüsker Dü i det, der var en mere traditionel guitar-rock-indpakning. Sammenlignet med hans seneste album, Blue Hearts, så er albummet her en smule mere råt, lidt mere direkte, lidt mindre politisk-orienteret og i stedet fyldt til randen af rendyrkede følelser. Det passer både godt til den mængde energi, der lægges for dagen, og det melodiske drive - og ja, til tider kunne man argumentere, at det tenderer til noget repetitivt, men nu taler vi altså om den fu*#ing Bob Mould! Den mand bør til evig tid gives ret og tilladelse til bare at sætte strøm til sin guitar, tænde for forstærkeren, skrue godt op, og have det godt med at råbe ad og konfrontere lige præcis, hvad han har lyst til - hvad enten det er verden som sådan, sig selv, sit parforhold, det at blive ældre eller landets utålelige regering! Bob Mould er en slags ventil for den moderne tid. Lad nu dampen slippe ud!

Jeg har fulgt Mould's solokariere siden de sidste to albums med Hüsker Dü, og han har altid været en kunstner, hvis værker jeg har haft et særligt svagt punkt for. Det meste af tiden har han formået at berige mit liv, hvilket er grunden til, at jeg forbliver en slags trofast fan. Han er ikke længere en kunstner, der genopfinder musikken, men han er en garant for kvalitet, og han er en stemme, der taler på vegne af menneskeheden samtidig med, at han tager afstand fra alverdens dumhed – hvilket er endnu en god grund til at følge denne store kunstner.

Here We Go Crazy er i bund og grund det, vi er kommet til at forvente fra Mr. Mould, og endnu en gang er det både relevant og anbefalelsesværdigt!

[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stjerner ]

Sharon Van Etten "We've Been Going About This All Wrong" (2022)

We've Been Going About This All Wrong

release date: May 6, 2022

format: digital (14 x File, FLAC) (Deluxe Edition)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]

producer: Sharon Van Etten and Daniel Knowles

label: Jagjaguwar - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Darkness Fades" - 5. "Born" - 6. "Headspace" - 7. "Come Back" - 9. "Mistakes" - *12. "Porta" - *14. "When I Die"

*bonus track on Deluxe Edition

6th studio album by Sharon Van Etten follows more than 3 years after Remind Me Tomorrow (Jan. 2019). The album has been described by Etten as her 'pandemic record', and that becomes clearer upon listening to a more introvert and desolate collection of songs than what she normally puts out - and that even says quite a bit 'cause Van Etten is an artist who has released albums that reek inner perspective more than anything. In that regard, this new album is two-tongued exposing inner thoughts and sentiments but at the same dealing with a pandemic catastrophe as an outer dialogue. It's about climate, about making the wrong choices on behalf of humanity and life as such. The cover nicely depicts the danger with luring flames, threating homes and nature by eating up everything. The standard edition of the album comes with ten tracks running for a total of 39 minutes - the Deluxe Edition extends it to 55 minutes.

Much as usual, a new Van Etten album takes processing. At first it may sound familiar and alike her previous releases, as a mock up of sorts but given attention, it stands much on its own, with fragility as a common determinator of every song on yet another fine album.

Recommended.

[ Exclaim!, PopMatters 4 / 5, Pitchfork 7,8 / 10, 👉Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, 👎The Guardian, NME 3 / 5 stars ]

Gossip "Real Power" (2024)

Real Power

release date: Mar. 22, 2024

format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,65]

producer: Rick Rubin

label: Columbia - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Act of God" - 2. "Real Power" - 3. "Don't Be Afraid" - 4. "Crazy Again" (4 / 5) - 5. "Edge of the Sun" - 6. "Give It Up for Love" - 8. "Tell Me Something" - 9. "Light It Up"

6th studio album by Gossip following 12 years after A Joyful Noise (May 2012), which up until this year has been regarded as the band's final album after which front figure Beth Ditto pursued a solo career and concentrated on her own clothing line. Ditto released her solo debut Fake Sugar in 2017 and in 2019 the band reformed to perform a ten year anniversary concert of Music for Men (2009) but it was still under the charge of Ditto with no announcements of an official reformation. In 2023 Ditto got together with Nathan Howdeshell to write material for Ditto's second solo album and when facing producer Rubin who took part in the band's 2009 album, Ditto and Howdeshell apparently saw it as a natural opportunity to include Hannah Blilie, thus basically making it a Gossip album instead.

The trio is back, which is a wonderful thing, as they have been sorely missed. Rubin secures a tight path on well-known soil, and Real Power comes out as something closer to the 2009 album than what was regarded their final breath in 2012. That said, time has passed, and obviously the three are somewhere else than they were more than a decade ago, and the album simply betters Ditto's fine solo from 2017, which in a way positioned itself in the outskirts of A Joyjul of Noise without really delivering a substantial stylistic footprint. All tracks here are credited Ditto and multi-instrumentalist Howdeshell and in that regard it's naturally something entirely different than Ditto solo working with other composers, and how could a legendary trio of this caliber come out with something new without people would compare it with their previous works?! It's a statement to call it a Gossip album, as opposed to Ditto's second solo, and it's still great news. Musically, it's original - of course, and with the band history and all in mind, I do think it's a fine accomplishment without it being absolutely great. And then: lesser will do. I think, they succeed in reproducing some of the band's original energy - the genuine garage-sound, and mixed up with a poppier mood they come up with a modernised version of Gossip. Officially, Ditto and Howdeshell are the providers of this new material but I wonder why they don't acknowledge that without Blilie they wouldn't be Gossip? It's a pity, but on the other hand, it's a not seldom seen practise to leave out the drummer in credits, but I just wonder how music is composed without a drummer adding his / her personal touch to the songs...

The album may not come with absolute stunning singles but the energy, the crafty output - and that voice on top of these simple, yet powerful arrangements!! And then there's still a certain quality lurking there all over, which lifts it above normality - 'cause what is that exactly?! Ditto belongs in front of Howdeshell and Blilie, and that constellation is all we need. It's like a living torch for humanity. Stay together, you three (PLZ), and the next album will be magic!

[ 👍allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Pitchfork 7,1 / 10, NME, DIY 4 / 5, 👎The Guardian 3 / 5 stars ]

Protomartyr "Formal Growth in the Desert" (2023)

Formal Growth in the Desert

release date: Jun. 2, 2023

format: digital (12 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]

producer: Greg Ahee, Jake Aron

label: Domino - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Make Way" - 2. "For Tomorrow" - 3. "Elimination Dances" (4 / 5) - 4. "Fun in Hi Skool" (live) - 5. "Let's Tip the Creator" - 6. "Graft vs. Host" - 7. "3800 Tigers" - 8. "Polacrilex Kid" (live) - 10. "We Know the Rats" (4 / 5) - 12. "Rain Garden"

6th studio album by post-punk revivalists Protomartyr following three years after the acclaimed Ultimate Success Today (Jul. 2020) is another high quality release from a band who understands to stay true to its origins while exploring new territory.

Musically, it's fierce alt. rock building on an American college rock-tradition where both Pixies and Modest Mouse play equal parts with more classic British punk rock and post-punk roots. And then still, Protomartyr sounds just like no one else. They play with a nuanced understanding of balancing quiet and loud and delicate with the brutal, and lead vocalist Joe Casey's political comments are mixed with surreal / cryptic messages that fronts Greg Ahee's white noisy guitar constructs in perfect balanced disorder.

Formal Growth in the Desert gives us Protomartyr as a highly vital American band with something to offer than just a fabrication of mainstream sound.

Highly recommended. [Get the album here].

[ 👍allmusic.com, Uncut, Slant 4 / 5, 👍SputnikMusic 4,1 / 5, TheLineOfBestFit 4,5 / 5, Pitchfork 7,6 / 10 stars ]

Wet Leg "Wet Leg" (2022)

Wet Leg [debut]

release date: Apr. 8, 2022

format: digital (12 x File, MP3)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,46]

producer: Dan Carey

label: Domino Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Being in Love" - 2. "Chaise Longue" - 4. "I Don't Wanna Go Out" - 5. "Wet Dream" - 8. "Ur Mum" - 10. "Piece of Shit" - 12. "Too Late Now"

Studio album debut by Isle of Wight-founded duo Wet Leg consisting of lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter Rhian Teasdale and lead guitarist Hester Chambers who appears to have formed the duo in 2019. Several singles have been released from this album - actually, no less than six singles preceded this release with "Chaise Longue" issued as the duo's first hit already in Jun. 2021 followed by "Wet Dream", Sep. '21, and then the double-single "Oh No" / "Too Late Now" followed in Nov. '21. In early 2022 "Angelica" (Feb. 2022) and "Ur Mum" (Apr. 2022) all were issued prior to an actual album release. Despite being promoted as a duo, the two are backed by a list of stable names, which include multi-instrumentalist Joshua Mobaraki, bassist Michael Champion, drummer Henry Holmes, and producer and keyboardist Dan Carey.

Musically, the duo embrace a simple garage rock and indie rock sound, which to my remembrance sounds inspired by stylistic variations from both sides of the Atlantic: a late 1980s / early 1990s college rock / indie rock / grunge rock-inspiration stemming from US artists and what could be British indie pop / dream pop / post-punk-sources from the same period. And then of course there's that something else, which makes it quite a refreshing cocktail, although, I keep getting that echo from former songs and bands when listening to this.

The album was met by general acclaim going all the way to the number #1 spot on the UK albums chart list, number #14 on the US Billboard 200, and it won the Grammy category as 'Best Alternative Music Album' in 2023, which is why I gave it a listen and I do enjoy it, although, I don't find it a strong original album, it's nevertheless worth more than a spin or two.

[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, Rolling Stone 4 / 5, 👍Pitchfork 7,2 / 10, The Observer 3 / 5, NME 5 / 5 stars ]

Cat Power "Covers" (2022)

Covers

release date: Jan. 14, 2022

format: cd (BRC687, Japan)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]

producer: Chan Marshall

label: Domino / Beat - nationality:

Track highlights: 1. "Bad Religion" (live) - 3. "Pa Pa Power" - 6. "Against the Wind" - 8. "These Days" - 10. "I Had a Dream Joe" - 12. "I'll Be Seeing You" (4 / 5)

11th studio album by Cat Power following nearly 3½ years after Wanderer (Oct. 2018) is Power's first with Domino after leaving Matador. Cat Power has previously made covers and made it one of her strongest assets. And as the title suggests, this one appears as a sequel to her The Covers Record from 2000. This new selection more or less copies the idea of covering songs from a large variety of styles and periods. The diversity in the original material is extremely wide, as she covers songs of neo-soul (Frank Ocean), vocal jazz (Billie Holiday), country rock (Bob Seger), celtic rock (The Pogues), folk pop (Jackson Browne), and punk blues (Nick Cave), just to mention one half of the songs. It's an extreme span, although, yes, Cat Power ensures stylistic connection in these new arrangements. I'm just not entirely convinced about the idea to grab songs from any musical shelf to see if it will work in your own setting. Yes, it's possible, but is it always that original? This makes me think of how we're completely accustomed to listen to jazz standards interpreted in new ways, which is not only fully accepted but also a way to become an original artist. It's different when speaking of the world of pop music - but why is that 'cause obviously there are songs that could be labelled as pop standards. This is something you face when listening to artist perform live and then include covers, and some songs are more likely to turn up at concerts, right?! Anyway, Cat Power even challenges the idea of having a mutual foundation in the arrangements 'cause there's no common foundation here. "I Had a Dream Joe" comes so close to the original that it somehow sticks out, which isn't my dream of a cover, and several other songs do just that - so there goes coherency like it did on her 2000 album. In that regard it's a bit like repeating what could have been an obvious mistake from her first covers album, although, this new collection slightly betters the former. Chan Marshall is a gifted arranger, and she could possibly have done better when chosing original songs. What on the other hand work really well, is her intense emmotional contribution to well-known songs. She seems capable of covering whatever song and still make it hers. She's an absolute wonderful interpretor and performer - just love that vocal.

Recommendation: perhaps mostly for fans.

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Pitchfork 7,7 / 10, 👍The Guardian 3 / 5 stars ]

Modest Mouse "The Golden Casket" (2021)

The Golden Casket

release date: Jun. 25, 2021

format: digital (12 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]

producer: Dave Sardy, Jacknife Lee

label: Epic Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Fuck Your Acid Trip" - 2. "We Are Between" (live) - 3. "We’re Lucky" - 5. "Wooden Soldiers" - 7. "The Sun Hasn't Left" - 8. "Lace Your Shoes" - 9. "Never Fuck a Spider on the Fly" - 10. "Leave a Light On" - 11. "Japanese Trees" - 12. "Back to the Middle"

7th studio album by Modest Mouse follows almost six full years after Strangers to Ourselves (Mar. 2015), and once again the line-up is an issue with Darrin Wiener having briefly been a band member but more seriously, Lisa Molinaro and Jim Fairchild both left the band shortly prior to the album release; and then 1½ years later, founding member Jeremiah Green died.

Stylistically, the album introduces a new sound thanks to the inclusion of electronic instrumentation and a neo-psychedelic tone. Drum machines, synths, and musical loops provides the album with a more modern expression, although, traditional rock instrumentation is still very much part of the band's sound - the focus has just changed making more room for electronics. Isaac Brock still fills out every song with his characteristic vocal, and as is mostly the case with this band the single tracks may point in various directions but the album still maintains a solid sensation of a coherent product.

Not a lot binds this together with Good News for People... from 2004, or any earlier albums for that matter, but it follows closely on the same path as the 2015 album. In that regard the band has always been evolving - constantly moving further down their own evolutionary road and it's not too difficult to follow the whole progression. Their biggest stylistic leap happened when they released their best-selling 2004 album and since then the road has been a bit more predictable, which by no means is the same as uninspiring 'cause Modest Mouse is still a most daring band who could easily have chosen to go with a broader fan base.

I generally enjoy this new album. It's really good, still growing on me - it hasn't reached 'exceptional' nor 'great' but it doesn't appear to have any fillers, so it's definitely worth knowing.

[ 👍Pitchfork 7,3 / 10, NME 5 / 5, Slant Magazine 4 / 5, 👎Rolling Stone 2,5 / 5 stars ]

And Also the Trees "The Bone Carver" (2022)

The Bone Carver

release date: Sep. 9, 2022

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]

producer: Matthew Devenish

label: AATT - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "In a Bed in Yugoslavia" (official video) - 2. "Beyond Action and Reaction" - 4. "The Girl Who Walks the City" - 5. "The Book Burners" - 7. "Another Town Another Face" - 8. "Last of the Larkspurs" - 9. "The Bone Carver"

15th studio album by And Also the Trees following 6½ years after Born Into the Waves (Mar. 2016). The album doesn't actually mention producer credits but suffice to mention recording engineer Matthew Devenish, who have worked with the band as mixer and recording engineer since the making of Further From the Truth (2003). The band's bassist since (Listen For) The Rag and Bone Man (2007) Ian Jenkins has here been replaced by Grant Gordon.

Stylewise, this is yet another darkwave-founded release as the natural follow-up to the band's last two albums. It adds a few more fine tracks to a long list of compositions that are linked to an original gothic rock scene of the 80s without sounding as if recorded back then, but the band doesn't exactly hand us a bunch of challening new material, and in that way it has become increasingly more difficult to tell their recent albums from one another. In one way, it's a band that positively stays true to its original sound and then neither seems to be really interested in artistic progression. Another positive side to it, is the quality of the songs, as it appears without any fillers.

Still, The Bone Carver is a worthwhile listen.

Mazzy Star "So Tonight That I Might See" (1993)

So Tonight That I Might See
release date: Oct. 5, 1993
format: cd / vinyl (2022 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,76]
producer: David Roback
label: Capitol Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Fade Into You" (4,5 / 5) (live on Later) - 2. "Bells Ring" (4 / 5) - 3. "Mary of Silence" - 7. "Unreflected" - 9. "Into Dust" - 10. "So Tonight That I Might See"

2nd studio album by Mazzy Star following nearly 3½ years after the debut She Hangs Brightly (1990). Since then, the band signed with Capitol after the Rough Trade division closed in the US, and it appears that although both Keith Mitchell and Will Cooper of Opal participate on the album, they are merely additional personnel, and Mazzy Star has become what it basically always was: the duo-project of composer, guitarist and pianist David Roback and songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Hope Sandoval.

At first, the album sounds much alike the predecessor, in tone and especially sound, as the style has become even darker and mesmerising with drone-like guitar-sequences with Sandoval's haunting vocal on top.

"Fade into You" became the band's first and only top-100 single in the US peaking at #44; however, the band may never have aimed at making hit songs and becoming mainstream artists, but the album is often found listed among the best Dream Pop albums ever made [Pitchfork's 30 best dream pop albums].

The album comes out as the aural version of a highly original dream landscape - both hauntingly beautiful and disturbing at the same time. Roback and Sandoval appear more laid back on this, although, some tracks are 'noise rock' influenced and the title track sounds unimaginable without thinking of "The End" by The Doors and (perhaps also) "Heroin" by Velvet Underground, but overall I find it bettering their debut. This is simply their best studio album.

Now, did anyone say Lana Del Rey? Well, I betcha she heard this one!

Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com, Uncut 4,5 / 5, NME, Sputnikmusic 4 / 5, Soundlab 5 / 5 stars ]

Big Thief "Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You" (2022)

Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You

udgivet: 11. feb. 2022

format: vinyl 2lp (gatefold) / digital (20 x File, FLAC)

[vurdering: 4 / 5] [4,06]

producer: James Krivchenia

selskab: 4AD Records - nationalitet: USA

Udvalgte numre: 1. "Change" - 3. "Spud Infinity" (4 / 5) (live) - 4. "Certainty" - 5. "Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You" - 6. "Sparrow" - 7. "Little Things" (live) - 10. "Blurred View" - 14. "Wake Me up to Drive" - 16. "12,000 Lines" - 17. "Simulation Swarm" (4 /5) (live) - 19. "The Only Place" - 20. "Blue Lightning"

5. studiealbum fra amerikanske folk rock kvartet Big Thief er opfølger til 2019-albummet Two Hands, bandets andet album på 4AD. Indtil videre, har bandet bestået af nogenlunde samme solide enhed, som nu har spillet sammen siden 2015 uden de helt store ændringer i dets line-up. Alle var indskrevet på Boston Berklee College of Music, selvom de først fandt sammen som Big Thief efter de afsluttende eksaminer. Det er vist alene funktionen som trommeslager, der har skiftet hænder - på debut albummet Masterpiece (2016) fungerede Jason Burger i denne rolle, og her var bandets fremtidige trommeslager James Krivchenia krediteret som lydtekniker og 'additional producer'. Og her i 2022 er han udover at være fast mand bag trommerne også at finde i rollen som producer. Bandet består af sanger, guitarist og primær sangskriver Adrianne Lenker, guitarist og sanger Buck Meek, basist og tangentspiller Max Oleartchik, og altså James Krivchenia på trommer. Siden 2019-albummet, har Lenker udsendt det fine akustiske dobbeltalbum Songs and Instrumentals, ligeledes på 4AD. Lenker er desuden krediteret albummets cover, hun er lydtekniker, og sammen med Krivchenia, er hun krediteret for mixingen af albummet.

Stilmæssigt, bliver bandets musik ofte kategoriseret som indie rock, og 'indie' forekommer som en nogenlunde beskrivelse - det er jo mere en stilart, end en betegnelse,der dækker over uafhængige (små) pladeselskaber, som 4AD ikke helt falder under, men nuvel, det fungerer også til at angive det, der ikke just er mainstream. Musikken er tydeligvis mere folk rock-funderet med elementer fra alt. country og en nyere 'folk revival'-tradition, som også kunne klistres på navne som Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, Grand Archives etc., som alle er kunstnere, der må have lyttet til Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Nick Drake og lignende uden nødvendigvis at inkludere Dylan, sådan som de utallige tidligere folk-kunstnere fandt inspiration hos. Måske Johnny Cash er mere sandsynlig som kilde til Big Thief's mange forbilleder. Lenker skriver og synger på en helt egen og meget original måde om obskure karakterer og skæve observationer. Nogle gange deler hun vokal 'farve' med både Martha Wainwright og Lucinda Williams mens hendes narrativerer oftere peger på ligheder med Mark Kozelek's snørklede dagligdags rutiner. Musikalsk, har Big Thief muligvis også stiftet bekendtskab med både Kozelek, Sun Kil Moon og Grant-Lee Phillips. På den måde er bandet tydeligvis forankret i en amerikansk musiktradition med input fra folk, country og en moderne singer / songwriter kontekst. Indimellem tager bandet små stilistiske afstikkere til genrer, der kunne pege i retning af andre stilarter uden, at de dog bevæger sig væk fra deres personlige udtryk, men i momenter kommer jeg til at tænke på Pixies, Modest Mouse eller The National som andre kilder til inspiration, og som egentligt kun gør Big Thief til et mere originalt ensemble.

Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You består af 20 numre med en total spilletid på lige over 80 minuter - alligevel er albummet udgivet i enkelt cd-udgave, som dobbeltvinyl, or i en digital udgave via bandets bandcamp-profil.

Albummet byder på original og varieret musik, og det er et flot arrangeret og gennembearbejdet værk som uungåeligt indføjer sig på min personlige top-3 liste over de bedste albums i 2022. Det er en beundringsværdig bedrift og bandets fineste album, og derfor også højt anbefalet.

[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, 👍NME, Mojo 4 / 5, Pitchfork, Needledrop 9.0 / 10, Uncut 4,5 / 5 stjerner ]

2022 Favoritudgivelser: 1. Stromae Multitude - 2. Hurray for the Riff Raff Life on Earth - 3. Big Thief Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You

Ane Brun "Leave Me Breathless" (2017)

digital album cover

Leave Me Breathless

release date: Oct. 6, 2017

format: digital (14 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,76]

producer: Ane Brun & Anton Sundell; Johan Lindström (co-pro.)

label: Balloon Ranger - nationality: Norway

Track highlights: 1. "I Want to Know What Love Is" - 2. "Always on My Mind" - 3. "Unchained Melody" (live) - 4. "Hero" - 6. "Into My Arms" - 8. "How to Disappear Completely" - 9. "By Your Side" (live) - 12. "Right in Time" - 14. "Big Yellow Taxi"

7th studio album by Ane Brun follows two years after When I'm Free (Sep. 2015) and is a different kind of outing as it's entirely made up of covers - mostly romantic love songs from various styles, genres, as well as different periods. The songs are, however, arranged in stripped-down versions with focus on Brun's delicate vocal that make all songs fit nicely together.

According to the artist's bandcamp-profile, the songs were initially made with a specific person in mind, and along the way it then materialised as this new collection of songs.

Covers have been a natural part of Brun's set-list through-out her career, which makes the idea of an album entirely made of covers a welcomed one, and it also links to her Sketches album, which featured her own demos to the album Changing of the Seasons by showcasing initial versions of songs with focus on vocal performance and scarse instrumentations.

Most of the material are songs that have been successful in their original versions and therefore they resonate even louder when transformed in Brun's original and sincere renditions - at times even making the original versions sound as inferior (especially the songs by Foreigner, Mariah Carey, Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan). Another common denominator of the selected material on this, is a parameter of personal involvement. In that way, the songs are renowned for being hard to challenge in emotional delivery but that's exactly the strength of Ane Brun, her capacity of emotional expression. She simply delivers another layer to each song that makes this feel like a most natural release and something of her very own.

Although not being a regular collection of new material by Brun, this new album shines bright and once again show us what a gifted performer Ane Brun truly is.

[ 👍The Irish Times 4 / 5, Dagbladet 5 / 6 stars ]

cd + vinyl cover

Bloc Party "Alpha Games" (2022)

Alpha Games

release date: Apr. 21, 2022

format: digital (12 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]

producer: Nick Launay, Adam Greenspan

label: Infectious Music - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Day Drinker" - 2. "Traps" - 3. "You Should Know the Truth" - 4. "Callum Is a Snake" - 6. "The Girls Are Fighting" - 7. "Of Things Yet to Come" - 8. "Sex Magik" - 9. "By Any Means Necessary"

6th studio album from Bloc Party comes more than six years after Hymns (Jan. 2016) and is made with Launay and Greenspan - a somewhat remarkable producer duo. In the early 80s Nick Launay was already a producer for Virgin Prunes, Killing Joke, Gang of Four and Australian bands like Birthday Party, Midnight Oil, and The Church. He later produced for INXS and The Armoury Show, and in the 90s and into the new Millennium he produced for David Byrne and Nick Cave. In comparison, Greenspan appears a somewhat more unknown producer who has worked as sound engineer for Arcade Fire (on The Suburbs) and he has produced for indie rock bands such as Maxïmo Park and The Veils. Together, they have worked on the critically acclaimed Push the Sky Away (2013) by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, where Launay is credited as co-producer and Greenspan was responsible for mixing the album, but they have since then functioned as a producer-duo on several releases.

Alpha Games shows once again that Bloc Party is not an easy act to bring to a halt, even though several times over the years there have been rumors that the group faced a final career break. In the past it has led to changes in the group's line-up, which has supported the rumours, but at the same time there always seems to have been a stable core of songwriter and lead vocalist Kele and the band's musical focal point in guitarist Russell Lissack. The album Hymns was made as a duo-project after being abandoned by first the group's longtime drummer Matt Tong and later, shortly before recording the album, bassist Gordon Moakes. Kele and Lissack carried out studio recordings with studio musicians and subsequently succeeded firstly by filling the vacant seat as drummer with a quite young Louise Bartle and then also the role of bassist thanks to American musician Justin Harris, who featured on Hymns as studio musician, and now, six years down a new path, it is still this constellation that makes up Bloc Party.

Musically speaking, the group has moved in many directions since the starting point as an energetic post-punk revival act, and for fans and critics the band has behaved like a fish in water - a band you could never really know for sure where to place, or where they where they were going - which may have been one of the reasons for lukewarm reviews from confused reviewers, but releases in various styles may also have confused fans. On the other hand, you may argue that very much like front figure Kele, who has himself released albums characterized by quite different styles, such as electronic dance-pop and then even singer / songwriter folk, Bloc Party has insisted on making exactly the music they themselves felt was just right at a certain point. When they thundered out on the scene as one of the hottest names alongside American band Interpol, the easiest thing would have been to continue in the same groove, but no, they immediately plunged into another direction, and from that into another, etc., all while their stylistic dribbles hitched many off - and perhaps in the process itself both lost a drummer and a bassist.

Alpha Games offers a revisit of Bloc Party classic in the sense that the post-punk revival element is back, but not in a pure rock-universe, but in a more nuanced picture with elements drawn from a bunch of other styles. You'll find alt. dance and indie rock in a mix with the addition of a fingertip of electronic without losing the sensation of a complete expression. There is recycling and inspiration from their own previous releases, but it all still sounds like a brand new album that stands on its own feet. In many ways it sounds like an album they could have released in the wake of the great Intimacy (2008), but it doesn't just work that way and without Four (2012) and Hymns, Alpha Games would never have resulted in the album we now face. Justin Harris and Louise Bartle have played that many times together with Kele and Lissack over the past years that they now contribute to a new chapter in the band's long history, which nevertheless 'only' counts six studio albums.

Alpha Games is already an album that (once again) divides the waters. Some critics (Pitchfork) call it a mixed pleasure and cling a bit too much to Kele's lyrical universe, while others (Clash and PopMatters) praise the album's musical qualities. To my ears, the album mostly gives good reason to wish for more releases in the future, knowing that with Bloc Party no one can really tell what will happen. But until then, enjoy this energetic outing, which is even something as conservative as the album original fans could wish for.

An exciting and recommended effort.

[ 👍allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Clash, PopMatters 4 / 5, 👎Pitchfork 5,2 / 10 stars ]

Hurray for the Riff Raff "Life on Earth" (2022)

Life on Earth

release date: Feb. 18, 2022

format: vinyl (gatefold) / digital (11 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,14]

producer: Brad Cook

label: Nonesuch - nationality: USA

Track highlights: A) 1. "Wolves" - 2. "Pierced Arrows" - 3. "Pointed at the Sun" (4 / 5) - 4. "Rhododendron" - 5. "Jupiter's Dance" - - B) 1. "Nightqueen" - 2. "Precious Cargo" - 3. "Rosemary Tears" - 4. "Saga"

8th studio album from New Orleans project band Hurra for the Riff Raff is the band's first on Nonesuch. From its origins as a multi-piece orchestra, the band has become synonymous with songwriter, composer, lead singer and guitarist Alynda Mariposa Segarra (aka Alynda 'Lee' Segarra) with roots in Puerto Rico and raised in the Bronx, New York. The band's name loosely translates to "Hurrah for the Pack" meaning 'the underprivileged' (the homeless, the unemployed, immigrants) which relates to Segarra's own life lived on the American highways and as a blind passenger on freight trains, which was the preferred mode of transportation, after they [Alynda identifies as non-binary] ran away from their foster parents (their uncle and aunt) in the Bronx and headed for New Orleans. From here, Segarra ended up as a street musician and for a time they played banjo and washboard in the street band Dead Man Street Orchestra from 2007 to 2010, and with the band Hurray for the Riff Raff they made two self-released albums in 2008 and 2010, and they feature on Six Feet Down (2010) with the band Tuba Skinny, which was an offshoot of the Dead Man Orchestra. In 2011, Segarra released the album Hurray for the Riff Raff on the Loose label in 2011, whereas the 2012 follow-up Look Out Mama (also on Loose) is released as a band release. With 2013's My Dearest Darkest Neighbor, the band appears once again seemingly reduced to a solo project, (self-released and credited to Segarra's own label 'Mod Mobilian Records' and This Is American Music), which feature recordings from a 2013 UK tour. The most recent two albums Small Town Heroes (2014) and The Navigator from 2017 again seem like pure solo releases. The former is, however, recorded with several old acquaintances such as drummer and violinist Yosi Pearlstein, guitarist Sam Doores, and bassist Dan Cutler, who have all appeared on previous albums and they also played with the band on live tours but are not regular instrumentalists on all tracks and the cast credits reflect more that it's Segarra together with a wide variety of others. The album The Navigator is, like all previous studio albums, solely written and composed by Segarra, and here all other participating musicians are completely new names.

Life on Earth is undoubtedly Segarra's most beautifully produced album, although the predecessor also offered more tracks and reflected a more committed technical preparation than the more lo-fi arranged predecessors, which on the one hand are more closely connected to life as a street musician and on the other hand are not made to satisfy radio stations and the music industry as such. With Life on Earth, Segarra takes the full step as a significant contemporary artist with well-formed arrangements and a strong commitment to express their mind. It is a hybrid form of modern singer / songwriter which both echoes 70's folk rock as well as contain hints of punk rock's directness and social / political engagement (The Clash), and at the same time they make use of elements from classic rock and modern indie pop in a balanced form of their own. Some might point to similar traits from PJ Harvey, early St. Vincent, or other strong personalities in music, but it is most of all a highly original blend - and perhaps this type of comparison automatically happens when a single artist narrates with both sophisticated sting and sincerity, because Alynda Segarra's expression comes from a strong personality, and from someone who with their own distinctive melancholy and at the same time a devilish energy, which saturates a number of beautiful, relevant and original compositions.

The album has already garnered good reviews, and Hurray for the Riff Raff has entered the charts with the album and has appeared in major national TV shows.

In my opinion, Life on Earth is no less than one of the absolute best of the year, and naturally a highly recommended album.

[ bandcamp ]

[ Pitchfork 8,3 / 10, The Guardian 4 / 5 stars]

2022 Favourite releases: 1. Stromae Multitude - 2. Hurray for the Riff Raff Life on Earth - 3. Big Thief Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You

Johnny Marr "Fever Dreams Pts 1 - 4" (2022)

Fever Dreams Pts 1 - 4

release date: Feb. 25, 2022

format: digital (16 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]

producer: Johnny Marr & James Doviak

label: BMG - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Spirit Power and Soul" - 2. "Receiver" - 7. "Sensory Street" - 10. "Night and Day" - 14. "Ghoster"

4th solo studio album from former guitarist in The Smiths, Johnny Marr, follows a little more than 3½ years after the album Call the Comet (June 2018). It's made in a collaboration with producer James Doviak, who has featured on Marr's last three albums and is co-producer on all Marr's four solos. Marr and Doviak both featured on the album All for a Reason by the band Haven in 2004 and the two have since worked closely together.

Marr is clearly inspired by the harmony-driven Pop productions of the 1960s - with a preference for Phil Spector's sound universe - and he has released music in a mix combining traits from pop / rock and jangle pop. These signature styles are also some of the most obvious ingredients you meet on this one. The album has already been met by positive reviews, especially from the British Isles, though I'm not entirely convinced. By all means, it's nicely sounding, and it's altogether a well-made production, but it's not exactly highly original, and it's a little hard to point to Marr's distinctiveness on an album that most of all sounds like something his former songwriter colleague Morrissey could have made. It may be a little more uptempo and rock-shaped than what Morrissey usually fabricates, but the vocals, arrangements and even the rhymes sound a lot like from the aforementioned neighbourhood. Admittedly, Marr has not always represented the best vocal performances, but here he succeeds stronger than usual. What you don't get is a personal expression, which could provide us with more than a mix of something that has been made - many times before.

Not really recommended.

[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, Mojo, NME, Clash Music 4 / 5, UnderTheRadar 6.5 / 10 stars ]

Wolf Alice "Blue Weekend" (2021)

Blue Weekend

release date: Jun. 4, 2021

format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]

producer: Markus Dravs

label: Dirty Hit - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "The Beach" - 2. "Delicious Things" - 3. "Lipstick on the Glass" - 4. "Smile" - 6. "How Can I Make It OK?" - 11. "The Beach II"

3rd studio album by London-based indie rock quartet Wolf Alice follows almost four full years after the duo's Visions of a Life (Sep. 2017) and is made with super hot producer Markus Dravs, who has made his name as producer from his work with Björk, Coldplay, Arcade Fire, and Kings of Leon, to mention a few.

Musically, the band moves naturally with Dravs at the mixing desk towards a more commercial expression with a sense for dynamics and the grandiose. Dravs has a fine touch in maintaining a quirky distinctiveness and mixing it perfectly with equal parts harmony and a rocking energetic expression.

In this way, Blue Weekend appears as a well-welded piece of galvanised titanium in a pile of aluminum blocks. It's almost too perfect - and that's probably what I generally find least appealing about Dravs' productions: it's bound to be oh-so-bee.a-utiful! Beautiful arrangements, swirling guitars and a dose of quirky indie rock, but all the while held tightly to a strong chain so that everyone a able to admire the ascending airship illuminated by a setting sun. It's always dramatic and pumped-up pompous.

The album has garnered great and highly enthusiastic reviews, and it's perhaps also the band's finest release. To my ears, it reminds me of a new The Killers album that would much rather be Kings of Leon. That said, it's not particularly original, and one may wonder where the motivation lies. Then of course, it's not all music that has to push new boundaries, and Blue Weekend is by all means beautiful and almost perfect - I'm just not impressed and just feel that I've heard it all before. Lead vocalist Ellie Rowsell sings mighty fine as a British version of Lana del Rey, and if you think that's cool, so be it.

The album is by no means a poor one. I just don't find it great. It kind of lands in the big mainstream pile with so many others who want to make it big. Sometimes Wolf Alice sounds like Lana del Rey, sometimes they sound like Arcade Fire, other times they remind me of The Killers, who (again) so badly want to be Kings of Leon. Perhaps you just have to be grateful that they don't aspire to be Drake or Phoebe Bridgers, or well, Bridgers is actually also there alongside St. Vincent. But, Alice Wolf, you can only be yourselves! And this is precisely the album's greatest weakness: that it falls between so many chairs with obvious ingredients from all sorts of others that it lacks the essence of originality.

It's an album you can put on repeat without tiring of it, because it sounds like a playlist where you have no idea when it actually starts all over, but also without ever feeling overly excited. Maybe you just want to put something else on. And although the British press almost unanimously thinks this is a masterpiece - it's definitely solid craftsmanship and definitely beautifully produced - but it is! But a masterpiece it is not!

Without comparison, moreover, I rate the album Pastel by young Australian band Fritz, also from 2021, better because, despite other limitations, it lands a much stronger independent expression.

[ allmusic.com, Mojo 4 / 5, The Guardian, NME 5 / 5, 👍Pitchfork 7.2 / 10 stars ]

Mellemblond "En jordisk chance" (2021)

En jordisk chance

release date: Nov. 19, 2021

format: digital (11 x Files, FLAC)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,84]

producer: Mads Brinch, Adrian Aurelius, Jakob Høyer

label: Møs Møs - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "For at noget kan blomstre" - 2. "Atomernes spil" (4 / 5) - 3. "Blæsten i træerne" - 7. "Det der gik i hjertet" - 8. "Hjertets tro" - 9. "Ved at vi skal leve" - 10. "Nattetåge"

6th studio album from Mellemblond released a single year following Solregn. The tracks have alledgedly been composed at the same time as Solregn, but then issued the following year. After all, it's quite a different collection of songs we encounter here. Kristoffer Munck Mortensen - aka Mellemblond - has many faces to showcase, and as he released Solregn it was undoubtedly also his idea to present various songs with a common expression. That album was predominantly acustic with an almost minimalist expression, which was a new side to his talent, and as a contrast, this new collection draws more on some of the qualities you will find on his two albums: Fra et sted (2015) and Guldlokzonen (2018) although, they weren't exactly similar but in terms of arrangements and instrumentation share bonds. For this, he now mix styles he previously has exelled with. It's soft melancholic compositions, more raw uptempo rockers, and you'll also find a rather new adventurousness with polished chamber pop. At the same time, it's a style testifying to early 70s, a stream of consciousness wound up on swamp rock-inspiration mixed with folk and modern indie pop in a perfect original tone. Yes, that's a bit of a mix, and then Munck Mortensen has worked in some kind of anonymity as touring guitarist for Nils Skousen, but that's another story.

The front cover fits nicely to the content: Munck Mortensen is stationary positioned in bare feet holding his electric guitar in something ressembling a firewood shed. It's directly relatable, signalling a connection to a simple life. Mortensen narrates sincerely and straight-forwardly, and on En jordisk chance the fine lyrics are accompanied by an appropriate amount of electricity and noise without making it wild or pompous.

Kristoffer Munck Mortensen is a rare modern original. He sings and plays distinctively without sounding like foreign examples, and when doing so, he only seems to follow a fundamental desire to communicate. Had he been born in the US or in Britain, he would have outshined John Mayer and Ed Sheeran, but luckily, he wasn't - then we do have someone, they cannot touch.

At this advanced stage of the year, En jordisk chance enlists as Danish Album of the Year, imo, and it also lands as one of the best albums of 2021.

Highly recommended.

[ Gaffa.dk 4 / 6, Jyllands-Posten 5 / 6 stars ]

Shaun Ryder "Visits From Future Technology" (2021)

Visits From Future Technology

release date: Aug. 20, 2021

format: digital (11 x File, MP3)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]

producer: Sunny Levine

label: SWRX Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Mumbo Jumbo" - 2. "Close the Dam" - 3. "Popstar's Daughters" - 4. "Monster" - 5. "Honey Put the Kettle On" - 6. "Crazy Bitches" - 7. "Straighten Me Up" - 11. "Clubbing Rabbits"

2nd solo album from Shaun Ryder follows a full eighteen years [18!!] after the solo debut Amateur Night in the Big Top (2003) and has been released on Ryder's own label SWRX Recordings. In a certain way, this could probably count as his actual debut, but that's not how music rights work [see comments for the 2003 album]. It is no state secret that Shaun Ryder's life as a musician and as a private person has involved various types of stimulants [!], and the media image of Ryder is first and foremost that of a skilled songwriter - and an addict. First he fronted the Madchester band Happy Mondays, which saw its heydays in the years from 1988 to '93. He then became lead vocalist of Black Grape from 1993 to '98. And in the period after that, he has managed to restart and disband Happy Mondays and Black Grape in almost countless new formations - possibly mostly because he wanted to be able to tour or play individual concerts, and thereby keep the income alive, but this hasn't led to much new music. Most recently, he released Pop Voodoo (2017) under the name of Black Grape, which probably could have just as well been under the name of Happy Mondays, which on the other hand most recently released its Uncle Dysfunktional in 2007. However, he has explained that when he made new music on his own, it would be released as Happy Mondays, whereas with Black Grape, it would always be co-composed with Kermit (aka Paul Leveridge). And although Ryder hasn't been involved in releasing much new music in this Millennium, he has never really been away from the media spotlight in his home country. He has published books, participated in reality shows ('Gogglebox' and 'I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!'), and he has been guest musician on a large number of other artists' releases. With Visits From Future Technology, Ryder has managed to collect a number of older and more or less unfinished tracks he had lying around, and with the help of producer Levine, it has become a new album under his own name. Under the name SWR [Shaun William Ryder], "Close the Dam" was already released in 2015 as a single, but is on here anyway. It's not surprisingly music that bears the stamp of the Madchester style that he himself helped establish. It's a danceable mix of alt. dance, indie rock, and electronic music with a good portion of sampling effectively thrown in here and there. The album comes with eleven tracks and a total playing time of just over 40 minutes.

Visits From Future Technology has come out to mostly positive reviews, and it's actually quite a performance he delivers here. It's basically surprisingly good craftsmanship. There are clear reminders of both Happy Mondays and Black Grape, but who really cares as long as it swings?! And it surely does exactly just that! Ryder occasionally mumbles, but charmingly as an old boxer, and without sounding like Shane MacGowan of The Pogues, and then he delivers some of his funniest lyrics - he's sharp and direct and bloody charming. And then he sounds like he's over years with self-abuse, which mostly secures better end results. The album is largely without fillers and represents a quite original combo that manages to raise the level from Pop Voodoo considerably and Ryder has made one of his best albums, ever!

A mighty fine and recommended album!

[ 👍Mojo, TheArtsDesk.com, XSnoize 4 / 5, LouderThanWar 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Jon Fratelli "Bright Night Flowers" (2019)

Bright Night Flowers

release date: Feb. 15; 2019

format: digital (9 x File, MP3)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,55]

producer: Jon Fratelli, Stuart McCredie

label: Cooking Vinyl - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Serenade in Vain" - 3. "After a While" - 5. "Rolling By" - 7. "Dreams Don’t Remember Your Name" - 9. "Somewhere"

2nd solo album from The Fratellis front figure Jon Fratelli (aka John Paul Lawler) as his solo follow-up to Psycho Jukebox (Jul. 2011) may follow 7½ years later but it's a bit of a difficult situation thinking Jon's solo releases represent something different from what he makes with the band - partly because in The Fratellis, he's the only songssmith of the band, he mostly stands as only composer, and he delivers the songs as lead vocalist accompagnied by his lead guitar or keyboard notes, and then also because the music by the trio hasn't exactly been a one-dimensional soundscape but it has changed considerably over its five studio releases. And whether Jonn has been in front of the band, representing one half of the duo-project Codeine Velvet Club, or delivering his own songs entirely on his own, the music blends, loans, and make up a whole that is the product by John Paul Lawler. He obviously enjoys baroque pop, power pop, glam rock, garage rock, and appears to have been influenced by American singer / songwriters of various eras, and that may be found on the music he produces. His first solo attempt from 2011 sounded much like a blend of The Fratellis as they came out on the debut Costello Music (2006) with hints from the more orchestrated follow-up Here We Stand (2008). With Codeine Velvet Club (2009) he revealed his love for baroque pop, and then followed three more albums with The Fratellis that both show various stylistic variations and in a way sums up the big pond from where he's musically influenced. All that history sort of lays a foundation to Bright Night Flowers, although, it fits perfectly in Lawler's musical influences, it nevertheless reveals a new side to his many statements so far by being more soft rock -or ballad-oriented with music inspired by an American songwriter tradition, I think. It's not far from what the albums Codeine Velvet Club, Here We Stand, and Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied (2015) indicated. There's like a deeper layer to his songs with themes that he attempts to ellaborate on instead of building music on sing-a-long catch-phrases and tickling guitar-hooks. In that way, he does remind me of how Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys stood out as someone with more substantial things on his mind. That said, there's something more traditional to the music of Lawler, who focuses more directly on the strengths of his stories than what could have been a way to produce new music that blends almost anything. In that respect, Lawler stays on secure musical roads where others may have been but he nevertheless exells with his fine vocal and delicate touch with a handful of melancholic songs that may grow on you when given enough attention.

Don't expect The Fratellis' hooks or energy. It's not something revolutionary but more a quite traditional

menu with glimpses of beauty.

[ allmusic.com, Spill Magazine, Hot Press 4 / 5, Uncut 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Julian Cope "Interpreter" (1996)

Interpreter

release date: Oct. 14, 1996

format: digital

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]

producer: Julian Cope

label: Echo - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "I Come from Another Planet, Baby" (4 / 5) - 2. "I've Got My TV & My Pills" - 3. "Planetary Sit-In" - 5. "Cheap New-Age Fix" - 7. "Arthur Drugstore" - 9. "Re-Directed Male" - 12. "Dust"

12th studio album (some file it as his 13th and probably include his collaboration album Rite) by Julian Cope is like its predecessor 20 Mothers (Aug. 1995) released on Echo, as his final on another company after which he should only release his music via his own labels. Alledgedly, Cope had rejected to perform in the US, which made Echo cancel their work with Cope. The incident was perhaps the last straw, which made Cope turn his back on the established music industry and from hereon take full control of everything he would do. The album follows more or less the same musical paths as his '95 album, albeit as a stylistically narrower release, where the compositions are Cope's own neo-psychedelic mix of glam rock, beat, folk rock, space rock, and pop. Thematically, it varies between the cosmic, about space travel, and the more down-to-earth stories, but especially strong political positions are noteworthy, which take their starting point from Cope's commitment as an environmental campaigner. There has also been room for his 'Neolithic hobby', although it's only reflected in a poster and the album front cover.

Musically, this appears quite complex with a certain grandiosity, but still with a strict simplicity in the harmonies, as an echo of 70's nostalgia.

The album was not commercially successful, briefly peaking at number #39 on the UK albums chart, and with two singles - tracks #1 and #3 both peaking at number #34 on the singles chart.

Personally, I think there's too much room for distorted guitars, heavy rock attitude, orchestral arrangements, and a repetition of naïve choruses, but still: it's probably part of his fascination of space rock. On the whole, there is a lot of recycling without much originality and at times I find myself wondering if he had either Lou Reed, David Bowie, Tom Verlaine, Scott Walker, or Neil Young on his mind when he wrote and recorded individual tracks. However, it's not only in the somewhat more distant music history that he finds his inspiration. At times he takes completely different paths when incorporating new styles with electronic or a synth-pop touch - and wherever he moves, Cope's strength is to write songs and to speak his mind, even if the messages occasionally drown a little in pompous and odd mixtures of styles. And you really have to give it to him: despite pulling all kinds of stuff from his musical shelves, there's still a remnant of presence and strong universal musical skill at stake - a Copesque charm and completeness, which manages to elevate the album to anything but copycat and mediocrity.

The album was Cope's final on Echo and all of his subsequent music has been self-released either through his own label Head Heritage or through his internet site, carrying the same name, and where he has commented on this and that up until Mar. 2014 when he made his final post. However, he has kept releasing and issuing new albums via Head Heritage since.

Recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]