Here’s the b-side to La Luz’s new single “Endless Afternoon” that is the most explicit surfy thing this band has done in a while, by way of “Hazy Shade of Winter.” On the heels of their critically acclaimed self-titled record, La Luz has announced the release of a new single entitled “Endless Afternoon,” available worldwide on all DSPs. Shana Cleveland of La Luz says that “Endless Afternoon” is a “California lullaby. The melody for this song came to me while I was hiking in the hills above the Yuba River. About the sweetness found in slow days close to home.” This song is the a-side of a physical 7” that is b/w the track “San Fernando Shadow Blues” (available digitally on June 14th) with both songs physically available on July 7th.
Led by enigmatic songwriter Rowan Sandle, Crake is driven by her endless curiosity. Armed with her gently cracking vocal, and inspiration from writers like Shirley Jackson and Nan Shepherd, she sings of crinoids, slime mould and pussy willow. When they supported Buck Meek at Brudenell Social Club, Buck found himself so beguiled by Sandle and her band that he invited them to support Big Thief on their UK and EU tour in 2019. Crake duly obliged and have been building towards their debut full-length ever since.
Much of the forthcoming album revolves around the death of Sandle’s friend Anna, who died in Syria after being hit by a Turkish air strike. Anna was working for a woman’s liberation group in the war-stricken country when the tragedy took place. ‘Human’s Worst Habits’ explores the grief that followed and the lessons learnt from dealing with such a significant loss.
Sandle does, however, find space to explore more themes alongside this grief, such as cruelty and queer nature. On lead single ‘Winter’s Song’ she acknowledges the cruelty and coldness that exists within us all, and questions how we can continue to grow and love whilst remaining true to that.
Speaking about the track, she said: “Winter’s Song is about the absolute mundane beauty of being fallible. It’s a true story, I saw the moon rise but swore it was the sun setting. I think about this line a lot: “keep a little coldness in you, just wear it soft and gentle” Be soft, be kind, be honest. Being unremarkable has its own beauty.”
Sandle’s love for queer nature is so fervent that it makes the experience of listening to Crake akin to that of stumbling on an entirely new world. Sandle believes that life isn’t as black and white as we’ve been taught, and thinks nature holds the key to revealing the true nature of human experience. The appearances of things like slime mould – single-celled organisms that form a single body when in search of food – brittle starfish – a type of starfish whose awareness isn’t concentrated in one place – and other such oddities furnish ‘Human’s Worst Habits’ with a folklore all of its own.
‘Human’s Worst Habits’ will send you down multiple rabbit holes and you’ll emerge from each with a newfound appreciation for the complexities of the world. Perhaps even more important than this though is the humanity that lies at the very heart of this debut full-length.
Whether it’s in the sensitivity in how she portrays the loss of her friend, the depiction of our most base instincts – namely cruelty, passion and love – or the sincere, pure quality of the song writing itself, it’s this that makes ‘Human’s Worst Habits’ essential, and invaluable listening. “A pensive, dejected moment of magic, but magic nonetheless”, Gold Flake Paint “Charming and intimate alt-folk”, Dork “Consider it a maxim: when Crake releases music, listeners will be entranced by it”, Secret Meeting “”In a world of cynics, [Crake] make you believe anything might still be possible”, For The Rabbits “A perfectly-timed warm blanket to block out the cold world and insulate the love”, Beats Per Minute.
releases June 17th, 2022
Rowan Sandle – Acoustic Guitar, Vocals Russell Searle – Electric Guitar, Piano Rob Slater – Drums / Backing Vocals Sarah Statham – Bass / Backing Vocals
Dan Bejar said that when he and regular collaborator John Collins first started talking about making the album that became “Labrynthitis”, they originally wanted to make a full-on electronic dance album, with “slamming techno,” acid house and maybe dash of late-’90s Cher. And that is apparently where Dan thought Collins would take his skeletal song-sketches he sent to him, but “in the end, that’s not what we made, because we make what we know, and we don’t really know those things.” “Labrynthitis” is still very much a dance record but one informed by the ’80s, from the over-the-top production of Trevor Horn (ABC, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Art of Noise) to peak New Order, John Hughes soundtracks. There’s also a little actual ’70s-style disco sprinkled throughout.
With more contributions from the rest of the band — drummer Josh Wells adds immeasurable thump and thwock — than any album since “Poison Season“, “Labrynthitis” falls somewhere between the rain-soaked swoon of “Kaputt” and Have We Met’s computer-processed sheen. It’s easily Destroyer’s most danceable record to date, but Bejar’s lyrics, written during the pandemic’s first wave, give everything an undercurrent of dread. On “It Takes a Thief,” the album’s most relentlessly upbeat song — at 145 BPM it’s like The Style Council’s “Shout it to the Stop” on speed — he sings “up in flames, another way of saying goodbye.” On “The States,” which has house music origin you can feel just a little, he sings “No matter how you frame it, sun ain’t gonna shine.”
Trying to discern too much meaning out of Bejar’s lyrics, though, is a bad idea. The best approach is to just let his words and always delightful delivery wash over you. In the process, lines will stick, be it “Ruff Ruff goes the beagle to the terrier” “Eat the Wine, Drink the Bread”, “You lose your umbrella to the sideways rain” “The States”, “Fancy language dies and everyone’s happy to see it go” “June” or “The ceiling’s on fire and the contract is binding” “Tintoretto It’s For You”.
John Collins really outdid himself on the production, from the sweaty insanity of the aforementioned “It Takes a Thief,” to the lush opener “It’s In Your Heart Now” that channels both New Order and Disintegration-era Cure (lots of bass as lead instrument), to the crashing melancholic grandeur of “All My Pretty Dresses.” The wildest combination of prose and production, though, comes in “June,” a six-minute extravaganza that starts as a sexytime disco number and then makes a left turn at the halfway point where Dan heads into spoken word jazz odyssey territory, somewhere between Jim Morrison and Barry White, rattling off lines like “Low-born Madonna / With her typewriters in the rain / Clacking their misfortunes, Speech, Speech!” as the cowbell kicks in and spaced-out trumpets swirl around. Only in Bejar-land.
Just when you’ve got “Labrynthitis” halfway figured out, in comes “The Last Song,” which is just Dan and his guitar in sing-a-long mode. It makes the most sense of anything on the record, distilling the rollercoaster ride of the last two years, a glorious hangover on a perfect morning: Again, with Destroyer it’s best just to go with the flow. “There’s just a lot of wild moves,” Dan says of the album, noting that he and John Collins ended up trying “to make the most disorienting record we could.” Mission accomplished in the best possible way.
When the record ends with a lo-fi acoustic singalong that could have fit on a 1990s Destroyer record, and you realize how much ground Dan Bejar has covered since those days
Destroyer (the project of Dan Bejar) released a new album, “Labrynthitis” via MergeRecords. but there was one album track we really liked “It Takes a Thief,” which is relatively short when compared to the album’s other singles (the last one was seven minutes long).
Previously Destroyer shared the first single from “Labrynthitis”“Tintoretto, It’s for You,” via an atmospheric video for it.
“Labrynthitis” is the follow-up to 2020’s “Have We Met”. It was written mainly in 2020 and recorded in spring 2021. Bejar once again worked with regular collaborator John Collins, this time under lockdown conditions, with Bejar in Vancouver and Collins on the nearby remote Galiano Island. The Destroyer band then came in to flesh out some of the songs prior to mixing. The Books, Art of Noise, New Order, and disco are all cited as reference points in a press release announcing the album.
Released March 25th, 2022
Dan Bejar: vocals, synth, guitar Ted Bois: piano, synth Nicolas Bragg: guitar David Carswell: guitar JP Carter: trumpet John Collins: bass, synth, guitar, drum programming Joshua Wells: drums, percussion
Dan Bejar’s 13th “Destroyer” album is dizzying, dazzling, and disorientating disco as only he could make.
Jenny Hval’s music has often looked at a woman’s place in society, and her eighth album starts in a familiar place, pondering the institution of marriage: a guy proposing at one of her gigs, as well as her own wedding. The Norwegian singer songwriter reassures us that she only got into this patriarchal construct for “contractual reasons”. But as “Classic Objects” unfolds, that sense of certainty melts away as Hval interrogates how her identity and values were formed, and what she really believes in. As weighty as that sounds, the music is loosely dubby and shimmering, and Hval finds humour, lightness and transcendence in her searching.
The glorious sophistipop of “American Coffee”—who else in pop music can make us groove to lyrics about watching The Passion of Joan of Arc while “having a UTI”?
Female genius in pop music, subtly epic song writing. ‘American Coffee’ by Jenny Hval is taken from new album ‘Classic Objects’, out now via 4AD Records.
Lili Trifilio does, as her band Beach Bunny’s latest album release “Emotional Creature” (due July 22nd, Mom + Pop) single makes clear. The “Entropy” she sings about is in her narrator’s own heart and mind, a disordered energy—head-over-heels love, to be exact—that she feels helpless to direct. “And I can’t release, but I can’t hold in / All the smiles and grinning / Like life is just beginning,” Trifilio swoons over power-chord crunch and cymbal crash, swearing in the song’s ultra-hooky choruses, “Somebody’s gonna figure us out / And I hope they do, ‘cause I’m falling for you, whoa.”
Equal parts sweet and sensitive, “Entropy” is another satisfying preview of Beach Bunny’s much-anticipated sophomore album.
We are releasing a new album on October 21st on 4AD Records! It’s called ‘Stumpwork’ and we are very proud of it! Those clever ol’ sticks Rottingdean Bazaar and Annie Collinge made the artwork, for which we are truly thankful – a most seriously delectable package indeed!!!
“Stumpwork”, the follow-up to 2021’s “New Long Leg“. The South London-based group’s first studio album, recorded in just two weeks with producer John Parish at the iconic Rockfield Studios, became a huge critical and commercial success reaching #4 in the UK Album Charts and featuring in best-of-2021 polls across the board. Buoyed by its success, Nick Buxton (drums), Tom Dowse (guitar), Lewis Maynard (bass) and Florence Shaw (vocals) returned to rural Wales in late 2021, partnering once more with Parish and engineer Joe Jones. Working from a position of trust in the same studio and with the same team, imposter syndrome and anxiety was replaced by a fresh freedom and openness to explore beyond an already rangy sonic palette, a newfound confidence in their creative vision. A longer period in the studio afforded the time to experiment, improvise, play, sharpen their table tennis skills.
“Stumpwork” was inspired by a plethora of events, concepts, and political debacles, be they represented in the icy mess of ambient elements reflecting a certain existential despair, or the surprising warmth in celebrating the lives of loved ones lost through the previous year. Surrealist lyrics are as ever at the forefront – but there is a sensitivity now to the themes of family, money, politics, self-deprecation, and sensuality. Furious alt-rock anthems combine across the record with jangle pop and ambient noise, demonstrating the wealth of influences the band feed off and their deep musicality. With the pressure of their debut album behind them, Dry Cleaning have crafted an ambitious and deeply rewarding new work that marks them out as one of the most intelligent and exciting acts to come out of the UK.
Rottingdean Bazaar first worked with Dry Cleaning directing the official video for ‘Scratchcard Lanyard’ and as their creative partnership with the band continues to flourish, they have fashioned a brilliantly unique visual identity for “Stumpwork”.
Follow the link in the bio to adsorb the first single from it ‘Don’t Press Me’ and pre-order the album on white vinyl!
Long Island’s Oso Oso have just surprise-released their fourth album, Sore Thumb. Main member Jade Lilitri had been demo-ing the album in early 2021 with his cousin Tavish Maloney at producer Billy Mannino’s (of Bigger Better Sun) Two Worlds Recordings, and the plan was to take a month off and then go back and decide where and who to work with to complete the album, when Tavish suddenly passed away. When that happened, Jade decided not to touch the songs and release them as is, only handing it over to Long Island veteran Mike Sapone (who also produced and mixed Oso Oso’s 2019 album “Baskingin the Glow) to mix. The result is a big, soaring, spacious indie rock album,
“sore thumb” was made in February 2021 at Two Worlds Recording Studio
Songs written and composed by oso oso Jade Lilitri – vocals, guitar, bass, drums, aux percussion Tavish Maloney – guitar, aux percussion, vocals on “carousel” Billy Mannion – piano Josh Knowles – violin on “describe you”
The making of this record is now a memory of a time that i holder closer to my heart than anything. Regardless of how I feel about these songs in the years to come, I am so happy this exists. Thanks for listening. Be decent. Produced by Jade Lilitri, Billy Mannino and Tavish Maloney
In an era where so many indie musicians of Nilüfer Yanya’s stature are pivoting to ’80s synthpop, “Painless” is decidedly a guitar-driven rock record. From shimmering arpeggios to twitchy math rock to driving chords, “Painless” is like a patchwork quilt of modern indie songs that proudly put the guitar in the forefront. It reminds me at various points of a handful of mid/late 2000s UK art rock records — anything from Bloc Party to Klaxons to In Rainbows — but really Nilüfer has developed a style of her own, one that you can’t really pigeonhole or accurately compare to anyone in particular. And it’s not just that she’s an inventive guitarist; she’s also an increasingly great singer and she fills this album with melodies that hit right away and keep you coming back for more. It feels smaller and less pop-friendly than her debut, and the decision to make something that sounds a little more insular has resulted in an even better record.
Nilüfer Yanya runs head first into the depths of emotional vulnerability on her anticipated sophomore record “Painless“. Recorded between a basement studio in Stoke Newington and Riverfish Music in Penzance, the record is a more sonically direct effort, narrowing her previously broad palette to a handful of robust ideas. Yanya’s debut album “Miss Universe” (2019) earned a Best New Music tag from Pitchfork and saw support tours with Sharon Van Etten, Mitski and The XX.
I’ve listened to “L/R” obsessively since I bought this record. It’s ruined me for anything else.
Recorded in league with her long-time producer Patrick Hyland, Mitski announces her sixth studio album ‘Laurel Hell’. Though many of its songs originally date back to 2018 in terms of when they were written (shortly after released 2018’s breakout ‘Be The Cowboy’) these tracks have taken on new resonance in the context of the pandemic lockdown and America’s bitter social divides. Contains the singles ‘Working ForThe Knife’ and ‘The Only Heartbreaker’.
According to her latest bio, Mitski “wrote many of “Laurel Hell’s” songs during or before 2018,” but didn’t finish mixing it until May of 2021, marking the most amount of time she’d ever spent on an album. The songs may date back three or four years, but they did evolve throughout the pandemic. They “slowly took on new forms and meanings, like seed to flower,” Mitski said, and added that the album evolved “to be more uptempo and dance-y.”
“I needed to create something that was also a pep talk,” she continued. “Like, it’s time, we’re going to dance through this.” That feeling very much comes through in the music; Mitski has written pop-friendly songs before (“Nobody”), but she’s never embraced ’80s-style new wave and synthpop as fully as she does on “Laurel Hell” songs like “Love Me More,” “Should’ve Been Me,” “That’s Our Lamp,” and especially “The Only Heartbreaker,” the latter of which truly feels world-conquering enough to win over the crowd when Mitski opens for Harry Styles on tour this year. “Laurel Hell” definitely Goes Pop, and glossy synths definitely replace the guitar-oriented sound Mitski was once known for, but the songs still have that unique Mitski flair.
Liverpool duo Hannah Merrick and Craig Whittle, aka King Hannah released their debut LP “I’m Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me” via City Slang. The release is accompanied by the release of the new single “All Being Fine”. Originally inspired by Smog and noisy, lo-fi 90s bands, the track pulls the listener in immediately with its upbeat on the outside, sinister on the inside atmospherics, coming across like the aural equivalent of the opening of David Lynch’s classic film Blue Velvet – the bloody finger lying in the lush green grass.
“I thank God the day we met in the gross bar,” Hannah Merrick sings on “It’s Me and You, Kid,” the closing track on Liverpool duo King Hannah‘s excellent debut album. It’s a track that also serves as their origin story, detailing Merrick and guitarist Charlie Whittle’s first meeting, when they both worked as bartenders by night at the same watering hole. “It’s Me and You, Kid” is King Hannah in a nutshell: darkly sarcastic but utterly sincere, a great eye for details, and an even better ear for mood and atmosphere.
“All Being Fine” sets the stall perfectly for the rest of “I’m Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me”, drenched as it is in cinematic, often immersive and off beam soundscapes, punctuated by lyrics that are darkly romantic and thrillingly sardonic in equal measures. Written and then recorded with additional musicians Ted White, Jake Lipiec, and Olly Gorman in just eight months, the LP is a bold, memorable, even startling document of a dream shared, an ambition fulfilled and a vision realized.
“I’m Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me” is a spectacular debut from the duo and a clear indication this is the beginning of a long, fruitful journey for King Hannah.Whittle’s guitarwork is responsible for a lot of that. It hangs in the air like cigarette smoke on the songs, pure texture at times. You can almost smell it. Merrick’s vocals are similarly smouldering and cool, all perfect for the bluesy music they make that usually stays at a low simmer but occasionally rips open into a rolling boil.
King Hannah make music that lives somewhere between the gorgeously meditative pop of Yo La Tengo and the beautiful drama of Sharon Van Etten, the latter of which gave them a cosign for their 2020 EP. The foundation of I’m Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me lives in Merrick’s, Raymond Carver-Esque realism-inspired lyrics. Formed in 2017, the duo met waiting tables in Liverpool. Having seen Merrick perform years before and being serendipitously assigned to show Whittle the ropes at the new job, he immediately pestered her to play music with him. A writing routine was formed leading to their debut EP Tell Me Your Mind And I’ll Tell You Mine, which garnered early attention from The Guardian, Under The Radar, Brooklyn Vegan, Stereogum and more.
