Wet Leg - "moisturizer" (2025)

Wet Leg felt like a a breath of fresh air in late 2021 when they broke onto the scene with the silly and irreverent Chaise Long. UK indie rock was very much in one of its worshipping the post-punk classics phases and as great as some of those bands are, the scene as a whole was seriously lacking a sense of fun. Chaise Long and by extension the band's debut record had it in droves, which is why I was really quite surprised by the lead single for their follow-up. Titled catch these fists, it is everything that the first album stood out from: bog standard angular post-punk guitar lines, a repetitive chorus and standoff-ish, riot girl-lite lyrics about annoying men in nightclubs. It felt very run of the mill and unoriginal, and doesn't play into the bands appeal in the slightest. The second single, CPR, is an improvement on catch these fists. The lyrics about crushing on someone so hard that you need CPR is much more fun than 'men suck' and Rhian Teasdale puts on some fun vocal inflections throughout the track. However it still sticks with the more aggressive post-punk instrumentation which I just don't think fits the band's writing style and overall vibe.

Luckily, when diving into the album as a whole, some of the deeper cuts do retain the sense of silliness and whimsy that made the debut so great. The third single, davina mccall, is a dreamy lovesong with some goofy pop-culture references (the title and opening line is a reference to Davina McCall's catchphrase on Big Brother from 20 years ago now). jennifer's body is obviously a reference to the film and has a driving rhythm section that propulses the song forward. pokemon, similarly, is a slinky and groovy synth driven cut that has some really cute lovestruck lyrics about escape and running away with your love. The best of the bunch is by far mangetout, and is the only track that captures the pure catchiness and simplicity of the debut. The snarky hook of "get lost forever" and jokes about magic beans feels like a much more 'Wet Leg' approach to annoying advances from men than the kind of sour and bitter vibe of catch these fists.

There are also two songs on the back end that I find quite interesting, don't speak and the closer, u and me at home. They go for that woozey, shoegaze-y guitar tone that's reminiscent of my bloody valentine. Combining that with poppy hooks and vocals that are actually intelligible, it feels like an alternate universe where mbv were actually interested in making indie pop songs. I wouldn't say they're the best of the bunch on the record as they are definitely carried by their vibe rather than the tunes at the core of them - but they're certainly an interesting diversion.

Unfortunately the record really struggles with consistency. pillow talk is another heavy track for the band, and while it is more interesting than the singles; at less than 3 minutes it feels like a non-committal half step into hard rock that ends before it can progress into anything more than just heavy riffs and aggressive vocals. pond song and 11:21 are unremarkable, meandering, slower paced tracks that go nowhere and don't have memorable hooks.

I feel like moisturizer fits the cliche of 'difficult second album' pretty well. You can tell the band are trying to shake off the accusations of industry plants and being a gimmick band by deliberately avoiding making the same album again and trying on new sonic (and visual) pallets. However, I can't help but feel like a lot of the personality that made them unique has been lost in the transition. There's some good songs on here but it doesn't come together to form much of a whole.

Top Tracks: davina mccall, jenifer's body, mangetout, pokemon

6/10

Loyle Carner - "hopefully !" (2025)

Loyle Carner's third record, 2022's Hugo, stuck with me a lot more than I thought it was going to. That album pushed Loyle into a more upfront and commanding space, with more intense instrumentals and tighter, more focused writing and theming. It makes sense, with the album focusing on the meaty topics of Loyle's mixed race heritage and Absent father. Hopefully ! flips the coin right over, mainly revolving around Loyle becoming a father, and the struggles and upsides that parenthood brings. As such, this is Carner's most settled and content release so far, and sonically the most low-key his music has ever been.

I enjoyed the singles as they rolled out, and left me intrigued as to the direction as a whole. They were all very low-key, somewhat trip hop inflected tunes with a moody and smoky atmosphere. It left me wondering whether there was going to be anything even akin to the loose and jazzy highlights of the first two records, let alone the bombastic soul-inspired instrumentals of Hugo. Lead single all i need is about uptempo as it gets, with it's scratchy breakbeat, and multitracked and reverb laden synths and vocals. in my mind, which was released as the b-side and precedes all i need on the album, is a much more dreamy and hypnotic track fitting for a song about being stuck in your own head. The other singles continue down this path. The closer, about time similarly features a very gentle hi-hat rhythm, subtle twinkling keys and reverb heavy acoustic guitar. It's one of the more lyrically upfront tracks on the record, with Loyle detailing the lessons he's learned balancing a music career and fatherhood and how he's going to pass that on to his children. It's a very wholesome way to end the record.

The rest of the record follows in this suit. The gentle, formless, somewhat ambient intro to the opener feel like home teases in the record before a skittering beat pulls the song (and thus the album) into life. However it feels like its over before it really gets going. Similarly, strangers and don't fix it don't really come together into anything much of anything. horcrux brings back some of the jazz rap vibes with it's syncopated drum beat and loose piano chords. The tempo and intensity of the song slowly progresses into one of the more attention grabbing songs on the record. The very raw and intimate neo-soul vibes of purpose give of massive To Pimp a Butterfly vibes, which I will always be a massive sucker for - and so is an album highlight for me

I think hopefully !'s biggest problem is that that while all these songs are perfectly up to Loyle's usual standard when taken individually, they don't really come together into anything more impactful or notable. I have been listening back through the rest of Loyle's discography while writing this and as chill as they can be, they just had a bit more oomph and drive to them. hopefully ! feels a bit indulgent in that regard, and reminds me a bit of the rough around the edges releases that many artists released around lockdown that lacked the polish or fanfare of a major new LP. It is still perfectly enjoyable while it is on, and much like the rest of his records, works perfectly as late night wind-down music to chill out to. Check it out if you're a fan of Loyle or chill hip hop in general, but don't expect it to move the needle either way.

Top Tracks: in my mind, all i need, horcrux, purpose, about time

6/10

The Smile - "Cutouts" (2024)

As I mentioned in the last post about Wall Of Eyes, The Smile went on to release a second album in 2024, being this one, Cutouts. Partially recorded in the same sessions as WOE, the band insist that it is not just a leftovers record; but honestly it does kind of feel like it is. Some of the tracks here fit the much more low key, ambient soundscapes of WOE and others are more reminiscent of the more energetic post-punk and krautrock tracks on the debut. It makes the record feel lacking in identity when compared to either - sort of caught in the middle.

This feeling of inconsequentiality is further felt by the general quality of the songs as well. The record kicks things off with the very low key and not particularly interesting Foreign Spies and Instant Psalm. These songs don't really go anywhere and lack the space and texture that made the slow moments on WOE so enveloping. The record then kicks into gear with frankly the two best songs on the record, Zero Sum and Colours Fly. Zero Sum takes the rhythmic post-punk of the debut and turns it up a notch into full blown math rock. Colours Fly is an atmospheric slow burn that slowly builds into a dramatic climax. The jazzy drum patterns and the dynamic guitars and strings that rise and fall in the mix create such a sense of unease. It would have fit snugly on WOE and I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of the tracks recorded from those sessions. 

The weakest track is definitely Don't Get Me Started, which is built around a very repetitive dirge-like electronic beat. Musically the song isn't very interesting, which is then compounded by the way Thom's lyrics read. The come across as very non-specific "You've got me wrong / You don't understand me" pity party, which to anyone in the know about the heat Thom and Johnny have received about their somewhat flimsy stance on the Israel / Palestine this year conflict comes across in such a bad way. The lyrics are, in typical Thom fashion, vague and non-specific; so if it is supposed to be a comment on the criticism they've faced - at least have the balls to say it. And if it's not, surely they knew how it would read.

Nothing else on the album stoops so low, and is the expected baseline of quality for these guys. Eyes & Mouth is a nice middle ground between the the band's two lanes, with groovy lead guitars but a lot of additional layers and flourishes. Tiptoe is a nice bit of ambient piano music, and The Slip is a groovy mix of electronic beats, jazzy drumming and angular guitars. No Words is that driving krautrock jam that Thom and Johnny do so well, but it does feel at this point that we've heard it several times before on previous projects. Bodies Laughing closes out the record in a spooky and unsettling way, with its odd mix of a bossa nova groove and quite eerie and uneasy synths. It's a fine song but pretty underwhelming as a closer in all honesty.

Cutouts is by no means a bad record, and does have a couple of great moments - but it certainly lacks the attention to detail and flow of the previous records. It feels somewhat redundant and lacking in much of its own identity. It's solid enough and enjoyable if you're in the mood for this brand of Radiohead-adjacent music but it definitely has nothing on the first two records from The Smile.

Top Tracks: Zero Sum, Colours Fly, Eyes & Mouth, The Slip

6/10

Hozier - "Unreal Unearth" (2023)

 

Hozier's debut record has held up well for me over the years, being a brooding and sinister record in places, but also witty and tongue in cheek in others. Tracks like Jackie And Wilson and From Eden are basically non-skips for me when they come up in shuffle. 2019's follow-up, Wasteland Baby!, on the other hand, really didn't stick with me. I felt it was just so much less inspired and far more commercial and generic. The only track that I regularly come back to from it is No Plan these days.

Unreal Unearth is certainly more ambitious, being an hour long semi-narrative record loosely following Dante's Inferno. I'm not really a literary guy, so I can't really comment on how well the album captures the themes of the book or whether it adds anything interesting to them, but it definitely has a greater feeling of heft and importance than Wasteland Baby! ever did. This is evident from the opening two part De Selby. The first part being this moody and sinister folk tune where Hozier sings in Irish about the connection to self and God, the second being a bombastic pop soul tune showing the flip side, where he sings about running fast enough to escape the things he doesn't want to face. I felt Part 2 was a little clean and polished when I first heard it, it felt like everything in the song had been turned up to 11. It's grown on me a fair amount since then, as Hozier gives it all in the performance and the hook on the song is damn catchy.

I have similar feelings about Francesca, the massive 'Take Me To Church'-esque single from the album. Initially I thought it was fairly standard Hozier, nothing we haven't heard from him before, and with a little more gloss than I would like. But the song at the core of it is pretty damn great and outshines the slightly overblown and unimaginative production. Eat Your Young is definitely the album highlight, with gorgeous cinematic strings soaring over bluesy guitars and Hozier's very dry, sarcastic lyrics tackling the logical extremes of neo-liberal, late stage capitalism. The gory imagery of 'eat your young' is about the closest the album gets to some of the more morbid stuff from the debut that was always really engaging.

While the cinematic and overblown production benefits some of the songs on the album, it certainly hinders others. Damage Gets Done is probably the worst offender, as it just seems every decision on that track knee-caps it in every way. It's a blown out new wave duet with horrendous booming reverb gated drums. It's not a style that I think Hozier is particularly equipped to pull off, but everything about the track is so garish and un-delicate. Hozier and Brandi Carlile spend the entire time fighting to be heard against each other and the ridiculously overpowering drums. On the whole, due to the albums length and how its mixed, I'm finding I'm getting ear fatigue by the end of it. Every track turns it up to 11 and there's just no space to breath. It's not an abrasive record, its just too loud and too overproduced.

The two tracks that really sell the cinematic atmosphere are the midpoint interlude, Son of Nyx, and the closer, First Light. They both use the string section to maximum effect. Son of Nyx is subtle and mysterious, and First Light is the linear, building, uplifting closer that the record needs to bring it out of the darkness and into the light. This is definitely Hozier's most downbeat album, and it can come off a little needlessly self serious at points - it does get a little bogged down in the second half and by the time Unknown / Nth draws to a close I am in desperate need of the uplift that First Light brings.

Unreal Unearth is definitely a more interesting and ambitious album than Wasteland Baby!, but its definitely has its issues and is a long way off the high bar set by the debut. There are a handful of really catchy soul and singer / songwriter songs that I really enjoy, but their wrapped up in an album that is a bit too bloated, a little too self serious, and way too overproduced. It's definitely a pick your favourites and save them kind of release.

Top Tracks: De Selby (Part 1), De Selby (Part 2), Francesca, Eat Your Young, Son of Nyx, First Light

6/10

Man-Made Sunshine - "Man-Made Sunshine" (2022)

Man-Made Sunshine is the new solo side project from Nothing But Thieves' frontman Connor Mason as a form of emotional let-out away from the band's typical alt rock style. Connor has never shied away from the fact that he is the main driver behind the poppier elements of the band's sound, which in my opinion have increasingly clashed with the band as a whole becoming heavier over the years. This makes this EP a nice diversion where he can explore more tender ideas of self-rediscovery against a gentler soundscape.

The five tracks here very much moody but hopeful alt-pop slowburns, where Connor's earnest croons are set to low-key synths and gentle acoustic guitars. While nothing mindblowing, they all maintain a level of quality and have moments that I do quite enjoy. Brain In Jar slowly builds to a very restrained and tasteful climax, and Big has a really catchy chorus and I would actually like to see a full band pop-rock balled version of this from NBT - its certainly better than a good handful of the radio rock ballads on the last album. Little Bird is just a cute acoustic song with really wholesome lyrics about being kind to yourself. The last two songs are a little darker in tone. Life's Gonna Kill You (If You Let It) is minimal piano ballad that is more similar to the relentless nihilism of the band's output on Moral Panic. Its probably my least favourite of the five as musically it is very simple and feels like quite a downer after the themes of Big and Little Bird, however its far from bad - just kind of unremarkable. Rosebud is more interesting, taking a dramatic arpeggiated descending piano chord progression and pairing it with Connor's most impassioned vocals on the record.

Man-Made Sunshine is a simple but sweet and consistent little EP, and it's nice to see Connor outside of his usual rock set dressing. If your a fan of NBT, you will enjoy this, even if it might not be noteworthy enough to come back to down the road.

Top Tracks: Big, Little Bird

6/10

Foals - "Life Is Yours" (2022)

Foals' last project, 2019s Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost double album, turned out to be quite a tone-setter for the 2 years that immediately followed. Frontman Yannis Philippakis described the records as 'doom soup' and much of the lyrical content focused the general shit-ness of the world circa 2019 (Brexit, Trump and the climate crisis were obvious themes). So when the pandemic hit and took away nearly all the small moments that keep us going through the existential dread, the band took it as an opportunity to shift gears and write a record celebrating those things that we all desperately missed. Which is a pretty good thing in my opinion, as despite part 1 being my favourite Foals album, part 2 might just be their weakest - being run of the mill anthemic stadium rock that I was honestly too kind on at the time, as I have not felt compelled to come back to it once in the years since.

All is evident from the lead single, Wake Me Up. The track is a straight forward and anthemic dance punk stormer, with funky Talking Heads-y grooves and chanted chorus vocals. The track has such an ecstatic energy to it that I haven't heard from the band since Antidotes. The rest of the singles, while not quite as in your face, have grown on me also - providing a sense of pure fun and energy. 2am is more spacious and blocky, with a catchy and warm guitar melody that matches the lyrics detailing the back end of nights out where you're a bit worse for wear, chatting shit with mates in a kebab shop. Its pure nostalgia and just hits the right vibe. 2001 is sugary synth funk that fits the Glastonbury-montage-core descriptor I gave to one of The Wombats' songs earlier this year (I think it was even used in the BBC coverage), although it feels a whole lot more natural and less forced and calculated. Looking High is probably the weakest of the singles, being just a little too 80's pastiche for me. While decent to good songs, I would say that all of the singles bar Wake Me Up do feel a little safe and radio-ready. They don't really go anywhere unexpected. This is pretty evident in that 2001s extended outro is portioned into the separate interlude track (summer sky).

The rest of the album is a bit of a mixed bag. The opener, Life Is Yours, has elements I like: its summery Balearic-esque instrumentation and its general message of 'life is what you make it'; but it might just be the most compressed song the band has ever released. Every singling element is having a boxing match to get some space, and it genuinely sounds awful on headphones. Foals generally have the tendency to blow out their mixes, but this record is the most obviously mixed to be played out loud on a massive stereo system out of any of them. Flutter is built around a repeated guitar loop that initially feels quite quirky and rhythmic, but the track doesn't progress from this one idea and gets old by the end of its runtime. Under The Radar is the same passable but unremarkable stadium rock that filled ENSWBL part 2, and Crest Of The Wave is the washed out slow burn that every single Foals album tries at least once, and I'd say its on the more forgettable side of the spectrum.

Its on the back end of the record that the band finally jump fully into the alt-dance that the rest of the album teases at. The Sound is spiralling and groovy tune that I do find myself getting sucked into as the layers of synths and guitars build to a massive crescendo. The vocals are buried in the mix which I initially was offput by, but they just fit the vibe of the song so well. The closer, Wild Green, is just a full drop into ambient house and while not anything to write home about in the grand scheme of things, it's nice to see the band try something genuinely new that they've only really hinted at in the past.

Ultimately, Life Is Yours is decent, if a little lightweight. Gone is a lot of the weirdness and wonkiness that carried through from their earliest singles to ENSWBL. Philippakis said that they made the album to be played at parties and barbeques and road trips, a soundtrack to people living life again. And that's what it is in the end, a soundtrack, a vibe, background music. But it does succeed in that - its fun, its breezy, its summery (and Glastonbury-montage-core).

Top Tracks: Wake Me Up, 2am, 2001, The Sound

6/10

Everything Everything - "Raw Data Feel" (2022)

With touring of their last record, 2020's Re-Animator, put on hold due to the pandemic, Everything Everything went straight back into the studio to record a new project. While an enjoyable album for me, that record felt like it wasn't much of a step forward for the band compared to their previous four albums for many (a sentiment I can certainly agree with). So the band made a conscious effort to take a new direction with Raw Data Feel both lyrically and sonically. Re-Animator somewhat shifted lyrically to more human, 'emotional' topics than the band's usual socio-political critiques; however did so in quite broad strokes. Raw Data Feel doubles down in this direction, telling more personal stories around the the theme of human responses to trauma. Furthermore, Jonathon Higgs generated a portion of the lyrics using AI by feeding a bot he named Kevin 4chan threads, LinkedIn T&Cs and the whole of Beowulf.

An interesting idea for sure, however it doesn't quite come together for me. Lyrically, the album feels like a bit of a mess and the AI lyrics don't help. The band are known for their eccentric and sometimes cryptic word barrages, but this is the first time for me they seem like they might not have much meaning behind them beyond just being ridiculous for the sake of it. For example, the hook of Pizza Boy is "I'll have a Coke, I'll have a Pepsi now". It is one of the lyrics revealed to be generated from the AI, and the on the nose commentary on consumerism and choice paralysis is 1) nowhere near as deep as it thinks it is, 2) not all that catchy. I'm not going to sing along to that, it sounds stupid, not quirky and eccentric. There is a running theme of the main character wanting to offload his trauma onto a computer, and Kevin is one of several recurring characters in the record, but it isn't clear whether Kevin is the main character or the robot companion. The same goes for Jennifer and The Goatman, how these characters fit in and relate to each other is thinly sketched and unclear. It's an album that appears to have some kind of linear narrative, but when you try and look for it you can't make head or tale of it. 

Similarly, Higgs' lyrics have always had the tendency to descend into generalisations as he focuses more on the feeling created by something rather than the thing or event itself; but due to the increased intimacy of Raw Data Feel, the use of "it" and "thing" is far more common on here than any of their previous releases and so in places does feel underwritten. That being said, the record works so much better if taken on the broader strokes much like the rest of their work. Teletype and I Want A Love Like This are about trying to bury yourself in someone else to avoid your own demons, Bad Friday is about excessive partying, Shark Week is about narcissism and control as coping mechanisms, HEX delves deep into the pits of internet forums, and Jennifer is about straight up escaping a mentally damaging situation or environment.

On a musical level, the band also make a lot of changes, and as a result the album feels all over the place. The band have done away with the majority of the prog-pop and art rock elements of their sound, delving deeper into their synth pop and electronic tendencies. What results is a much more synthetic and ridged sounding album, but with much more simple poppy song progressions. The band still sound as eccentric as they always did, but it feels way more surface level with booming and blown out synths and drums, jarring dynamic changes and instrumental switch ups; rather than the complex grooves and linear builds of the band's earlier records. 

The sequencing and pacing also seems so weird. The first four tracks are the four singles, and are all glitchy alt dance tunes, but after this point the style is dropped and doesn't return again. The fifth track, Jennifer, is a driving Killer's-esque heartland rock song, however Higg's voice is far less suited for this kind of earnest delivery than the likes of Brandon Flowers. It's a shame because the song itself is one of the strongest written on the record. Leviathan is the standard Radiohead inspired slow burn that each EE album has, although it is five and a half minutes long and doesn't do anything really to justify its length. Every EE album also has one track that is the most over the top, balls to the wall song that the band can possibly come up with about 2/3 of the way through the record. Raw Data Feel has not one, but three; and they all sit one after another slap bang in the middle of the runtime. Shark Week is easily my favourite of the three, with its snappy beat and catchy vocal melodies. Cut Up! and HEX, however veer just slightly over the edge from over the top to obnoxious. Cut Up! has a really tacky instrumental that sounds like a bad imitation of Depeche Mode's Master and Servant and Higg's repetitive staccato vocals get really grating. I like the sinister lyrics and booming, bassy verses of HEX, but the chorus feels underwhelming and I can't help but feel like the band has covered the idea of internet radicalisation enough times at this point and far better in the past (e.g. Zero Pharaoh or Ivory Tower).

The record is just a little too long and bloated, and the odd blocking of similar tracks together make it feel disjointed. Metroland Is Burning and My Computer just feel unnecessary. By the time the record limps into it's final leg I struggle to care about the supposed emotional arc songs like Kevin's Car and Born Under A Meteor are supposed to provide to the narrative. The closer does pull me back in to an extent. Titled Software Greatman, it plays more into the existentialism of the idea about offloading your emotions onto a machine and the fact that you can never be truly 'over' something traumatic as it becomes a part of your identity. "I don't know how to get over this thing, 'cause it's always there" Higgs sings and it certainly hits a lot harder than the deliberately deflective lyrics earlier on in the record.

Raw Data Feel is a messy album with a half formed concept. But the fact that it is so overstuffed means with every moment it is trying something new. It's never boring, even if the ideas don't always land. EE are still a band that don't really sound like anyone else. I commend the ambition, and I certainly prefer a miss-fired experiment to something uninspired. If anything, it has given me a greater appreciation for the tight math rock grooves and explosive choruses of group's debut, which is an album that has never truly clicked for me until now.

Top Tracks: I Want A Love Like This, Shark Week, Software Greatman

6/10

IDLES - "CRAWLER" (2021)

New Year, last years albums! After a hectic 2021, hopefully 2022 will have a little more time for the blog. I'm aiming for posting roughly once a week-ish, so we'll see whether I'll keep it up. Anyway, IDLES came around with their fourth record, CRAWLER, at the back end of last year, and has come across to the slightly more critical reception of their last album, Ultra Mono. I really liked it, being my first proper introduction to the band. However, a lot of fans / critics felt the band were becoming caricature of themselves - the hardcore punk sound played out and the sloganistic lyrics too on the nose and shallow. CRAWLER, on the other hand, takes the band further into their more cerebral post-punk tendencies, with a greater emphasis on subtler guitar and electronic textures and more personal, reflective lyrics.

The bulk of CRAWLER revolves around singer Joe Talbot's journey out of substance abuse, making the record a much more sombre and moody one than Ultra Mono. This is exemplified by the opener, MTT 420 RR, where slow fizzling synths lead into Talbot's detached vocals. "It was February, It was cold and I was high" he sings over and over. The song is about a car accident he had while under the influence, and features some truly violent, horrific imagery. Obviously exaggerated (as he is still alive), but Talbot sings about seeing his own spinal chord. It's the bleakest moment on the album and very much a tone setter.

However the tone is a bit all over the place, which is this records biggest problem. The following track, The Wheel, follows in this dark path lyrically, detailing Talbots struggles pre-IDLES with finding a job and looking after his chronically ill mother when everyone around him had turned their back - besides his drug dealer, keeping him in 'the wheel'. However, the song musically is very much standard IDLES, and really doesn't convey the weight and trauma of the situation effectively. This tonal whiplash is at it's worst at the back end of the record. Progress is a fairly uneventful, low-key, electronic mood piece which is then followed by the 30 second thrash-punk of Wizz and then the most run of the mill IDLES sounding song on the album, King Snake. I get the thematic journey of the sequence, being that progress is about recovering from addiction, Wizz is the short high during a relapse and King Snake details the comedown and feelings of failure and depression that follow. However, Wizz is gone in a flash and King Snake doesn't sound like the themes it is trying to convey - it sounds like usual IDLES.

Not to say that the album is a swing and miss, because it very much isn't. It feels like more of a half step than a full embrace of a new sonic path. There are songs that marry IDLES' older style with these new themes quite well. Stockholm Syndrome and Meds are more righteous in there approach, calling out people who judge addicts and Talbot calling out his past self for all the damage his addiction caused, which suits the bands blaring guitars and thunderous drums more than some of the more harrowing moments on the album. However the best songs on the album (alongside MTT 420 RR) are the two most left field (also the two singles surprisingly). Car Crash builds on the hints of electro-industrial and noise rock from Ultra Mono and chugs away and builds with so much momentum, until the inevitable release where Talbot realises he is a 'car crash'. The Beachland Ballroom, on the other hand, is the grounding weight and heart of the album. It is a punked up soul tune with so much passion and expression in Talbots voice. It's the moment of connection and humanity that keeps the album from being too sour and depressing. The record also closes well, with Talbot coming out the other end on The End, singing the mantra "In spite of it all, life is beautiful". It gives the record a full, satisfying arc and progression.

While the lyrics and themes on the record are really detailed, interesting and well constructed; the album as a whole feels more like a half step into a new sound - leaving it a bit caught in no mans land. It's unsure whether to be sombre and dejected, or angular and abrasive, or loud and righteous. It lacks the energy and fire of Ultra Mono, but doesn't go all in on anything to replace it. There are still some top notch tunes on the album, and it's greater depth is probably going to win back a lot of people that thought Ultra Mono was a little too lightweight.

Top Tracks: MTT 420 RR, Car Crash, Stockholm Syndrome, The Beachland Ballroom, Meds, The End

6/10

Nothing But Thieves - "Moral Panic II" (2021)

 

With the global pandemic halting their touring plans to support last year's Moral Panic album, NBT much like many artists hopped back into the studio and came out with this 5 track EP, Moral Panic II. As the name suggests, it focuses on the same lyrical themes and ideas as the album. That had me slightly worried as the album felt fairly undercooked and predictable, and trying a little too hard to be edgy without the substance to back it up.

While not mind blowing, MPII is certainly a step up from the album, being better written and falling into fewer played out radio rock tropes. Every song here is better than about half of that album. The two singles Futureproof and Miracle, Baby feel slightly overproduced and blown out; but not to an egregious extent. Miracle, Baby has actually grown on me a bit, being one of the band's big slow burn songs with a massive chorus. Futureproof is definitely the weakest track, as it goes for that similar edgy but also pretty safe sounding semi-industrial instrumentation that goes nowhere near hard enough to be truly intense or aggressive and fairly shallow lyrics about "how we all care more about social media than making the planet better" that NBT have done several times, let alone other artists.

The closer Your Blood is also something I feel the band has done before, being a 90s Radiohead style ballad. This one sounds somewhere in between Fake Plastic Trees and Exit Music (For A Film). It's alright, but when the track begins to build to its climax, it doesn't do anything particularly creative or unique, just a kind of crunchy guitar riff. It really doesn't build the intensity like the way Exit Music just crashes down on you after its climactic swell.

The two other songs here are the best ones. If I Were You is pretty standard NBT, with a crunchy and swaggering riff and disenfranchised lyrics which seem quite obviously targeted at governments' poor handling of the pandemic. It's chantable and aggressive, and a decent song. Ce n'est Rien is the biggest leftfield moment on the EP, being a ferocious alt metal rager where Connor Mason literally screams, which is something new for the band. The track alternates between much gentler verses and this powerhouse of a chorus, making the track really dynamic and exciting.

MPII is a step up in overall quality from the Moral Panic album, but I wouldn't say it is at the same level of Broken Machine or the What Did You Think When You Made Me This Way? EP. It is nice to know they haven't completely lost their edge though.

Top Tracks: If I Were You, Miracle, Baby, Ce n'est Rien

6/10

Declan McKenna - "Zeros" (2020)

 

Declan McKenna burst onto the UK indie scene back in the mid 2010s after winning the 2015 Glastonbury's Emerging Talent competition at the age of just 16, releasing his debut record, What Do You Think Of The Car? a couple of years later in 2017. That record was a perfectly fine, if run of the mill, indie rock album tinged with some existential and political writing that showed some promise (the big single Brazil is genuinely a great indie rock song).

I only began to pay more attention to McKenna last year when he released the non-album single, British Bombs; a protest song about the war in Yemen that sounds straight out of The Clash's London Calling. It's a really great song. That song was followed up by the lead single for this album, Beautiful Faces. The song is the stomping mix of indie rock and glam with a souring otherworldly chorus. The noisy, rough guitar tones; thunderous drumming and whining synths create this raucous and alien atmosphere for Declan's existential vocals to glide over. It's a toss up between these two tracks as to which is the best song McKenna has written but it's one of them for sure.

The mash up of indie rock and glam on Beautiful Faces is carried throughout the whole of Zeros, in a generally entertaining, if messy and disjointed, way. The opener, You Better Believe!!!, starts as a jovial indie rock song with a breezy guitar melody before gaining more and more swagger as the track progresses. The existentialism seeps in as McKenna howls "We're gonna get ourselves killed!" on the bridge. It's such a feel good opener to the record and seems ready made for festival stages. Daniel, You're Still a Child has chunky, new wave groove to it that combines with the glam elements nicely. Declan uses the character of Daniel, who crops up on various points of the album, to voice the themes of teenage nihilism and existential dread; and how you've just got to enjoy yourself at a personal level, despite how terrible the world you're growing up into might seem.

The album is at its weakest when its at its most derivative.The tracks Be an Astronaut and The Key to Life on Earth are so obvious Bowie pastiches. They aren't bad songs but they feel like pale imitations of Bowie's sound and style. Be an Astronaut is a dramatic piano led song akin to the likes of Space Odyssey and Life On Mars, but is no where near as wondrous and whimsical as those classics, or as catchy. The Key to Life on Earth opens with these wobbly synths that sound exactly like the ones on Ashes to Ashes. It's distractingly similar, and the lyrics are also some of the weakest on the record. Declan plays up the teenage drama a bit too much, and is really trying to sell things like not liking school and teen fashion trends as deep, and it doesn't work for me really.

The back half of the record consists of messy but intriguing tracks, that introduce so many ideas and elements that they never quite settle into knowing what are. The track Emily for instance, starts as this twangy folk song, but from the second verse turns into a 'bleepy-bloopy' synth tune, before an admittedly killer guitar solo closes out the song. The song just doesn't know what it is. It is the most egregious example of this lack of cohesion, but it does permeate into other tracks on the second half. They all have good qualities to them (Rapture has super glam-y falsetto hook; and the simple, minimal verses of Sagittarius A* are a nice change of pace), but they don't quite come together into a particularly memorable whole. Twice Your Size is the only song from the second half that feels like a focused, complete experience, and it's one of the better tracks on the album. The very 70's synth tones and jangly guitar combine with McKenna's yelpy vocals to make something slightly psychedelic and woozy, climaxing to a wall of sound at the end of the song.

Zeros feels like the kind of transitional album for an artist still in development (hes only 21), but an ambitious and interesting one, even if it doesn't always hit the mark. McKenna's personality is also strong enough to carry the album when it's ideas don't quite land, meaning it never drags. It's solid but only touches upon something greater in a couple of places.

Top Tracks: You Better Believe!!!, Beautiful Faces, Daniel, You're Still A Child, Twice Your Size

6/10

The Killers - "Imploding The Mirage" (2020)

The Killers were one of my favourite bands as a teenager, and although it's only their first two records that are truly great, every record they've brought out since then has been at least decent, since the band have settled into their style of heartland rock meets new wave and do it pretty well. I know what I'm getting with a Killers record, and I know I'll enjoy it in the moment, even if it doesn't stick with me over time.

That being said, I enjoyed the group's last release, 2017's Wonderful Wonderful, slightly more than Day & Age and Battle Born due to the sense of subtlety and insecurity it had (perhaps due to tensions within the band preventing them from recording a record for 5 years). Killers records are usually bombastically optimistic and earnest, but WW had a real vulnerability and unease to it. Imploding The Mirage is the exact opposite. This is easily the most bombastic and stadium sized record the band has released so far, and it is kind of it's undoing. Almost every track here turns it up to 11, as if every song is trying to be the album's climax, which ultimately is to the detriment of the songs here, as most of them are pretty good.

Lead single, Caution, is the best of the bunch. A typical Killers lead single, sounding absolutely massive with a rip roaring, anthemic chorus, wailing guitars and synths and a kick ass guitar solo courtesy of Fleetwood Mac's Lindsay Buckingham. "I'm throwing caution..." Brandon Flowers wails in the Springsteen-esque chorus and it captures that sense of catharsis and sheer overwhelming emotion that all the best Killers songs do. The thing is, it is the 4th track on the record, with the two similarly Springsteen inspired and massive singles My Own Souls Warning and Dying Breed before it. When I heard them for the first time in isolation, despite them being pretty good songs, they felt like just not quite as good versions of Caution. On the record however, because they come first, by the time I get to Caution I enjoy it less, as I have already been bombarded by these tracks without any respite in a more subtle moment. As a track, My Own Souls Warning has grown on me quite a lot. It's the kind of opener that really pumps you up with soaring melodic synths and jangly guitars, and Flower's slightly wobbly vocal inflections on the song give it a really endearing nature. It's a real feel good song. Dying Breed is built on drum samples from krautrock legends Can and NEU!, which give the song a unique sound in the first half, but are overwhelmed by the more standard Killers instrumentation as soon as the live drums kick in and you can barely hear that original rhythm. The track does have one of the best choruses on the record though, so it's an odd mixed bag of a track.

The album only really comes close to having a subtle moment to regain itself in two places, in the tracks Blowback and Fire In Bone. I really like the gentler instrumentation on Blowback, but the hook is one of the weakest on the record and it really kills my enjoyment of the song. Brandon really sang "She's breathing in the blowback" and expects it to be a singalong chorus?... Fire In Bone, on the other hand, I really like. It's a funky, Talking Head's inspired track that stays reserved and lets you enjoy it's groove and quirky lyrics. It does climax towards the end of the song, but unlike most the tracks here it doesn't explode into the first chorus, setting it apart from the others.

A couple of the later deep cuts, Running Towards A Place and My God, also impressed me quite a bit. Running Towards A Place channels a very pop-era Fleetwood Mac energy with a silky smooth bass-line that's a lot less pummelling and intense than the ones on the singles, but still builds up the layers as the track progresses to a big climax that feels very earned. All the little guitar and synth licks are placed just in the right moments to give the track a lot of character. My God has a really catchy chorus that embedded itself into my brain on first listen. Flowers and guest Weyes Blood sing it in this kind of blocky flow that puts emphasis on every other word in each line. It's pretty memorable. The drums on this track are thunderous, just pummelling along with the melody. Weyes take the lead on the bridge where the track shifts to a Madonna sounding synth pop sound, and while it sounds completely different to the rest of the song, it works.

With every track trying to be the most epic on the album, some do lose out. Lightning Fields is quite forgettable, being super reverby with a long meandering chorus that doesn't really have much of a hook to it, yet Brandon is still singing is heart out trying to make it sound important. When The Dreams Run Dry is the only serious dip in quality on the record, as it has this kitchen sink mentality which makes it feel like one of those tacky novelty 80s new wave songs that would smash other genres into the typical synth pop format just for the sake of it. The track has kind of a reggae beat and tropical synths, and Flowers even does a stereotypical 'reggae' vocals for the second verse. The chorus is also so blown out and too loud, and the whole tropical angle is dropped in the second half, which means the track doesn't really end up anywhere interesting, it just sounds a bit cheesy and tacky.

Imploding The Mirage is the kind of record that is pretty decent, but could've been a lot better if the band didn't insist on turning it up to 11 on every single song. It really needs a couple more genuinely reserved songs for it to feel like a complete album. That being said, if most of these songs came up on shuffle, I wouldn't skip them; which shows that the album's issues aren't to do with the writing, more the structure. It is a bit disappointing, since Wonderful Wonderful seemed like the band was on the right track, although this album is still isn't the group's weakest (Battle Born has it beat for that). Yeah it's Killers album, so if you know what to expect from the band, you'll get at least something from it.

Top Tracks: My Own Souls Warning, Dying Breed, Caution, Fire In Bone, Running Towards A Place, My God

6/10

Massive Attack - "100th Window" (2003)

Continuing on with Massive Attack's discography into the 21st Century, 100th Window makes a unique stylistic shift for the group. The record came after a period of tension within the group, with only Robert Del Naja (aka 3D) and producer Neil Davidge working on the record, with no involvement from Andrew Vowles or Grant Marshall. As a result, the record is far less indebted to the sounds of dub, soul and hip hop than the group's previous albums, instead heading of the direction of ambient and minimal techno. The record is still just about trip hop, but as a sign of how different it is, the album contains zero samples.

What results is a an incredibly low-key album that feels very serene and measured. The tracks fade together, all occupying similar tempo, sonic pallets and tones. The Vocals in particular have much less emphasis on them. All the tracks have them, yet the only track where they really draw attention is Special Cases. Most of the time, they float about in an ethereal fashion, almost as if their purpose is to be an additional instrument rather than a lyrical focus. The tracks also feel very synthetic, with their emphasis on rigid techno beats. Take for example Butterfly Caught, a track which has these flourishes of strings as additional layering, but the core of the track (the repetitive beat and 3D's vocals) feel so mechanised and sterile. The best tracks have something to grab you're attention, for instance the aforementioned more intense vocals on Special Cases. Everywhen has a more organic feel to it; and A Prayer For England has a prominent, much more groovier bass guitar line which feels like it gives the track some more heft compared to some of the other cuts

The record has been great to have in the background while working, the tracks are busy enough to not feel like droning, but ambient and minimal enough to not be distracting. But unlike the rest of the group's records, I don't really want to listen to it while not doing anything else. It feels so sterile and passive. The cover represents the album well, clean, glass-like, varying shades of grey. It's like a brand new skyscraper in a world city; impressive and elegant, yet characterless and unremarkable. I'd say only check it out if you're really into checking out the group's entire discography, although the record still maintains a decent quality and the best moments are pretty good. It just feels a bit one note and uneventful compared to the genre-sprawling of Massive Attack's 90's work.

Top Tracks: Everywhen, Special Cases, A Prayer For England

6/10

Hayley Williams - "Petals For Armour" (2020)

I've never really been into much 2000s pop-punk and emo pop, so I never had much interest in checking out Paramore's discography. That changed with 2017's After Laughter, a catchy, fun and emotionally expressive new wave throwback record that got me interested in the band. So when frontwoman Hayley Williams lead single for her debut solo record was channelling some serious Radiohead vibes of all things, I was incredibly intrigued about this album and how it would turn out.

The track, titled Simmer, takes its influence from the groovier, more rhythmic side of late-2000s Radiohead, but places that style within a more pop context. Williams hushed and inflected vocals build to this punchy, staccato chorus with the catchy as anything hook "Simmer simmer simmer down". This is the first track on the record and followed by something equally Radiohead-y in Leave It Alone, but would be far more at home amongst the acoustic ballads of A Moon Shaped Pool. The track is gentle and soothing, yet melancholic and angsty. Track 3, Cinnamon, takes the album in a wildly different direction. The track is built around loud, racketous percussion, whacky vocal manipulations and Hayleys off kilter vocals. Slowly a new-wavey groove is brought into prominence as the track progresses. Initially I didn't like the track, as it felt like it was being weird for the sake of it, but it has really grown on me with it's batshit mentality and off the wall production.

However not every experiment on the record goes this well. The over-emphasised choruses of Creepin' and Sudden Desire come of awkward and irritating, instead of dramatic and attention grabbing. The loud multitracked vocals on Sudden Desired's chorus in particular don't match with the sensual, restrained verses. A lot of the tracks in the middle of the record don't quite land for me. They feel like underwhelming imitations of various styles including: new wave and 80s pop (Dead Horse, Over Yet and Taken), restrained and serene art pop (My Friend, Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris), and wacky experiments (Creepin', Sudden Desire).

However, for the most part Hayley's lyrics and presence on these tracks saves any of them from being particularly mediocre. This record effectively dives into topics such as mental health, femininity and Hayleys's divorce; it provides a real emotional backbone and melancholic yet driven atmosphere to the record. The themes of the record for the most part tie the incredibly disparate and erratic musical ideas of the record together.

The back half of the record does start to pull all these ideas into more compelling songs, starting with the 80s acid house dance track, Sugar On The Rim. The song swaggers about with an infectious groove and sassy, confident vocals. The song is about those unexpected moments of bliss when out partying and is just so glitzy and fun. Following this is Watch Me While I Bloom, a song which sounds somewhere between the off the wall drama of Cinnamon and the more restrained groove of Simmer. The track bounces along with a direction not felt on all of the tracks here. The closer, Crystal Clear, isn't quite as exiting as these two preceding tracks, but it wraps up the album well with its building chords and Hayley's reverby vocals singing "I won't give into the fear".

Aside from a couple of experimental misfires, nothing on this record is particularly bad. It's just feels like it's not quite sure what it wants to be. It has it's hands in so many different styles and genres, but it doesn't feel like they're truly mastered or explored fully on this record. It starts and ends strongly and Hayley's lyrics and perspective are enough of a draw for a few listens, but its erratic and all over the place feel doesn't make me want to really come back to it now I've talked about it here.

Top Tracks: Simmer, Leave It Alone, Cinnamon, Sugar On The Rim, Watch Me While I Bloom

6/10

Coldplay - "Everyday Life" (2019)

Coldplay have had a pretty underwhelming decade compared to the 2000s, all things considered. They kicked things off with 2011's Mylo Xyloto, a pop rock concept album that I will defend more than most, however it was probably their weakest release at that time. They then followed this up with the sombre break-up album, 2014's Ghost Stories, which won some people back with its moodiness more akin to the bands earlier albums. However, the weak writing and incredibly stiff, lifeless instrumentation and production make this by far my least favourite Coldplay release. Just a year later, they then moved onto A Head Full of Dreams, which stepped further into pop than Mylo Xyloto, and returned some of the colour which was so devoid in Ghost Stories. The last we heard from the band was the 2017 Kaleidoscope EP, a project that contained a mix of the typical safe, radio-friendly Coldplay tracks and a couple of weirder, less mainstream ones which hearkened back to some of their more ambitious work from the 2000s. So I had a feeling that whatever the band was going to do next, it wasn't going to be just 'A Head Full of Dreams 2'.

And that is exactly what happened. Everyday Life is a double album that takes influence from world music, showing the bands artier side that hasn't really seen much light since Viva La Vida in 2008. The two halves are titled Sunrise and Sunset and deal with far more global and political topics that Coldplay are generally know for.

Sunrise opens with its title track, a beautiful short string piece which sounds like it would accompany a sunrise quite perfectly. This leads into Church, a relaxed, sunny tune with Chris Martin's joyous vocals floating above a shuffling drum beat and chiming guitar. It's the first of many religious references within the album, and certainly the best of them. Trouble In Town takes a turn away from the serene atmosphere of the album so far, starting as a very moody, Latin inspired tune about police violence. The back half of the song explodes into this Radiohead-like frenzy while an audio clip of some police violently harassing someone is added to the mix. The other truly fantastic song on the Sunrise half (and my favourite from the entire album) is Arabesque, a song built around this French-pop groove as Martin sings about how we 'share the same blood', even singing in French for a verse. A stomping Nigerian brass band then enter the tune, giving it this massive sounding quality as it builds to the climax where Martin drops his first ever F-bomb in a Coldplay song.

The rest of the first half is fine, if completely unremarkable. BrokEn is a bog standard gospel song, WOTW/POTP (standing for Wonders Of The World/Power Of The People) is a cute but clearly unfinished acoustic song in desperate need for a memorable hook, and Daddy is as about as awkwardly soppy as Coldplay have ever been. Sunrise concludes with When I Need A Friend, a song done in the style of traditional church hymns, and for me this style just sucks the life out of the track, making it sound pretty uninteresting to me.

Sunset, unlike the first half, doesn't have a title track; instead opening with Guns, a sarcastic tune where Martin lists off plenty of the worlds injustices (including America's apparent love for solving their gun problem with more guns) while he strums his acoustic guitar so ferociously it starts to go out of tune by the short track's end. I love the intensity of this track, but I think it could've done with another pass as its chorus of Martin declaring everything is crazy and he might be crazy too creates a fair amount of tonal dissonance within the song. The album's big single, Orphans, also suffers from this. The track is literally about teenagers who have lost their homes and everything in the war in Syria, yet features a typical Coldplay party chorus about just wanting to get drunk with their friends (complete with millennial whoops and all). Cry Cry Cry is a cringy faux-retro doo-wop tune complete with fake vinyl crackles, and is half finished to say the least. Old Friends is much better, a sentimental, simple but effective acoustic tune that gives me Parachutes vibes.

The last two tracks are far more complete than much of whats on the Sunset half, and do seem to give the album some direction in its latter stages. Champion Of The World is a song dedicated to Frightened Rabbit singer, Scott Hutchinson, and I appreciate the intent of the song but it isn't Martin's strongest set of lyrics, so the track lands in this awkward sense of sentimentality but also being too generic to truly resonate. Everyday Life, the closer and overall title track, also falls into this trap, as the songs message basically amounts to 'why can't everyone just be nice to each other'. Not that is inherently a bad thing (much of the Beatles' music amounted to the same), but here Coldplay just don't quite land it.

Everyday Life is certainly the bands messiest album. It goes in loads of different musical directions, and attempts to address some massive themes and ideas with a tracklist that is full of half finished songs. However, the musical concepts the band has been going for in this one is much more to my tastes than the squeaky clean pop of 'A Head Full Of Dreams' and the stiff electronics of 'Ghost Stories', making it a much more enjoyable listen even if those albums were more polished and carefully constructed. I'm also glad that the band is prioritising their own artistic ambitions over commercial appeal, and despite Everyday Life's faults I'm exited for whatever they do next.

Top Tracks: Sunrise, Church, Trouble In Town, Arabesque, Guns, Old Friends

6/10

Foals - "Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 2" (2019)

I've been gone quite a while, blame going back to uni and a bunch of hassle around it for that. So it seems quite a good restart to posting on here to talk about the sequel to the first post I wrote, about the part 1 of Foals' Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost released earlier this year.

It was safe to say that I was pretty exited for this record, as part 1 has been one of my most enjoyed releases this year and also my personal favourite Foals album. However, as the singles rolled out I found myself a little apprehensive, and ultimately the full album has disappointed me somewhat overall. It's far from a bad album and not even Foals' worst in my opinion, but it is quite a step down from part 1.

Starting with the singles, Black Bull was the first to drop and I was initially underwhelmed. The track felt like a neutered, 3 minute version of What Went Down (the bands most ferocious, hard rock, riffs 'n' screaming track). The track has grown to be one of my favourites on the album, with Phillipakis' paranoid vocals set to these massive riffs. It doesn't hold a candle to What Went Down, and wouldn't make my list of best Foals tracks, but is an enjoyable track on its own. The second single, The Runner, hasn't grown on me in such a way. The track opens with a chunky riff, much like Holy Fire's Inhaler, but then shifts to sounding more like Mountain At My Gates as the chorus hits. The lyrical mantra of "If I fall down, I'll keep on running" feels pretty cliche and played out. It doesn't hit the anthemic optimism of Mountain At My Gates or the explosivity of Inhaler.

This is one of my problems with the record as a whole; it doesn't feel like a sequel to part 1, lyrically or sonically. Part 1 detailed a confusing and paranoid world, backed by equally panicky and frantic dance rock grooves more reminiscent of the bands early work than their big hits. This album just feels like more Foals rather than any continuation to really deem this a part 2 of a united whole. The lyrics don't provide anything to counter or compliment part 1, it's just generic "I won't give up" feel-good-ism that the band have done for years. The music is also more straight-forward indie and alternative rock than the propulsive rhythms of part 1.

The production is also a bit wobbly. Foals have always had an issue with an over-reliance on reverb, but on top of it here the tracks just seem completely blown out and impact-less. The band promised part 2 to be heavier, and I don't really think that's the case; it's just louder. To be honest, I actually think part 1 is the more explosive and impactful. The most low-key song on the record, Into The Surf, is built around the creepy keys and effects of part 1's Surf pt 1 interlude, but the track is washed out with reverb to an absurd degree. It completely takes the personality out of a track I would otherwise really like.

Not that there aren't highlights on the album, Wash Off would fit snugly on part 1 with its dance-able groove and chanted backing vocals.The chorus does kind of fall victim to the albums production, but the verses of Dreaming Of are propulsive and driven with Phillipakis' vocals mimicking the chunky and choppy groove. 10,000 Feet has this almost Coldplay-esque keyboard line matched against a loud and heavy bass line that does give the track a real sense of drama as it shifts between the quieter verses and the massive chorus. The ten minute closer, Neptune, recalls a post-rock sound the band haven't really explored since Total Life Forever and has a real weight and swell to it that much of album lacks. 

I think there enough tracks on here I enjoy (and enough that I would enjoy a whole lot more if the production wasn't as blown out) for it to be more than just mediocre, but it is a real step down compared to part 1 and leaves me feeling as if it might've been better for the band to condense down he best tracks from both albums and release a longer single 'Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost' album.

Top Tracks: Wash Off, Black Bull, Neptune

6/10

Circa Waves - "What's That Left Over There?" (2019)

Following the band's rather underwhelming third album earlier this year, they have dropped this EP consisting of two tracks which didn't make the record and alternate versions of two tracks which did, The Way We Say Goodbye and Times Won't Change Me.

These new versions are stripped back tracks, with The Way We Say Goodbye being piano-led and Times Won't Change Me being played on an acoustic guitar. Without all the extra instrumentation and production, The Way We Say Goodbye comes across even more bland and formulaic. The swap from piano to acoustic guitar on Times Won't Change Me does make the track feel a little more rough and raw, however the track still retains its complete lack of any lyrical substance, which is what turned me off it originally.

The two new tracks however, are pretty good. Something More is this new wave style song with emotion but understated vocals. The drum machine and early-80s sounding synths give it a real throwback vibe. Hunters is a folky acoustic tune, which also sounds very restrained. These songs don't feel forced, or lacking in any lyrical substance, like much of the album. I'm surprised that they didn't make the album to be honest, since it was so short anyway.

This EP has restored a bit of my faith in the band, showing that they can still write a decent tune. Hopefully album 4 matches their usual quality.

Top Tracks: Something More, Hunters

6/10

Hozier - "Wasteland, Baby!" (2019)

I was initially incredibly disappointed by this record. Hozier's 2014 self titled debut was this intensely soulful release, packed full of blissful highs and deep, dark lows with a very twisted and sinister imagery regarding lust, religion and death. Last year he also dropped a great teaser EP for this release titled Nina Cried Power, so I was expecting good things from this. Although I feel the record is better than my initial reaction to it, it is not without its flaws which do bog down the enjoyment for me.

The album opens with the title track of last years EP, a stomping protest song featuring excellent vocals from the incredibly talented Mavis Staples. While I did really enjoy the song when I first heard it, over the subsequent listens of the EP and album I feel like I have got all I can out of the song and there's nothing new it can give me. I think this is probably due to the vagueness of the lyrics making it feel like it isn't really saying anything I can get behind, besides the general 'let's inspire people!'. The next track, Almost (Sweet Music), is where the problems start to show. The tune is this light, upbeat, poppy one; which in itself is fine. However the bass and drums are so overdone in the mix that it sounds somewhere in-between some kind of Ibiza club tune and one of those annoyingly ear-wormy Shaun Mendez singles.

This kind of awkward commercialisation of Hozier's style is rampant in the first half of the record. Movement is this album's attempt at the dark, brooding, building single (a la Take Me To Church). However this song feels so pristine and manufactured, without any of the sinister imagery which made those moments work on the first album. It sounds like someone trying to imitate Hozier's style without any of the nuance. The only truly great moment on the first half is No Plan, a slick song with a groovy bass about just living life and not worrying about a plan. Hozier's vocals soar above this effortlessly cool tune. All the edgeless commercialisation comes to a head in To Noise Making (Sing), a track about as cringily twee as a Train song.

Luckily after this point the album really regains some footing, and while not every song is a complete smash, there is a consistent level of quality the record maintains. Every song is at least decent. Highlights include the back to back folk due of As It Was and Shrike, and Dinner & Diatribes. As It Was is moody and dark, whereas Shrike (also featured on the Nina Cried Power EP) is much more relaxed. Both tracks are simple and restrained, allowing Hozier's soulful lyrics to shine. Dinner & Diatribes, on the other hand, is loud and frantic. The rising and falling guitar line and pounding drums give this tribal vibe to the track. I love the little synth melody which follows the last line of the chorus in this call and response style. It really adds to the intense atmosphere of the track. The album closes out with the title track, a quiet tune about two people falling in love in the midst of the apocalypse. Hozier's voice is buried in vibrato, making him a feel a subtler part of the track than usual. It's a hopeful note to end the record on.

Wasteland, Baby! is a strange album. It is so front-loaded with overproduced, commercial songs; and yet the the back half is consistently good. You can honestly feel the shift at the half way mark. Removing the radio-tailored nothing tracks would have made it a more enjoyable (and less bloated) listen.

Top Tracks: No Plan, As It Was, Shrike, Dinner & Diatribes, Wasteland, Baby!

6/10

Tame Impala - "Currents" (2015)

Currents is a quite the shift from Tame Impalas previous record, Lonerism. It ditches many of the guitars for more of a psychedelic synth-pop style. This new approach makes the record feel much more sonically dense than Lonerism, which I'm not really latching on to as much (I really liked the spacious atmosphere of Lonerism). I find it slightly impenetrable, as if I can't really get absorbed by the record.

The album opens with its best cut, Let It Happen, a track driven by its thumping, dance-able bass riff. The track goes through multiple phases, one of which where the track chops up like old scratched CDs do, only to do it again and then more frequently until the track bursts out of it with the return of the bass line. The Less I Know The Better has a similar bass line, with Kevin Parker singing some pretty catchy falsetto vocals. I also get a bit of a disco vibe from this track with the strings which float around in the mix in the back half of the song.

Disciples sounds far more similar to Lonerism than anything off this record, being a more guitar driven track. It's such a shame that it is so short, as it has the spaciousness the rest of the album lacks. I feel like Nangs is the best exploration of the synth style, which is also far shorter than it could be. The track is rich in atmosphere, having this wobbling, warbling noises. I also feel it benefits from having no vocals. The vocals across the album are in this heavily processed falsetto style, which works on some tracks, including the aforementioned Let It Happen and The Less I Know The Better, as well as Reality In Motion. However they feel far less dynamic than on Lonerism, just sitting on top of the mix where they used to dart around all over the place. 

A friend also brought to my attention that the lyrics feel just a little whiny. While Tame Impala has always had somewhat sad undertones, there are points on this record which verge into self-pity. The worst offender for this is Past Life, a track which has these really cringy pitch-shifted spoken word vocals about a previous partner. The track also has this incredibly bad sounding distortion effect placed on the entire mix at points which really doesn't mix well with the rest of the tune.

Current's is an incredibly made and produced album, but almost too so. Outside of some really great tracks (I mean Let It Happen is phenomenal), it's just too dense for me to really find myself being absorbed by the music. It is still enjoyable to have on in the background and has creative moments in most of the tracks which I appreciate. I can imagine someone else with slightly different tastes digging it a lot more than I did.

Top Tracks: Let It Happen, Nangs, The Moment, The Less I Know The Better, Disciples, Reality In Motion

6/10