Saturday 18 June 2022
So much noteworthy new music, so little time. Looking for a new jam? I hear you buddy. The summer is now upon us, and as such we will be doing the Spring Music Round-Up, a rough and ready summary of some of the most interesting new releases of the recent past.
Specifically we will be looking at the new albums from Arcade Fire, Father John Misty, Beach House, and Kavinsky. Let's dive right in.
"We - Arcade Fire" Album Review
Genre Rock
We represents something of a comeback for Montreal alternative rockers Arcade Fire. That is not to say that their last album, Everything Now was bad, but when your discography to-date consists almost entirely of seminal, genre-defining records, expectations can be high.
If We doesn't quite achieve the heights of albums like Neon Bible or The Suburbs, it is definitely a step in the right direction, musically. My biggest criticism of Everything Now was that it seemed to be an album that put its concept on too great a pedestal, at the expense of the music. We, by contrast, is more melodic, more sincere in its songwriting. This is still Arcade Fire, so of course it is going to be political and full of social commentary. But for the first time in years, Arcade Fire seem to have tapped into that multi-instrumental musical talent that made their early work so iconic. Prime example being Lightning I, II, a song that sounds like it could easily have come from a Funeral-era Arcade Fire album.
Ostensibly written as a reaction to the pandemic and the current state of detachment we feel from society, to the extent that the album is even structured as two separate segments, I and We. It's possible that We may be trying too hard to be loved. The lyrics are clunky and lacking in subtlety, a complaint in common with their previous album. A great example of this is End of the Empire I-III, not a bad song by any means, but one which gets its point across in a rather artless and obvious fashion.
There is plenty to enjoy with We, and certainly you are unlikely to find a more ambitious rock album in 2022. But while the music is memorable, conceptually this album still feels like a bit of an imitation of Arcade Fire's more celebrated work.
"Chloë and the next 20th Century - Father John Misty" Album Review
Genre Jazz-folk
Josh Tillman, aka Father John Misty, has had quite a journey in recent years. From the side project of a Fleet Foxes band member, to hipster darling, to bona fide superstar.
There is plenty to enjoy with We, and certainly you are unlikely to find a more ambitious rock album in 2022. But while the music is memorable, conceptually this album still feels like a bit of an imitation of Arcade Fire's more celebrated work.
"Chloë and the next 20th Century - Father John Misty" Album Review
Genre Jazz-folk
Josh Tillman, aka Father John Misty, has had quite a journey in recent years. From the side project of a Fleet Foxes band member, to hipster darling, to bona fide superstar. Tillman shows no sign of slowing his roll here, with Chloë and the next 20th Century, an ambitious genre-mash of an album that sees Tillman blend his usual folk stylings with some vintage-flavoured jazz and big-band.
With Father John Misty, Tillman has always walked a fine line in songwriting between being brutal and raw, versus arch and satirical. He finds himself in funny form again here with dense and witty lyrics that meld the music's ostensibly mid-century trappings with contemporary subject matter; issues of race, women's rights, classism.
The vibrant Hollywood trappings make for an easy listen throughout, but particular mention needs to be made of the opening track Chloë, a delightful Cole Porter-esque jaunt about unrequited love, or the luscious Funny Girl. But if there is one standout track it has to be Q4, an irony-laced critique of the art-for-profit industry that skips along with its rolling harpsichord track.
It all reminds us of why we love Father John Misty and his music. The comedy, the tragedy, it's all here and with new musical experimentations, inventively composed. Definitely not one to miss.
"Once Twice Melody - Beach House" Album Review
Genre Dream-Pop
Baltimore dream-pop duo Beach House are a band that have achieved a fair amount of notoriety in the indie music scene over the past decade. Known for their easy listening style and lush, intimate soundscapes, Beach House has followed in the well-worn tracks of those that came before, like a Stars, Broken Social Scene or Au Revoir Simone for the 2010s. They've had some hits. They've always been a pleasant, inoffensive group. With new album Once Twice Melody, Beach House are launching themselves into the stratosphere.
This is an album worth listening to, with great tracks, great variety, and consistency throughout. Top notch work and another reminder of why this band is so highly regarded.
"Reborn - Kavinsky" Album Review
Genre Synthwave
There aren't many artists who can be credited with having invented a genre. But while it would be a stretch to say that Kavinsky truly invented the synthwave genre (he still owes much to his French House forebears, notably Daft Punk) his music has so come to typify the genre that the name of his first album, Outrun, is often used as an umbrella term for music and other media connected with this aesthetic.
It all reminds us of why we love Father John Misty and his music. The comedy, the tragedy, it's all here and with new musical experimentations, inventively composed. Definitely not one to miss.
"Once Twice Melody - Beach House" Album Review
Genre Dream-Pop
Baltimore dream-pop duo Beach House are a band that have achieved a fair amount of notoriety in the indie music scene over the past decade. Known for their easy listening style and lush, intimate soundscapes, Beach House has followed in the well-worn tracks of those that came before, like a Stars, Broken Social Scene or Au Revoir Simone for the 2010s. They've had some hits. They've always been a pleasant, inoffensive group. With new album Once Twice Melody, Beach House are launching themselves into the stratosphere.Once Twice Melody is their grandest vision yet. Bold, epic and "big" from the very first track. The music retains their dreamy, ambient style but with an added drive that allows the music to sink its teeth into the listener in a way that their earlier work rarely did. It's a work of far greater ambition that we've seen to date and one that establishes them firmly among the upper echelons of musicians working today.
Divided into four parts with 18 tracks total, this is also a longer album that we are used to seeing from bands in recent years. Yet it never feels long, so consistent is the stream of strong, memorable tracks. The duo of title track Once Twice Melody and Superstar is an opening salvo that any band would envy, and it follows quickly with Runaway, Over and Over, and possibly the most impressive track on the album, New Romance. It's a remarkable string of music.
This is an album worth listening to, with great tracks, great variety, and consistency throughout. Top notch work and another reminder of why this band is so highly regarded.
"Reborn - Kavinsky" Album Review
Genre Synthwave
There aren't many artists who can be credited with having invented a genre. But while it would be a stretch to say that Kavinsky truly invented the synthwave genre (he still owes much to his French House forebears, notably Daft Punk) his music has so come to typify the genre that the name of his first album, Outrun, is often used as an umbrella term for music and other media connected with this aesthetic.For a while, it looked as though Kavinsky would take the iconic status of his debut and ride off into the digitised sunset (Outrun came out almost a decade ago at this point). But in recent years he had been teasing a return and in 2022 that has finally come to fruition with the release of Reborn.
Fans of Kavinsky will certainly recognise the staples: a slickly produced paean to the music and film of the 1980s, cinematic in scope and content. But while Reborn is clear on its influences, it is by no means stuck in the past; often experimental in form and with a digital quality that is as futuristic as anything in the genre.
But where Kavinsky's debut felt like a relentless livewire of energy, Reborn often feels somewhat more measured. The sound is fuller and more polished, but also slower and more introspective, sometimes bordering on balladic. At its finest moments, Reborn dazzles, but at other times it can come off as surprisingly bland and mainstream. Certainly there is nothing wrong with an artist trying to evolve his style, but Reborn is still very much at its best when it captures that energy, as with lead single Renegade and title track Reborn.
But the absolute highlight of this album is Zenith. Billed as a spiritual sequel to Kavinsky's most famous hit, Nightcall, this is the one track above all others that manages to successfully marry the new introspective approach with the wild exuberance of Outrun. An instant classic of brooding intensity and white hot saxophone solo.
Kavinsky returns in strong form and with a level of polish that leaves us excited for what the future holds. While the album as a whole may not leave the indelible mark of its predecessor, it does contain some absolutely fantastic tracks that are not to be missed.
