With Christmas fast approaching, I’m struggling to keep up with everything that needs to be done – both in terms of this blog, and more importantly, real life. We have a very unusual routine at the best of times in our house, but at a time like Christmas (especially during the pandemic) it’s just crazy. I’ll save you the boring details, but essentially because time is at a premium I’ve decided to combine a few bits I’d committed to covering in some way into one bumper festive package.
It’s very unlikely I’ll be posting anything substantial on here until the new year now – possibly with the exception of some kind of ‘best of‘ thing looking back over the last six months of me harping on about new music, and maybe with a top five of my favourite releases or something like that. I dunno. Seems like that’s the sort of thing you’re supposed to do, right? Kinda like episodes of American sitcoms where the writers run out of good episode ideas and just stick loads of clips from the funny ones together. God, it was a sad day when even The Office did it… although having said that, it was nowhere near as painful as every single second that Nellie was on screen. Awful Nellie. Awful, awful, awful. If the long-rumoured reboot has to happen – as we all know it will – then please, please, please don’t do it with Nellie involved. Awful. Awful Nellie. PLEASE.
Anyway, before I do all that; here’s some cool stuff that ideally I wanted to write about in a little more detail, but… you know… life gets in the way someone’s. To top things off, I knocked the passenger side wing mirror off our car yesterday morning by reversing into our brown wheelie bin (luckily not upending it and spilling a good 50lbs of rotting food and fat slugs into the road) and then we got the dreaded call from NHS Test and Trace today too. Isolation until the twenty-third. Merry Christmas.
Native Son – Metro Dread (EP)
Released last month, Native Son’s Metro Dread is an insanely good seven-track debut EP that takes in jazz, rock, pop, hip-hop, soul, trip-hop, and dance – often in the same song. As a writer, performer, and producer this guy is something else. A couple of months back I wrote about a track called Domme Kinderen – a track that was like an explosion of ideas all competing for your attention at the same time… kind of like a toddler with a two-litre bottle of Dr. Pepper, and the rest of the set is just as vital. On paper, it’s one of those releases that you’d think would be all over the place, but in practice it’s masterfully done.
Highlights: The whole thing is essential listening, but the skittering, scuzzy, jazz-chords-and-sax juggernaut that is Ragtime takes it for me.
FFO: Frank Ocean, Prince, Blood Orange, King Krule, LCD Soundsystem
The Vice – Songs For No One (EP)
Mikkel Dahl and Jesper Klinge are no strangers to this blog, having featured a couple of months back with their excellent single, Things I Tell Myself. The Copenhagen-based duo specialise in intensely-melodic, smart, introspective pop songs that have a habit of burrowing deep into your subconscious. Songs For No One is an intriguing debut EP, showcasing their intelligence and experimental nature across six diverse tracks.
“The only reason I do what I do is to have fun. It may sound weird as almost all of my songs are dealing with some kind of melancholic loneliness, but it’s always been very important to me to find the stuff in there that makes me laugh. I guess I found a way to welcome my sadness with a smile and I hope that translates in our music.”
Mikkel Dahl on Songs For No One
Highlights: The aforementioned Things I Tell Myself still sounds as fresh and exciting as it did when I first heard it. Likewise its predecessor and first single, F.U. – but it’s the new tracks like the fragile Music, with its baroque flair, and the closing Realest Feeling that have been stuck in my mind for days. At under twenty-minutes though, there’s really no reason not to check out the whole thing.
FFO: Tame Impala, Phoenix, The 1975, LA Priest
Anna McLuckie – Water The Plants (Single)
Frequent readers of my writing (let’s pretend that they exist for the purpose of this piece) will perhaps be familiar with the name Anna McLuckie. Over the past couple of months I’ve written two pieces covering the most recent EP by her band Diving Station, which is a real joy. Anyway, Water The Plants is the first single to be taken from her forthcoming LP – Today, Everyday – and, true to form, it’s another beautiful thing. Much like her work with Diving Station, it’s an intensely intricate affair that draws upon rich instrumentation – this time a very rustic-sounding ensemble of acoustic layers that join the dots between contemporary songwriting and traditional folk.
“I think what I like most when writing is to observe feelings and thoughts that are experienced by everyone at some point, but in the moment of them happening feel particularly intense or significant. In Water The Plants this is specific to a time when I was frustrated with the repetition of everyday life and how much power these small things had over me. A lot of these observations are meant to be comically petty and I wanted the end section with the choral “ahhhs” to almost be like a sigh of release from this.”
Anna McLuckie on Water The Plants
To accompany the track, McLuckie has enlisted Stockport-based artist Luca Shaw – who also provides the artwork for the LP – to create a vibrant animated visual capturing the mood of the piece.
Beckah Amani – Stranger (Single)
“It feels as if there’s a thousand rocks tied to my feet / The air I breathe in is as thick as bricks“
So begins (and ends) Beckah Amani’s follow-up to Standards, which – if you missed it – was her extraordinary debut single from a few weeks back. Whereas Standards saw Amani tackle issues of race and white privilege head on, Strangers has its sights set firmly on toxic relationships. As with its predecessor, it’s a stripped-back affair that makes the most of her considerable lyrical, melodic, and vocal talents. In short: the Queensland singer-songwriter is phenomenal, and one gets the feeling she’s only going to get better with each release too. Strangers bodes very well for 2021.
While on the subject of Beckah Amani; she’s also just dropped a rather stunning visual for Standards. Have a look below, and get following her over on Instagram pronto for further updates.
Remy Sher – Fool’s Gold (EP)
The first thing I thought when I heard Remy Sher’s Rain in LA a couple of months back was something along the lines of ‘this guy was born 30 years too late’. And I must stress that I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s more that the music he’s making is very reminiscent of a certain time and place; namely Laurel Canyon, 1973. It figures too, as Sher is a young artist that hails from the very place that seemed to be the beating heart of sun-kissed 70s rock.
Anyway, I was completely won over by Rain in LA – with its classic sound and surprising twists – and have been looking forward to seeing what else Sher had up his sleeve. The answer is a very promising debut EP. Described by Sher as a “four-track tale of love, heartbreak and the road ahead“, the EP was recorded in Los Angeles with a live trio – at the centre of which is Sher’s grounding acoustic guitar. It’s an interesting listen, and one that is full of ideas that point to a bright future.
Highlights: For me, it’s still Rain in LA taking the title, but the other three tracks are more than worthy of your time. A close second is the restless, shape-shifting Movie. The sound of the three stripped back tracks really suit Sher’s writing, which fizzles along with a frenetic energy, and I look forward to seeing where 2021 takes him.
FFO: Dylan, David Crosby, Randy Newman, Tobias Jesso Jr.
Brits & Pieces – Various Artists (Album)
Love it or loathe it, the 90s undoubtedly represents a hugely influential time for British independent music. This was a time when the term indie still largely referred to the actual word independent too; some time before it was reduced to shorthand for boys in skinny jeans wearing T-shirts and ties, and awards ceremonies sponsored by Wella Shockwaves. Not that I’m bitter of course. Anyway, why am I going on about this?
The reason is because of Brits & Pieces; a new compilation CD featuring a plethora of young guitar bands, curated by a chap named Marc who happens to run a brilliant Twitter page that shares its name with the album. Inspired by classic 90s compilations like Shine, his idea was to do a similar thing featuring young bands financially affected by the pandemic – with all money going back to those artists.
If you’re old enough to remember a time when Pulp got to blow £100k on a video (This Is Hardcore. Worth every penny), the Super Furries spent their advance from Creation on a tank with a soundsystem, or Mansun threw £25k onto the concourse at Liverpool Street Station in rush hour, then you might be the kind of person interested in this. It’s available to order via Rough Trade now. Be sure check out Brits & Pieces on Twitter too.
Night Bus Revival – Tragic Magic (EP)
Due to be released on December look p of up of pop 11, Night Bus Revival’s Tragic Magic makes for an intimate, intriguing listen. Fans of artists in the vein of Father John Misty, Bon Iver, and Souljacker-and-Shootenanny!-era Mark Oliver Everett will find a lot to love in these five songs, and with good reason too – each one exuding a lo-fi charm and an honesty that captivates. There’s also something about the circumstances around the EP that appeals too; much like Bon Iver’s fabled For Emma, Forever Ago, these confessionals are born out of a relocation from the city to the countryside. While the rural British landscape might differ considerably from remote Wisconsin, the sentiment still rings true. There are plenty of surprises in store, and more than enough depth to his songwriting to keep you returning again and again.
Highlights: Opener Nowhere sounds not unlike a distant cousin to something from Beck Hansen’s songbook circa Sea Change, but it’s the desolate, raw 2:47 am on the hotel bathroom floor that stays with you long after the lights go out.
FFO: Father John Misty, Phoebe Bridgers, Bon Iver, Eels
Smotherly Love – Predestinate Grooves (EP)
It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t conclude this round-up with something new and exciting from Essex. Smotherly Love is the pseudonym of multi-instrumentalist Sam Masters, and Predestinate Grooves is his first EP. Truth be told, my plan had been to publish this article yesterday and be done with it for the year – but this really jumped out at me. My first response (the laziest one) was that Masters has a similar sonic palette to Kevin Parker. While this is true to a large extent, it’s also a disservice to his work as there’s an awful lot going on beneath the surface. There’s a real tenderness on tracks like the gorgeous closer Water, Revisited that contrast with the more straight-up psych jams.
In addition to Masters’ stellar songwriting and the pitch-perfect production, I really like the short instrumental sequences that serve as mood pieces between the tracks. Crucially, none of it feels contrived either; just the result of a writer with an endless supply of ideas. Speaking as one half of a band whose last (desperately unsuccessful) record was a psych-pop maximalist blowout pushing forty tracks, I dig.
Highlights: the sprawling 60s-psych groove of Effort vs. Reward rolls along on a sweet, thick, repetitive bass line that pulls you in and rewards you with some great guitar work. Likewise the brilliantly-named The Slipping Forecast, and the falsetto-soaked gem that is Unsafe Lenghts. To be honest though, it’s all fucking brilliant. Looking forward to what will follow.
FFO: Tame Impala, early Pink Floyd, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, The Flaming Lips
I stood up & I said yeah 
Leave a comment