MAY// ALBUMS OF THE MONTH //WHAT I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO THIS MONTH...
HONOURABLE MENTION
4. NewDad’s cover of The Cure’s Just Like Heaven - Live at BBC Maida Vale
Fresh from the roaring success of their February debut album, MADRA, NewDad have treated us to a cover of one of The Cure’s most iconic songs. It’s no secret that the band have been massively influenced by The Cure, so it’s nice to see NewDad return to where their inspirations started. Julie Dawson’s vocals are light and dreamy as ever, making this a slightly softer rendition of this track compared to The Cure’s 1987 original. You can’t beat a classic song like this, especially sung by one of the UK and Ireland’s best up and coming rock bands.
3. I LOVE YOU JENNIFER B - Jockstrap
I’ve been revisiting this one in preparation for seeing Jockstrap headline Dot to Dot festival, and with each listen the intricacy of the album reveals itself more deeply. Almost futuristic in its deconstruction of all the boxes pop music defines itself by, Jennifer B could have easily been a mess of disjointed musical abstraction; far from that outcome, duo Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye have created a tapestry of electronica, indie rock, techno, folk, and even bursts orchestral music and comedic vocal samples. Ellery is also a member of another genre-defying band - Black Country, New Road. The pair both attended prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama - while they seem to have put a lot of effort into stripping away the image of classically trained musicians (their music couldn’t sit further from the likes you would find in concert halls and operas), the sophistication and prowess of their musical training is evident in how each theme and motif wraps around itself and resolves into this complex work.
Best song: Concrete Over Water or, of course, Greatest Hits.
Best listened to when: This album is so expansive and varied it would be impossible to say!
You’ll like it if you like: Black Country, New Road, Billie Eilish, King Krule, Sofi Tukker, Crumb, Beastie Boys.
2. HUGO:REIMAGINED - Loyle Carner
Ben’s done it again with this one - a beautiful live album that is brimming with the love, authenticity and connection that Loyle Carner brings to all of his live shows. I may be biased, having been at the Royal Albert Hall gig it was recorded at, but this has got to be my favourite live album to date. Loyle Carner’s vocals feel even richer and more emotive than on the studio recording of hugo. The ‘reimagined’ instrumentation creates a more dreamlike atmosphere than the studio album, epic in its scale. Each little voice crack and adlib in this release is a brushstroke in capturing the magic that was present in the Royal Albert Hall; the crowd’s adoration for Loyle Carner lit up the whole venue, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place by the end of the night, especially during his speech about fatherhood at the end - titled The Cycle on this album. There aren’t many voices or minds that can compare to that of Ben Coyle-Larner.
Best song: The Cycle into HGU
Best listened to when: You have time to listen to it all in one go - perhaps with some tissues on hand!
You’ll like it if you like: Obviously all of Loyle Carner’s studio albums, but also Bakar, Tom Misch, slowthai, Mac Miller’s later music, easy life, LAUSSE THE CAT.
1. HIT ME HARD AND SOFT - Billie Eilish
I must admit I was initially disappointed by Billie Eilish’s third LP - it felt a bit samey, a bit like background music. However, on second, third, fourth, fifth….. (you get the gist) listens, I think this is her best work to date. Eilish is moving away from her breathy, ASMR-esque whispered vocals that first brought her to fame; in this record, she belts with her whole chest. Paired with the ever-growing production skills of her brother Finneas, the siblings have once again created a dazzling triumph. There is an emotional depth and self-awareness to the album - it might be evasive at first listen, but I feel this makes it even more rewarding when you connect to it. As a Billie Eilish fan since way back in 2016, May 17th truly dangled on the horizon like Christmas for me ever since it was announced as the album release date. I’ve had it on a loop ever since and reckon it’s deserving of its own article - stay tuned :)
Best song: BLUE - especially when listened together with the two proceeding tracks, THE DINER and BITTERSUITE. Special mention goes to LUNCH.
Best listened to when: I physically cannot sit still when this album is playing, so I reckon somewhere you can have a boogie.
You’ll like it if you like: I think we all know Billie’s music well enough now to know what to expect. This album feels like a graduation into adulthood; while still in the same world as her previous LPs, it marks a new era for Billie and Finneas, a development and growing-up of their sound.
Author: Kitty Pilgrim-Morris
25/05/2024