It’s half four on a Friday, the sun is shining, and I can hear the masses gathered at the pub. A cold sip of something crisp and carbonated is within reach. First, we just need some new music.
Sharon Van Etten’s back. Her new album, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong, features a number of marked differences from prior projects, indicating she may indeed think she has been going about it all wrong. It turns out, in fact, with her music, there seems to just be lots of different kinds of right.
The same can be said for Belle and Sebastian. ‘Do It for Your Country’ is a standout on A Bit Of Previous, another triumphant project for the Glasweigian band.
The running theme for the first half of this week’s playlist is long-awaited returns. Jamie T has released his first track since 2018. Not one of his classics, but still a very welcome step back into the music world with his trademark sound. Arcade Fire’s new album (first since 2017) is difficult to quite put your finger on, though I tried (read, here) ‘End of The Empire I-III’ is a high point though, a very Beatles inspired track from the Quebecois band.
We spoke to Alex Izenberg earlier in the week, ahead of the release of his new track, ‘Ivory’. That can be found… here… and it’s another endearing song from the enigmatic Californian artist. Meanwhile, both Ella Mai and Knucks have dropped their new projects, and they’ve got some big name appearances justifying their popularity. Roddy Ricch features on Ella Mai’s ‘How’, while Stormzy appears on Knucks’ ‘Die Hard’.
Emerging artist Clara Mann has released ‘Thread’. She’s got a fantastic, almost unnerving voice, wonderfully displayed in this new song.
Clara Mann by Felix Mackenzie-Barrow
Joe Goddard is marking over ten years of the tune ‘Gabriel’, with a forthcoming remix package. The first is out today, from rising star Ewan McVicar. And we end with Mowgs’ new album, picking the track ‘More (feat. SK)’ as the standout from a really good overall project.
Enjoy. ‘Till next time. It’s time for a pint…
