Having a holiday job can be really a drag sometimes but having some tunes to accompany you as you work is really a saving grace. (In essence, having work also means super-long playlists for days...) Along with new releases, I've been revisiting a handful of older albums these two months.
Fresh out of their previous bands Smith Westerns and Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Max Kakacek and Julien Ehrlich step out of the shadows of their former frontmen and become Whitney, a two-piece with a laid-back, summery feel. Breezy tunes and the hazy croon of Ehrlich remind one of a lazy good time with friends, but the lyrics pull their weight in relationships and dreams that have long passed.
I've been really excited about Dev Hynes' new release since 2011's Coastal Grooves and 2013's Cupid Deluxe, both really solid, groovy, R&B/Funk-y albums. This one is no different, with great hooks and production, along with lyrics that weigh in heavily on race and gender ("keep your hood off when you’re walking / sure enough, they’re gonna take your body"). Several songs feature great artists that add flair to Dev's music and vocals, including Nelly Furtado on "Hadron Collider", Empress Of on "Best to You", and Debbie Harry on my personal favourite "E.V.P."
Joseph Mount returns with a super, super groovy collection of songs after a rather lukewarm outing on 2014's "Love Letters". Aptly titled "Summer 08", it is a likely sequel to 2008's "Nights Out". You know this is going to be a real, weird ear worm the minute you hear opener "Back Together", with its funky chords and of course, Mount's very smooth falsetto, which has a line about a girl saying she'll get you and her a "table at some place really, really good". Elsewhere, kooky bass lines, retro disco-esque beats and sparkly synths pepper tracks like "Miami Logic", "Night Owl" and "16 Beat" (really a song about his favourite rhythmic pattern - but here lies the charm of his lyrics). It's a nod to the old disco-pop greats, but also showcases Mount's ingenuity.
Now onto older records...I've been having this on repeat for a good part of these two months, partly because I saw the "No Distance Left to Run" documentary and that I've been revisiting older albums of late. I think "13" is probably my favourite Blur album and it is masterpiece in its own right - look at the spread of musical genres this record goes through! Matched up with Damon Albarn's lyrics, which are notably darker and much more personal (especially on tracks like "Tender", "No Distance Left to Run") than previous releases, 13 becomes a true all-rounder personally.
Musically more expansive, the record moves from sweet and twangy ("Tender"), to familiar "Blur territory" ("1992", "Coffee & TV" - Graham Coxon at one of his best), to electronica-pinched ("Battle"), to all-out guitar freakout goodness ("Swamp Song", "B.L.U.R.E.M.I."), to subtle brilliance ("Mellow Song", "Caramel"). Another notable highlight is "Trimm Trabb", where the simple repeated riff on acoustic guitar and drums gives way to destructive, explosive bursts, complete with a dark, cyclical repetition of pain in the lyrics - "and I can't go back/let it flow, let it flow/I sleep alone/it's just the way it is". From start to finish, the album puts you in a lot of sadness and pain, as the band have felt in that point of time. The late 90s was a dark time for Blur (already showing slowly in their 1997's self-titled album) - but boy, how the music and genius flowed.
Another 90s record I've been revisiting, "Wish" is the Cure at perhaps its poppiest, with instantly accessible tracks like "Friday I'm In Love" (their most popular song maybe?) and "High". While these songs are evidently much happier than their previous album (the amazing "Disintegration"), The Cure still hold gloom close to their writing. The aptly-titled opener "Open", "From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea" and "Trust" are all sweeping statements of sadness and longing. Elsewhere, melancholy tones hold their own in "A Letter to Elise" and "To Wish Impossible Things" ("it was the hope of all we might have been/that filled me with the hope to wish impossible things"), with the Robert Smith's trademark wistful vocals and guitars. It's a bittersweet body of work that feels like it hasn't aged a single bit.
That rounds off the albums for June and July! I'm abit excited for new releases in the coming months, especially with festival season, and also looking at old releases I might have not gotten the chance to hear in-depth. Meanwhile...what have you been listening to?
Till next time,
Yolande
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