The Royal Arctic Institute "Sodium Light (Rhyme & Reason Records)"
The Royal Arctic Institute describes Sodium Light as the culmination of their process of hunkering down in their Hoboken rehearsal space over the course of the pandemic, woodshedding as a therapeutic means of reckoning with a world turned upside down.
Xiu Xiu "OH NO (Polyvinyl)"
From Polyvinyl:
OH NO, the group’s newest album, is an album of duets, with Stewart sharing the spotlight with an array of guests who have made an impact on him personally and musically. Sharon Van Etten’s tentative musings open the album, and from there vocalists from across the musical spectrum, including Circuit des Yeux’s Haley Fohr, Liz Harris, Alice Bag, Chelsea Wolfe, Owen Pallet, and Twin Shadow’s George Lewis Jr., all drift into Xiu Xiu’s distinctive soundworld. OH NO was written and recorded in Xiu Xiu’s home studio in Los Angeles throughout 2019 and 2020, and produced by Xiu Xiu’s Angela Seo, experimental musician Lawrence English, and Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier, who also sings on the incisive, noise-laden song “Goodbye For Good.” The album was born out of anguish and isolation, but exists as it does because of a profound rediscovery of community and friendship. It is the sound of finding one’s place in the world after the destructive powers of jealousy and mistrust make any map seemingly unreadable.
El Michels Affair "Yeti Season (Big Crown)"
From Big Crown:
Yeti Season brings us to a different place in time—with new inspirations. Taken with Turkish-styled funk and an almost Mumbai-esque take on soul, El Michels Affair offers us a different kind of drama and imagination with Yeti Season.
So what is Yeti Season? It could be more of a feeling than an actual place or time of year. It’s a heavy album—as evidenced by the signature musicianship and dramatic vocal expressions. But it’s also a hopeful record, with phrasings, textures, and chord changes that hint at something better—or fuller—coming our way. You hear it in songs like “Ala Vida,” with its stabby, pulsing chords laying a bedrock for EMA’s bright, atmospheric horn lines. Or even in “Fazed Out,” which leaves you with a feeling of determination, a striving for resolution even though the driving, march-like song structure should accompany some conquering army.
This persistence has to come from the fact that Leon Michels and company finished this record during the lockdown. It was a tough and troublesome time. But look at what has come of it: Yeti Season—a record of high and heavy drama, but also one of hope and promise.
It may take a year like 2020 behind us to find hope in a winter big footed creature like a Yeti, but that’s where we are.