Sean O'Hagan "Radum Calls, Radum Calls (Drag City)"
For only the second time in his 30 year career, Sean O’Hagan has made a solo album. Though you may not know his name, you’ll recognize his singular sounds. He’s worked with both The High Llamas and Stereolab, and Radum Calls, Radum Calls (Drag City) sounds like, well… both of those things. If Stereolab were a chamber music group, or if The High Llamas were a little more delicate. Sort of a retro-pop collection, with hints of exotica and lounge music. This are jams that are familiar and brand new at the same time. He did all that without a time machine too. Quite a trick, eh? So check out the first single from the album, the blissful “On A Lonely Day (Ding, Dong).”
Little Scream "Speed Queen (Merge)"
Little Scream is back with their most vital, zeitgeist-y record yet. Speed Queen (Merge) is… well. The first track is called “Deal Leader” so… yeah… recent Canadian Laurel Sprendelmeyer’s head is sorta where all of our heads are at too. But don’t let possible politics sour you here. This is a sonically beautiful album. Rich, harmonious tunes filled to the rafters with strings, choral touches, band trappings, and other such audio wonderments-pay close attention to the intimate, bouncy bass throughout the album. Maybe it’s these new headphones I just got but DAMN this record just, you know, SOUNDS good. So check out the aforementioned “Dear Leader” or the late-era new wave meets disco-pop vibes of “Still Life” and let me know for sure it’s not just me.
SAARISELKA "The Ground Our Sky (Temporary Residence)"
Am I the only one who, since its release, have been obsessed with the mysterious Date Palms record? Well, good news! Part of the duo that made up that mysterious, instrumental post-rock/ambient/neo-classical band are back-but not as Date Palms. Their new project is called Saariselka, and their debut The Ground Our Sky (Temporary Residence) is as beautiful as anything on the Date Palms record. Glacial swaths of synth beauty and pedal steel guitar act as a new age meets post-rock mash up that sounds VERY 2019 (at least, very 2019 in terms of what I’ve been listening to.) . Check out the uplifting “Void.”
Common Holly "When I Say To You Black Lightning (Barsuk)"
From Barsuk Records:
Holding fast to the emotional honesty of Playing House (2017), Brigitte Naggar’s sophomore record as Common Holly, When I say to you Black Lightning, is a look outward; an exploration of the ways in which we all experience pain, fear and self-delusion, and how we can learn to confront those feelings with boldness. When I say to you Black Lightning feels like Naggar’s conversation with herself, meticulously penned to work through challenges as they unfold. It’s cool, and more than that, it feels important. It’s about finding the seeds of strength to navigate adult life, and about the ways in which we all find ourselves in that place of struggle when life starts to show you its cards and you begin to understand, in the artist’s words, “just how real shit can get.”
Check out “Measured” and see just how real shit can get!