See the end of the post for the Weekly Playlist featuring all the tracks I loved this week.
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Water From Your Eyes
Life Signs
Brooklyn duo of Rachel Brown and Nate Amos are back with news of their second album It’s A Beautiful Place (August 22nd, Matador) and the album’s lead single ‘Life Signs’ is a return to the band’s fizzing experimental sonic pop style, moving between incisor guitar riffs and Deerhof-esque left turns in the chorus.
The band are coming to Europe:
EU HEADLINE TOUR
Nov 13th – London, UK @ Village Underground
Nov 14th – Manchester, UK @ YES
Nov 15th – Glasgow, UK @ The Rum Shack
Nov 16th – Dublin, IE @ The Workman’s Club
Nov 18th – Bristol, UK @ Strange Brew
Nov 20th – Brussels, BE @ Botanique Rotonde
Nov 21st – Cologne, DE @ 674FM
Nov 23rd – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso (Small Hall)
Nov 24th – Hamburg, DE @ Aalhaus
Nov 25th – Copenhagen, DK @ Ideal Bar
Nov 26th – Berlin, DE @ Lark
Nov 28th – Munich, DE @ Import/Export
Nov 29th – Milan, IT @ Arci Bellezza
Nov 30th – Dudingen, CH @ Bad Bonn
Dec 2nd – Paris, FR @ Boule Noire
Dec 3rd – Lyon, FR @ Le Sonic
Dec 5th – Barcelona, ES @ Sala Upload
Dec 6th – Madrid, ES @ Sala Sol
Dec 7th – Lisbon, PT @ Musicbox
Turnstile
SOLE
It’s a Turnstile summer. The Baltimore post-hardcore band continue the path they lid with 2021’s Glow On on the just released followup Never Enough, expanding their sick punk rock riffs, awesome gargantuan drums and urgent bass with gilded bright synthesizers, bleeps, house music, 80s soft rock, a poppy sheen, phaser effects, Brendan Yates’ yearning vocals and some of the best songs of the year.
The pre-release singles are currently still the best things on it – The RATM-inspired ‘Look Out For Me’, the euphoric title track, ‘Birds’ and ‘Seeing Stars’ – but in tracks like ‘SOLE’ distill the core appeal of the music of Turnstile into pure energy that makes me nostalgic for early ’90s heavy rock.
Little Simz, Yukimi
Enough
The sixth album from Little Simz marks a sea change for Simbi, who has navigated music industry turmoil and her falling out of a key creative partner in Inflo which left a million-pounds loan unpaid and aired in public.
Lotus introduces a new production crew to work on the record, with punk, jazz and afrobeat brought into the Simz sound more readily with chief producer Miles Clinton James, while still sounding like the recognisable artist that has made her name to this point – so stirring strings and Cleo Soul-esque backing vocals (from Lydia Kitto) are still present.
There is a palpable anger at the surface of this record, Simz spurns her former collaborator – the first song is called “Thief’ (‘Your company going down the hill, thank God I never signed no deal’) and there’s an avoidance of the devil incarnate on ‘Flood’.
‘Enough’ featuring Little Dragon’s Yukimi is a cascading cool Afrobeat-bass workout, that throws shade and threatens to “pull the plug” but continues dancing infectiously on the brink.
Sudan Archives
DEAD
Two years on from the breakthrough album Natural Brown Prom Queen, Sudan Archives debuts a dancier direction with violin and string orchestration and airy synths coming up against 4/4 beats and low-end.
It’s an intriguing welcome back on the Stone Throw label.
Gelli Haha
Normalise
LA alt-pop artist Gelli Haha (Jelly Haha) revels in the kind of dayglow electronic pop music that I find hard to resist. Recent track ‘Spit’ comes on like early Confidence Man, while ‘Bounce House’ and ‘Funny Music’ sounds like 2010s indie blog pop and bands like Yacht.
New song ‘Normalise’ was influenced by “80s Nigerian soul boogie” (I’m gueasing the Doing It Lagos compilation has a far-reaching influence) and channels a similar vibe to the synth pop of Blood Orange, Washed Out and Nite Jewel.
It helps that Gelli completes the look with cartoonish Betty Boo primary colours styling, and surreal props also employed in the stage show.
The debut album Switcheroo is out June 27thb via Innovative Leisure.
Songs I also loved this week:
Also added to this week’s playlist:
- Big Thief – Incomprehensible
- Nilüfer Yanya – Where To Look
- Getdown Services – James Bay’s Hat
- L’Eclair; Pink Siifu – REPLICA M001
- Léa Sen – lvl 3 – EDGE OF THE MAP
- El Michels Affair; Clairo – Anticipate
- Kean Kavanagh – Texas Tea
- Curtisy; hikii; shiv – Left, Right!
- Gwenno – Y Gath
- Cate Le Bon – Heaven Is No Feeling
- mischa and the bear – Get Away
- Panda Bear – Virginia Tech
- Błoto – Maczużnik
- Iona Zajac – Bang
- BICEP – CHROMA 010 BRILLO
- Delilah Holliday; They Hate Change – Life’s So Strange
- Kendino; Deleon; Sushee – rust
- Fever Ray – I’m Not Done (Therapy Session)
- Gelli Haha – Spit
- Curtisy; hikii – Fuss
Nialler9 Weekly Playlist
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Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
