Published on
February 4, 2022
Category
Features
Eviscerating indie, skittering techno, psychedelic cumbia, and more.
This week’s rundown is by VF’s Gabriela Helfet and Lazlo Rugoff, alongside Alice Whittington, Emily Hill, and James Hammond.
Mitski
Laurel Hell
(Dead Oceans)
Sometimes, it can feel almost strange to celebrate a new Mitski album, because it also means welcoming an inevitable return to realms of heartbreak, melancholia, and ennui. Few can explore the emotional timbers of life like Mitski, moving through feelings of ambivalence, desire, and abjection with the grace of a pearl diver – drawing out beauty from the dark, murky depths of the sea. While Laurel Hell touches on disco influences, moody guitars, and synth, the crux of the album lies resolutely in Mitski’s voice. Created following her decision to briefly quit the music industry, citing feelings of alienation and loss, Laurel Hell is nothing less than a powerful return to form. – LR
Los Bitchos
Let The Festivities Begin!
(City Slang)
Four-piece all-female band Los Bitchos has been steadily building a loyal following with their take on retro-futurism – channelling not only Latin American styles (cumbia, chicha), but also ’60s surf rock, psychedelia, and a touch of punk. Once self-described as “Van Halen and Cocteau Twins – but from Turkey”, their light-hearted, tequila-fuelled music found a fan in Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand, who produced their debut album Let The Festivities Begin!. With tracks titled ‘The Link Is About To Die’ and ‘Lindsay Goes To Mykonos’ – an ode to Lindsay Lohan’s ’90s party days, it’s hard not to get swept up in their infectious, zero-Fs-given, instrumental madness. – AW
yeule
Glitch Princess
(Bayonet Records)
Mixing hyper pop with experimental indie and shoegaze influences to teleport you to an intergalatic dimension, Nat Ćmiel aka Yeule is a multi-disciplinary artist and “cyborg entity”. As the label explains, “Yeule invites us to transcend into a post-human world where expression is no longer bound by identity, but rather we are free to assemble ourselves along lines of affinity.” What this entails is equal parts beguilingly fractured robot explosions and tender lo-fi indie ballads – proof that sometimes genres and labels are meaningless, you’ve just got to ride your feels. – GH
Anthony Naples
Chameleon
(ANS Recordings)
While Anthony Naple’s latest album, Chameleon, may have technically arrived in 2021, ongoing vinyl delays meant its physical edition is finally making its — very welcome — appearance. Continuing with the ambient techno strains that made his last album, Fog FM, so bewitching, Chameleon is a masterclass in meditative electronics. While ‘Bug’ and ‘You Got What It Takes’ demonstrate Naple’s mastery of zen sonics, ‘Pera’ explores more playful dimensions with its dub elements, and ‘I Don’t Know If I’m Dreaming’ appears situated in the shadow realm between clubs and bedrooms. — LR
buen clima
Transferencia Electrónica
(Peach Discs)
Peach Discs starts 2022 with an electrifying bang, delivering an exciting solo debut on the label, from buen clima. clima is a Chilean artist, whose previous work includes releases on bass-motivated Philthtrax. ‘Transferencia’ draws inspiration from the great musicians of Chicago, with the Transferencia Electrónica EP existing in some ways as a love letter to the legendary electronic styles they pioneered. All five tracks are fully-formed, club-orientated, interlocking-synthesis, playing with quasi looping delays to form a smooth ride into euphoria. – EH
Uwalmassa
Malar
(Mana Records)
Primed to soundtrack indigo-hued, moonlit excursions, Indonesian group Uwalmassa returns to the Jakarta imprint Mana Records, with Malar. Slithering its way through hypnotic percussive movements across its 9-tracks, each track embodies its own little machine world unto itself. Vocal fractures leap at you here, a spicy drum loop reels you in there, leaving you wanting to return for more than a few repeat listens as you usher in your nocturnal desires. – GH
Wojiech Rusin
Syphon
(AD 93)
The second part of Wojiech Rusin’s ‘alchemical trilogy’ leads on from his 2019 stunner The Funnel. In a similar fashion, Syphon brings together a mind-bending fusion of elements. Within this mix, there’s Rusin’s screen-printed wind instruments, razor-sharp spectral manipulations, and speculative medieval music that’s brought to life by the chamber vocals of Eden Girma and Emmy Broughton. Contorting time and working remnants of the past into a sideways future vision, the sonic narrative that runs through Syphon is utterly spellbinding. – JH
Various artists
Lèspri Ka : New Directions in Gwoka Music from Guadeloupe 1981-2010
(Time Capsule)
Lèspri Ka marks another unique compilation from Time Capsule, spanning 30 years of gwo ka music from Guadeloupe. Meaning “big drum” in French creole, gwo ka is one of the most famous genres to originate from this Caribbean archipelago, and is usually associated with carnival as well as its history rooted in the African slave trade. On Lèspri Ka, we’re presented with less heavily layered drumming patterns, but the classic call-and-response formula remains. Familiar names such as Gaoulé Mizik find themselves among jazzier takes by Horizon or the sacred chanting of Kalindi Ka – with each track skillfully mastered to create a cohesive compilation that makes it feel like it all could have been recorded in the same studio. – AW
Piotr Kurek
World Speaks
(Edições CN)
Polish composer Piotr Kurek summons the power of contemporary classical music in the shape of World Speaks. The seven compositions evoke a vivid physicality, drawing on a world that is touched by human hands yet seems strangely empty. Kurek’s approach to production is a complex maze of multi instrumentalism, pairing dynamic electronic synthesis with exaggerated vocal banks which he uses to mimic memories. All elements are deliberately intoxicating whilst bordering on the peculiar – bringing the listener to a state of intrigued tranquility. – EH
Josephine Foster
Godmother
(Fire Records)
Partially untethering her songcraft from the acoustic anchoring of past recordings, Josephine Foster’s Godmother welcomes in a second-hand Technics keyboard and along with it, a new electronic territory for her distinctive vocals and melodies to explore. With Foster performing all strings, electronics and percussion, it’s these elements that get entangled with the lilting melodies of her voice. A worthy and refreshing addition to her expansive discography. – JH
Sign up to our weekly newsletter
Never miss a thing
){kind=link}