Albums to look out for this February

Fall in love this February.

Our top picks for February, including Caroline Polachek, Khotin, The Golden Dregs and more.

Albums selected by VF’s Kelly Doherty and Becky Rogers.

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Black Belt Eagle Scout

The Land, The Water, The Sky

(Saddle Creek Records)

Due: February 10

Katherine Paul, aka Black Belt Eagle Scout, returns to Saddle Creek with her third album, The Land, The Water, The Sky, this month. Examining a journey that Paul took from Portland to her ancestral lands in Swinomish, The Land, The Water, The Sky is set to celebrate strength and lineage and the natural world through tender, grunge-drenched anthems and Paul’s consistently vivid lyricism. Don’t sleep on Black Belt Eagle Scout.–KD

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Kelela

Raven

(Warp)

Due: January 20

Kelela’s long-awaited second album, Raven, sees her rebuild her sound from scratch. Fittingly released via Warp, Raven is Kelela’s reintroduction, a future-looking block of ever-morphing, intimate electronic that offers healing through reflection. At the time of the album’s announcement, Kelela shared that the release stems “from the feeling of isolation and alienation” she’s had as a “Black femme in dance music” and Raven is an attempt to reclaim space and community on her own terms.–KD

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The Golden Dregs

On Grace & Dignity

(4AD)

Due: February 10

Benjamin Woods, aka The Golden Dregs, is primed to release his third album On Grace & Dignity this month. Forthcoming with haunting baritone croons and sombre storytelling, prepare to get whisked away to Woods’ hometown of Truro to explore what it means to be shaped by your location.–BR

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The Brian Jonestown Massacre

The Future Is Your Past

(A Recordings)

Due: February 10

The Brian Jonestown Massacre continue their foray into shoegazing-psych goodness with their 20th studio album The Future Is Your Past. The ten tracks were written by frontman Anton Newcombe, along with its predecessor Fire Doesn’t Grow On Trees, as anthems intended to empower himself during the pandemic. If lead single “Fudge” has anything to go by, The Future Is Your Past will see BJM maintain themselves as a tour-de-force.–BR

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Caroline Polachek

Desire, I Wanna Turn Into You

(Pertual Novice)

Due: February 14

Following the breakout success of 2019’s Pang!, Caroline Polachek returns this month with her distinct brand of melodramatic pop-dance. Led by singles like the storming ‘Welcome To My Island’ and the idiosyncratic ‘Bunny Is A Rider’, Desire, I Want To Turn Into You is set to reside in the odd space that Polachek so successfully occupies between full-blown theatricals and contemporary, boundary pushing dance-pop.–KD

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Khotin

Release Spirit

(Ghostly)

Due: February 17

Khotin’s Release Spirit, a title inspired by World Of Warcraft, is a soprofic affair that exists in the moments between sleep and lucidity. Releasing on Ghostly, Release Spirit is a slow and charming release, teaching the listener its gentle and playful musical language so that repeat listens feels like coming home.–KD

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Anna B Savage

in/Flux

(City Slang)

Due: February 17

London-based singer-songwriter Anna B Savage releases her second album in/FLUX this month. Concerned with the uncertainty of emotions in the gray areas, in/FLUX is due to offer another package of forthright song-writing that never succumbs to singer-songwriter tropes. On lead single” in/FLUX”, Savage’s repeated refrain “I want to be alone, I’m happy on my own” works as a declaration for an album that plays with emotions usually left unsaid.–KD

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Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs

Land of Sleeper

(Rocket Recordings)

Due: February 17

Speakers watch out, Pigs x7 are about. As loud and brash as ever, the Newcastle rockers return with their fourth album Land Of Sleeper. Singles “Mr Medicine” and “Ultimate Hammer” succumb to the group’s dark Sabbathian riffs, but there are promises of creepy choirs and trad-folk-leaning duets still waiting to be unleashed. Get ready to decide if the Land of Sleeper is full of dreams or nightmares.–BR

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Brix Smith

Valley of the Dolls

(Grit Over Glamour)

Due: February 24

Power-pop gets a grunge makeover in Brix Smith’s first solo album. Self-described by the former Fall and Extricated member as a cross between The Breeders and Hole with an atmosphere that’s “very dystopian California”, Valley of the Dolls also includes guest appearances from The Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs and Siobhan Fahey of Bananarama and Shakespeare’s Sister.–BR