New music
Thomas H. Green
18 years ago, Electric Soft Parade, centred around brothers Alex and Thomas White, were the latest hyped hope of indie kids and NME-type media. However, their might-have-been moment imploded when they moved too fast for their fans, rocketing off in wildly creative flourishes rather than sticking to a predictable formula. They – and associated break-away bands – have since produced a fascinating array of musical activity, often boasting an inventive yet old-fashioned feel for orchestration.Their latest album, their fifth, is a change of direction. Written and sung by Alex, recorded and Read more ...
Jo Southerd
In 2019, music kept its place as a vital means for expression and escapism in an increasingly troubled and troubling world. Happily, there were plenty of brilliant albums to get lost in over the course of the year. Sharon Van Etten’s Remind Me Tomorrow was a masterclass in comeback albums. After her short hiatus from music, the record saw her trade in her folky roots in favour of synthesisers, elevating her sound to dizzying new heights while maintaining the intimacy and intensity that first stole her fans’ hearts. Remind Me Tomorrow provided a steady stream of great singles - "Jupiter 4 Read more ...
Russ Coffey
Now the first generation of real rock stars are finishing their fifth recording decade, the question presents itself: what should a rocker do when their career has gone on much longer than they'd planned? 2019 came up with some excellent answers. Some old-timers continued to play loud, others grew more mellow. But one thing they all had in common was that their music journeyed deep into the imagination. Of all the rock-veteran albums released, none felt more widescreen than Springsteen's Western Stars. After 40 years of straining every vocal sinew, the gravelly singer tried his Read more ...
Kieron Tyler
As one decade gives way to the next, the beginning or end of the ten-year cycle rarely yields anything cut and dried. With pop music, a host of decade-related platitudes have no respect for the decade-to-decade switch. Depending on points of view, the Sixties didn’t begin until 1962, 1963 or 1964. With the Seventies, the kick-off could have been 1971 or 1972. Or maybe 1976 or 1977.Even so, it’s clear when some groundswells originated. Most of the early Seventies’ successful glam rockers were active in the preceding decade. Bolan, Bowie, Slade, Sweet and Alvin Stardust had all done their Read more ...
Ellie Porter
Country is as country does, and in 2019 it was busy having a very good year in the UK. The mega-festival C2C continued to pack out arenas, with alumni like Luke Combs and Ashley McBryde selling out their own headline gigs; young upstarts like Colter Wall and Tyler Childers made some noise, hit film Wild Rose saw Jessie Buckley dazzle as an aspiring country singer – and no-nonsense Kentucky native Sturgill Simpson turned the genre on its head with his fourth album, Sound & Fury.While Simpson sells out arenas in the US, wins Grammys and recently enjoyed a residency at Nashville’s revered Read more ...
Owen Richards
Picking the best album at the end of the year is always unfair on the early releases. Recency bias means the newer albums carry more excitement. Better Oblivion Community Center's self-titled debut would be a major contender if it had released in September as opposed to January. It feels like part of the furniture now, a testament to the songwriting of Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst. The same goes for Titanic Rising from Weyes Blood, a sweeping epic of melody and melodrama.We've had some big hitters delivering their best work this year. Vampire Weekend's Father of the Bride refreshed Read more ...
Liz Thomson
Leonard Cohen’s death, just as Trump finagled his way into the White House, was the cruellest of blows. Now more than ever we need his bitter, witty, ironic commentary and wry observations, his wonderful words delivered in that bottomless “golden voice” which on this, his final posthumous album, is deeper than ever. There are many who came late to Cohen, the man lampooned in the 1970s and ‘80s as “Laughing Lenny” and “Captain Mandrax”. I was in my early teens when I first knowingly heard him, and I was entranced. I might not always have understood what he was singing about but I knew it was Read more ...
Katie Colombus
2019 has been quite the year. Amongst other difficulties being a grown-up hurls at you on the reg, I lost my guiding light (may her adventures on the other side of this universe be everything and more). And the testing times that ensued sees me now, not only into the new decade but into a big fat birthday that ends with a "0". So I am looking back while trying to move forwards, doing things like wondering what advice I might have given to my younger self to prepare for the future – which means Sharon Van Etten’s Remind Me Tomorrow is hugely relevant; often giving hope, occasionally terrifying Read more ...
peter.quinn
A trio of standout US vocal jazz releases included one of the year’s most hotly anticipated albums, Jazzmeia Horn’s Love and Liberation, which showcased the Dallas-born vocalist’s ever-deepening artistry and songwriter’s ear for detail. Horn’s eight originals encapsulated the sense of joyousness, playfulness and vitality that course through her music.Veronica Swift’s debut for Mack Avenue Records, Confessions, was nothing short of spectacular, displaying impeccable time, emotional depth, timbral beauty, first-rate arranging skills and a storytelling gift. With her characteristically Read more ...
Kieron Tyler
Earlier this year, the Peter Laughner box set was more than an archive release. Its diligence and scale forced a wholesale reinterpretation of the evolution of America’s punk-era underground scene. What it collected – aurally and in its book – demonstrated Laughner was more of a pivotal figure than he had so far seemed, and that his actions and vision resonate more than four decades on from his death.Moving through a different musical landscape, the CD compilation The Daisy Age cohesively soundtracked for the first time how hip-hop opened itself up to seemingly unrelated music (and non-music Read more ...
howard.male
Up until a couple of weeks ago, I had every intention of making Songs Of Our Native Daughters featuring Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, Allison Russell and Amythyst Kiah my Album of the year. It’s a solid work of great beauty, elegance and substance. But you can read my thoughts on it elsewhere on The Arts Desk. And the album is number eight in Rolling Stone’s Top 40 of the year, as well as being Iggy Pop’s personal album of the year, so more waffle on it from me is neither here nor there. Whereas the still relatively unknown Louisiana pop group Seratones may still be new enough to this game Read more ...
mark.kidel
The highs in a year of music come at the most unexpected moments: I was sitting at a beach restaurant in Spain, earlier this month, sharing a seabass with PP Arnold, former Ikette and soul star of the sixties who’s re-invented herself decade after decade, and released an excellent and varied album earlier this year The Further Adventures of PP Arnold. We were talking about her gospel roots – she first sang publicly at age 4 – when she suddenly broke into song, with quiet and sensual intensity. She did both call and response, looking straight into my eyes, instantly touching my heart Read more ...