FEATURE:
One for the Record Collection!
IN THIS PHOTO: Marika Hackman
Essential December, January and February Releases
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I may update this at the start of the year…
IN THIS PHOTO: IDLES/PHOTO CREDIT: Tom Ham
but, as we are almost at the end of 2023, I wanted to recommend some of the best albums still to come – and also look ahead to what is scheduled for the first couple of months of next year. Things may change; albums may be added or shift their release date. I am writing this on 31st October, so this is what is planned for December of this year, plus January and February next year. There is not a tonne out in December – though there are a few that might prove to be perfect as Christmas presents. I am going to highlight one you will want to get. On 1st December, Peter Gabriel releases his first studio album in twelve years, i/o. This is an album that you are definitely going to want to pre-order:
“More than 20 years in the making, this December finally sees the release of i/o, Peter Gabriel’s first album of new material since 2002’s Up. During 2023, Peter has been releasing a new song from the album on the occasion of every full moon. Being revealed roughly every four weeks, each track has been allowed to find its own time and space, to enjoy its own orbit. “It’s a little like getting a Lego piece each month,” Peter explains. Now it’s time to stand back and admire the final, completed creation. And what a creation – 12 tracks of grace, gravity and great beauty that provide welcome confirmation of not only Peter’s ongoing ability to write stop-you-in-your-tracks songs but also of that thrilling voice, still perfectly, delightfully intact. Throughout the album the intelligent and thoughtful – often thought-provoking – songs tackle life and the universe. Our connection to the world around us – ‘I’m just a part of everything’ Peter sings on title track i/o – is a recurring motif, but so too the passing of time, mortality and grief, alongside such themes as injustice, surveillance and the roots of terrorism. But this is not a solemn record. While reflective, the mood is never despondent; i/o is musically adventurous, often joyous and ultimately full of hope, topped off as it is, by the rousingly optimistic closing song, Live and Let Live.
Always looking to push the boundaries, i/o is not simply a collection of a dozen songs. All 12 tracks are subject to two stereo mixes: the Bright-Side Mix, handled by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent, and the Dark-Side Mix, as reshaped by Tchad Blake. “We have two of the greatest mixers in the world in Tchad and Spike and they definitely bring different characters to the songs. Tchad is very much a sculptor building a journey with sound and drama, Spike loves sound and assembling these pictures, so he’s more of a painter.” Both versions are included on the double-CD package, and are also available separately as double vinyl albums. And that’s not all. A third version – the In-Side Mix, in Dolby Atmos, comes courtesy of Hans-Martin Buff “doing a wonderful job generating these much more three- dimensional mixes” and is included in three-disc set, including Blu-ray.
Peter has kept his trusty inner circle of musicians close to hand, which means guitarist David Rhodes, bassist Tony Levin and drummer Manu Katché are sterling presences throughout. Several songs bear the fingerprints of long-time associate Brian Eno, whilst there are notable contributions from the likes of Richard Russell, pianist Tom Cawley, trumpeters Josh Shpak and Paolo Fresu, cellist Linnea Olsson and keyboard player Don E. Peter’s daughter Melanie contributes warm backing vocals, as does Ríoghnach Connolly of The Breath. Soweto Gospel Choir and Swedish all-male choir Oprhei Drängar lend their magnificent harmonies and the mass strings of the New Blood Orchestra, led by John Metcalfe, both soothe and soar. Peter has also invited a range of visual artists to contribute a piece of art to accompany each track. The dozen artists make an exceedingly impressive team of collaborators: Ai Weiwei, Nick Cave, Olafur Eliasson, Henry Hudson, Annette Messager, Antony Micallef, David Moreno, Cornelia Parker, Megan Rooney, Tim Shaw, David Spriggs and Barthélémy Toguo. Having handpicked the artists, Peter recognises that “They have the same obsessive attention to their visual work that we musicians have in sound”.
That was the standout from December. There are a few others that you might want to pre-order, though there is plenty in January and February worth exploring! The first January release to seek out is on 5th. Ghetts’s On Purpose, With Purpose is going to be sublime and must-hear. This is going to kick off 2024 with real aplomb and command! One of our finest voices in Hip-Hop and Rap, I was a big fan of 2021’s Conflict of Interest. His approaching album sounds like it could well rival that. Here is where you can pre-order On Purpose, With Purpose:
“Ghetts proudly presents new album, On Purpose, With Purpose. The record - which follows 2021’s epic Conflict Of Interest - continues the ongoing artistic evolution and unstoppable rise of one of the UK’s greatest rappers. Ghetts returns sounding sharper, more unflinchingly honest and boldly confident than ever before. As well as achieving dizzying new heights as a songwriter and rapper, On Purpose, With Purpose finds Ghetts expanding his sonic palette by reaching out beyond rap and incorporating elements of wider musical influences such as soul (Double Standards), R&B (Mine), gospel (Hallelujah), Afrobeat and amapiano (Gbedu, Blessings, Tumbi)”.
Let’s move things to the following week: releases out on 12th January. Kali Uchis’s Orquídeas is going to be very special. Back in March, she released the hugely acclaimed and brilliant Red Moon in Venus. It is wonderful that we get another album so soon! Not too much is known about the ins and outs of her new album. Suffice to say, it is going to be another remarkable album that you will want to pre-order:
“Grammy Award winner Kali Uchis releases her fourth studio album, Orquídeas. Marking Uchis’ striking return to Spanish-language music, the project features a superstar lineup with Karol G, Peso Pluma, El Alfa, and JT. Inspired by the sensual allure of Colombia’s national flower, the orchid, Orquídeas traverses multiple Latin genres including reggaeton, dembow, bolero and salsa furthering Uchis’ connection to her Colombian roots”.
Maybe four more from January that are worth getting. Prior to coming to them, let’s stick with 12th January and Marika Hackman’s Big Sigh. Sporting a particularly wonderful and eye-catching cover, you will want to pre-order an astonishing album from one our most consistent and finest artists. It is an album that I will check out when it arrives:
“Big Sigh brings together the best of Marika’s previous works as an indie musician and adds a new layer of epic sounds and full-bodied production. Big Sigh is the “hardest record” Marika has ever made. As the title suggest, it is a relief of sorts – of sadness, of stress and lust, but mostly relief. Co-produced with Sam Petts Davies (Frank Ocean, Radiohead, Red Hot Chilli Peppers) and Charlie Andrew (Alt J, Wolf Alice, London Grammar). Lyrically there’s always romance alongside grief, with elements of vulnerability and feeling trapped.
“This album took a long time to make. It was not easy, and by the time I got to the end of it I was quiet. I wanted to be away from it and let it sit in its own space. Now the dust has settled and I’ve got re-enter the world of Big Sigh, and I’m excited. Stepping into a new world, moving forward, chipping away. Breathe in, breathe out. Big sigh”.
It is always interesting when a new Green Day albums comes along. Saviors is out on 19th January. This is an album that Green Day fans will be all over. I feel it may be one of their most important and brilliant releases since 2004’s American Idiot. Definitely, there are shared characteristics:
“Right from “The American Dream Is Killing Me” — the first single and opening track from Saviors, Green Day is sending out a fiery SOS for these troubled times. Amazingly, Saviors represents Green Day's 14th studio album, yet somehow this enduring power trio - Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool and Mike Dirnt - remain devoted to their defiant craft that has fueled their career-long destruction of every boundary bestowed on the genre, and landed 3 East Bay punks in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. So even as the band acknowledges its illustrious past — such as with the 30th Anniversary of their now classic Dookie album and the 20th Anniversary of American Idiot coming 2024 — Green Day remains firmly focused on the here and now. Saviors features 15 tracks, and from the aforementioned opening track, "The American Dream Is Killing Me" to the blissfully ironic “Look Ma, No Brains!" to the fittingly emotional track, "Father To A Son,” this is a deeply felt song cycle that provides the soundtrack for our world on fire – the one we deserve, and the one that we need. The album was recorded in both London and Los Angeles under the audacious ear and rock prowess of Green Day's longtime friend and collaborator, Grammy® Award-winning producer Rob Cavallo. Need a little inspiration to live on to fight the good fight another day?”.
One of the biggest albums due the first quarter of next year comes on 19th January. Sleater-Kinney’s Little Rope. A stunning work from Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker, another superlative album that is going to be well worth the money. Go and pre-order the latest from the mighty Sleater-Kinney:
“Sleater-Kinney release their eleventh studio album, Little Rope via Loma Vista Recordings. Recorded at Flora Recording and Playback in Portland, Oregon with Grammy-winning producer John Congleton, Little Rope is a powerfully honest and soul-baring album by one of modern rock’s most vital bands. Little Rope is one of the finest, most delicately layered records in Sleater-Kinney’s nearly 30-year career. To call the album flawless feels like an insult to its intent – it careens headfirst into flaw and brokenness – a meditation on what living in a world of perpetual crisis has done to us, and what we do to the world in return. On the surface, the album’s 10 songs veer from spare to anthemic, catchy to deliberately hard-turning. But beneath that are perhaps the most complex and subtle arrangements of any Sleater-Kinney record, and a lyrical and emotional compass pointed firmly in the direction of something both liberating and terrifying: the sense that the only way to gain control is to let it go”.
Moving to 26th January and an artist people might not be aware of, Katy Kirby’s Blue Raspberry is one I can recommend people pre-order. It is going to be a really beautiful, open, playful and memorable album. If you are thinking about which albums are worth grabbing due out in January, Blue Raspberry should be near the top of your list:
“Blue Raspberry is Katy Kirby's follow up to her renowned debut album Cool Dry Place, which came out in February 2021.
Singer/ songwriter Katy Kirby introduced her warm, articulate vocals, perceptive lyrics, and playful adult-alternative style on her debut album as she toured tirelessly supporting bands like Waxahatchee, Andy Shauf, Julia Jacklin and Alex G.
That record was a tried-and-true folk collection, perfectly displaying the chops of a young songwriter and emanating the warm feel of a band in a room; Blue Raspberry, made with the same band and producers (Logan Chung and Alberto Sewald), hits the gas and enters completely new territory as we see Katy truly step into her own as a songwriting force. She fearlessly leans far into baroque piano pop on tracks like 'Redemption Arc' and the title track 'Blue Raspberry', and lyrically she explores themes of loss and queer love. Very few are able to capture the same emotional, theatrical magic of artists like Fiona Apple, Tom Waits and Joanna Newsom but Katy pulls it off on this record; standout 'Drop Dead'”.
A magnificent American artist whose albums are always remarkable, Torres is preparing to release her sixth studio album, What An Enormous Room, on 26th January. It follows the stunning Thirstier of 2021. Fans and newcomers alike will want to pre-order this album:
“What an enormous room is not only the title of the new album by Torres, it is an incantation, a phrase Mackenzie Scott has had in her head now for several years, for as long as some of the songs found here.
What an enormous room is an entirely new look at Torres. Scott’s undeniable skill as a guitar player is still the engine driving her songs, but in “Collect,” it’s pushed through a polyphonic octave generator, creating a sound that is sexy and alien and peak Torres, a provocative statement of purpose that’s both a call to arms and a call to the dance floor. “Wake to flowers” is a celebration of the unexpected joy of things turning out much better than one could have hoped. It’s on the slinkier side of What an enormous room, exploring new territory for Torres that Scott attributes to recording with her friend Sarah Jaffe, the Texan singer-songwriter whose inclination to break genre boundaries has led her to collaborate with Eminem and producer Symbolyc One.
Jaffe provides What an enormous room’s rhythm section, playing bass and drums, and the easiness of her collaboration with Scott made it possible for songs like “Jerk into joy” to emerge like the incantation central to it, and the album itself—after years in Scott’s head in a way that is simultaneously more direct and more sonically ambitious than any Torres record to date. When she sings “look at all the dancing I can do,” it’s an invitation to awe, and there is much here to be awed by. What an enormous room contains wry, Laurie Anderson–esque art rock, Nirvana’s rage, and ABBA’s strut. Rather than fear the unknown space she occupies, Mackenzie Scott has chosen to fill it with as much of herself as possible, an artist unwilling to be stifled. We’re hardly alone in our admiration for TORRES. As Julien Baker attests: What I can say about Torres is I think the music comes from a convicted place. Not convicted meaning a person is narrowly and foolishly committed to an ideal, or unshakably convinced of themselves, or a zealot, or stubborn.
I mean dedicated, I mean: If Torres’ music gets weird, gets brainy, gets funny, gets defiant, provokes, deliberately scandalizes, employs the crass to undermine the austere, courts lofty philosophical truth—it’s all done with the conviction of an artist with the (essential) belief in the worth of their task. I think you can hear it in the songs, someone reaching, leaning over the boundary between known and not, probing the almighty. After a decade and six studio albums and however many one-offs and tours and articles read and conversations had, the parts of this pursuit I’ve been able to observe are all marked by a dedication to creation that treats the act ongoing with as much preciousness as the evidence of the act that is left in a record. The modes of being are different: heartbroken, broke, furious (right- and unrighteously), awestruck by love, compelled by desire. sometimes resigned to death, sometimes fascinated by and reverent of the future. Sometimes viscerally present, other times suspended in heady awareness, poised on a fulcrum of observation and participation in the phenomenon that aliveness is.
The tools are the same: instruments that growl and shriek and moan, a lyrical voice shouting, swooning, chuckling, snarling as the moment commands. Torres’ music-making is conducted in a melodic vocabulary unique to itself—methods, equipment, circumstances shifting around the impulse to affirm the self within the world, to make art that bears all these little artifacts of the divine and of the real and show it to people and know it is valuable. I think that’s what Mackenzie’s music does. And I think it’s just incredibly good music to listen”.
We are in February now. The first is perhaps the most anticipated debut album in many years. The Last Dinner Party’s Prelude to Ecstasy is one that you will definitely want to pre-order. The London band are one of the most talented and promising groups of this generation:
“Without doubt Last Dinner Party will be the sound of 2024. Their debut album Prelude To Ecstasy is released via Island Records. It was produced by James Ford in London, and features the breakthrough singles, “Nothing Matters”, “Sinner”, and “My Lady Of Mercy”.
At the turn of 2023, The Last Dinner Party was little more than a new name being shared amongst those that had caught them live. Great songs, strong aesthetic. Having spent much of 2022 writing those songs, road-testing them, and then taking them into the studio, it wasn’t until April when the band released the instantly more-ish, dark guitar-pop of Nothing Matters that seemingly everyone had now formed an opinion on them. It was an introduction that took the online world by storm, and yet behind all the excitement and narrative was a fantastically confident indie-rock song by a band doing it the old-fashioned way, out on the road.
Third single, My Lady Of Mercy, an almost gothic, haunting rock song, and now with this atmospheric and anthemic ballad, On Your Side, the band’s songwriting is testament to all the buzz and excitement already accumulated. As it should be. Rather than wilt under the spotlight, they’ve arguably become a tighter, stronger unit because of it”.
Out on 9th February is Chelsea Wolfe’s She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She. Another captivating songwriter with a voice that buckles the senses, I would encourage people to pre-order an album that is going to scoop some huge reviews:
“Chelsea Wolfe’s latest album, She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She, is a rebirth in process. It’s about how such a moment connects to our past, our present, and our future. It’s a powerfully cathartic statement about cutting ties, as well as an important reminder that healing is cyclical and circular, and not a simple linear process. As Wolfe explains, “It’s a record about the past self reaching out to the present self reaching out to the future self to summon change, growth, and guidance. It’s a story of setting yourself free from situations and patterns that are holding you back, in order to become self-empowered. It’s an invitation to step into your authenticity”.
A terrific young artist who is still under the radar I think, Declan McKenna’s What Happened to the Beach? is a treat out on 9th February. 2020’s Zeros was an acclaimed and wonderful album. Almost four years after that was released, we get another treasure from a magnificent artist. If you do not know much about him, I can recommend checking out interviews and his previous albums. There are scant details about the album out there at this early stage. Even so, he is such a strong artist who never puts a foot wrong. His new album will definitely be worth time and investment:
“Produced by Gianluca Buccellati (Lana Del Rey, Arlo Parks), What Happened To The Beach? marks Mckenna’s third studio album following 2020’s Zeros. The LP is an album that revels in both space and atmosphere and the tracks much looser”.
An album I am looking forward to is Helado Negro’s Phasor. Due out on 9th February, you should pre-order this album. It is going to be a magnificent release you will not want to miss out on. Definitely worth some investigation if you have not heard of Helado Negro and want to take that first step:
“The eighth full-length album in Helado’s catalogue follows his critically acclaimed 2021 album Far In.
Some of the seeds for Phasor were planted in 2019 on Lange’s 39th birthday after a 5-hour visit to Salvatore Matirano’s SAL MAR machine at the University of Illinois. A complex synthesizer that creates music generatively with a vintage super computer brain and analog oscillators, it can create an infinite amount of possibilities in sound sequences. “I was enthralled by it,” Lange recalls.
That SAL MAR experience became the bedrock for Phasor. It taught Lange more about himself and became central to his creative process. “It gave me special insight into what stimulates me,” Lange explains. “This pursuit of constant curiosity in process and outcome. The songs are the fruit, but I love what’s under the dirt. The unseen magical process. I don’t want everybody to see it because not everyone cares to see it. Some of us just want the fruit. I do. But I want to grow the fruit, too.”
Phasor is Lange’s tightest collection—deep, atmospheric, meticulously executed. It’s aligned with 2019’s This Is How You Smile which found him incorporating more upfront drums and bass and focused grooves. His 2021 album, Far In, focused on being in quarantine—talking to your mother through Zoom instead of across a room. Phasor, in turn, is a homage to going outside again. It’s a returning-to-life record, remembering what the sun feels like and letting it warm your skin”.
Before getting to an album from 23rd February – and the one I am most looking forward to -, there are a selection due out on 16th February that I will highlight. Grandaddy’s Blu Wav is the first one. The legendary band’s forthcoming album will be one you’ll want to pre-order:
“Grandaddy release a brand new studio album Blu Wav via Dangerbird Records. A prolific storyteller, Jason Lytle is inspired by the overwhelming beauty of nature to the mundane moments that spark life’s strongest memories. Introducing pedal steel into the band’s repertoire for the first time, buoyant lead single “Watercooler” comments on the dichotomy of both. It was inspired by having his own outdoorsy rock guy (in both senses of the word) lifestyle while his partner had an office job. Lytle shares, “Most of my relationships have involved girls who worked in office settings. This song is about the end of one, or perhaps a few, of those relationships. Listeners will also notice the pedal steel on this track and eventually on many others from the forthcoming new album. It’s a first for Grandaddy, and I couldn't be more thrilled about this fact.”
With the album title Blu Wav meant to be a literal mash-up of “bluegrass” and “new wave”, the new collection has a distinct feel, a uniform vibe, and a somewhat unexpected sound. It was conceived as Grandaddy maestro Jason Lytle was driving through the Nevada desert, and Patti Page’s "Tennessee Waltz" came across the classic country station on the radio. He was immediately intrigued by the possibilities of what it might sound like to keep the slow sway and sweet, simple lyrics of the bluegrass waltz while adding layers of dense synthesizers and the electronics of new wave. It incorporates the lo-fi lushness and sometimes-psychedelic orchestration Grandaddy is knownfor with Lytle’sfirst foray into true country. Seven of its 13 songs are waltzes, and as Lytle notes, “there’s an inordinate amount of pedal steel”.
The brilliant IDLES release TANGK on 16th February. With a range of physical formats available for you to pre-order it on, there is no reason not to go and check out this latest album from one of the world’s very finest bands! I love everything they put out into the world:
“TANGK is the righteous and vibrant fifth album from madcap truth-seekers, IDLES. Pronounced “tank” with a whiff of the “g” - an onomatopoeic reference to the lashing way the band imagined their guitars sounding that has since grown into a sigil for living in love - the record is the band’s most ambitious and striking work yet. Where IDLES were once set on taking the world’s piss, squaring off with strong jaws against the perennially entitled, and exercising personal trauma in real time, they have arrived in this new act to offer the fruits of such perseverance: love, joy, and indeed gratitude for the mere opportunity of existence.
A radical sense of defiant empowerment radiates from TANGK, co-produced by Nigel Godrich, Kenny Beats, and IDLES guitarist Mark Bowen. Despite his reputation as an incendiary post-punk sparkplug, frontman Joe Talbot sings almost all the feelings inside these 10 songs with hard-earned soul, offering each lusty vow or solidarity plea as a bona fide pop song—that is, a thing for everyone to pass around and share, communal anthems intended for overcoming our grievance.
TANGK is a love album—open to anyone who requires something to shout out loud in order to fend off any encroaching sense of the void, now or forever”.
The penultimate album you should check out is due on 16th February. Paloma Faith’s superb The Glorification of Sadness. I would encourage those who might not be aware of or a huge fan of Faith’s to pre-order this album, as I think this might be her best work yet. Its themes and objectives are ones that we can all get behind and appreciate:
“The Glorification of Sadness is more than an album about relationships. The celebration of finding your way back after leaving a long term relationship, being empowered even in your failures and taking responsibility for your own happiness. It is Paloma's most personal album to date, drawing on her own experiences with Paloma acting as the anchor to direct a deeply personal narrative and album. This is the first new music from Paloma since the release of her fifth studio album Infinite Things in November 2020 and is the first time in her career where she has executively produced a record”.
On 23rd February, queen Nadine Shah releases Filthy Underneath. Following 2020’s Kitchen Sink, the first single from her new album, Topless Mother, might be one of her very best songs. It is insanely catchy and brilliant! I have no hesitation in recommending that everyone pre-orders what is going to be among the best albums of next year:
“Nadine Shah releases her fifth album - Filthy Underneath on EMI North. The follow up to 2020's critically acclaimed Kitchen Sink and 2017's Mercury Prize nominated Holiday Destination.
Filthy Underneath chronicles a period of unprecedented turbulence in Nadine Shah’s life. And yet, the experience of listening to it is oddly life-affirming – a parade of ghosts spanning the entirety of Nadine’s thirty-seven years, moving with balletic beauty to the music that Nadine and long-time co-writer and producer Ben Hillier have created around them, with renewed emphasis on placing melody and movement front and centre”.
One in December, a few from January, more from February, the albums above are ones you might want to save money for. Christmas is not too far away so, if you are saving for an album or get some money as a present, I hope the suggestions above are of use! It is looking like a pretty interesting start to 2024 albums-wise. As I say, things can be added and change between now and then – as these are albums confirmed as of 31st October. I am sure there are one or two albums above that you will want to…
ADD to your collection.