FEATURE:
One for the Record Collection!
IN THIS PHOTO: Miley Cyrus
Essential March Albums
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THERE are a lot of great albums out next month…
IN THIS PHOTO: Daisy Jones & The Six/PHOTO CREDIT: Pamela Littky
and I will cover quite a few of them here. I will start out with the best albums from 3rd March. The month starts off with some terrific albums. One that I would recommend people get is Daisy Jones & The Six’s Aurora. Go and pre-order and album that comes from a group that has a bit of a twist:
“In 1977, Daisy Jones and The Six were on top of the world. Fronted by two charismatic lead singers—Daisy Jones (Riley Keough) and Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin)—the band had risen from obscurity to fame. And then, after a sold-out show at Chicago's Soldier Field, they called it quits. Now, decades later, the band members finally agree to reveal the truth. This is the story of how an iconic band imploded at the height of its powers The Daisy Jones and The Six Show Cast includes, Sebastian Chacon, Reiley Keough, Sam Claflin, Suki Waterhouse, Camila Morrone, Josh Whitehouse, Nabiyah Be, Will Harrison, and Ayesha Harris. The 11-song LP produced by Grammy®-nominated writer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Blake Mills (Bob Dylan, Fiona Apple, Alabama Shakes, John Legend, Andrew Bird, Perfume Genius) Aurora and other music from throughout the show boasts writing and production credits including Marcus Mumford, Phoebe Bridgers, Jackson Browne, Dave Longstreth/Dirty Projectors, Ethan Gruska, Madison Cunningham, James Valentine, and Tony Berg (Phoebe Bridgers, Andrew Bird) alongside instrumentalists from Rilo Kiley, The Who, Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, David Bowie, Elton John, Jeff Beck, The Wallflowers, and more”.
Whilst there is not a lot of information available about the next two albums, I would urge people to seek them out, as they come from terrific artists. One album that you definitely need to pre-order is Kali Uchis’ Red Moon in Venus. I have been following her music ever since she released the incredible debut, Isolation, in 2018. A remarkable artist that everyone should investigate, I think that Red Moon in Venus is going to be one of the biggest albums of this year:
“The return of Kali Uchis. “Love is the message. Red Moon in Venus is a timeless, burning expression of desire, heartbreak, faith, and honesty, reflecting the divine femininity of the moon and Venus. The moon and Venus work together to make key aspects of love and domestic life work well,” Uchis says about the album.
“This body of work represents all levels of love - releasing people with love, drawing love into your life and self-love. It’s believed by many astrologers that the blood moon can send your emotions into a spin, and that’s what I felt represented this body of work best”.
I would also urge people to pre-order slowthai’s UGLY. A remarkable artist who seems to get stronger with every release, UGLY follows from 2021’s TYRON. I am really looking forward to the forthcoming album from slowthai. It is guaranteed to be magnificent. One of the biggest draws of UGLY is that it draws together an eclectic group of musicians who will add new textures and layers to the brilliant work of slowthai:
“UGLY is slowthai pulling himself apart and exposing his anxieties of the last couple of years, an acronym for U Gotta Love Yourself. Musically, this new album may show a side of him that people haven’t heard before but he sees it as the fullest picture yet - and attentive listeners will have noticed this musical tendency before. UGLY is about reconnecting with first principles. Plunging into rock music with as much singing as rapping, it is both a striking departure for slowthai and a return to the roots of Tyron Frampton. Recorded in producer Dan Carey’s home studio alongside frequent collaborator Kwes Darko, UGLY is a fluid combination of musicians including Ethan P. Flynn, Jockstrap’s Taylor Skye, Beabadoobee guitarist Jacob Bugden, drummer Liam Toon, and on the dark and woozy title track, his friends Fontaines D.C.”.
I am going to move ahead to 10th March. Quite a few important albums are out that day. Let’s start with Dutch Uncles’ True Entertainment. I would encourage people to pre-order the album. The Stockport band’s sixth studio album is going to be among their very best. It is shaping up to be another typically strong release from Dutch Uncles:
“Dutch Uncles, Manchester’s much-revered electro art rock quartet, return with their long-awaited sixth album, True Entertainment on Memphis Industries.
Taking inspiration from Yellow Magic Orchestra, Prince, Steely Dan, Ennio Morricone, The Blue Nile, Kate Bush and Roxy Music, "True Entertainment behaves like it knows it's been away for some time, and doesn’t apologise for that," jokes vocalist / lyricist Duncan Wallis. "Ultimately, it's written with the mindset that on our sixth album, we’re only in competition with ourselves when it comes to finding satisfaction in our craft."
True to this mantra, True Entertainment bears some of the most delightfully fun Dutch Uncles music to date; paired with some of their most existential and introspective lyrics. What is success? Am I enough? How can I better? (and can I afford to be better?)
The title was a DJ name bestowed upon Wallis by guitarist Peter Broadhead. Wallis, an in-demand DJ and compare in his native city, wrote the acid house and Sign O’ The Times-era Prince-influenced title track when reflecting on the awkwardness he sometimes feels when he’s recognised as the singer in a band while working one of his many public-facing jobs.
While bassist Wallis and bassist Robin Richards remain Dutch Uncles’ principle composers, the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 prompted other members to contribute musical ideas: the result being their most collaborative album to date. This is evidenced further by Henry Broadhead and Neil Wright (live synth player and live guitarist, respectively) stepping up to production duties alongside the band themselves. The album also sees contributions from Anna Prior of Metronomy and Jonathan Higgs of Everything Everything. Henry Broadhead mixed the album with drummer Andrew Proudfoot, and it was mastered by Matt Colton (Pet Shop Boys, Christine And The Queens et al)”.
I will move on to Frankie Rose and her album, Love as Projection. A legendary musician who has moved from life in bands to stepping up front, everyone needs to get this album. Although there is some foreboding and seriousness to Love as Projection, there is optimism and bigger sounds that will get you moving. I have heard as bit from the album, but it will be interesting to see what the whole sound like. Frankie Rose is a fantastic musician and songwriter, and Love as Projection will certainly prove that:
“Love As Projection is the new album by Frankie Rose, her fifth studio LP and second for Night School following the reissue of her interpretation of The Cure’s Seventeen Seconds. Frankie Rose has forged an enviable musical legacy, from playing with bands like Crystal Stilts and The Vivian Girls but on Love As Projection she takes a bold step into electronic pop production. A sumptuous recorded statement, it dances in ecstasy and broods on the tumult of the western world’s decay in equal proportion. At the heart of the album is glowing, confident songwriting, resplendent in hooks and choruses but still touched with an optimism undimmed.
After spending nearly two decades establishing herself across New York and Los Angeles independent music circles, Rose re-emerges after six years with a fresh form, aesthetic, and ethos. Celebrated over the years for her expansive approach to songwriting, lush atmospherics, and transcendent vocal melodies and harmonies, Love As Projection is a reintroduction of her established style through the lens of contemporary electronic pop. Recorded with producer Brandt Gassman and mixed with long-term collaborator Jorge Elbrecht this is the album Frankie Rose has been building up to her entire career.
More than a rebirth, a refinement, a resurgence, Love As Projection boasts a widescreen scope: a long- form project heavily considered for half of a decade, culminating in the most personal and accessible collection of art-pop that Frankie has ever written. When Rose aims for the pop jugular as in first lead track Anything, the result is unstoppable. A majestic pop song built for radio, it erupts into an irresistible chorus that marries classic epic 80s American pop with the cult effervescence of Strawberry Switchblade “It’s like a prom scene in a John Hughes movie. It’s a hopeful song about abandoning fear even if the world is quite literally on fire.. In the end, at least we have each other,” says Rose. Sixteen Ways further boasts a propulsive, massive chorus, though tempered by a cynicism built in global post-truth, global malaise. “It’s about getting your hopes up, but simultaneously making lists in your head about how it will never work out in your favour.”
The big anthems don’t let up there. On DOA some massive, rolling drums lathered in big mid-80s gated reverb dovetail with a syncopated baseline for the ages as Rose’s vocal sails effortlessly above. The effect isn’t unlike ethereal vocalists Clannad circa Howard’s Way or Enya jamming with Simple Minds in their stadium-conquering heyday. Rose tempers the adrenalin with heart-tugging bittersweet tones and there are plenty of them. Sleeping Night And Day takes its time with an off-the-cuff chorus, swirling around in harmony and chorus-bass. Saltwater Girl picks up the balladeering baton with another nod to album track-mode Switchblade, deep space opening up in the mid-tempo drum track and soupy, digital atmospherics. Album closer Song For A Horse, reimagines modern Pop production a-la-PC Music but shorn of the meta-atmosphere. Pianos, swelling synths, minor keys cut through with major. These moments, also seen in Feel Light offer ballast to the soaring pop choruses. Moments like these are big oceans of emotion to fall into before being led out by Rose into a bright new day”.
There are more to come from this week. Another album that I want to highlight is Meet Me @ the Altar’s Past//Present//Future. From an exciting and innovative trio in Rock, go and pre-order an album that comes out in the same week as a pretty huge one from Miley Cyrus. That said, one definitely cannot ignore the amazing Past//Present//Future. Again, it is a shame that there is not more information about this album available online. It is going to be among the most interesting and important debut albums of this year:
“Critically acclaimed rock trio Meet Me @ The Altar release their highly anticipated debut album Past // Present // Future, via Fueled By Ramen. The album was announced last night on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where the band made their US late night television performance debut playing a walloping rendition of their latest single, Say It (To My Face). Calling upon iconic producer John Fields (Jonas Brothers, P!NK, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato), the 11-track album sheds any notion of sonic limitations”.
Perhaps the biggest album from March comes in the form of Miley Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation. Go and pre-order an album that is going to be terrific. I could find no real blurb or detail about the album’s themes and inspiration behind it. I found an interview from GQ, from last year, where they looked ahead to the release of the amazing Endless Summer Vacation:
“Released at the tail-end of the first pandemic year, Miley Cyrus's 2020 album, Plastic Hearts, feels like a lifetime ago. Now, with the announcement of new music, and a new single stuffed with potential easter eggs, Miley's next musical phase looks like it will be a departure from what we've seen of the singer so far.
Teasing the new album with a series of posters promising ‘NEW YEAR, NEW MILEY’ appearing around Los Angeles, Endless Summer Vacation is being teased as a new era for Cyrus. The album is a “love letter to L.A.,” a press release said, adding that Cyrus' album is “a reflection of the strength she’s found in focusing on both her physical and mental well-being". Could this mean chapter-closed on her “Malibu” period, widely seen as being linked to ex-husband Liam Hemsworth?
Album cover art has already been released and shows Cyrus, sporting sunglasses, hanging from a trapeze in a leather bodysuit against a sun-hit blue sky background. Utilising our A-level English-level criticism, we'd guess the cover reflects Cyrus' newfound comfort and confidence in both herself and life. She isn't holding onto the bar for dear life, but rather with an easy-assured grip, facing us straight-on.
Later, she updated her Spotify bio to contain the phrase, and the words have also since appeared in her Twitter bio.
Naturally, fan speculation over Endless Summer Vacation is rife, and some believe the artist could be working with Mike Will again, who produced her 2013 album BANGERZ. The pair were recently seen together in what appeared to be a studio in an Instagram post by Rae Sremmurd, along with the caption "EAR DRUMMERS & HEAD BANGERZ".
What do we know about the album?
Details on the album are scarce, but we do know it was recorded in Los Angeles and features production from Greg Kurstin, Tyler Johnson, and Kid Harpoon. Endless Summer Vacation was announced with a short video trailer, which shows Cyrus poolside and cuts between shots of her and the blue sky and water that surround her. Despite coming to us in March, the vibe seems to be full summer and those long days that drift into long nights.
The album's lead single “Flowers" came out on 13 January, and looked to delve into the aftermath of her relationship to Hemsworth who she divorced in 2020. Also, what are the chances – the release coincided with Liam Hemsworth's birthday.
Lines include "We were good, we were gold/ Kind of dream that can't be sold / We were right 'til we weren't / Built a home and watched it burn”, which references their shared home which burned down in 2018.
But rather than focus on the spicy details of their decision to split, the single, much like the press release for her album states, focuses on the self-love and growth she's experienced since. The lines 'I can buy myself flowers / Write my name in the sand / Talk to myself for hours / Say things you don't understand / I can take myself dancing / And I can hold my own hand / Yeah, I can love me better than you can' scream: I'm the best partner I could ask for”.
In complete contrast, our very own Sleaford Mods prepare to launch UK Grim. A great album to pre-order. A gem from 10th March, the unstoppable Sleaford Mods are a magnificent musical force that never drop a step or release anything less than essential. UK Grim is going to be another diamond:
“Sleaford Mods release their new album UK Grim through Rough Trade Records. As the Nottingham duo's most dancefloor friendly release to date, UK Grim is an urgent and sage-like look at life, living and the gritty reality of our era.
Truly the sound of now, not only in terms of the ideas and issues Jason Williamson's strong words invoke, but also thanks to the innovative and immersive production of Andrew Fearn, which on this release has seen the pair collaborate on songs with Jane's Addiction's creative powerhouse, Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro, and with Florence Shaw, the distinct and vital voice at the heart of British band Dry Cleaning.
Speaking of the forces that have triggered the poetic protest at the heart of this record, as with their musical forebears like The Clash or The Jam, Sleaford Mods reveal that the outrage they feel is underscored by love for the people and places around them, making UK Grim as much a celebration of individuals and the idealists as it is an attack on ruling classes who pursue their own self-serving agendas with increasing desperation.
“Maybe we are proud of the country. Maybe we are proud to be English,” explains Williamson. “Maybe I’m proud of the horrible grey streets and the shit weather and the stupid fashions I find myself investing in. It’s just that the English we’re proud of being is absolutely nothing like the English the authorities want to try and promote.”
Angry yet artful, innovative yet possessing an instinctual energy that irresistibly moves bodies and minds, UK Grim is an erudite electronic vision that truly engages with times that have been anything but 'precedented'”.
There is only one from 17th March that I want to highlight. The stunning Black Honey’s A Fistful of Peaches is out then. Go and pre-order your copy, as this follows on from 2021’s Written & Directed. The quartet formed in Brighton in 2014, and they are led by the phenomenal Izzy Baxter Phillips. I am looking forward to the upcoming release of A Fistful of Peaches:
“Black Honey's third album. Written and Directed, the bands second record (released in 2021) charted at #1 UK indies and #7 Overall, their self titled first, charted at #33. Since the end of the Written & Directed campaign the band played a sold out UK Tour including a night at Heaven, immediately followed by shows supporting IDLES, tours with Nothing But Thieves and The Vaccines across the UK and Europe. More in the touring section. The first track from this 3.0 phase of the Honeys, sees the rip roaring "Charlie Bronson", a nod to "I Like The Way You Die" and this track is the killer opener to their upcoming third record "A Fistful Of Peaches" which will be released in 2023”.
There are some must-own albums that are due out on 24th March. Rivalling Miley Cyrus in terms of importance and impact, Lana Del Rey’s Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd is coming out. This is an album that you definitely want to pre-order. I am not sure why there is not much information online about this album. It seems like, with albums this huge, there would be more information for people. The album was preceded by the release of its title track as the lead single on 7th December, 2022. Originally slated for release on 10th March, on 28th January, it was pushed to 24th March:
“Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd is the ninth studio album from acclaimed singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey, comprising 16 tracks and interludes with features including Father John Misty, Tommy Genesis, Jon Batiste, Bleachers and more. It follows the prolific artist's 2021 albums Chemtrails Over The Country Club and Blue Banisters”.
There are a few more albums from 24th March that I want to include. One of them is Caroline Rose’s The Art of Forgetting. I would encourage people to pre-order the album, as their latest album follows 2020’s Superstar. An utterly amazing artist, everyone needs to check Caroline Rose out. Their forthcoming The Art of Forgetting is definitely going to be on my radar when it comes out:
“Caroline Rose releases her fantastic new album The Art of Forgetting on New West Records. Rose is an artist known for their wit and satirical storytelling, but for the first time, with The Art of Forgetting, Roseʼs music teems with raw, intense emotion. With no guard up this time, they present the type of confessional honesty weʼve only previously caught glimpses of in their work. Of course, Roseʼs impish humor does pop up unexpectedly amidst themes of regret and grief, loss and change, shame and the inevitability of pain. Aer a series of heartbreaking events, Rose had no desire to make a statement, let alone make a new album. It was a time of contemplation and transformation. What transpired was what Rose considers a gradual union of reconnection and growth. Prompted by a difficult breakup, Rose began a deep-dive inward, unknowingly digging up long-buried childhood experiences. All the while, Rose was getting voicemails from their grandmother “who was clearly losing her mind.”
These respective moments are pieced throughout the album, offering moments of lightness amidst an otherwise heart-rending story of a person who has forgotten, and is perhaps re-learning, how to love themselves. “It got me thinking about all the different ways memory shows up throughout our lives,” says Rose. “It can feel like a curse or be wielded as a tool.” With this in mind, Rose produced the album using devices and media that embody the characteristics of fading or faulty memories. She gravitated towards instruments that naturally changed or decayed over time: wooden and string instruments, voices, tape, and granular synthesis. She began recording basic layers in her home studio, and “from there it was about a year of experimenting with those recordings both at home and in a couple other studios––chopping them up into loops and smears, creating modular percussion, and ultimately building any additional parts around them,” says Rose. Layers of vocal arrangements from Balkan-influenced yawps to Gregorian autotune choirs, acoustic instrumentation chopped and mangled like a glitching memory, and dreamlike synths push and pull to create a hugely dynamic soundscape”.
Again, there is a scarcity of press information about an album from a major artist. Ellie Goulding’s Higher Than Heaven is well worth pre-ordering. A brilliant Pop artist who has been making consistently great albums for years, I am interested to hear what Higher Than Heaven contains. She has brought together a stellar team when it comes constructing the album. Goulding is one of modern music’s greatest names. Her albums are always full of personality and incredible cuts:
“Pop megastar Ellie Goulding releases her highly anticipated fifth studio album, Higher Than Heaven. Some of pop music’s finest were enlisted to craft the album with her including Greg Kurstin (Sia, Maggie Rogers, Elton John), Jessie Shatkin (Charli XCX, Years and Years), Koz (Sam Ryder, Madonna, Dua Lipa) and Andrew Wells (Halsey, Yungblud). The record sees Ellie put her own spin on modern pop music. Higher Than Heaven is jam packed with infectious hits that see Goulding’s signature vocals take center stage, with top notch production, stomping basslines, soaring synths and euphoric melodies”.
I am going to end with 31st March and a couple of albums that should be on the radar. Consisting Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, boygenius’ the record is the long-awaited debut album. Go and pre-order the record, as this is three multi-talented friends combining on such a really rich and strong album. I cannot wait to listen to the album, as it is going to be one of the year’s very best so far. All three are amazing songwriters and performers who each have their own voice and vibe. That works as a great strength when it comes to the songs, though they blend together seamlessly and wonderfully:
“The record is the debut full length album from boygenius. Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus formed Boygenius after booking a tour together, but the trio had subconsciously been in the works for longer than that. Through a series of tours and performances together, and chance encounters that led to friendships – including Bridgers’ and Dacus’ first in-person meeting backstage at a Philadelphia festival, greenroom hangouts that felt instantly comfortable and compatible, a couple of long email chains and even a secret handshake between Baker and Dacus – the lyrically and musically arresting singer-songwriters and kindred spirits got to know each other on their own terms”.
I will end with The New Pornographers’ Continue as a Guest. Out on 31st March, go and pre-order as this is an iconic band who are still going strong after two decades. Their new album should please loyal fans and newcomers alike. I am definitely going to listen to Continue as a Guest with great interest, as I really like The New Pornographers:
“Over the past 20 years, The New Pornographers have proven themselves one of the most excellent bands in indie rock. The group’s ninth album and first for Merge establishes them alongside modern luminaries like Yo La Tengo and Superchunk when it comes to their ability to evolve while still retaining what made them so special in the first place. A dazzling and intriguing collection of songs, Continue as a Guest finds bandleader A.C. Newman and his compatriots Neko Case, Kathryn Calder, John Collins, Todd Fancey, and Joe Seiders exploring fresh territory and shattering the barriers of their collective comfort zone.
Newman began work on Continue as a Guest after the band had finished touring behind 2019’s In the Morse Code of Brake Lights. Themes of isolation and collapse bleed into this album, as Newman tackles the ambivalence of day-to-day life during the COVID-19 pandemic. But Newman says that Continue as a Guest’s title track also addresses the concerns that come with being in a band for so long. “The idea of continuing as a guest felt apropos to the times,” he explains. “Feeling out of place in culture, in society, being in a band that has been around for so long—not feeling like a part of any zeitgeist, but happy to be separate and living your simple life, your long fade-out. Living in a secluded place in an isolated time, it felt like a positive form of acceptance: find your own little nowhere, find some space to fall apart, continue as a guest.”
Newman discovered new vocal approaches within his own talent. There are new and rich tones to Newman’s voice throughout Continue as a Guest, from his dusky lower register over “Angelcover” to his slippery slide over the glimmering synths of “Firework in the Falling Snow,” to bold tones he embraces on the soaring “Bottle Episodes.” Another sonic change comes courtesy of saxophonist Zach Djanikian, whose tenor and bass luxuriate all over Continue as a Guest’s alluring chassis, especially on the menacing build of “Pontius Pilate’s Home Movies.”
Along with Newman’s usual collaborators, several songwriters contribute. The bursting opener and first single “Really Really Light” is a co-write with Dan Bejar (Destroyer, the New Pornographers). Then there’s “Firework in the Falling Snow,” a collaboration with Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz and Sad13. “I was feeling like I wanted some help, so I sent it to Sadie and she sent me back this complete song that had these great lyrics,” Newman says. “She included the line ‘A firework in the falling snow,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s great.’ Sometimes you need that one thing to center the song, and even though I only used a few lines of hers in the end, I couldn’t have finished it without her.”
Even as Newman embraces a collaborative spirit more than ever, Continue as a Guest is a testament to his ability to discover new artistic sides of himself. “I started out as a songwriter more than as a singer, but at some point, you have to sing your own songs,” he says with a chuckle. “For a long time, I felt like the idea of changing a song because I couldn’t hit a note wasn’t okay - I could just get someone else to sing it. But I’m learning now that my songs can actually be a lot more malleable than I thought.” And it’s in that spirit that Continue as a Guest sounds like a thrilling path forward for The New Pornographers, with songs that generate a contagious feeling of excitement for the future as well”.
There are other great albums out in March, but I have selected the ones that I think stand out. It is a very busy and varied month that sees some high-profile and really exciting albums from Lana Del Rey, and Miley Cyrus. If you have some spare pennies for albums next month, then have a look and think about the ones above and…
ORDER them now.