FEATURE:
2023 Queens
IN THIS PHOTO: Billie Marten/PHOTO CREDIT: Katie Silvester
The Best Ten Albums Made By Female Artists This Year
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I put together a similar list…
IN THIS PHOTO: Caroline Polachek/PHOTO CREDIT: Aidan Zamiri
not too long ago but, as the past few weeks has seen some year-best albums released by female artists, I had to come back to it. On 7th April alone, we had the stunning Ellie Goulding’s Higher Than Heaven and Billie Marten’s Drop Cherries. At the end of March, boygenius’ the record was released. These three albums instantly make their way into my top ten – with boyegnius and Marten especially high in my top five. This year, as I suspected, has been defined by albums from women. I suspect that will continue. I will do another list in a few months (and a final one in December), as I know some sensational albums are coming between now and then. To showcase the brilliant albums by female artists that have arrived so far, I have listed ten of the very best. With Feist releasing Multitudes this Friday (14th), and Jessie Ware putting out That! Feels Good! Two weeks later, there are a couple more albums that can contend for this top ten. It shows how invaluable and spectacular female artists are! Proving why the industry needs to recognise their brilliance when it comes to festival line-ups and wider recognition. These 2023 queens have released some of the…
BEST albums of the year.
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boygenius – The Record
Release Date: 31st March
Producers: boygenius/Catherine Marks
Label: Interscope
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/product/boygenius/the-record-5
Standout Tracks: Emily I’m Sorry/Not Strong Enough/Leonard Cohen
Key Cut: Without You Without Them
Review:
“The anatomy of the supergroup has a rocky past, often pulled together for commercial gain or a desperate attempt to revive a flatlining legacy. That the individual parts of boygenius are arguably better known as a trio tells a different story, one of unbreakable friendship and deep-rooted mutual respect that has rapidly become the lifeblood of the collaboration. Touching on an unavoidable cliche, they are better because of each other.
It’s no mean feat given their statuses as three of the best songwriters around. They share a powerful honesty that has encouraged a crossover of their respective fanbases, but each boast distinctive nuances that are brought effortlessly to the table. Julien Baker’s self-critical charm bleeds in, as does Lucy Dacus’ heavier tone and quick-witted wording. Phoebe Bridgers - away from boygenius, the biggest name on the line-up but here perfectly aligned - brings her dense blend of delicacy and rage. The screams that brought 2020’s ‘Punisher’ to a crashing end ring out on ‘Satanist’ and ‘$20’ – the latter one of boygenius’ punchiest tracks to date.
’the record’ never shies away from being a sum of these parts, with their love for each other’s craft helping to avoid the temptation to reinvent the wheel. There are songs that are unmistakably assigned to one of their strengths; ‘True Blue’ continues the themes from Lucy’s ‘Home Video’, ‘Anti-Curse’ elevates the full-band outing from Julien’s ‘Little Oblivions’, and closer ‘Letter To An Old Poet’ unfolds in a way only Phoebe could manage. But even in these moments, it’s clear all three are being pushed beyond their usual creative comfort zones.
Phoebe speaks of ‘Emily I’m Sorry’ being the moment boygenius was reignited, written as a solo track but in her mind destined for ‘the record’. It’s indicative of the album’s power of the combined voice, not just in the obviously beautiful harmonies, but also in the playful instrumental and lyrical nods. The words switch from sincere to funny in the blink of an eye, some such as ‘Leonard Cohen’ a self-referential in-joke that simultaneously comments on male singer-songwriter tropes. The track plays out without a chorus, something that none of boygenius’ component parts would have likely written alone.
Here, the trio sound more assured than ever, willing to sit outside of their respective norms, placing their unity first while never shying away from their shared experiences in lyrics and tone. On stand-out ‘Not Strong Enough’, the trio come together with perfect precision, landing the balance between lyrical poignancy and enacting a longstanding desire to reference Sheryl Crow. It’s a shining moment in a sound of friendship that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but comes built on an unshakable admiration for every facet of their beings” – DIY
Billie Marten – Drop Cherries
Release Date: 7th April
Producers: Billie Marten/Dom Monks
Label: Fiction Records
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/product/billie-marten/drop-cherries
Standout Tracks: God Above/I Can’t Get My Head Around You/I Bend to Him
Key Cut: This Is How We Move
Review:
“Yorkshire-born Billie Marten is no stranger to our ears, having released three studio albums already at the tender age of 23. Her latest record, ‘Drop Cherries’, rings true to the Billie Marten we all know and love while introducing a more mature musical style as she takes her fans on a sonic journey. On this record, Marten has truly gathered some of her best work to date.
If this record had to be summed up briefly, it would be as an ode to relationships, from the good to the bad and everything in between. ‘Drop Cherries’ is a reference to the album’s titular closing track, which is simple in its structure and lyricism to end the record on a note of how the mundane things may be what truly makes love.
Elsewhere in the record, Marten uses music to explore the complexities of love and companionship, resulting in some beautiful tracks, namely ‘Willow’ which is beautiful in its imagery-led structure, with lyrics depicting “two weeping willows throwing an arm to one another.” ‘Arrows’ is another moment which is stunning in its lyricism, this time letting the listener into the tougher side of relationships, where Marten sings ‘’I am at war with my shadow, roads dark and narrow.’’
The lyric-lacking album opener ‘New Idea’ set a tone for Marten’s new instrumental approach on her fourth record as it let the music do the talking, introducing her controlled and soothing harmonies along with strings – something I did not expect on a Billie Marten album.
The increased instrumentation on this record is a welcome addition, as the orchestral-type strings in ‘Devil Swim’, woodwind solo in ‘Willow’, and plucked strings with cymbals in ‘God Above’ make Billie Marten stand out in a crowded singer-songwriter market. Though there are moments – for example, on ‘Just Us’ – where the vocals seem drowned out by the instrumentation, the record as a whole benefits from these sonic layers, with band-led track ‘I Can’t Get My Head Around You’ being one of my favourites for its cohesive sound. After taking a more electronic synth route on previous record ‘Flora Fauna’, this is just another indicator of Marten’s growth.
A conceptual album which feels honest and authentic, ‘Drop Cherries’ showcases the best of her musical ability while being lyrically complex – it’s another strong record for Billie Marten to add to her repertoire.
8/10” – CLASH
Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want to Turn Into You
Release Date: 14th February
Producers: Caroline Polachek/Danny L Harle/Dan Nigro/Jim-E Stack/Sega Bodega/Ariel Rechtshaid
Labels: Sony Music/The Orchard/Perpetual Novice
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/product/caroline-polachek/desire-i-want-to-turn-into-you-2
Standout Tracks: Welcome to My Island/Blood and Butter/Billions
Key Cut: Sunset
Review:
“Rooted in 2000s indie, her time as part of Chairlift flexed her pop chorus muscles, then she moved onto experimental soundscapes with two records under the monikers Ramona Lisa and her initials CEP. The two collided on 2019’s ‘Pang’, the introduction to Caroline Polachek as we know her now – it’s a glittering orchestral affair that talked of long-distance love and crushing in the digital age. Zooming in on her second album, ‘Desire, I Want To Turn Into You’, Caroline takes us closer.
Initially introducing the era back in 2021 with the single ‘Bunny Is A Rider’, Caroline brought forth a looser, more playful side of her persona. Taking cues from her poppiest hit at the time – the late-blooming viral ‘So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings’ – and pulling them into more curious territory, ‘Bunny Is A Rider’ was less dreamy, more adventurous. And so the yearning on ‘Pang’ became a primal want: desire.
As with most of the records that have arrived since lockdowns lifted entirely, ‘Desire, I Want To Turn Into You’ is a celebration of togetherness, both in the overarching we-can-be-together-and-dance way that sees the record often veer into proper electronica, but also in the literal physical sense of togetherness; of sweaty bodies clashing beneath sheets and walks of shame personified in opening track ‘Welcome To My Island’.
It’s the cut she used to announce the album for a reason. Although eventual closer ‘Billions’ – a glitchy, hypnotic track laced with a children’s choir that doesn’t tire out its five-minute run time – and ‘Sunset’ – the shimmering flamenco track that brings some of the record’s best lyrics – came long before (they were previewed on tour in 2021 and released as singles), it’s the desperate euphoria of ‘Welcome To My Island’ that introduces the bratty character Caroline would play on this record, and solidified that this would be her poppiest record without losing any of the quirks that put her truly in a league of her own.
‘Pretty In Possible’ employs a Massive Attack style breakbeat and meandering pop melodies but is deliberately chorusless. When those UK drum ’n’ bass beats return on ‘I Believe’, they’re amped up with vibrant synths and house piano, the patience paying off in a cathartic final chorus release. Those same beats continue into ‘Desire…’s only feature, ‘Fly To You’ with Grimes and Dido, which, on paper, sounds like it should be bonkers. In reality, Caroline acts as a bridge between the pair; Dido, a long-time idol for CP with certain vocal similarities, and Grimes, an experimental and unexpected pop crossover act.
Between the airy 2000s pop guitars of ‘Blood and Butter’ comes a bagpipe solo, and a use of the word ‘Wikipediated’ to describe her lover. Some of her most sincere tracks end up being the most nonsensical; are ‘Hopedrunk’ or ‘Everasking’ even real words? It neither matters nor stops it from being the most delicate and tender one here.
While Caroline Polachek’s music is often described as otherworldly, she still deals primarily in human emotion. On ‘Desire, I Want To Turn Into You’, she offers up hope, catharsis and real euphoria. A record of love in its initial ravenous infatuated rumblings, and occasionally when it erupts into something bigger.
5/5” - DORK
Brix Smith - Valley of the Dolls
Release Date: 24th February
Producer: Youth
Label: Grit Over Glamour
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/product/brix-smith/valley-of-the-dolls
Standout Tracks: Livin Thru My Despair/California Smile/Valley Girl
Key Cut: Fast Net
Review:
“During her initial rise to fame in the 1980s, Brix Smith temporarily steered then-husband Mark E. Smith in a more commercial direction with The Fall. She’s also worked with everyone from Blondie drummer Clem Burke, The Smiths’ second guitarist Craig Gannon, and auditioned for Hole after the death of bassist Kristen Pfaff.
The influence of these disparate individuals can be heard feeding into her first solo album. Co-written by ex-Killing Joke bassist and acclaimed producer Martin ‘Youth’ Glover, she describes it as ‘a cross between The Breeders and Hole.’ It certainly bears their hallmarks in its big, crunching power chords and melodic post-punk harmonies.
More than anything, it makes you wonder what Hole would have gone on to produce if she had properly joined (she sort of did, for a “whirlwind” 24 hours). Her claim to have played “the wife, the whore, the maid, the doll” on ‘California Smile’ is more than a little Courtney Love, while the ‘very dystopian California’ atmosphere on the ten tracks has echoes of Celebrity Skin.
If the threat of being upstaged by another larger-than-life musician led to Love’s veto, then Smith is a natural collaborator. The album features guest turns from Susannah Hoffs (The Bangles) and Siobhan Fahey (Shakespears Sister), and she’s put together an all-female touring band that includes Deb Googe (My Bloody Valentine).
The collaborators and colourful history would overshadow most artists, but Smith sounds very much in her element. She may have been in the industry for four decades but hook-laden tracks such as ‘Valley Girl’ and ‘Fast Net’ have the grungy energy of a newcomer, even if she carries the disillusionment of someone who begs to be taken “from this place of pain” (‘Black Butterfly’).
Lyrically influenced by her early years growing up in California, but musically looking to a future where grunge never died, the album places her firmly back in a present where she can claim her dues” – Loud and Quiet
Kelela – Raven
Release Date: 10th February
Producers: Kelela/Asmara/Yo van Lenz/LSDXOXO/Bambii/Florian TM Zeisig/Brandon Peralta/Kaytranada/Khalí Carela/AceMo/Fauzia/Paris Strother/Badsista/Mocky
Label: Warp
Standout Tracks: Washed Away/On the Run/Raven
Key Cut: Happy Ending
Review:
“Take Me Apart set a new standard for progressive R&B without concessions to urban contemporary radio programming. The album's ensuing batch of remixes -- in which Kelela was intensely involved, even revoicing some songs -- pulled together contributions from the far-ranging likes of CupcakKe, serpentwithfeet, and go-go legends Rare Essence, the latter reconnecting Kelela to her birthplace of Washington, D.C. There was no telling which path the singer/songwriter and producer would take until she returned four years later with "Washed Away," the first preview of Raven. A sheer ballad functioning like an extended exhalation -- one full of exquisite melisma and scatting, that is -- "Washed Away" has a regenerative effect. Achieving splashdown as it fades out, the song suitably introduces an album presented by Kelela as "an affirmation of Black femme perspective in the midst of systemic erasure and the sound of our vulnerability turned to power." The statement is confirmed strongest in the title song, where Kelela rails against thievery and ineffectuality, and proclaims her resilience and independence before losing herself on the dancefloor to itch-scratching bass frequencies. It segues into the knocking "Bruises," its air of inconquerability sensed until Kelela confirms the feeling with "I changed my fate and my girl did the same/And we came to destroy." Constant if fluid oscillations between diaphanous ballads, pulsing slow jams, and modern street soul bangers are just as suited for the greater number of songs based in relationships. The water and flotation metaphors keep flowing, too, whether Kelela is in an ecstatic state in the bedroom or on the dancefloor (the wispy "Sorbet" and heady drum'n'bass of "Contact"), or coping with a split (the plangent "Divorce"). In several other songs, Kelela is dealing with a lover who is noncommittal, elusive, and inexpressive. They're just as affecting. The deep crew of collaborators here is almost entirely different from that of Take Me Apart, retaining Asmara for much deeper production involvement, with LSDXOXO, OCA, and Bambii likewise figuring prominently. Others factoring in Kelela's vision include painter Janiva Ellis (additional lyricist on several songs), Fauzia, and We Are King's Paris Strother” – AllMusic
Lana Del Rey - Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd
Release Date: 24th March
Producers: Jack Antonoff/Benji/Zach Dawes/Lana Del Rey/Drew Erickson/Mike Hermosa
Labels: Interscope/Polydor
Standout Tracks: Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd/Kintsugi/Margaret
Key Cut: The Grants
Review:
“‘Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd’ begins with a mistake. As a trio of backing singers are conducted through a burst of ‘The Grants’’ central chorus line, they slip up. “I’m gonna take mind of you with me,” they sing, “mind” instead of the intended “mine”. They’re halted, coached through the correction and restart, but you can still hear an erroneous ‘d’ taking ‘e’’s place on the next two goes round.
Other artists might have scrubbed that faux pas and replaced it with something perfect and polished, but not Lana Del Rey. That error is reflective of how she portrays the world and life itself in her music – imperfect, sometimes messy. In many ways, she is a documentarian capturing angles that aren’t just bright and beautiful.
Her ninth studio album is another testament to that approach. On ‘… Ocean Blvd’, she opens up on her life now, pondering the big questions and contemplating family, home and her future. The songs cross-reference each other, looping back to earlier thoughts and feelings, making it feel like you’re with her in her day-to-day as she muses on these weighty topics.
In particular, the record faces up to the queries and doubts that loom over even the most non-traditional of women as they journey through their thirties (Del Rey is now 37) – ones society haunts you with until you have an answer. After chiding her brother to stop smoking and asking her sister if she’ll be by her side on the string-laden swoon of ‘Fingertips’, a flurry of hushed questions follows. “Will the baby be alright? / Can I have one of mine? / Can I handle it?” she asks softly. Earlier, on the gorgeous piano-led ‘Sweet’, Del Rey challenges a potential partner to talk “about stuff that’s at the very heart of things”: “Do you want children? / Do you wanna marry me? / Do you wanna run marathons in Long Beach by the sea?”
Working out what direction you want to take your life in and which of the traditional expectations the world places on us you want for yourself isn’t a linear passage. It’s one that twists and turns, spikes through peaks and troughs. “When’s it gonna be my turn?” Lana asks on the longing title track. Although it’s not clear what she’s singing about, it could easily apply to those ideas of life’s Big Things – a one true love, a family of her own. On ‘A&W’ – a track that starts off dark and folky before fizzing into an addictive, bass-y outro littered with femi-nasty, quotable lyrics – she defies that yearning feeling. “It’s not about having someone to love me anymore,” she declares. “Did you know a singer can still be / A side-piece at 33?” she murmurs, disregarding the get-married-and-settle-down agenda with a gentle but powerful force.
‘…Ocean Blvd’’s other big narrative is family – both blood and chosen. There are call-outs across the record to her siblings, father, grandparents and more. The opening song ‘The Grants’ is titled as such for her relatives, and as it goes from melancholy and maudlin to being pierced with light, Del Rey promises to take her memories – “my sister’s firstborn child”, “my grandmother’s last smile” – of those close to her “with me”. Between calls out to God for herself, ’Grandfather, please stand on the shoulders of my father while he’s deep-sea fishing’ – which features French pianist RIOPY – finds her asking her granddad to protect her dad from the other side.
‘Margaret’ – one of the record’s most beautiful and moving songs – takes the focus outside of the Grant clan to Bleachers’ Jack Antonoff and actor Margaret Qualley, telling the story of their romance. “He met Margaret on a rooftop / She was wearing white and he was like / ‘I might be in trouble’ / He had flashes of the good life / He was like, ‘Shall I jump off this building now or do it on the double?’,” she sings in the opening verse, mirroring the tumbling, hurried way Antonoff often expresses himself in his own songs.
Although ‘…Ocean Blvd’ largely doesn’t answer any of its big questions, ‘Margaret’ resembles something like a solution. “When you know, you know,” Del Rey shares, returning to a sentiment from the earlier ‘Paris, Texas’. Later, in a gentle spoken word line, she adds: “So if you don’t know, don’t give up ‘cos you never know what the new day will bring.”
As she steps into new lyrical territory here, so too does Lana enter new sonic worlds. Her ninth album merges the soulful, classic, timeless sounds of a singer-songwriter from a distant time and the vocal melodies and techniques of an old Hollywood starlet (it’s not hard to imagine the likes of Audrey Hepburn singing parts on songs like ‘Sweet’) with trap beats, speaker-wobbling bass and spoken word tracks edited with a sense of Warholian spirit.
‘Judah Smith Interlude’ represents the latter, a four-and-a-half-minute presentation of one of the Churchome pastor’s sermons set to piano ripples and soft electric guitar. Occasionally, giggles and muttering from Del Rey cuts over the top, crackling like the audio of a Factory film. Another interlude led by Grammy-winning jazz and R&B auteur Jon Batiste centres around a piano line that swells and spins as a cacophony of voices is layered over it.
Elsewhere, Del Rey uses old songs from other artists and her own back catalogue to invent something new. On ‘Peppers’, she samples Tommy Genesis’ ‘Angelina’ to make a slinky, cool cut that harnesses stream-of-consciousness meandering about a relationship. Some of the lyrics are more successful at setting the mood, while others are bound to raise eyebrows: “My boyfriend tested positive for COVID, it don’t matter,” she sings at one point. “We’ve been kissing so whatever he has, I have / I can’t cry.”
Album closer ‘Taco Truck x VB’, meanwhile, boasts a twist that’s obvious when you know it’s coming but halts you in your tracks the first time you hear it. After a lilting calypso-tinged opening section, it melts into woozy instrumentation that segues into the original, unreleased take of her 2018 single ‘Venice Bitch’ – darker, grittier and even better than the version we’re familiar with.
It’s a fitting end to an album that pulls from past, present and future, both musically and from the life of its creator, echoing the back-and-forth of the rest of the record. It’s a reminder, too, that ‘…Ocean Blvd’ might deal with some major existential questions, but there’s still plenty of fun to be had and cements Del Rey’s status as one of modern music’s most intriguing songwriters” – NME
Blondshell - Blondshell
Release Date: 7th April
Producer: Yves Rothman
Label: Partisan Records
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/product/blondshell/blondshell
Standout Tracks: Olympus/Sepsis/Sober Together
Key Cut: Veronica Mars
Review:
“That lead single – “Olympus” – introduced the foundations of the project’s songwriting: diaristic confession, caustic lyricism, and 90s alt-rock hooks in the vein of bands like Hole. Since that first single, she’s quickly become an exciting rising star on the indie scene, releasing a series of tracks all leading up to her debut self-titled record. Those who have been listening likely know the contours of the record going in, especially since five of its nine tracks have already been released as singles. Still, it’s a testament to the songwriting on display that Teitelbaum largely delivers on the hyped promise of her debut.
The album opens in explosive fashion with the grunge-tinged edges of “Veronica Mars”, which quickly builds from a tense, thrumming opening into a searing guitar-laden finale. Those quiet-loud builds that once were a staple of alt-rock radio come out in full force throughout the record, delivering captivating bursts of angst, anger, and longing on tracks like “Kiss City” and “Tarmac”. Meanwhile, other tracks find Teitelbaum crafting tightly written pop-rock gems. “Sepsis” and “Salad” layer on the sharp hooks and biting lyrics in equal measure, while the sun-dappled sheen of “Joiner” makes for a gentler sonic detour, full of crystalline beauty.
The record feels thoroughly steeped in these 90s influences, evoking Gen X’s generational touchstones like Live Through This and Exile in Guyville. However, Teitelbaum avoids sounding like a mere imitator. She isn’t simply trying on an aesthetic but instead finding where her songwriting voice lies. Before Blondshell, Teitelbaum had been building momentum under the moniker Baum, leaning far more heavily into the indie pop zeitgeist of the pre-pandemic years. In contrast, the songs on Blondshell came together during the lockdown era, when Teitelbaum had the chance to retreat inward, reconnect with her musical roots, and make the music she truly wanted to hear.
If there is a single throughline that connects Baum and Blondshell, it is Teitelbaum’s talent for searing and brutally honest lyrics. As an album, Blondshell is relentlessly confessional, full of moments of unflinching self-examination and withering fury. Through much of the album, Teitelbaum is angry – at herself, at her partners, at patriarchy, and at men writ large. She leads the listener through a dense maze of complicated emotions, exorcising her hurt, fear, and anger in songs that feel like a glimpse into the thoughts that keep her up at night.
She sneers on “Sepsis”, “He wears a front-facing cap / The sex is almost always bad / I don’t care cause I’m in love / I don’t know him well enough / What am I projecting / He’s gonna start infecting my life / It’ll hit all at once / Like sepsis.” Elsewhere, “Sober Together” reflects on watching someone you love get pulled back into addiction, while “Kiss City” deals with the desire to be desired, finding witty poetry in Teitelbaum’s longing (“Kiss city / I think my kink is when you tell me that you think I'm pretty”). Finally, the record closes with the shimmering balladry of “Dangerous,” encapsulating the record’s themes in a final confession: “And it’s so dangerous forming an attachment to something / Now that every time I love it might pull the rug out / And I know when I leave the house / Anything can take me down.”
As Teitelbaum has described, Blondshell was written in the midst of a particularly painful and chaotic era for her. Songwriting acted as her lifeline, and years later she was left with Blondshell, the album she has said she always wanted to make. More than any sing-along chorus, that personal touch and sense of relentless honesty are what shine through most on the record. It is the sound of an artist finally getting to let loose and say the things that have stayed locked up inside for too long. In turn, Teitelbaum offers an exciting introduction to a talented songwriter and a thoroughly rewarding debut” – The Line of Best Fit
Ellie Goulding – Higher Than Heaven
Release Date: 7th April
Producers: The 23rd/Greg Kurstin/Koz/Lostboy/Happy Perez/Jesse Shatkin/watt/Andrew Wells
Label: Polydor
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/product/ellie-goulding/higher-than-heaven
Standout Tracks: Midnight Dreams/Let It Die/How Long
Key Cut: Like a Saviour
Review:
“For anyone who prefers Ellie Goulding on the dancefloor, Higher than Heaven is a welcome return to that space. Her fifth full-length and follow-up to 2020's Brightest Blue, this tightly packed set of synth-washed, neon bangers eschews the deep introspection and personal slant of its predecessor, barreling headlong into the club in search of healing through euphoria and release. Described by the artist as her "least personal" album to date, Heaven focuses on pure thrills and escapism like similarly reactive COVID-era energizers from Dua Lipa, Kylie Minogue, and Ava Max. The album's catchiest moments are produced by Koz (Dua Lipa, Lykke Li, Lights), who plucks the most addictive textures from across the decades -- disco, '80s pop, and '90s house -- for highlights such as "Midnight Dreams," "Cure for Love," the throbbing "Like a Saviour," and the shimmering title track. Meanwhile, "By the End of the Night" strikes an ideal balance between Goulding's fun and melancholy sides, delivering a yearning yet uncertain early peak. Elsewhere, both the hazy "Love Goes On" and the strutting "Easy Lover" with Big Sean benefit from warm R&B smoothness courtesy of co-writer/producer Greg Kurstin, just as the sensual "Waiting for It" dives deeper into sweaty slow jam territory. Heaven's most intense moment arrives in the second half with the standout single "Let It Die," an urgent earworm about a tragic split that finds the resolve to move on atop an infectious beat and Goulding's most impassioned, anguished performance here. One of her strongest albums to date, Higher than Heaven falls somewhere between the commercial blitz of Delirium and the fearless, electronic heart of Halcyon. While it may not cull from her deep well of personal experiences, Heaven still ends up being one of the most immediate and compulsively listenable efforts in her catalog” – AllMusic
Billy Nomates – CACTI
Release Date: 13th January
Producers: Tor Maries (Billy Nomates)/James Trevascus
Label: Invada Records
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/product/billy-nomates/cacti-2
Standout Tracks: black curtains in the bag/spite/vertigo
Key Cut: CACTI
Review:
“Billy Nomates’s eponymous first album (2020) and subsequent EP, Emergency Telephone (2021), introduced a singular new talent. Based in Bristol and fiercely independent, this caustic solo singer-songwriter, born Tor Maries, came at most subjects – from positivity to high heels to charity muggers – from oblique angles, her sometimes sung, often spoken delivery full of original phrasing.
Best described as a punk with a keyboard and tunes to burn, Nomates has dug even deeper for Cacti, her songwriting broadening its reach. Her deadpan takedowns remain heroic. “Don’t you act like I ain’t the fucking man,” she bristles on Spite, a song about coming to a party to spoil someone’s fun. But there’s a sadness to tracks such as Fawner that threatens to spill over into country and western, and a honky-tonk piano is the unexpected element on Same Gun.
Although they are quite different artists, Billy Nomates shares with Self Esteem – similarly undersung a couple of years ago – the ability to restate the absurdities of what we do to ourselves and each other with laser precision and a raised eyebrow. “Does it frighten you that I’m still driving?” she asks on Balance Is Gone, a snappy post-punk banger that staggers around, trying to find a foothold in the crazy paving of the past few years” – The Guardian
RAYE – My 21st Century Blues
Release Date: 3rd February
Producers: Rachel Keen/Mike Sabath/Punctual/BloodPop/Di Genius
Label: Human Re Sources
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/product/raye/my-21st-century-blues
Standout Tracks: Oscar Winning Tears./The Thrill Is Gone/Worth It.
Key Cut: Black Mascara
Review:
“A problem shared is a problem halved, and it undoubtedly seems that with every outpouring of distress and hurt, RAYE emerges lighter. It is, at times, a heavy listen – ‘Black Mascara’ is a furious, dejected retelling of being misled and having your trust ruined, to a tears-on-the-dancefloor beat. ‘Ice Cream Man’ sees her distinctive vocals shine as she navigates the strength it takes to be a woman – it’s at once heart-wrenching and wrought with pain but immensely empowering.
She never hesitates to express the true depth of her feelings, and at times the album is alive with writhing, ferocious emotions. Yet, in unleashing those experiences out into the world, the intensity of them is alleviated. She’s unstoppable on her latest offering, tackling every hardship that has befallen her of late and doing so with smooth, jazz-leaning vocals and slick beats. “There is no wrath like a woman scorned,” she declares on lead single ‘Hard Out Here’, and on ‘My 21st Century Blues’ she proves exactly that – RAYE’s wrath is scalding, laying waste to all that have stood in her way until now.
4/5” – DORK