FEATURE:
One For the Record Collection!
IN THIS PHOTO: Dolly Parton/PHOTO CREDIT: Vijat Mohindra
Essential November Releases
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SOME great November-due albums…
IN THIS PHOTO: Cat Power
have been announced. Looking into next month and what is worth saving your money for, I will recommend those albums you should add to your collection. I am going to start off with four that are due on 3rd November. It is quite a busy week for new albums. bar italia’s The Twits is an album people should pre-order. A wonderful group everyone needs to know, here are some details:
“bar italia are the London based three-piece of Nina Cristante, Jezmi Tarik Fehmi and Sam Fenton.
They release their second full length of 2023, The Twits, less than six months after their acclaimed Matador debut, Tracey Denim.
The Twits was recorded by the trio over eight weeks from February 2023 in a makeshift home studio in Mallorca, and was mixed by Marta Salogni. It finds bar italia’s economical yet evocative songcraft taking raucous, mystic, unkempt, occasionally sinister, and wholly committed turns. Songs like “my little tony”, with its in-the-red riff and excitable hooks, the cathartic four-on-the-floor of ‘world’s greatest emoter’ and the festival tent psychedelia of “Hi-fiver” need little in the way of exposition – these are exhilarating rock songs, if wayward and strange.
Other moments see the band’s increasingly signature, three-act mini-dramas moving into previously uncharted territory. Cristante, Fehmi and Fenton can each manifest a different melody, mood, and cadence – at times overlapping and linear, at others unexpectedly divergent – often within the space of thirty seconds, a tag team rooted in shared language and kinship. “Jelsy”, for instance, plays out like a conversation between friends over wistful, buzzing country blues, the alternating voices at points comforting, wry and hopelessly yearning. The sinuous, slow-burning waltz of “twist” stands out in its bare lyricism and seems to invite each band member’s individual take on a confessional.
While Tracey Denim was notable for its compact 2-3 minute compositions, horizontal and open-ended tracks like “Shoo” ebb and flow, moving from reptilian dive-bar soloing to a palpitating two-note piano coda. ‘glory-hunter’ takes playful twists and turns before ending up somewhere entirely different from where it started. “Real house wibes (desperate house vibes)” and “que surprise” imply sleepless, noirish misadventure, while at the other end of the light spectrum, “sounds like you had to be there” features some of the band’s most sweetly optimistic musical gestures yet. Closer “bibs” is a rare instance where all three can be heard in unison, as a procession of ghostly chords and lacerating feedback bookends the group’s most adventurous and rich set to date.
Released in May, bar italia’s Matador debut Tracey Denim followed a string of word-of-mouth releases on Dean Blunt’s World Music label and received widespread attention from publications including The Guardian (“one of the albums of 2023 so far”), The Times (“excellent debut album”), The Observer (‘Artist To Watch’), NME ("a lasting impression that’s all of their own making"), The Quietus (“endlessly evocative”) and Pigeons And Planes (“quickly establishing themselves as one of the most enticing upcoming bands”). Single “Nurse!” was playlisted on BBC 6 Music and received spins from BBC Radio 1, Absolute Radio and NTS. The release was accompanied by a UK tour, culminating in a sold-out headline show at the ICA in London, which The Spectator described as “transfixing… They just make their beautiful, off-kilter music, and let you unfold your own stories on top”.
There are a few buying options when it comes to Black Grape’s Orange Head. Go and pre-order and see what I mean! Following 2017’s Pop Voodoo, Rough Trade give us some more details (the album isn’t available to own on their site until 15th November). I am really looking forward to one of the most characterful forces in music. Orange Head will definitely not disappoint:
“The return of Black Grape with an essential new platter. Black Grape could only have been made in Manchester. The swagger, fun and cryptic humour seem hewn from a city historian AJP Taylor once described as offering an archetypally different way of English urban life to London. Both Shaun Ryder and Paul Leveridge, known as Kermit, came from edgy-but-cool parts of the city. In Shaun’s case Salford, with Kermit originating from Moss Side. For those unfamiliar, ‘the Moss’ lay in the shadow of Manchester City’s old stadium at Maine Road, and was one of the first multi-ethnic areas in Manchester.
Black Grape are widely regarded as one of the most innovative and iconic bands of the last twenty five years. Black Grape have had 4 Top 10 singles and their debut album It’s Great When You’re Straight… Yeah shot straight to No.1 in the UK charts upon its release in 1995 and went Platinum. Follow up album Stupid Stupid Stupid went Gold in 1997.
Ryder has grown from a wild young tearaway into a British National Treasure. Black Grape always were a grimily cosmic musical jigsaw, melding rock, hip-hop, acid house, psychedelic pop and reggae with Ryder’s gutter poetry, delivered in his inimitable shyster’s bark”.
Also out on 3rd November, the wonderfully-named new album from the legendary Laura Veirs, Phone Orphans, is released. The title is appropriate, given the fact that these incredible songs were from her phone. Almost lost to the world, this album follows the acclaimed Found Light of 2022. I would urge anyone new to her work or familiar to investigate this wonderful work. Phone Orphans sounds like it is an intriguing new chapter for one of the greatest songwriters alive. I would recommend people pre-order this essential album:
“It feels good, on my 50th birthday and after 30 years of writing songs, to bring these "Phone Orphans" into the light - These songs have been been hiding out on my phone, some of them for over eight years. They are about my family, my lovers and me. I recorded them alone in my living room into my voice memo app. I like their relaxed feel. These songs were mastered but we made no edits to the recordings. I hope you enjoy this intimate glimpse into my artistic process. All songs by me except "Up is a Nice Place to Be" by Rosalie Sorrels and "The Archers" with lyrics adapted from a poem by Federico Garcia Lorca”.
One other great must-order due on 3rd November is Cold War Kids. The eponymous album from the California band, go and get yourself a copy if you can. A hugely prolific band, their new album follows on from 2021’s New Age Norms 3. I am interested to see what Cold War Kids offers up:
“The band’s singer and songwriter Nathan Willett describes: "This is our self titled record. Everybody gets one. This felt like the right time because the sound of this record is the sound that makes Cold War Kids unlike any other. I’m so proud of these songs. They took a long time to come together. The longing and struggle and joy I wanted to express are personal to me and I am so excited to share it with our fans who have come with us on the journey”.
There are some other pretty great albums due on 3rd November. I wanted to finish this week’s round-up with Marnie Stern’s The Comeback Kid. Go and pre-order the fifth studio album from the New York City-born songwriter. The Comeback Kid comes ten years after the acclaimed and wonderful The Chronicles of Marnia. I am looking forward to seeing what Stern offers with her new album. It is going to be a wonderful release and an aural delight. An artist that takes you somewhere with her music:
“It’s been a decade since we last heard from Marnie Stern, but when her guitar bursts in like a shower of stardust on The Comeback Kid, the follow-up to 2013’s The Chronicles of Marnia, it’s like no time has passed.
But this is no nostalgia trip. The Comeback Kid is a statement of intent. “I can’t keep on moving backwards,” Stern repeats on anthemic opening track “Plain Speak,” her fingers furiously tapping the fretboard as the song joyfully zips forward like a rocket hitting warp speed. Stern continually pushes herself outside of her comfort zone throughout The Comeback Kid, including not leaning on the tapping technique that launched a thousand Eddie Van Halen comparisons. “Til It’s Over” is as straight-ahead an “alternative rock” song as Stern has ever made and there’s a cover of Ennio Morricone’s “Il Girotondo Della Note.”
“It was so great to be able to start being myself again and when I would think, ‘Oh, is that too, too weird?’ I'd remember I'm allowed to do whatever I want! This is mine. It's me,” says Stern of writing songs for The Comeback Kid. “I'm trying to go against the grain of this bullshit that when you get older, you lose your sense of taste. I want to empower people to not be so homogenous and go against the grain a little bit.”
Taking joy in your individuality is the message of The Comeback Kid, as is the realization that making music which truly reflects who you are in all your brightness and your weirdness is quite possibly the key to happiness. “This record is about reassuring yourself that happiness is not about what kind of things you have or how many things you have or what you don’t have—it’s about all the good things you do,” says Stern”.
There are a couple of must-own albums due on 10th November from two established and loved acts. Beirut’s Hadsel is going to be a real treat. Pre-order this magnificent album from the U.S. band. Four years after the positively-received Gallipoli, it seems Hadsel is going to be another fantastic addition to their catalogue. You may be new to the band and unsure of where to start. I would say stream their albums and, if you can, set some money aside for their upcoming release:
“Hadsel is the first new full - length record since Beirut’s 2019 release, Gallipoli, and the first on Zach Condon’s own label , Pompeii Records. Recorded in the Norwegian island of Hadsel shortly after a physical and mental break forced Condon to cancel his 2019 tour, Condon was looking for a place to recover after being left in a state of shock and self-doubt. Working in isolation, Condon explains, “I was lost in a trance, stumbling blindly through my own mental collapse that I had been pushing aside since I was a teenager. It came and rang me like a bell. I was left agonising many things past and present while the beauty of the nature, the northern lights and fearsome storms played an awesome show around me. The few hours of light would expose the unfathomable be auty of the mountains and the fjords, and the hours - long twilights would fill me with subdued excitement. I’d like to believe that scenery is somehow present in the music.
The resulting is a collection of songs beautifully reflecting that vulnerability, sense of self-determination and belief that after collapse, one can learn to manage on their own again”.
Maybe an unexpected recommendation, Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert is out on 10th November. This beautiful album is one everyone will want to pre-order. It is going to be such a rich and emotional listen from one of the most powerful and stirring voices in music. I do love a live album. Cat Power’s tribute to Bob Dylan is going to be a very special one indeed:
“In November 2022, Cat Power took the stage at London’s Royal Albert Hall and delivered a song-for-song recreation of one of the most fabled and transformative live sets of all time. Held at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in May 1966—but long known as the “Royal Albert Hall Concert” due to a mislabeled bootleg—the original performance saw Bob Dylan switching from acoustic to electric midway through the show, drawing ire from an audience of folk purists and forever altering the course of rock-and-roll. In her own rendition of that historic night, the artist otherwise known as Chan Marshall inhabited each song with equal parts conviction and grace and a palpable sense of protectiveness, ultimately transposing the anarchic tension of Dylan’s set with a warm and luminous joy. Now captured on the live album Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert, Marshall’s spellbinding performance both lovingly honors her hero’s imprint on history and brings a stunning new vitality to many of his most revered songs”.
I will finish off with albums due on 17th November. There are four very different ones that I want to recommend. The first is Dolly Parton’s Rockstar. The iconic artist and philanthropist covers a range of legendary songs and joins forces with some musical greats, you will definitely want to pre-order this magnificent album. Aside from the questionable inclusion of Steven Tyler and Kid Rock – two quite controversial figures for different reasons -, the guestlist looks pretty impressive:
“Global icon and recent Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Dolly Parton, has joined forces with some of Rock music’s most legendary artists along with today’s biggest stars for her first-ever Rock album, Rockstar. The ever-evolving Parton teamed up with an all-star roster of musicians for the 30-song collection which includes 9 original tracks and 21 covers of iconic rock anthems”.
1. Rockstar (special guest Richie Sambora)
2. World on Fire
3. Every Breath You Take (feat. Sting)
4. Open Arms (feat. Steve Perry)
5. Magic Man (feat. Ann Wilson with special guest Howard Leese)
6. Long As I Can See The Light (feat. John Fogerty)
7. Either Or (feat. Kid Rock)
8. I Want You Back (feat. Steven Tyler with special guest Warren Haynes)
9. What Has Rock And Roll Ever Done For You (feat. Stevie Nicks with special guest Waddy Wachtel)
10. Purple Rain
11. Baby, I Love Your Way (feat. Peter Frampton)
12. I Hate Myself For Loving You (feat. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
13. Night Moves (feat. Chris Stapleton)
14. Wrecking Ball (feat. Miley Cyrus)
15. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (feat. P!nk & Brandi Carlile)
16. Keep On Loving You (feat. Kevin Cronin)
17. Heart Of Glass (feat. Debbie Harry)
18. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me (feat. Elton John)
19. Tried To Rock And Roll Me (feat. Melissa Etheridge)
20. Stairway To Heaven (feat. Lizzo & Sasha Flute)
21. We Are The Champions
22. Bygones (feat. Rob Halford with special guests Nikki Sixx & John 5)
23. My Blue Tears (feat. Simon Le Bon)
24. What’s Up? (feat. Linda Perry)
25. You’re No Good (feat. Emmylou Harris & Sheryl Crow)
26. Heartbreaker (feat. Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo)
27. Bittersweet (feat. Michael McDonald)
28. I Dreamed About Elvis (feat. Ronnie McDowell with special guest The Jordanaires)
29. Let It Be (feat. Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr with special guests Peter Frampton & Mick Fleetwood)
30. Free Bird (feat. Ronnie Van Zant with special guests Gary Rossington, Artimus Pyle and The Artimus Pyle Band)”.
Another essential 17th November album is Emeli Sandé’s How Were We to Know. A decade after she came onto the scene, this hugely respected artist is back with a new album. If you are not overly-familiar with Sandé’s music, I would still advise you pre-order this album, as it is shaping up to be very interesting and fantastic. Her fifth studio album comes a year after Let's Say for Instance:
“Introduced to the world ten years ago, Emeli Sandé MBE has become an icon of British singer-songwriting; emotional, honest, and prolific in the kind of manner that cements you as a go-to artist for heartfelt pop sensibility. This latest pop record is reminiscent of 2012, when Emeli had her first breakout hit.
How Were We To Know is Emeli's second independent album release through Chrysalis Records. “There was a lot I wanted to say about myself, and I hope that through the lyrics people will get to understand me on a deeper level.”
How Were We To Know’s 11 tracks explore intimate encounters with love in all its forms, along with the risk required to pursue it. “Once you’ve been hurt, it’s very hard to pick up the pieces again and allow yourself to be vulnerable,” Sandé says. “So I think these songs explore the bravery of love, and loving others but also yourself. These songs were pieces of a puzzle I had to put together, and now feels like the right time to share them.”
The album features production from Jonny Coffer (Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus), Jim Jonsin (ASAP Rocky, Usher, Eminem), DI Genius (Drake, Raye, Sean Paul), Rxwntree, Chris Loco and Mac and Phil”.
The penultimate album I am going to recommend is Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday 2. We do not have a pre-order link at the moment. Suffice to say, keep your eyes peeled and add it to your calendar to order this album when it arrives. Capital FM give us some details about the upcoming album from a legendary rapper and global superstar. Someone who recently featured on the soundtrack for Barbie:
“’Pink Friday 2's release date is 17th November, so Barbz have a matter of weeks to wait.
Nicki has promised fans 'will love this album', which is a follow-up to her iconic record which dropped in 2010. If the bombshell release news wasn't enough to get fans hyped, Nicki also announced she's heading on tour(!), news of which will come later this year.
Here's what we know so far about Nicki's 2023 album...
When is Nicki Minaj's 'Pink Friday 2' album coming out?
Nicki Minaj's fifth album 'Pink Friday 2' will be released on 17th November 2023 after she had to push back the release date for reasons unknown. The album was originally meant to be released in October.
In her announcement post about the album's updated release date, the rap queen told her followers: "I love you guys so much. I am so grateful for the years of support and love you guys have given me. At times maybe I didn’t even deserve all that you have poured into me.
"Nonetheless, you. will. love. this. album. I will give tour deets closer to that time, but obviously the tour will start around the first quarter of 2024. I’ll also share the REAL album cover at a later date."
Nicki has released her first single from the album 'The Last Time I Saw You', which sounds incredible, exclusively on TikTok and it's available on streaming platforms on 1st September.
What is Nicki Minaj's 2023 album called?
Nicki's upcoming album is called 'Pink Friday 2', a sequel to 'Pink Friday' which will be released within the same month her iconic EP was released in a whole 13 years ago.
'Pink Friday' was a generation-defining album when Nicki released the record on 22 November 2010 and included bangers like 'Super Bass', 'Blazin' and 'Here I Am'.
What's the album cover for 'Pink Friday 2'?
Nicki has finally unveiled the album artwork for 'Pink Friday 2', revealing a pink-themed photo of herself on half of a train carriage floating above a glistening city. Always one to treat her fans, Nicki confirmed there's another album cover on the way and that the first is just one of two.
Dressed an an all-white outfit and with an intricate head piece placed in her long ombre pink hair, Nicki looks like an actual goddess in the shoot.
What's on the track list for 'Pink Friday 2'?
There's not yet a track list for 'Pink Friday 2' but Nicki's promised it's going to be a banger and as it's a follow-up to her 2010 record of the same name, fans naturally have high hopes.
She also excitingly confirmed that Rihanna will feature on her new album - much like she did on the first 'Pink Friday'!
Responding to a fan who asked her if Rih is featured on 'Pink Friday 2', she said: "Is pigs motherf**king flying? Hold on I think I just gave a trick answer.”
That's all the confirmation we need!
As a reminder in the meantime, here's what was on the 'Pink Friday' track list all those years ago:
I'm The Best
Roman's Revenge (Ft. Eminem)
Did It On'em
Right Thru Me
Fly (Ft. Rihanna)
Save Me
Moment 4 Life (Ft. Drake)
Check It Out by Nicki Minaj & will.i.am
Blazin' (Ft. Kanye West)
Here I Am
Dear Old Nicki
Your Love
Last Chance (Ft. Natasha Bedingfield)
Super Bass
Blow Ya Mind
Muny
Girls Fall Like Dominoes
Catch Me
Wave Ya Hand
Roman’s Revenge”.
I am going to end with the new album from The Polyphonic Spree. Salvage Enterprise is out on 17th November. Go and pre-order what is going to be an enriching album. It comes two years after the collection of covers, Afflatus. It sounds like this is going to be another evocative and spiritual record from the huge choral group. Through the years, the Dallas group have had so many people pass through their ranks:
“The phoenix symbolizes a new beginning. The fire burns off the last vestiges of the past as the bird spreads its wings and takes flight into the future. The Polyphonic Spree harness the flames of rebirth on their 2023 full-length offering, Salvage Enterprise. Led by frontman, founder, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and visionary Tim DeLaughter, the group embark on their next season. They’re reverent of their history, yet they’re also ready for an even brighter tomorrow.
“Across all of the music I’ve done, lyrically there’s a sense of desperation and a moment of convincing myself I’m going to make it through regardless of how the music dresses up,” notes Tim. “On this one, I struggled with the amount of vulnerability I was experiencing and was willing to share both musically and lyrically, but ultimately decided to let it play out. Now that it's done, I'm happy with the dance between the two. It’s a ‘rising-from-theashes’ record.”
Salvage Enterprise beckons complete immersion. Opener “Galloping Seas (Section 44)” affixes softly strummed acoustic guitar to an orchestral hum as Tim urges, “Hold on through the galloping seas.” “We’re all galloping through rough waters,” he says. “I tried to describe the process as well as I could and encourage people to keep their heads above the storm and the waves. Ride it out. It’s going to be okay. It starts off very calm and introspective, and you can envision where it’s going.”
Flute echoes over nimbly plucked guitar during “Shadows On The Hillside (Section 48)” as keys twinkle. A glorious harmony amplifies the nostalgia of “Hop Off The Fence (Section 49).” It concludes with “Morning Sun, I Built The Stairs (Section 52).” Optimism strains through his hopeful intonation, “I learned to fly, the more that I become a new reason, I want to try,” uplifted by boisterous horns and cinematic strings. It crashes into an Ennio Morricone-style crescendo bolstered even higher by operatic vocals. “There is an arc of leaving the world behind, stripping your old self away, and becoming new again,” he offers. “You’re shedding off this old world, and you’re heading into the future. It’s an epic ending. You’ve made it. You’re going to be alright.” In the end, The Polyphonic Spree are the soundtrack to that light at the end of the tunnel”.
These are the November-due albums you should check out. You can see what else has been announced and the speculated and rumoured albums – some of which might be announced for November. Things can change and update very quickly indeed. The ones above give you a good starting point. I am sure there are a few that you will definitely want to…
ADD to your collection.