The best new albums this week
Our writers’ recommendations from the past seven days
Charli XCX – Pop 2 (5th Anniversary Edition) (Atlantic)
Over the past decade or more, the insidious mutation of pop as we know it from lowest common denominator radio friendly unit shifting sludge to a post-modern experimental style of avant-garde production and maximisation, has easily been one of most fascinating left turns in contemporary music.
With the wave set in motion largely due to the efforts of London based label/collective PC Music, which has platformed artists such as Kero Kero Bonito, SOPHIE and Hannah Diamond, as well as being tangentially linked to the hyperpop absurdist duo 100 Gecs, it was mastermind A.G. Cook who led the charge with his unique and clearly shared vision of exploring and embellishing the facets of pop music many find obnoxious, trite or artificial, and maximalising the formula to near impenetrable levels of appreciation.
The biggest pop artist to channel this hyperpop surge into their own craft has been Charli XCX, who while initially catering to the masses, found herself at a loss whilst on tour supporting Taylor Swift. Comparing the dynamic of performing to a primarily pre-pubescent crowd, to feeling like a children’s birthday entertainer, it was clear the pop seamstress creatively and artistically thrived for a more mature, leftfield outlet yet was fully certain these rewards could be plundered without having to totally disengage from the pop spectrum entirely.
It was this perfect storm of her being personally unfulfilled and the growing online popularity of PC Music which led to the paring of Charli and Mr Cook; a collaboration which has remained strong and emboldened with each new work. From 2019’s mega success Charli to the imminent lockdown follow up record How I’m Feeling Now the following year, to her most recent marrying of modern hyper characteristics with 80’s synthpop on last year’s Crash, the creative rebirth has seen an embracing of her work from far more left of centre artists, crediting the star with burning a hole into the mainstream with her delicate balancing of experimentation and accessible sensibilities.
Ask any fan in the know, however, and it was 2017’s Pop 2 mixtape which went to great lengths to establish Charli XCX as much more than another teen idol. With aquatic levels of purposeful autotune, glossy synths and trap-inflected percussion, the project signalled a turning of the tide not just for the Essex raised artist, but her many featuring cohorts who were already tapping on the door of mainstream exposure with a slightly more aggressive knock and ill-tempered bite.
Take the trance euphoria of ‘Femmebot’ which boasts an early indicator of the stardom of Texan born queer pop muso Dorian Electra, before a glitched out frenzy buoys a frenetic verse from avant-pop-rap lunatic Mykki Blanco, or the hyper-hip-hop of ‘Delicious’ which welcomes brazen bars from Estonian rapper and provocateur Tommy Cash, and it’s evident how much of a genuine distillation of pop’s positioning Pop 2 truly was upon its initial release. Even more digestible or traditional cuts such as standout Carly Rae Jepsen featuring opener ‘Backseat’, or the lush ‘Tears’ elevated by the appearance of modern siren Caroline Polachek, radiate with a sense of poise completely void from the scene only a few years prior. Even emo-trap pioneer Lil Peep was set to contribute before his tragic and untimely passing a month before the mixtape’s unveiling.
At the centre of it all, the work of A.G. Cook to imbue Charli’s lovelorn sentiments and hypnotic cadence with robotronic vocal programming, struck a palpable balance between the modern era of unkempt emotions, fleeting romance, and technological prevalence in our everyday lives. A half-decade later, and following the genuine remapping of today’s popsphere, which started in earnest for Charli XCX with 2016’s SOPHIE produced banger ‘Vroom Vroom’; her sugar-coated early material has now all but been eclipsed by the (not too) futuristic vision of her genuine sequel to pop music. Alien had Aliens. The Terminator had T2: Judgement Day, and Charli XCX offered the prophetic Pop 2, which only continues to swell with relevance, while joining the rare club of sequels better than their predecessors.
ZB
Blotter Trax – Superconductor (Optimo Music)
Those of us who enjoy perusing the latest low key electro and techno releases might have spied the early Blotter Trax releases sneaking out on low key labels around 2016-2018. They were stand out releases dealing in snaking, crooked rhythms and trippy atmospherics a cut above average dancefloor fodder. It was a pleasant surprise when it became apparent the bods behind the project were in fact Magda and Jay Ahern, two artists not immediately connected or indeed attached to such a sound.
If the pair were already confounding expectations with their few low-key club 12”s, their debut album on Optimo Music is another curveball of a greater magnitude. Moving away from the stout structures of the club, they’ve swerved into influences from various overlapping pools between synth-pop, post-punk, old-skool electro, no wave and other such underground 80s delights. They’re not the first to feel fired up by that particular era or sound, but fortunately it’s the kind of vibe which is less sound specific, and more about a certain energy, and as such it doesn’t tend to result in formulaic carbon copies but rather more unpredictable, playful results.
Bolstered by the addition of Hannes Strobl on bass and Nina Hynes delivering pitch-perfect no wave vocals, Superconductor is a record fizzing with the joy of making music for freaks, stitched together with oddball synth hooks, dirty guitar licks and sizzling drum machines. It’s the sound of highly experienced producers re-connecting with the youthful exuberance and naive inventiveness that comes from thinking less and feeling more in the studio.
There are more heads down moments such as the tastefully reduced, b-boy baiting ‘Level Control’ and the delightfully tweaked ‘Circus In My Head’, but there are more moments of playful peaking to enjoy. Take the acid-charged upsurge of ‘Octopii’ or even the beatless synth-pop surrealism of album closer ‘Sleeping Through The Day’, and you can hear the ideas spilling forth and being championed for all their worth. It’s an instant hit which also feels like the start of a project that could grow in very interesting ways and wind up in even more unexpected places.
OW
The Remainder – Evensong (Blanc Check)
The cottage industry Neil Arthur has built around himself since his 21st century reboot is impressive. While Blancmange might be a solo gig since Stephen Luscombe stepped down for health reasons after the 2011 ‘Blanc Burn’ reunion album, Neil Arthur is a social animal and his desire to collaborate reaps rewards with rich offerings like Fader with Ben “Benge” Edwards and Near Future with Jez “Mr Gazelle Twin” Bernholz. To that list we should now add The Remainder.
The project was initiated by drumming/synthing/guitarist Liam Hutton (Boxed In, Neneh Cherry, Young Fathers) and in addition to Neil Arthur’s distinctive voice and poetic lyrics it also features analogue synth maestro Finlay Shakespeare (check out his euphoric 80s synthpop solo albums) as well as composer/sound designer Jo Hutton who provides radiophonic interludes here (two things you need to know about Jo, one – Delia Derbyshire has been in her kitchen and two, she’s Liam’s mum).
Introductions done, let’s get to the record shall we?
Arthur, Hutton x2 and Shakespeare make for a formidable team and this is not a record that messes about. The opener, ‘Broken Manhole Cover’, is the most Neil Arthur title I’ve heard in a while and it does have that early Blancmange DNA, along the upbeat lines of the classic ‘Feel Me’.
While ‘Evensong’ is consistently good, it excels when it gets all krauty. ‘Awake’ with Arthur’s piss-takey “I’m a very busy person” lyric is infectiously good and the title track – with its metronomic drumming, chiming guitars, blippy synths and Arthur delivering his vocal “like a communal prayer at dusk” – is glorious. Jo Hutton’s textural interludes work brilliantly too, they feel as if they’re holding the record together providing a link from one track to the next and with a little exhale between tracks.
Let’s cut the the chase. This is one of the best leftfield pop albums you’re going to hear all year.
NM
Balmat’s flawless run continues as they present another emergent name with a delicate sound hiding vast riches beneath a placid veneer. It’s a tract the Spanish label has successfully tapped into via Luke Sanger, Hoavi and Patricia Wolf amongst others, past the limitations of one-note ambience into a terrain teeming with natural impulses and micro-ecosystems.
Ylia presented her debut album in 2020 on Paralaxe Editions, underwent a year of personal tragedies and made Ame Agaru in the wake of much loss – the title translates as ‘after the rain’. If there’s pain in the background of the record it’s not presented in any obvious way. There is plenty of melancholic reflection, for example led by the slow, imperfect interplay of piano and guitar on ‘Nuances of Care’ or the heavy undulation of pads on ‘Luz De Camino’, but nothing feels one dimensional.
Certain harmonic intervals throw the emotion into intriguing, ambiguous areas, such as on ‘Tus Manos Cobijo’. Elsewhere, sunnier dispositions break through. There is of course plenty of exquisite production and composition to appreciate, but in its stripped-back, patient approach, Ame Agaru invites an emotional response ahead of an intellectual one.
OW
The Dwarfs of East Agouza – High Tide In The Lowlands (Sub Rosa)
Hailing from a district in Cairo, The Dwarfs of East Agouza are a three-piece whose sound sits somewhere between the sprawling free-improvisation of The No Neck Blues Band and the dusty desert blues of Tinariwen. Those reference points are but loose place markers, and in the live setting the band’s own past catalogue becomes a mere hint from which to launch into further undefined explorations. It’s not as chaotic as it sounds though, and on this document from a gig at Les Ateliers Claus in Brussels from 2017 the trio display a clear-sighted intention to match their freewheeling approach to the creative process.
Sam Shalabi’s six-string twang forms a central figure skipping up and down the fretboard, but over the course of a 20-minute rendition of ‘Baka of the Future’ the rest of the band edge their own impulses into the foreground. It’s interesting to note the inclusion of Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls on the line-up – a seasoned player in the free-improv field who has dedicated ample time to exploring and platforming lesser heard music from Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Ecstatic, meandering and yet always driving forwards, The Dwarfs of East Agouza let it rip on these two pieces and create a thrilling melee from their responses to the sounds spilling out of each subsequent sonic moment.
OW
Fallstar – Sacred Mirrors (Facedown)
Portland, Oregon based Christian metalcore outfit Fallstar have maintained a devout (no pun intended) following ever since the release of their self-invested debut album Reconciler. Refiner. Igniter. in 2011, yet it wasn’t until signing to current label home Facedown that the group cracked their code on the impressive 2013 sophomore effort Backdraft.
They would then opt to leave their label for 2015’s Future Golden Age, citing internal issues, but in the six-year gap and line up shifts that followed, all would be mended for their return to Facedown to release the 2021 masterwork Sunbreather.
What many didn’t realise, however, was that during this limbo period, the members had been hard at work crafting yet another album which would complete its writing process before the aforementioned Sunbreather, leading to a work both informed by, and pre-mapped out before its predecessor.
According to frontman Chris Ratzlaff, “We found formulas and voices that really work for us and we’re gonna refine that. Sunbreather set the standard for what we are as a band and we wanted to make that record again, but even better.” While it’s rare for a group to admit to wanting to repeat the formula of a previous work, one listen to the expansive Sacred Mirrors makes their mission statement clear and concise.
Eschewing much of the rapcore and pop-punk forays of projects passed, the material on display across these 12 cuts channels the modern groove-indebted style popularised by acts such as Spiritbox and Loathe, but with a lazer-focused melodious bent which washes over the metalcore proceedings with effervescent hues. Think Glassjaw if they were simultaneously heavier and poppier, and you’re in the right ball park.
Ratzlaff’s saccharine cadence is vulnerable yet radiates effortless swagger, while his howling shrieks create a distinct dichotomy between the rage and earnest fragility hidden behind the lyrics, such as on the earth-shattering ‘Timebender & The Jet Engine’. Compositionally redefined as a four-piece utilising the use of a bass VI to offer a pummelling Djent-inflected attack of trudging heft weaved around electronic soundscapes and post-metal tangents, which burst to life on lead single ‘Crooks & The Damned’, Sacred Mirrors is both the sound of refinement and rediscovery. After a tumultuous decade, many would forgive the laid-back members for calling it a day, yet their respite seems to have benefited their art to staggering degrees, feeding strength to the album’s mantra – “Self-reflection is the sacred mirror.”
ZB
Converge – Jane Live (Deathwish)
There are few acts in modern hardcore, metal or extreme music who garner the reverence and regard paid so willingly to Salem, Massachusetts four-piece Converge. Their tireless work ethic, creative consistency, and integrity, as well as their constant touring are all vital aspects to their iconic tenure, while guitarist Kurt Ballou’s extensive production credits and frontman Jacob Bannon’s essential label Deathwish Inc, make it absurd to even consider how the members have continued to manage spinning their myriad of punk plates without ever a single shatter.
Regardless of where one’s preferences lie with regards to their ever-expanding discography (with several LPs set to be reissued later this year), there’s zero debate that 2001’s masterwork Jane Doe is where the lightning was trapped in a bottle they’ve kept tightly corked ever since. The first album to feature their maintained line-up has become a staple for the bridging point of hardcore punk fury and metallic machinations, while the mathematic compositional approach experimented in tandem with equally revered acts such as Every Time I Die or The Dillinger Escape Plan, has since cemented its legacy in the years since.
As the organisers of outsider festival Roadburn held in The Netherlands, are known for their curation of exclusive album sets, on April 15th 2016, the band performed the seminal work in its entirety, and that now iconic set has been immortalised as Jane Live. After nearly two full decades, the seasoned veterans tear through the feral opus with even more frenetic energy and unhinged snarl than their younger, studio-recorded selves, proving testament to why Converge and Jane Doe specifically, are still considered the high watermark for hardcore and metal experimentation to this day.
ZB
This week’s reviewers: Zach Buggy, Zach Buggy, Oli Warwick.