This week saw new album releases from old workhorses and new, upcoming artists alike. This week also saw new singles from Iceage, Chvrches, Jack White and a posthumous release from Chris Cornell.
New Albums:
Moby – Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt
One of the most important and influential electronic artists of the 90s, the New York-based producer has released his latest, Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt. This is Moby’s fifteenth studio album after last year’s More Fast Songs About the Apocalypse. Known for his work in animal rights, AllMusic considers him “one of the most important dance music figures of the early 1990s, helping bring the music to a mainstream audience both in the UK and in America”.
Superorganism – Superorganism
Championed by Frank Ocean and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, and being signed onto Domino records within a year of existence still wouldn’t encapsulate the year for Superorganism. An eight-piece band, comprising of members from all around the world, have released the self-titled debut studio release, barely a year after their formation. The London-based octet’s airy, disembodied music mashes up white noise, early Human League synthesisers, car horn parps, slamming car doors, radio broadcasts, cartoon characters, fat rubbery basslines and sublime, breezy pop hooks, with a childlike glee.
The Breeders – All Nerve
One of the earliest supergroups of the 90’s, The Breeders are back with their first album in over a decade with All Nerve. Originally founded by the Pixies’ bassist Kim Deal and Throwing Muses’ co-lead singer Tanya Donelly, the band went to release multiple critically acclaimed and reportedly even inspired Kurt Cobain. The band has seen multiple incarnations with only Deal remaining a constant. This will be their fifth release, the band’s first in 25 years with their Last Splash lineup.
Lucy Dacus – Historian
Lucy Dacus, at only 22 years, has garnered considerable attention and has released her second full-length album, “Historian”, the first after signing to Matador Records. This is the follow-up to 2016’s No Burden, which was produced in Nashville by her hometown friends, Berklee College of Music graduate, Collin Pastore and Oberlin Conservatory of Music graduate, Jacob Blizard, and resulted in as much as 20 labels fighting over her signature.
New Songs:
Iceage – Pain Killer (feat. Sky Ferreira)
Iceage has announced a new album, Hopelessness, and a new single ‘Pain Killer’ featuring American singer-songwriter Sky Ferreira has been released. This marks the fourth studio to be released for the Danish band. The single is carried by an assortment of horns and riff, and stylistically very much in the vein of Swedish garage-rock band the Hives.
Natalie Prass – Short Court Style
Richmond-based singer Natalie Prass has released a new single, “Short Court Style”, in accompaniment to the announcement of her new album, The Future and the Past. The follow-up to her 2015 self-titled debut is due out June 1st via her new label home, ATO Records. This sounds like a departure to the chamber and baroque pop stylings of her first album, with much airier, poppier instrumentations, and an overall late 90’s vibe to the song.
Chris Cornell – You Never Knew My Mind
A posthumous recording of Chris Cornell’s cover of Johnny Cash’s ‘You Never Knew My Mind’ has been released. This will be a part of Cash’s compilation titled Johnny Cash: Forever Words. The LP is composed of adaptations of Cash’s poems, previously collected in a book of the same name. Kacey Musgraves, Elvis Costello, Willie Nelson, the Jayhawks, Rosanne Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Jamey Johnson, and more are also contributed to the record. This cover reminds us of a huge talent gone too soon.
Jack White – Over and Over and Over
Jack White has released yet another single, “Over and Over and Over”, from his upcoming third solo album, Boarding House Reach. This is the third single off the album, with the other two singles ‘Connected by Love’/’Respect Commander’ and ‘Corporation’ released earlier in January. This is a typical Jack White rocker, incorporating blues rock and garage rock, with over-distorted guitars and expressive female background vocals.
CHVRCHES – My Enemy ft. Matt Berninger
Chvrches has released a new single, “My Enemy”, a collaboration with The National’s Matt Berninger while announcing details of their new album, Love Is Dead. This will be the third album for the Glasgow based synth-pop trio, following 2015’s Every Open Eye. The song is a moodier piece from the trio, and is a song about “how easily love fades and can turn into something much more sinister”. The synth-pop sound especially suits Berninger well, with his deep baritone voice meshing well.
