Monday, February 03, 2025
STN Select: January 2025
Anna B Savage - Mo Cheol Thú
Hymn to love and to new home Ireland from typically intimate in warmth and detail third album You and i are Earth (capitalisation artist's own), which in a move that makes absolute logical sense shares a producer with Lankum.
C Duncan - Think About It
In case you didn't think they made lavish and sweeping piano-led orchestral romance any more, It's Only A Love Song has all the flourishes, expansive tropes and, yes, ba-ba-ba backing vocals you'd want.
Florist - Have Heaven
The ghost of Big Thief lurks in both Emily Sprague's phrasing and the building outwards intimacy with care. Fifth album Jellywish out 4th April.
GOAT feat. MC Yallah - Nimerudi
Propulsive masked Swedish acid-funk psychedelicists team with rapidfire multilingual Kenya-Uganda rapper and highlight of last year's End Of The Road, bring some blaxploitation flute.
jasmine.4.t - Highfield
Airy sparseness around a dark subject, from debut album You Are The Morning, carefully arranged by all three of its producers, namely Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. Never heard of them. Are they good?
Magana - Hold On
The last, Jeni now claims, of a series of seasonally affected EPs, Bad News reflecting the move from winter to spring and sounding appropriately like frost melting.
The Orchestra (For Now) - Skins
Hark, is that the sound of the Brixton Windmill? Don't they have the roof dog any more? The septet's second single hoards nominatively orchestral slow-burn dramatics before bursting out and racing to the skies. EP out on 28th March.
Panda Bear - Ferry Lady
One of those solo Animal Collective projects in that this track also fetures Geologist on "sounds" and Deakin on "synth trumpet". Still sounds as woozy and whacked-out as Panda's best work. From Sinister Grift, out 28th February.
Pigeon Dog - Wet Washing
North London trio stalk the perimeter of knotty alt-rock that might remind some of Throwing Muses or Cay. These are good things.
Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory - Trouble
Yeah, she's got a band now, while still threading the needle between electronics and her signature rolling, self-questioning songwriting. self-titled album out this Friday.
Snapped Ankles - Raoul
And now the other masked psych-art freaks, who follow a post-DFA pulsing, yowling disco-punk groove to the abyss with what seems to be references to Terry Gilliam's Don Quixote disasters. Hard Times Furious Dancing is released on 28th March.
Viagra Boys - Man Made Of Meat
A radio-ready chorus, a ranting on a street corner-ready verse. Look forward to them sending a crowd as nuts as they go in that Research Chemicals Glastonbury experience you've doubtless seen on YouTube. New album is called Viagr Aboys, because why not, and is out April 25th.
Friday, January 03, 2025
20 '25: a score of albums we're looking forward to in the coming twelve months
Those we know about
Lambrini Girls - Who Let The Dogs Out (10th January)
Sophie Jamieson - I still want to share (17th January)
Anna B Savage - You & i are Earth (24th January)
Sharon Van Etten - Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory (7th February)
Panda Bear - Sinister Grift (28th February)
The Tubs - Cotton Crown (7th March)
The Horrors - Night Life (21st March)
Those we don't
Beach House: playing a bunch of dates in May and June including Primavera, suspicious behaviour for people who haven't released anything for three years
The Beths: seem to tour Australasia perennially but it's two and a half years since Expert In A Dying Field, which they officially brought to a close in September, and they're promising to play new songs in a couple of dates in March
Big Thief: have, as is their way, been playing loads of new songs live lately (here's one), put out an appeal for a recording space in January/February, Uncut claim they're aiming for autumn
Julien Baker & TORRES: actually all three of Boygenius might be active in the next twelve months, with Lucy Dacus already touring new songs and whoever ever knows about Phoebe, but this shamelessly country collaboration has apparently been in the can even before The Record took Baker to new popularity heights and they've already released Sugar In The Tank
LCD Soundsystem: X-Ray Eyes wasn't great, no, but Primavera accidentally leaked the news with their announcement and it was known they were in the studio in late 2023
Little Simz: Drop 7 early on in the year just as Drop 6 preceded Sometimes I Might Be Introvert by a bit over a year, new track Hello Hi casually dropped on 30th December, a casual "See you in 25" on the Instagram announcement
Mclusky: Falco has been talking about a new album for ages, they signed a US deal in July and he posted updates and photos from the studio to social media in autumn, yet the none too disguised promise when dates were announced for May still seemed to surprise people
Panic Shack: this year's obligatory debut album inclusion, our old Cardiff girl gang punk favourites, for all their touring and festival slots since, haven't actually released anything for gone two years but they appear to have been in the studio over the latter period of 2024 and have a big UK tour announced covering May
Pulp: played at least five new songs live in 2024, announced they'd signed to Rough Trade in December, and that natural source Stella Creasy MP says she tipped off by Jarvis they were in the studio in August
Self Esteem: Big Man was a misstep as far as we were concerned but Rebecca says her third album will be out in spring, describing it on Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw's podcast as musically "not what you think... I made quite a complicated listen. It’s horribly honest."
Tunde Adebimpe: the superb Magnetic was accompanied with news that despite TV On The Radio's reunion carrying on well into the year (they're supporting Khrungabin for some reason at Gunnersbury Park in August, notably on Green Man weekend) he's signed to Sub Pop with an LP to follow
Wet Leg: not only announced for a lot of summer festivals but Joe from Fat Dog so casually dropped into an interview with DIY that nobody seems to have noticed that they followed his band into James Ford's studio
The xx: Romy confirmed to NME almost exactly a year ago that they were back in the studio: "I think Oliver and Jamie and I have all tried new things and learned a lot from different projects and I think that’s quite healthy to be like, ‘What have you learned? What should we do now?’ And I think it’s quite wide open and it’s exciting to be starting again in a way. But we’ve started making some music and I’m really excited about it"
AND ALSO? Adwaith, Alan Sparhawk (the songs he's been playing live, not the odd experimental beats of White Roses, My God), Backxwash, Bambara, C Duncan, Courtney Barnett, Deradoorian, Doves, Double Diamond Club (Helen Love and John Mouse), Dry Cleaning, Emma-Jean Thackray, Ex-Vöid, Hamilton Leithauser, Heartworms, Horsegirl, John Glacier, Julia Jacklin, Keg, Laundromat Chicks, Lorde, Lucy Dacus, Massive Attack, Melin Melyn, My Bloody Valentine (yeah, yeah), Sky Ferreira (ditto), Snail Mail, Sparks, Spoon, These New Puritans, Viagra Boys, Wednesday (though Karly has suggested despite already being recorded this is more likely to be 2026 due to MJ's touring commitments), Young Knives, Youth Lagoon
Lambrini Girls - Who Let The Dogs Out (10th January)
Sophie Jamieson - I still want to share (17th January)
Anna B Savage - You & i are Earth (24th January)
Sharon Van Etten - Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory (7th February)
Panda Bear - Sinister Grift (28th February)
The Tubs - Cotton Crown (7th March)
The Horrors - Night Life (21st March)
Those we don't
Beach House: playing a bunch of dates in May and June including Primavera, suspicious behaviour for people who haven't released anything for three years
The Beths: seem to tour Australasia perennially but it's two and a half years since Expert In A Dying Field, which they officially brought to a close in September, and they're promising to play new songs in a couple of dates in March
Big Thief: have, as is their way, been playing loads of new songs live lately (here's one), put out an appeal for a recording space in January/February, Uncut claim they're aiming for autumn
Julien Baker & TORRES: actually all three of Boygenius might be active in the next twelve months, with Lucy Dacus already touring new songs and whoever ever knows about Phoebe, but this shamelessly country collaboration has apparently been in the can even before The Record took Baker to new popularity heights and they've already released Sugar In The Tank
LCD Soundsystem: X-Ray Eyes wasn't great, no, but Primavera accidentally leaked the news with their announcement and it was known they were in the studio in late 2023
Little Simz: Drop 7 early on in the year just as Drop 6 preceded Sometimes I Might Be Introvert by a bit over a year, new track Hello Hi casually dropped on 30th December, a casual "See you in 25" on the Instagram announcement
Mclusky: Falco has been talking about a new album for ages, they signed a US deal in July and he posted updates and photos from the studio to social media in autumn, yet the none too disguised promise when dates were announced for May still seemed to surprise people
Panic Shack: this year's obligatory debut album inclusion, our old Cardiff girl gang punk favourites, for all their touring and festival slots since, haven't actually released anything for gone two years but they appear to have been in the studio over the latter period of 2024 and have a big UK tour announced covering May
Pulp: played at least five new songs live in 2024, announced they'd signed to Rough Trade in December, and that natural source Stella Creasy MP says she tipped off by Jarvis they were in the studio in August
Self Esteem: Big Man was a misstep as far as we were concerned but Rebecca says her third album will be out in spring, describing it on Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw's podcast as musically "not what you think... I made quite a complicated listen. It’s horribly honest."
Tunde Adebimpe: the superb Magnetic was accompanied with news that despite TV On The Radio's reunion carrying on well into the year (they're supporting Khrungabin for some reason at Gunnersbury Park in August, notably on Green Man weekend) he's signed to Sub Pop with an LP to follow
Wet Leg: not only announced for a lot of summer festivals but Joe from Fat Dog so casually dropped into an interview with DIY that nobody seems to have noticed that they followed his band into James Ford's studio
The xx: Romy confirmed to NME almost exactly a year ago that they were back in the studio: "I think Oliver and Jamie and I have all tried new things and learned a lot from different projects and I think that’s quite healthy to be like, ‘What have you learned? What should we do now?’ And I think it’s quite wide open and it’s exciting to be starting again in a way. But we’ve started making some music and I’m really excited about it"
AND ALSO? Adwaith, Alan Sparhawk (the songs he's been playing live, not the odd experimental beats of White Roses, My God), Backxwash, Bambara, C Duncan, Courtney Barnett, Deradoorian, Doves, Double Diamond Club (Helen Love and John Mouse), Dry Cleaning, Emma-Jean Thackray, Ex-Vöid, Hamilton Leithauser, Heartworms, Horsegirl, John Glacier, Julia Jacklin, Keg, Laundromat Chicks, Lorde, Lucy Dacus, Massive Attack, Melin Melyn, My Bloody Valentine (yeah, yeah), Sky Ferreira (ditto), Snail Mail, Sparks, Spoon, These New Puritans, Viagra Boys, Wednesday (though Karly has suggested despite already being recorded this is more likely to be 2026 due to MJ's touring commitments), Young Knives, Youth Lagoon
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