{"id":3102,"date":"2023-04-21T17:30:13","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T16:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/?p=3102"},"modified":"2023-04-26T12:05:37","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T11:05:37","slug":"new-releases-28apr2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/new-releases-28apr2023\/","title":{"rendered":"New releases for 28 April 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Josh Ritter<\/strong> kicks off this week\u2019s soaraway six with his 11th album, <strong><em>Spectral Lines<\/em><\/strong>, in which he finds shared experiences in songs that push beyond the bounds of his previous work. Recorded with longtime collaborator Sam Kassirer producing, it\u2019s an album full of wonder and light as Ritter considers the ideas of love, devotion and what it means to be connected, to each other and to ourselves. \u201c<em>I think it\u2019s important for us to share some of our most basic and common experiences with each other, however we can,<\/em>\u201d he says. \u201c<em>That\u2019s kind of what we really, really need right now.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since selling out the Concert Hall at the Sydney Opera House in 2010, <strong>Neil Gaiman and FourPlay String Quartet<\/strong> have been firm friends and collaborators. Together they have toured the world together, released a <em>New York Times<\/em> best-selling book and record, sold out Carnegie Hall and, most importantly, recorded a new album, <strong><em>Signs of Life<\/em><\/strong>. Reflecting the fact that both Gaiman and FourPlay have always refused to be pigeon-holed in their creativity, together they have created something remarkable and unique. <em>Signs of Life<\/em> is a gorgeous, ground-breaking and genre-bending collaboration between an iconic author and a unique musical ensemble. Part songwriting, part poetry, part story-telling; all-encompassing, all-engaging, all beautiful.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Orb<\/strong>\u2019s pulsating discography grows ever more huge with their 18th album, <strong><em>Prism<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 the third helmed by core duo Alex Paterson and Michael Rendall. Despite the connotations of its title, here they continue to rollick freely without inhibition across ambient, house and dub, but also tangent into poetry, pop, full-blown drum \u2019n\u2019 bass and actual reggae.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Future Never Waits<\/em><\/strong> follows <strong>Hawkwind<\/strong>\u2019s critically acclaimed 2021 album <em>Somnia<\/em> and 2022 double live album <em>We Are Looking in on You<\/em>. The band\u2019s 35th studio album is an outstanding addition to their varied and celebrated catalogue. Opening track \u2018The Future Never Waits\u2019 delivers a ten-minute instrument-led space-age march, before progressing into the guitar-driven follow-up \u2018The End\u2019, featuring Dave Brock\u2019s trademark vocals and chugging machine-gun riffs. Innovative additions to the Hawkwind canon such as \u2018Aldous Huxley\u2019 and \u2018They Are So Easily Distracted\u2019 introduce a gradual, almost lounge-like quality, with deliberate piano, audio samples and saxophones lamenting over a futuristic backdrop and roaming guitar solos. Other tracks like \u2018Rama (The Prophecy)\u2019 and \u2018I\u2019m Learning To Live Today\u2019 sit tightly in the Hawkwind groove, providing old and new fans alike with the intense and concentrated fusion of musical styles they\u2019ve come to expect and celebrate.<\/p>\n<p>Let it first be said that the title track of <strong><em>The Hypnogogue<\/em><\/strong>, the first new album from <strong>The Church<\/strong> in six years, is one of the most breath-taking they\u2019ve released in years, a darkly psychedelic six minutes that slowly spirals into a menacing descent. That alone is reason to keep this one on your radar. The Australian neo-psych band have been going for over 40 years, with around a half dozen classic albums and zero bad ones, yet their ability to keep evolving and uncovering new aspects to their sound and approach only serves as a reminder of how vital they remain after four decades.<\/p>\n<p>Our release of the week is <strong><em>First Two Pages Of Frankenstein<\/em><\/strong>, which is anchored by evocative melodies and an enthralling lyrical narrative and signals a thrilling new chapter in the <strong>The National<\/strong>\u2019s discography. The 11-song album was produced by the band at Long Pond Studios in upstate New York and features guest appearances by Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers and Sufjan Stevens. The follow-up to 2019\u2019s top-5 hit album <em>I Am Easy to Find<\/em> channels the group\u2019s revitalised chemistry into a body of work that beautifully balances elegant musicality with their more idiosyncratic impulses. It was initially stalled while lead singer Matt Berninger navigated \u201c<em>a very dark spot where I couldn\u2019t come up with lyrics or melodies at all, and that period lasted for over a year. Even though we\u2019d always been anxious and argued quite a lot whenever we were working on a record, this was the first time it ever felt like maybe things really had come to an end.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"thumbs_6\"><a title=\"The National - First Two Pages Of Frankenstein\" href=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.co.uk\/products\/national-the-first-two-pages-of-frankenstein\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"cover3 alignnone\" title=\"The National - First Two Pages Of Frankenstein\" src=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/img\/rls\/230428\/National.jpg\" alt=\"The National - First Two Pages Of Frankenstein\" \/><\/a><a title=\"Josh Ritter - Spectral Lines\" href=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.co.uk\/products\/josh-ritter-spectral-lines\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"cover3 alignnone\" title=\"Josh Ritter - Spectral Lines\" src=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/img\/rls\/230428\/JoshRitter.jpg\" alt=\"Josh Ritter - Spectral Lines\" \/><\/a><a title=\"Neil Gaiman &amp; FourPlay String Quartet - Signs of Life\" href=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.co.uk\/products\/neil-gaiman-fourplay-string-quartet-signs-of-life\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"cover3 alignnone\" title=\"Neil Gaiman &amp; FourPlay String Quartet - Signs of Life\" src=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/img\/rls\/230428\/NeilGaiman.jpg\" alt=\"Neil Gaiman &amp; FourPlay String Quartet - Signs of Life\" \/><\/a><a title=\"The Orb - Prism\" href=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.co.uk\/products\/orb-the-prism\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"cover3 alignnone\" title=\"The Orb - Prism\" src=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/img\/rls\/230428\/Orb.jpg\" alt=\"The Orb - Prism\" \/><\/a><a title=\"Hawkwind - The Future Never Waits\" href=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.co.uk\/products\/hawkwind-the-future-never-waits\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"cover3 alignnone\" title=\"Hawkwind - The Future Never Waits\" src=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/img\/rls\/230428\/Hawkwind.jpg\" alt=\"Hawkwind - The Future Never Waits\" \/><\/a><a title=\"The Church - The Hypnogogue\" href=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.co.uk\/products\/church-the-the-hypnogogue\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"cover3 alignnone\" title=\"The Church - The Hypnogogue\" src=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/img\/rls\/230428\/Church.jpg\" alt=\"The Church - The Hypnogogue\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>Click on an image to order your copy.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Josh Ritter kicks off this week\u2019s soaraway six with his 11th album, Spectral Lines, in which he finds shared experiences in songs that push beyond the bounds of his previous work. Recorded with longtime collaborator Sam Kassirer producing, it\u2019s an album full of wonder and light as Ritter considers the ideas of love, devotion and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[604,388,1773,36,1774,429,1190],"class_list":["post-3102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","category-new-releases","tag-hawkwind","tag-josh-ritter","tag-neil-gaiman-fourplay-string-quartet","tag-new-release","tag-the-church","tag-the-national","tag-the-orb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3102"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3103,"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3102\/revisions\/3103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}