Releases from May–June 2023

Great albums from around the world

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Find releases from 2022.

Also check out some of the great reissues of classic albums.

 

 

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Jump to: 2 June  |  26 May  |  19 May  |  12 May  |  5 May

 

Releases for 2 June 2023

The first of 2 June’s peaches we unpeel is Such Ferocious Beauty, which is vintage Cowboy Junkies and another dimension from the lo-fi Canadian band musing on ageing, losing parents, facing mortality and creating space for one’s life in the midst of the ruin that comes from merely living. Shadow Kingdom, originally a streamed event in July 2021, presents Bob Dylan performing revelatory 21st-century versions of songs from his storied back catalogue, including fan favourites like ‘Forever Young’ and ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ plus deep catalogue gems such as ‘Queen Jane Approximately’ and ‘The Wicked Messenger’. I Thought I Was Better Than You finds Baxter Dury reckoning with an unfortunately fortunate childhood, with a famous surname but no structure or sense of responsibility with which to reap its rewards, growing up in the imposing shadow of Ian Dury. Council Skies – the fourth album from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – is yet another songwriting masterpiece, and the deluxe 2-CD edition includes previously unreleased live sessions, instrumentals, and remixes from The Cure’s Robert Smith, Pet Shop Boys and David Holmes. And on Darkfighter, Grammy-nominated Rival Sons try to put a good word on people’s ears in a time of increasing isolation and division, with strong themes of loss of identity, preservation of joy, and beholding light and shape again.

Our release of the week is But Here We Are, the eleventh Foo Fighters album and the first chapter of the band’s new life. Sonically channelling the naiveté of their 1995 debut while informed by decades of maturity and depth, this is the sound of brothers finding refuge in the music that brought them together in the first place 28 years ago, a process that was as therapeutic as it was about a continuation of life.

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  • Foo Fighters  But Here We Are  CD £14.99 / LP £32.99 / Limited edition LP £35.99
• But Here We Are is in nearly equal measure the eleventh Foo Fighters album and the first chapter of the band’s new life. Sonically channelling the naiveté of their 1995 debut while informed by decades of maturity and depth, But Here We Are is the sound of brothers finding refuge in the music that brought them together in the first place 28 years ago, a process that was as therapeutic as it was about a continuation of life.
• Note: The LP is initially available on limited-edition white vinyl.

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  • Cowboy Junkies  Such Ferocious Beauty  CD £12.99 / LP £25.99
• Such Ferocious Beauty is vintage Cowboy Junkies and another dimension from the lo-fi Canadian band that comprises … well, family. A tangle of sonic textures, the album is a rumination on ageing, losing parents, facing mortality and creating space for one’s life in the midst of the ruin that comes from merely living. “Mike has never shied away from the darker, harder and sometimes uglier realities of our human condition,” Margo Timmins explains of the band’s singular focus, “nor has he shied from its beauty. Thankfully, with one comes the other.”
• Note: The LP is initially available on limited-edition translucent tan vinyl.

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  • Bob Dylan  Shadow Kingdom  CD £14.99 / 2-LP £34.99
• Shadow Kingdom presents Bob Dylan performing revelatory 21st-century versions of songs from his storied back catalogue, including fan favourites like ‘Forever Young’ and ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’, plus deep catalogue gems such as ‘Queen Jane Approximately’ and ‘The Wicked Messenger’.
• Originally reinterpreted for an exclusive streaming film event that aired in July 2021, Shadow Kingdom will now be available on vinyl and CD for the first time. The album’s set list includes 13 original songs hand-picked by Dylan for his Shadow Kingdom performance.

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  • Baxter Dury  I Thought I Was Better Than You  CD £10.99 / LP £24.99
• I Thought I Was Better Than You marks a new era for Baxter Dury, and with this new era comes a new character: ‘Faux-confrontational’, Baxter calls him. Here, not only is he recounting his childhood, he’s also reckoning with it. Instead of just swinging blindfolded at his past with a baseball bat, he talks openly about the toxic cocktail of being born into unfortunately fortunate circumstances, with a famous surname but no structure or sense of responsibility with which to reap its rewards. “Really, it’s about being trapped in an awkward place between something you’re actually quite good at and somebody else’s success.” That ‘somebody else’ being his dad, Ian Dury. As one of the album centrepieces – ‘Shadow’ – agonisingly puts it: “But no one will get over that you’re someone’s son / Even though you want to be like Frank Ocean / But you don’t sound like him, you sound just like Ian.”
• Note: The LP is initially available on limited-edition pink vinyl.

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  • Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds  Council Skies  CD £12.99 / Deluxe 2-CD £17.99 / Limited edition LP + 7" £35.99
• Including the singles ‘Pretty Boy’ and ‘Easy Now’ plus an album version of the demo ‘We’re Gonna Get There in the End’, Council Skies – the fourth album from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – is yet another songwriting masterpiece. The deluxe 2-CD edition features a bonus disc including previously unreleased live sessions, instrumentals, and remixes from The Cure’s Robert Smith, Pet Shop Boys and David Holmes, while the vinyl’s bonus 7" includes the demo ‘We’re Gonna Get There In The End’ and an acoustic version of the single ‘Pretty Boy’.

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  • Rival Sons  Darkfighter  CD £11.99 / LP £36.99
• Twice Grammy-nominated band Rival Sons bring us their anxiously awaited new full-length album, Darkfighter, produced by long-time collaborator Dave Cobb. Vocalist Jay Buchanan shares: “You live your life knowing that the sword of Damocles is hanging over your head by a thread. You’re fully aware of the impermanence of your existence, but you can’t think about it all the time. I used to work in a mortuary as a service advisor for a few years, driving and opening the hearses. I’d attend three funerals per day. Sometimes, they would be filled over capacity. Other times, it would just be me, a priest, and a hole in the ground. It doesn’t matter who you are; the great equaliser is coming. I was thinking of this because the music sounded like pursuit.”

 

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Releases for 26 May 2023

We start 26 May’s super six with the acclaimed young artist Arlo Parks, whose My Soft Machine narrates her experiences as she enters her 20s: anxiety, the substance abuse of friends, the viscera of being in love for the first time, navigating PTSD and grief and self-sabotage and joy. Sparks return to Island Records nearly 50 years after the unforgettable hit single ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us’ for The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte, which is as bold and uncompromising as anything they’ve done over their long career.Rhoda Dakar, who began her musical career as lead vocalist with all-female 2Tone band The Bodysnatchers before guesting with The Specials, is back with Version Girl, on which she covers songs by reggae and ska artists and songwriters she admires. Lucy Dacus, one of rock’s most vital voices, was done thinking small after her debut, and 2018’s Historian was her definitive statement as a songwriter and musician, and is now available as a five-year anniversary edition. The long-overdue vinyl reissue series of Steely Dan’s classic catalogue continues with Countdown to Ecstasy, the band’s sprawling 1973 sophomore LP with such standouts as ‘Bodhisattva’, ‘Show Biz Kids’ and ‘My Old School’.

Our release of the week comes from one of the most important voices in British folk music, Shirley Collins, who has selected another peerless collection of songs for her new album, Archangel Hill: a mixture of songs from traditional sources with others penned by some of her favourite writers.

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  • Shirley Collins  Archangel Hill  CD £10.99 / LP £24.99 / Green LP £25.99
• One of the most important voices in British folk music, Shirley Collins, has selected another peerless collection of songs for her new album, Archangel Hill. Some of these songs are from traditional sources; others were penned by some of her favourite writers. The album was produced by Ian Kearey – Collins’ musical director – and the arrangements were shared between Collins, Kearey and Pip Barnes, as well as Dave Arthur and Pete Cooper from The Lodestar Band.
• Note: The LP is initially available on grass green vinyl, exclusive to independent shops.

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  • Arlo Parks  My Soft Machine  CD £10.99 / Cassette £8.99 / LP £24.99
• Twice Grammy-nominated, Mercury Prize- and Brit Award-winning artist Arlo Parks returns with her second album, My Soft Machine. This is a deeply personal body of work: a narration of Parks’ experiences as she navigates her 20s and the growth involved. She explains articulately in her own words: “Our view of the world is peppered by the biggest things we experience – our traumas, upbringing, vulnerabilities almost like visual snow. This record is life through my lens, through my body – the mid-20s anxiety, the substance abuse of friends around me, the viscera of being in love for the first time, navigating PTSD and grief and self-sabotage and joy, moving through worlds with wonder and sensitivity – what it’s like to be trapped in this particular body.”
• Note: The LP is initially available on green vinyl, exclusive to independent shops.

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  • Sparks  The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte  CD £14.99 / LP £32.99 / Picture Disc LP £32.99
• The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte is the first release from Sparks on the venerable Island Records label in nearly five decades, following such classics as 1974’s landmark Kimono My House, highlighted of course by the unforgettable hit single ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us’. The new album is described by Ron and Russell Mael as a record that is “as bold and uncompromising as anything we did back then or, for that matter, any time throughout our career.”
• Note: The LP is initially available as a picture disc, exclusive to independent shops. Independent Shops Exclusive Picture Disc

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  • Rhoda Dakar  Version Girl  CD £12.99 / LP £28.99
• Rhoda Dakar, who began her musical career as lead vocalist with all-female 2Tone band The Bodysnatchers, is back with her first solo album in seven years. Version Girl is a collection of reggae and ska covers by artists and songwriters she admires. The Bodysnatchers only ever released two singles, ‘Let’s Do Rocksteady’ and ‘Easy Life’, then after a year together they split and Rhoda went on to guest with The Specials in Europe and the USA, featuring on their second album, More Specials, for which she won the first of her seven gold records.
• Note: The LP is initially available on neon violet vinyl, exclusive to independent shops.

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  • Lucy Dacus  Historian (5th Anniversary)  Limited Edition LP £23.99
• As part of the Revisionist History series, Matador are releasing a five-year anniversary edition of Lucy Dacus’ album Historian, featuring alternative artwork. Lucy Dacus is done thinking small. Two years after her 2016 debut, No Burden, won her unanimous acclaim as one of rock’s most promising new voices, Dacus released Historian, a remarkably assured 10-track statement of intent. “This is the album I needed to make,” says Dacus, who views Historian as her definitive statement as a songwriter and musician.
• Note: The LP is initially available on limited-edition red vinyl.

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  • Steely Dan  Countdown to Ecstasy  LP £28.99
• At long last the classic Steely Dan catalogue is back on vinyl! Led by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, Steely Dan released seven albums between 1972 and 1980. The vinyl reissue series continues with Countdown to Ecstasy, the band’s sprawling 1973 sophomore LP with such standouts as ‘Bodhisattva’, ‘Show Biz Kids’ and ‘My Old School’.

 

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Releases for 19 May 2023

The first of 19 May’s six of the best is Seven Psalms, a stunning, intricately layered work by Paul Simon that showcases his craft at its finest and most captivating, simply with his voice and guitar. SOS, the second studio album from Grammy award-winning singer SZA, contains elements of pop, R&B, soft rock, gospel and hip-hop, and features guest appearances from Travis Scott, Don Toliver, Phoebe Bridgers and the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Amatssou adds touches of pedal steel, piano and strings to Tuareg band Tinariwen’s trademark snaking guitar lines and hypnotic rhythms, with guest musicians including Daniel Lanois. Death Wish Blues is a collaboration between blistering blues guitarist Samantha Fish and country musician Jesse Dayton, and the result is a highly enjoyable set of sharply written songs that prominently feature searing guitar and sultry vocals, delivered with Fish’s signature blues-rock sound. Last but by no means least, Steve Howe considers Mirror to the Sky to be a very important album for Yes – one that sees them still growing, and building again, even after 23 studio albums.

Our release of the week is Live at Stubbs, the first in a series of live LPs from Khruangbin, which features performances by Kelly Doyle, Ruben Moreno, The Suffers and Robert Ellis and ignites both sides of the band’s magic: the warm, prismatic feeling of their albums and the bewitching energy of their performances.

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  • Khruangbin & Friends  Live at Stubbs  2-LP £25.99
• It’s only fitting that Khruangbin’s live releases would be albums paired with their tourmates – artists whose music they love and admire, friends who’ve become family along the way – and Live at Stubbs features performances by Kelly Doyle, Ruben Moreno, The Suffers and Robert Ellis alongside Khruangbin. This series of live LPs traces just one small slice of the band’s flight plan through the years. It’s a taste of some of their most beloved cities, stages and nights, and ignites both sides of the band’s magic: the warm, prismatic feeling of their albums and the bewitching energy of their performances.

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  • Paul Simon  Seven Psalms  CD £14.99 / LP £25.99
• Seven Psalms, which was recorded entirely on acoustic instruments performed predominantly by Paul Simon, showcases his craft at its finest and most captivating, simply with his voice and guitar. Intended to be listened to as one continuous piece, the 33-minute, seven-movement composition transcends the concept of the ‘album’. A stunning, intricately layered work, it’s a record that establishes an engaging and meditative, almost hymnal, soundscape, with Paul’s lyrics providing the gravitational centre for constellations of sound woven from guitar strings and other acoustic instrumentation.

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  • SZA  SOS  CD £14.99 / 2-LP £26.99
• SOS is the second studio album from Grammy award-winning singer SZA, the follow-up to 2017’s major-label debut album Ctrl. This genre-blending album contains elements of pop, R&B, soft rock, gospel and hip-hop, and features guest appearances from Travis Scott, Don Toliver, Phoebe Bridgers and the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard. SZA worked with a variety of hitmaking producers including Ctrl collaborators ThankGod4Cody and Carter Lang, along with Jeff Bhasker, Rob Bisel, Benny Blanco, Kenny ‘Babyface’ Edmonds, Emile Haynie, Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins, Jay Versace and others.

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  • Tinariwen  Amatssou  CD £14.99 / LP £26.99 / White LP £28.99
• Some people have commented that Tinariwen have always been a country band, albeit a North African take on that most North American of genres. That idea is magnified on new album Amatssou, which finds the Tuareg band’s trademark snaking guitar lines and hypnotic rhythms blending seamlessly with pedal steel, piano and strings from guest musicians including Daniel Lanois. These embellished arrangements lend the songs an epic, universal application.
• The lyrics, full of poetic allegory, call for unity and freedom. There are songs of struggle and resistance with oblique references to the recent desperate political upheavals in Mali and the increasing power of the Salafists. “Dear brothers all rest, all leisure will always be far from reach unless your homeland is liberated and all the elders can live there in dignity.”
• Note: The LP is initially available on white vinyl, exclusive to independent shops.

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  • Samantha Fish & Jesse Dayton  Death Wish Blues  CD £14.99 / LP £32.99
• Samantha Fish has received practically every accolade a contemporary blues singer, songwriter and guitarist could hope for, and commands her cathartic shows with her edgy vocal delivery and in-your-face slide guitar. Jesse Dayton is an American musician, actor and record producer best known for his guitar contributions to albums by country musicians including Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson. For their first collaboration together, Fish and Dayton teamed up with producer Jon Spencer of the electrifying Jon Spencer’s Blues Explosion for Death Wish Blues. The result is a highly enjoyable set of sharply composed songs that prominently feature searing guitar and sultry vocals, delivered with Fish’s signature blues-rock sound.

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  • Yes  Mirror to the Sky  CD £14.99 / Limited 2-CD £16.99 / Limited 2-CD + BluRay + Artbook / 2-LP £29.99 / Green 2-LP £33.99
• “This is a very important album for the band,” says Steve Howe, Yes’ longest-serving member, master guitarist, and producer of Mirror to the Sky, the band’s 23rd studio album. “We kept the continuity in the approach we established on The Quest, but we haven’t repeated ourselves. That was the main thing. As Yes did in the seventies from one album to another, we’re growing and moving forward. In later years, Yes often got going but then didn’t do the next thing. This album is demonstrative of us growing, and building again.”
• Note: The LP is initially available on dark green vinyl, exclusive to independent shops.

 

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Releases for 12 May 2023

12 May’s six sizzlers open up with BC Camplight, whose relationship with his fiancé crumbled while making The Last Rotation of Earth, and the album follows this break-up amid long-term struggles with addiction and declining mental health to produce an extraordinary record. Moby has reimagined fifteen of his most iconic tracks from 1994–2010 for Resound NYC, whose reworked tracks – featuring a vibrant, brass-heavy sound – burst forth with boundless energy, with guest vocals from a wealth of stars. Craven Faults’s latest meticulously curated release, Standers, continues their analogue electronic journey across northern Britain and features a sonic shift, with a new palette to paint from and further refinement of the craft. Animal Collective are reissuing their very first record, Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished, originally released in a very small CD-only pressing in August 2000 and praised as “a masterful piece of electro-acoustic fairy-tale music; yet its squealing electronics, and vitrified rhythms suggest something darker.” Okemah Rising is the final instalment of the Woody Guthrie / Dropkick Murphys collaboration, and it’s a great party album that’s intended to raise the roof, but Woody’s message – his steadfast defence of the working class and his fight against social injustice and the abuse of political power – still comes across loud and clear.

Our release of the week comes from Alison Goldfrapp, whose seven albums with Goldfrapp were fuelled by an unfailing modernity and a sixth sense for sounds that were more timeless than any trend. With the release of her debut solo album, The Love Invention – an electrifying dance-pop suite – her multi-faceted musicianship reaches a new peak.

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  • Alison Goldfrapp  The Love Invention  CD £12.99 / LP £24.99 / Purple LP £26.99
• Alison Goldfrapp has set a towering bar for British synth-pop in the 21st century and she’s only just getting started. The magnetic London-born singer, songwriter and producer’s seven albums with Goldfrapp were fuelled by an unfailing modernity and a sixth sense for sounds that were more timeless than any trend. With the release of her debut solo album, The Love Invention – an electrifying dance-pop suite – her multi-faceted musicianship reaches a new peak.
• Note: The LP is initially available on purple vinyl, exclusive to independent shops.

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  • BC Camplight  The Last Rotation of Earth  CD £10.99 / LP £24.99
• Is there a curse that says BC Camplight (Brian Christinzio) cannot move forward without being knocked back? That the greatest material is born out of emotional trauma? While making his new album, The Last Rotation of Earth, Christinzio’s relationship with his fiancé crumbled after nine inseparable years, and the album follows this break-up amid long-term struggles with addiction and declining mental health. The outcome is an extraordinary record, with Christinzio describing it as “more cinematic, sophisticated, and nuanced than anything I’ve done before. And more desperate.”
• Note: The LP is initially available on limited-edition clear vinyl.

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  • Moby  Resound NYC  CD £14.99 / 2-LP £35.99 / Limited Edition Clear 2-LP £36.99 / Yellow 2-LP £36.99
• Digging further into his catalogue, Moby has reimagined fifteen of his most iconic tracks for Resound NYC. These new versions of tracks that he wrote between 1994 and 2010 while living in New York City feature a vibrant, brass-heavy sound. From the sublime desperation of ‘When It’s Cold I’d Like to Die’ to the manic stomp of ‘Extreme Ways’ (best known as the theme from the Jason Bourne film franchise), the reworked tracks burst forth with boundless energy. Guest vocalists on Resound NYC include Nicole Scherzinger, Gregory Porter, Ricky Wilson (Kaiser Chiefs), Mylene Farmer, Amythyst Kiah, Lady Blackbird, Dougy Mandagi (The Temper Trap) and more.
• Note: The LP is initially available in a limited-edition clear vinyl pressing, as well as in a sun yellow vinyl pressing that is exclusive to independent shops.

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  • Craven Faults  Standers  CD £12.99 / Deluxe 3-CD £19.99 / 2-LP £32.99
• Each meticulously curated release by Craven Faults moves their story forward – each one a self-contained analogue electronic journey across northern Britain, viewed through the lens of a century in popular music. Studios, venues and movements. Technology and ingenuity. Vibrations. Lines drawn to connect those moments of inspiration. On Standers, there’s a sonic shift. A new palette to paint from and further refinement of the craft.
• Note: The LP is initially available on dark green vinyl, exclusive to independent shops.

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  • Animal Collective  Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished  2-CD £14.99 / 2-LP £26.99 / Green 2-LP £28.99
• Animal Collective are reissuing their very first record, Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished. Originally released in a very small CD-only pressing on their own Animal label in August 2000 and credited to Avey Tare & Panda Bear prior to the full collective band name being used on releases, the album has been praised by Vulture for its “starry-eyed sense of songcraft” and described by Pitchfork as “a masterful piece of electro-acoustic fairy-tale music; yet its squealing electronics, and vitrified rhythms suggest something darker. Like a Snickers bar with a razor blade in it.”
• Note: The LP is initially available on grass green vinyl, exclusive to independent shops.

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  • Dropkick Murphys  Okemah Rising  CD £10.99 / LP £24.99
• Okemah Rising is the final instalment of the Woody Guthrie / Dropkick Murphys collaboration, so the band wanted to bring it home with a bang. Whereas the goal of This Machine Still Kills Fascists was to raise consciousness, Okemah Rising intends to raise the roof. Sure, it has one or two tender moments, but all in all it’s much more of a party than TMSKF. Even a party record can have a message though, and the band felt that on the road over the last few months as they played Okemah Rising songs ‘Gotta Get to Peekskill’ and ‘I Know How It Feels’ on tour all over the world. Every night, when the audience is singing along with Woody’s words, his steadfast defence of the working class and his fight against social injustice and the abuse of political power comes across loud and clear.

 

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Releases for 5 May 2023

We’ve got six spring stunners for 5 May, starting with Eilen Jewell, one of America’s most intriguing, creative, and idiosyncratic voices, who rises from the ashes on her captivating new album, Get Behind the Wheel, picking up the pieces of her shattered world after watching her marriage, her band and what felt like her entire career fall apart in a series of heartbreaking implosions. The Chicago Sessions is a throwback to Rodney Crowell’s early days of making records, but it’s no nostalgia trip; the songs here are vital and timely, touching on everything from love and mortality to race and religion, and the performances are nothing short of intoxicating, fuelled by raw guitars, honky-tonk piano and tight, punchy drums. As Therapy?’s fourth decade finally gets underway in earnest, they release their sixteenth album, Hard Cold Fire, a hefty, compact, and accessible collection that’s a distillation of everything that has made them what they are: hewn from County Antrim basalt, still possessed of their stoicism, but casting a renewed focus on catharsis and healing. ATUM is a rock opera in three acts by inimitable American rock band The Smashing Pumpkins, an epic interplanetary story set in the not-too-distant future – the final installment in a concept album trilogy, following 1995’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and 2000’s Machina / The Machines of God – though the individual songs themselves stand on their own in the Pumpkins pantheon. Ed Sheeran had been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what he thought it should be, when a series of events changed the way he viewed music and art; and, in just over a week, he replaced a decade’s worth of work with his deepest darkest thoughts.

Our release of the week is Folded Landscapes, the ambitious fourth studio album by groundbreaking Scottish composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Erland Cooper, who merges modern classical-electronic music with evocative storytelling and conceptual art to share his urgent observation on climate change, temperature and time. This poignant chamber string work figuratively and literally thaws over seven movements, unfolding with electronics, poetry, soprano, piano, harpsichord, field recordings (including the California wildfires and crashing glaciers) and samples.

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  • Erland Cooper  Folded Landscapes  CD £14.99 / LP £28.99 / Indies LP £32.99
• Folded Landscapes is the ambitious fourth studio album by groundbreaking Scottish composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Erland Cooper. Known for merging modern classical-electronic music with evocative storytelling and conceptual art, Erland shares his urgent observation on climate change, temperature and time. This poignant chamber string work figuratively and literally thaws over seven movements, unfolding with electronics, poetry, soprano, piano, harpsichord, field recordings (including the California wildfires and crashing glaciers) and samples. The work features Scottish Ensemble, UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and other voices including activist Greta Thunberg, multi-award winning conservationist Dara McNaulty and visual artist Norman Ackroyd.
• Note: The LP is initially available with a litho art print, exclusive to independent shops.

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  • Eilen Jewell  Get Behind the Wheel  CD £14.99 / LP £28.99
• hailed by American Songwriter as “one of America’s most intriguing, creative, and idiosyncratic voices,” Eilen Jewell rises from the ashes on her captivating new album, Get Behind the Wheel. On this album she is picking up the pieces of her shattered world and finding new purpose after watching her marriage, her band and what felt like her entire career fall apart in a series of heartbreaking implosions.

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  • Rodney Crowell  The Chicago Sessions  CD £13.99 / LP £30.99
• The Chicago Sessions is a throwback to Rodney Crowell’s early days of making records, but it’s no nostalgia trip. The songs here are vital and timely, touching on everything from love and mortality to race and religion, and the performances are nothing short of intoxicating, fuelled by raw guitars, honky-tonk piano and tight, punchy drums. Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy wields a light touch as a producer, his influence subtle yet unmistakable, and engineer Tom Schick’s mixes are dynamic and alive, alternately lush and spacious in all the right places with a spotlight fixed firmly on Crowell’s warm, weathered vocals throughout. Put it all together and you’ve got a masterful, cross-generational collaboration that manages to feel both fresh and familiar all at once: an incisive, engaging collection that balances careful craftsmanship with joyful liberation at every turn.
• Note: The LP is initially available on denim blue vinyl, exclusive to independent shops.

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  • Therapy?  Hard Cold Fire  CD £12.99 / LP £23.99
• As Therapy?’s fourth decade finally gets underway in earnest, they release their sixteenth album, Hard Cold Fire. The album was written and pre-produced during an unprecedented time for music, and it’s hefty, compact, and accessible. This is a distillation of everything that has made them what they are: hewn from County Antrim basalt, still possessed of their stoicism, but casting a renewed focus on catharsis and healing.
• Note: The LP is initially available on purple vinyl, exclusive to independent shops.

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  • The Smashing Pumpkins  ATUM  3-CD £12.99 / 4-LP £79.99
• ATUM is a rock opera in three acts by inimitable American rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. This is an epic interplanetary story set in the not-too-distant future, though the individual songs themselves stand on their own in the Pumpkins pantheon. This is the final installment in a concept album trilogy, which began with 1995’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and continued with 2000’s Machina / The Machines of God. The album features three original members of the band – Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin – as well as longtime guitarist Jeff Schroeder. Corgan had been developing the idea for the rock opera for years, and the pandemic gave him the time off the road to meticulously complete it in the grandiose way he had intended.

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  • Ed Sheeran  Subtract  CD £12.99 / Deluxe CD £14.99 / LP £30.99
• In Ed Sheeran’s own words, “I had been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be. Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art. Writing songs is my therapy. It helps me make sense of my feelings. I wrote without thought of what the songs would be, I just wrote whatever tumbled out. And in just over a week, I replaced a decade’s worth of work with my deepest darkest thoughts.”
• Note: The LP is initially available on yellow vinyl.

 

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