Releases from July–August 2024
Great albums from around the world
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Find releases from 2023.
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Jump to: 30 August | 23 August | 9 & 16 August 2024 | 2 August | 19 July | 12 July
Releases for 30 August 2024
The first of 30 August’s smashers comes from Wunderhorse, who capture the raw power and energy that has set them apart as one of the most formidable live acts of recent years with rugged hooks, unfiltered noise and fierce melodic sensitivity on Midas, which establishes the band as an addictive and rousing generational talent. By turns devotional, empowering and nurturing, Ritual is a 41-minute electronic symphony built by Jon Hopkins from cavernous subs, hypnotic drumming and transcendent melodic interplay that acts as the kinetic counterpart to his 2021 album Music for Psychedelic Therapy. Fathers & Sons is a poignant collection from country music superstar Luke Combs, recorded entirely live and featuring his most personal songwriting to date, as he reflects on the unique bond between parents and their children. Make It Right, the brand-new solo album from The Dream Syndicate’s Steve Wynn with notable guest artists, is released in tandem with his memoir and finds Wynn more vulnerable and reflective than has previously been heard. Amelia is an imagining by Laurie Anderson of what iconic early aviator Amelia Earhart might have been thinking about during her tragic last flight, a round-the-world voyage during which her plane disappeared without a trace and has never been found.
Our release of the week comes from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, who dance between convention and experimentation on Wild God, taking left turns and detours that heighten the rich imagery and emotion in Cave’s soul-stirring narratives. This is the sound of a group emboldened by reconnection and taking flight, and it’s deeply and joyously infectious. There are moments on the album that touch fondly on the Bad Seeds’ past but they are fleeting, and serve only to imbue the relentless and restless forward motion of the band.
- Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Wild God CD £11.99 / LP £24.99 / Limited edition LP £25.99
- Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds dance between convention and experimentation on Wild God, taking left turns and detours that heighten the rich imagery and emotion in Cave’s soul-stirring narratives. This is the sound of a group emboldened by reconnection and taking flight. There are moments on the album that touch fondly on the Bad Seeds’ past but they are fleeting, and serve only to imbue the relentless and restless forward motion of the band.
- “I hope the album has the effect on listeners that it’s had on me,” Cave says. “It bursts out of the speaker, and I get swept up with it. It’s a complicated record, but it’s also deeply and joyously infectious. There is never a masterplan when we make a record. The records rather reflect back the emotional state of the writers and musicians who played them. Listening to this, I don’t know, it seems we’re happy.”
- Note: The LP is initially available on limited-edition clear vinyl.
- Wunderhorse Midas CD £9.99 / Cassette £9.99 / LP £21.99
- “We want it to feel like you’re right there in the room with us.” And in 10 songs and 40 minutes, Wunderhorse capture the raw power and energy that has set them apart as one of the most formidable live acts of recent years. With rugged hooks, unfiltered noise and fierce melodic sensitivity, Midas rips up the script of traditional second albums and establishes the band as an addictive and rousing generational talent. The singles ‘Purple’ and ‘Leader of the Pack’ from their debut album, 2022’s Cub, dominated radio airwaves at the time. Landmark performances filling Glastonbury’s Woodsies Tent (fka The John Peel Stage) and selling out London’s Kentish Town Forum months in advance followed tours with Pixies and Fontaines D.C and stadium appearances with Sam Fender, signalling the band’s arrival as one of the most prominent and exciting new guitar acts in the UK.
- Jon Hopkins Ritual CD £11.99 / 2-LP £25.99 / Clear 2-LP £28.99
- By turns devotional, empowering and nurturing, Ritual is a 41-minute electronic symphony built by Jon Hopkins from cavernous subs, hypnotic drumming and transcendent melodic interplay. Tense, immersive and ultimately triumphant, it is a culmination of themes explored throughout his 22-year career, and acts as the kinetic counterpart to his 2021 album Music for Psychedelic Therapy. A single piece unfolding over eight chapters, Ritual is personified by depth and contrast. Taking ceremony, spiritual liberation and the hero’s journey as inspiration, it taps into an ancient and primal energy.
- Note: The LP is initially available on clear vinyl, exclusive to independent shops.
- Luke Combs Fathers & Sons CD £15.99 / LP £26.99
- Fathers & Sons is the new full-length album from country music superstar Luke Combs. It is a collection of 12 poignant tracks, recorded entirely live and featuring Luke’s most personal songwriting to date, on which he reflects on his own experiences of being a father to his two sons and the unique bond between parents and their children.
- Note: The LP is initially available on white vinyl.
- Steve Wynn Make It Right CD £14.99 / Limited edition LP £25.99
- Make It Right, the brand-new solo album from The Dream Syndicate’s Steve Wynn, is released in tandem with his memoir. It is a dialogue between memoirist and musician, and finds Wynn more vulnerable and reflective than has previously been heard. Make It Right features notable contributions from Mike Mills (R.E.M.), Vicki Peterson (The Bangles), Chris Schlarb (Psychic Temple), Emil Nikolaisen (Serena Maneesh), Linda Pitmon (The Baseball Project) among a cast of dozens.
- Note: The LP is initially available on limited-edition clear vinyl.
- Laurie Anderson Amelia CD £14.99 / LP £31.99
- Amelia is the first new album from 2024 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Laurie Anderson since 2018’s Landfall. The record comprises 22 tracks about renowned female aviator Amelia Earhart’s tragic last flight. Earhart was a passionate pioneer of early aviation, achieving fame in 1932 as the first woman to cross the Atlantic. Five years later, she embarked on a flight around the world. Before she completed the voyage her plane disappeared without a trace; it has never been found. “The words used in Amelia are inspired by her pilot diaries, the telegrams she wrote to her husband, and my idea of what a woman flying around the world might think about,” Anderson says. On the album, she is joined by the Czech orchestra Filharmonie Brno, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, plus Anohni, Gabriel Cabezas, Rob Moose, Ryan Kelly, Martha Mooke, Marc Ribot, Tony Scherr, Nadia Sirota and Kenny Wolleson.
Releases for 23 August 2024
The first of 23 August’s bangers is Whirlwind, a daringly honest look into multi-platinum Grammy award-winning country-music artist Lainey Wilson’s life and journey through Nashville. In The Band Geeks, iconic vocalist Jon Anderson found a group of musicians that could collaborate with him to create a body of work that rivalled the classic Yes sound, and True is the result of this collaboration. The Moon and The Melodies, the collaboration between Cocteau Twins and ambient pioneer Harold Budd, is being reissued on vinyl for the first time – remastered, from the original tapes, by Robin Guthrie himself. Neigh!! is an album of ‘songs that won’t fit on an album’ – tunes that never quite came together for Motorpsycho until now: songs that the band are proud to be able, finally, to present to the world. And Tokyo-based noise-rockers Melt-Banana meld elements of a variety of extreme music on 3+5: hyper-pop, classic punk, vintage metal and noise, with nods to the Japanese subcultures of gaming, anime and underground music.
Our release of the week is Romance, which is without doubt the most assured, inventive and sonically adventurous record yet from Fontaines D.C, who have broadened their sonic world to accommodate grungier breaks, dystopian electronica, hip-hop percussion and dreamy Slowdive-esque textures that may surprise fans.
- Fontaines D.C Romance CD £ 11.99 / Cassette £ 11.99 / LP £ 23.99 / Independent shops exclusive pink LP £24.99
- Romance is without doubt the most assured, inventive and sonically adventurous record yet from Fontaines D.C. The Dublin-made, now London-based band, who bared their teeth in early records with antagonistic punk sensibilities, now accommodate grungier breaks, dystopian electronica, hip-hop percussion and dreamy Slowdive-esque textures that may surprise fans. The shoegaze touchpoints first pressed on Skinty Fia unfold on Romance like a purpling bruise. Reflecting on the impending release, vocalist Grian Chatten says, “We say things on this record we’ve wanted to say for a long time. I never feel like it’s over, but it’s nice to feel lighter.” The fantasy is felt for better or worse, and Fontaines D.C welcome either end of oblivion.
- Note: The LP is initially available on clear vinyl, and there is also a pink-vinyl exclusive to independent shops.
- Lainey Wilson Whirlwind CD £ 14.99 / Limited edition LP £34.99
- Multi-platinum Grammy award-winning artist Lainey Wilson delivers Whirlwind, a daringly honest look into the singer’s life and journey through Nashville. The 14-track album, which was produced by Jay Joyce, follows on the heels of seven Country Music Association awards, including Entertainer of The Year, six Academy of Country Music awards and a Grammy for Best Country Album.
- Note: The LP is initially available on limited-edition tan vinyl.
- Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks True CD £17.99 / 2-LP £34.99
- In connecting with The Band Geeks in New York in 2023, iconic vocalist Jon Anderson found a group of musicians that he felt could collaborate with him to create a body of work that rivalled the classic Yes sound of the ’70s and ’80s. The result of this collaboration is Jon’s new 9-song album, True, which features compositions of all lengths, with the centrepiece being the 16-minute ‘Once Upon a Dream’.
- Cocteau Twins & Harold Budd The Moon and The Melodies CD £11.99 / LP £23.99
- Almost forty years after it was initially released, The Moon and The Melodies by Cocteau Twins and Harold Budd is being reissued on vinyl for the first time – remastered, from the original tapes, by Robin Guthrie himself. The Moon and the Melodies is a singular record within the Cocteau Twins’ catalogue – unusually ethereal, even by their standards, and largely instrumental, guided by the free-form improvisations of Harold Budd, an ambient pioneer who had drifted into their orbit as if by divine intervention. Building on the atmospheric bliss of Victorialand, released earlier the same year, it signalled a possible future for the trio, yet it was a path they’d never take again.
- Motorpsycho Neigh!! LP £32.99
- Neigh!! is an album of ‘songs that won’t fit on an album’ – the non-concept of all concepts – a home for strays and runaways perhaps, but more importantly a bunch of tunes Motorpsycho are finally happy with, that found their purpose and now have a home: songs that the band are proud to be able, finally, to present to the world. Some songs just don’t seem to fit in, seemingly insisting on remaining outside your control no matter how many stylistic or production tricks you try to pull. Usually such songs eventually fall by the wayside, are left behind or butchered for parts a few years later. But sometimes quite a few of them show up at the door, at the same time, unruly and ready to shake things up a bit. Sometimes there is trouble.
- Note: The LP is initially available on ‘tin type’ splatter vinyl.
- Melt-Banana 3+5 CD £15.99 / Limited edition LP £32.99
- 3+5, the long-awaited eighth album from Tokyo-based noise-rockers Melt-Banana, showcases the duo’s visionary musical approach and extraordinary abilities as performers: Yasuko Onuki’s giddy, hyperactive vocalising and Ichiro Agata’s glitchy cyberpunk guitar, delivered at dizzying speed, bathed in aggressive electronic sounds. Their aesthetic approach is exultantly experimental, fusing diverse genres imbued with chaotic energy. As on their previous works, the music on 3+5 is unpredictable, always filled with surprises and excitement. 3+5 synthesises elements of a variety of extreme music, hyper-pop, classic punk, vintage metal and noise. It partakes of Japanese culture overall, especially the subcultures of gaming, anime and underground music.
- Note: The LP is initially available on limited-edition silver vinyl.
Releases for 9 & 16 August 2024
Our first pick of the best releases for 9 & 16 August comes from Morgan Wade, who found new songs just pouring out after a period of relentless touring and intense media scrutiny, and Obsessed (16 Aug) is a solo-written, stripped-down 14-track collection that showcases Wade at her rawest and most vulnerable. After two guitar- and keyboard-centric albums, Sorcs 80 (9 Aug) was created by Osees by basing the tracks on drum loops and resulting in what is essential a percussion record, with no guitar, no keys. Beneath the Neon Glow (9 Aug) is an exploration by Elles Bailey of love’s myriad forms: full of beautifully uplifting melodies and instrumentation, this record captures the essence of all the shades of love that have shaped Bailey’s life. HiFi Sean & David McAlmont’s exhilarating new album, Daylight, celebrates, expresses and explores the colours and feel of summer, with a sister album, Twilight, to be released on the first day of winter. Flight b741 (9 Aug) is the most bonhomie-laden set that King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have yet committed to wax, tapping into the ’70s American rock on which they were all raised, along with the ornery garage-rock roots from which their mighty discography sprang.
Our release of the week is Long Way Home (16 Aug), whose core reverberates deep into Ray LaMontagne’s youth, taking inspiration from a line he heard Townes Van Zandt sing live in a small club in Minneapolis when Ray was 21 years old, and the line “When here you been is good and gone, all you keep is the getting there” has stuck with him ever since.
- Ray Lamontagne Long Way Home CD £14.99 / LP £24.99
- 16 August: The core of Long Way Home reverberates deep into Ray LaMontagne’s youth – at 21 years old, he recalls seeing Townes Van Zandt perform live in a small club in Minneapolis. A line from Van Zandt’s song ‘To Live Is to Fly’ has stuck with him ever since: “When here you been is good and gone, all you keep is the getting there.” LaMontagne reflects: “Thirty years later it occurs to me that every song on Long Way Home is in one way or another honouring the journey. The languorous days of youth and innocence. The countless battles of adulthood: some won, more often lost. It’s been a long hard road, and I wouldn’t change a minute. It took me nine songs to express what Townes managed to say in one line. I guess I still got a lot to learn.”
- Note: The LP is initially available on eruption red vinyl, exclusive to independent shops.
- Morgan Wade Obsessed CD £14.99 / 2-LP £36.99
- 16 August: Morgan Wade was feeling the urge to simplify after a period of relentless touring and intense media scrutiny during the last couple of years. Every time she sat down with her guitar, new songs just started pouring out. “They were just coming to me left and right,” she says. The Virginia-born singer-songwriter made a choice to return to the basics for her new album, Obsessed: a solo-written, stripped-down 14-track collection produced by her touring guitarist Clint Wells that showcases Wade at her rawest and most vulnerable. “I really wanted to get back to doing what I used to do,” she says. “Just make this whatever I wanted it to be.”
- Osees Sorcs 80 CD £15.99 / LP £32.99 / Independent shops exclusive LP £34.99
- 9 August: Sorcs 80 was a self-imposed ambitious project for Osees. Something to kick in the creative flow. The last few years, having been a challenging time in general, felt like a good time for a pivot. The band’s last two albums were so guitar- and keyboard-centric, they wanted a weird and fun set of parameters to work with. They first demo’d everything at home on 4-track cassette using drum loops until the had a pile of “songs”, then chose one sound each using synths and created a range of 3 octaves of that sample, then loaded them into Roland SPD-SX samplers and learned the transcribed songs using drum sticks. The idea was to change the way they wrote and to have 4 people along the front of the stage essentially playing percussion. So no guitar, no keys.
- Note: The LP is initially available on Coke-bottle clear vinyl, exclusive to independent shops.
- Elles Bailey Beneath the Neon Glow CD £14.99 / Deluxe CD £16.99 / LP £24.99
- 9 August: Elles Bailey’s forthcoming album, Beneath the Neon Glow, is an exploration of love’s myriad forms. Through lyrically vulnerable and brutally honest songwriting, she delves into the depths of heartbreak, the resilience of friendship and the enduring power of love that spans a lifetime. With beautifully uplifting melodies and instrumentation, this record captures the essence of all the shades of love that have shaped Bailey’s life. From the fleeting moments to the love that withstands the test of time, she fearlessly navigates through the spectrum of human emotion, offering listeners an intimate glimpse into her journey.
- Note: The LP is initially available on orange vinyl, exclusive to independent shops.
- HiFi Sean & David McAlmont Daylight CD £14.99 / LP £26.99 / Limited edition LP + Flexi-disc £36.99
- 16 August: HiFi Sean & David McAlmont are taking you on a journey for 2024. The twelve exhilarating songs on Daylight celebrate, express and explore the colours and feel of summer. It will be the first of two albums from the duo in 2024 with the nocturnal sister album, Twilight, to be released on the first day of winter, 1st December.
- Note: The LP is initially available on limited-edition neon-orange vinyl with a bonus flexi-disc.
- King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Flight B741 LP £38.99
- 9 August: For their 26th album, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard swap the widescreen concepts of their recent albums for the intimacy of six good friends collaborating on the most bonhomie-laden set they’ve yet committed to wax. For Flight b741, bandleader Stu Mackenzie says that King Gizzard wanted to make something that was primal, instinctual, more ‘from the gut’ – just people in a room, doing what feels right. Tapping into the country-fied ’70s American rock on which they were all raised – along with the ornery garage-rock roots from which their mighty discography sprang – Flight b741 is lightning caught inside a bottle. Across its 10 ragged, glorious barnburners, King Gizzard flesh out rough skeletons of songs with their inspired improvisations, inimitable grooves and a unique pass-the-mic approach to vocals that saw every member of the band raise their voice and sing. “We’re having a lot of fun, but we’re often singing about some pretty heavy shit,” Mackenzie adds, “and probably hitting on some deeper, more universal themes than usual. It’s not a sci-fi record, it’s about life and stuff. But the record is like a really fun weekend with your mates, you know? Like, proper fun.”
Releases for 2 August 2024
First out of the box on 2 August is the self-titled debut from supergroup 86TVs – comprising members of Maccabees and Stereophonic – on which joy and escapism spark from every moment on songs that span the spectrum from ragged post-punk to skeletal introspection.American Aquarium have pushed towards a form of rock-and-roll that’s revelatory in every sense, and on The Fear of Standing Still they embody that dynamic with more intensity than ever before, piling on plenty of explosive riffs and hard-charging rhythms, bringing a visceral energy to the most nuanced and poetic of lyrics. Heaven Born and Ever Bright, the third studio album by revered cult British rock band Cardiacs, blends art rock, progressive rock, art punk, post-punk, jazz, psychedelia and heavy metal (as well as elements of circus, baroque pop, medieval music, nursery rhymes and sea shanties). Blues Pills’ fourth studio album, Birthday, is marked by lead singer Elin Larsson’s journey to motherhood, infusing the music with profound emotion along with the band’s raw energy and magnetic charisma in its purest and most honest form. Personal Trainer returns re-energised with Still Willing, a multi-faceted album of shining contrasts and spry melodies, bursting arrangements and subliminal sounds, playful lyrics and self-reflection: in short, a pop album executed with dynamism, vim and charm.
Our release of the week is a very special album, Live at Orangefield from the legendary Van Morrison. It is a celebration of his formative years, giving us vivid access to his past as he returned to perform three shows as a fond farewell to his alma mater as it prepared to close its doors for the final time.
- Van Morrison Live at Orangefield CD £12.99 / 2-LP £31.99
- “When I was a young boy back in Orangefield, I used to look out my classroom window and dream.” The very special album Live at Orangefield is a celebration of Van Morrison’s formative years, giving us vivid access to his past. But it’s much more than that. The energy and drive, the poetic reinvention Morrison brings to his recollections stand out against the ravages of time. His is a voice of exhilaration and dance as well as poignancy and romance. In August 2014, Van Morrison returned to perform three shows as a fond farewell to his alma mater as it prepared to close its doors for the final time.
- 86TVs 86TVs CD £11.99 / LP £26.99
- 86TVs – a supergroup comprising Maccabees alumni Hugo and Felix White, their brother Will White and drummer Jamie Morrison of Stereophonics – is the sound of a band with nothing to prove, yet conversely with everything to prove, if only to themselves. For if you’ve done it all – topping charts, selling out multiple nights at Alexandra Palace, headlining festivals, winning awards – you really need to believe in what you’re doing to commit to starting all over again from scratch. Joy and escapism spark from every moment, from the rousing yet tender four-way vocal harmonies to songs that span the spectrum from ragged post-punk to skeletal introspection. An exciting new era is rapidly gathering momentum.
- Note: The LP is initially available on goldd vinyl in a sleeve with alternate artwork, exclusive to independent shops.
- American Aquarium The Fear of Standing Still CD £14.99 / LP £24.99
- For nearly two decades, American Aquarium have pushed towards that rare form of rock-and-roll that’s revelatory in every sense. On The Fear of Standing Still, they embody that dynamic with more intensity than ever before, endlessly matching their gritty breed of country-rock with JB Barham’s bravest and most incisive songwriting to date. His lyrics reflect on matters both personal and sociocultural: the complexity of Southern identity, the intersection of generational trauma and the dismantling of reproductive rights. In a departure from the stripped-down subtlety of 2022’s Chicamacomico, a largely acoustic rumination on grief, the band’s tenth studio album piles on plenty of explosive riffs and hard-charging rhythms, bringing a visceral energy to the most nuanced and poetic of lyrics.
- Note: The LP is initially available on blue vinyl, exclusive to independent shops.
- Cardiacs Heaven Born and Ever Bright CD £15.99 / LP £29.99
- Heaven Born and Ever Bright is the third studio album by British rock band Cardiacs, originally released in 1992 – just before the label, Rough Trade, went bust. It was produced by band-leader Tim Smith, engineered by David Murder and mixed by both. Cardiacs were one of Britain’s leading cult rock bands, and their sound folded in genres including art rock, progressive rock, art punk, post-punk, jazz, psychedelia and heavy metal (as well as elements of circus, baroque pop, medieval music, nursery rhymes and sea shanties), all of which was topped by Smith’s anarchic vocals and impressionistic lyrics.
- Note: The LP is initially available on violet vinyl.
- Blues Pills Birthday CD £14.99 / LP £24.99 / White LP £26.99
- Blues Pills unveil their fourth studio album, Birthday, which was being recorded at the time lead singer Elin Larsson discovered she was pregnant and which is marked by her journey to motherhood, infusing the music with profound emotion. Written in just a few weeks in Sweden’s serene countryside and produced by Grammy-nominated Freddy Alexander, the album captures Blues Pills’ raw energy and magnetic charisma in its purest and most honest form. Birthday symbolises not just a musical evolution but also the deep bond between bandmates, evident in their unwavering support for Elin during this transformative time.
- Note: The LP is initially available on bone white vinyl, exclusive to physical record shops.
- Personal Trainer Still Willing CD £11.99 / LP £23.99
- Essentially the project of Willem Smit (working with co-producer and collaborator Casper van der Lans) on record and as a live band, Personal Trainer showed a facility for blending DIY indie-pop exuberance with experiment on their 2022 debut, Big Love Blanket. Now signed to Bella Union, Willem returns re-energised with Still Willing, a multi-faceted album of shining contrasts and spry melodies, bursting arrangements and subliminal sounds, playful lyrics and self-reflection: in short, a pop album executed with dynamism, vim and charm.
Releases for 19 July 2024
The first of 19 July’s smashers is Back Catalogue, which collects the early EPs and singles by Sprints, whose music is honest, often politically charged and authentic. Vertigo – that pit-of-your-stomach, up-is-down sense that the world is spinning faster than you can keep up with – is explored by on her new album by Griff, British pop’s most modern, exciting voice. Guts (Spilled) is an extremely limited-edition deluxe vinyl version of Olivia Rodrigo’s latest album featuring brand-new artwork and 5 extra tracks, including brand-new track ‘So American’. English Teacher’s EP Polyawkward was listed in NME’s 100 best debut EPs, with the magazine describing it as a “playful yet polished” release that “sees fury and fun overlap”. And, last but definitely not least, Duran Duran’s first five studio albums – stone-cold classics, every one – get a loving reissue on CD and LP, from their self-titled 1981 debut to 1988’s Big Thing.
Our release of the week is Alternative Live, a fourteen-song double live LP pulled from the super-deluxe reissue of Fleetwood Mac’s classic 1979 album Tusk, including seven songs from the Tusk tour, four from the 1977 Rumours tour and three from the 1982 Mirage tour.
- Fleetwood Mac Alternative Live
- Alternative Live is a fourteen-song double live LP pulled from the super-deluxe reissue of Fleetwood Mac’s classic 1979 album Tusk, including seven songs from the Tusk tour, four from the 1977 Rumours tour and three from the 1982 Mirage tour. This special 2-LP is now available again following a very limited Record Store Day release in 2021.
- Sprints The Back Catalogue
- Driven by experience, tough political climates and social and economic uncertainty, Sprints’ music is honest, often politically charged and authentic. Back Catalogue collects the band’s early work together for the first time.
- Their 2020 debut single The Cheek won them early support from BBC 6music legend Steve Lamacq, DIY and NME among others.
- 2021’s Manifesto EP saw the band develop sonically and politically, with the title song quickly becoming a fan favourite. This marked the beginning of a fruitful working relationship with Gilla Band’s Daniel Fox as producer.
- 2022‘s A Modern Job EP received critical acclaim, including widespread radio and streaming playlisting for lead single ‘How Does The Story Go?’
- Back Catalogue marks the end of one vital, visceral chapter in the Sprints story and the beginning of the next, marked by the release of their debut album. Charting the rise of the band from their formation in 2019 to the present day, it takes listeners on a journey through the highs and lows of elation to anxiety at trademark breakneck speed.
- Griff Vertigo
- Vertigo: that pit-of-your-stomach, up-is-down sense that the world is spinning faster than you can keep up with, and your own place in it has never felt less secure. It’s a journey of self-discovery that Griff has taken fans on in real time over the three volumes of her landmark project, weaving songs that resonated with the Vertigo arc into work that moves through melancholy and heartache into healing and joy. A coming-of-age album shaped for complex times, Vertigo witnesses Griff scaling new creative heights without compromising the hand-stitched, home-made magic that first marked her out as British pop’s most modern, exciting voice.
- Olivia Rodrigo Guts (Spilled)
- 3-time Grammy-winning artist Olivia Rodrigo reissues Guts (Spilled) on extremely limited-edition deluxe vinyl housed in a gatefold jacket, featuring brand-new artwork and 5 extra tracks, including brand-new track ‘So American’. This special edition is the only pressing featuring the full collection of Guts songs. Guts was recorded with producer Daniel Nigro, who also collaborated with Olivia on Sour, her chart-topping, 4x platinum debut album. “For me, this album is about growing pains and about trying to figure out who I am at this point in my life and exactly what I want to say in my songs.”
- English Teacher Polyawkward
- English Teacher, who formed in Leeds in 2020, consist of vocalist Lily Fontaine, guitarist Lewis Whiting, drummer Douglas Frost and bassist Nicholas Eden. The band appeared on Later… with Jools Holland in November 2023. Their song ‘Nearly Daffodils’ was named one of the 10 best songs of 2023 by Time magazine, and their debut album This Could Be Texas is set to debut in the Top 10 of the UK Charts. The band’s first extended play, Polyawkward, was released 22 April 2022 and was listed in NME’s 100 best debut EPs, with the magazine describing it as a “playful yet polished” release that “sees fury and fun overlap”.
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- Duran Duran Classic Reissues
- Duran Duran CD £10.99 / LP £29.99
Releases for 12 July 2024
First out of the blocks on 12 July is Sturgill Simpson, who makes his long-awaited return to music with Passage du Desir, released under the name Johnny Blue Skies. London-based English-Brazilian singer-songwriter Liana Flores is influenced by bossa nova, ’60s British folk and the Romantic poets, and she opens a window to the sublime in the everyday with simplicity, emotional candour and the rhythms of the seasons on Flower of the Soul. Filled with raw, imagistic, sometimes smutty vignettes set to entrancing, slow-burn pop songs, Cigarettes After Sex’s latest album, X’s, captures every emotion inspired by the romantic arc of a four-year relationship. More than just another ‘unreleased recording’, Louis In London captures the last great performance by perhaps the most influential American musician of all time, featuring some of the most inspired singing and trumpet playing of Louis Armstrong’s career. Kiasmos – Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds and Faroese musician Janus Rasmussen – return with II, the triumphant follow-up to their universally acclaimed 2014 debut, this time weaving traditional Balinese percussion and field recordings of their natural surroundings into their majestic soundscapes.
Our release of the week is the original score composed by Thom Yorke for the Italian drama film Confidenza by Daniele Luchetti, based on Domenico Starnone’s novel of the same name and produced by Sam Petts-Davies, with contributions from the London Contemporary Orchestra alongside a jazz ensemble including Robert Stillman and fellow Smile bandmate Tom Skinner.
- Thom Yorke Confidenza OST
- Confidenza is an original score composed by Thom Yorke for the Italian drama film by Daniele Luchetti, based on Domenico Starnone’s novel of the same name. Yorke’s previous full-length score and original soundtrack, for Luca Guadagnino’s 2018 remake of the giallo classic Suspiria, received a Grammy nomination. Confidenza was produced by Sam Petts-Davies (who also worked with Yorke on Suspiria and The Smile’s Wall of Eyes), and sees Yorke and Petts-Davies working again with the London Contemporary Orchestra alongside a jazz ensemble including Robert Stillman and fellow Smile bandmate Tom Skinner.
- Johnny Blue Skies (Sturgill Simpson) Passage du Desir
- Sturgill Simpson makes his long-awaited return to music this year with an extensive tour along with a new album. The album is being released under the name Johnny Blue Skies, after Simpson promised to release only five studio albums under his own name. Passage du Desir is being released on his own independent label, High Top Mountain Records, and includes eight songs co-produced by David Ferguson and recorded at Clement House Recording Studio in Nashville and Abbey Road Studios in London.
- Liana Flores Flower of the Soul
- Liana Flores is a London-based English-Brazilian singer-songwriter influenced by bossa nova, ’60s British folk and the Romantic poets. With her music, which calls to mind artists from Nick Drake and Astrud Gilberto to contemporaries like Laufey and Faye Webster, Liana aims to open a window to the sublime in the everyday with simplicity, emotional candour and the rhythms of the seasons – inviting each listener into what she describes as a “fantastical realm”. Liana’s debut album, Flower of the Soul, is an 11-track collection of vignettes that illustrate co-existent playfulness and sincerity, the suggestion of ephemerality and the consonance of soul and soil.
- Cigarettes After Sex X’s
- Filled with raw, imagistic, sometimes smutty vignettes set to entrancing, slow-burn pop songs, Cigarettes After Sex’s latest album, X’s, captures every emotion a romantic arc inspires. But where previous albums have drawn from an amalgam of relationships, X’s focuses for the most part on just one relationship that spanned four years. “The record feels brutal,” admits bandleader Greg Gonzalez. “I could sit and talk about this loss to someone, but that wouldn’t scratch the surface. I have to really write about it, sing about it, have the music, and then I can start to analyse and learn from it. Or just relive it – in a good way. I don’t have that Eternal Sunshine-thing of wanting to forget.”
- Louis Armstrong Louis in London
- More than just another ‘unreleased recording’, Louis In London captures the last great performance by perhaps the most influential American musician of all time. Louis Armstrong affixed a note to his personal copy of the tapes on which he wrote ‘FOR THE FANS’. Therein is our mandate, our privilege and our collective charge: to share Louis’s message and these recordings with the world. Louis’s music has the widest global appeal and the audio release is supported by live video footage of every track, capturing some of the most inspired singing and trumpet playing of Louis’s career.
- Kiasmos II
- Kiasmos – Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds and Faroese musician Janus Rasmussen – return, renewed and restored, with II, the triumphant follow-up to their universally acclaimed self-titled 2014 debut, which re-envisioned minimal techno with orchestral flourishes and weightless production. They made most of that first album in just two weeks; this time it’s been 10 years. The making of II was a test of their friendship, but also testament to how great musical chemistry can always go the distance and be just the same as it ever was. They did a lot of the work on II during the lost year of 2020–21, including a trip to Ólafur’s studio in Bali. The pair sampled traditional Balinese percussion like the gamelan and incorporated Janus’s field recordings of their natural surroundings – the sound of birds, crickets and, on standout track ‘Dazed’, echoing the sunrise over the lush landscape.
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