Post-rock maestros Caspian are "playing their hearts out and coming out with so many gorgeous melodies and suspenseful build-ups" on their latest album, Brooklyn Vegan says. 'On Circles' is "just a great collection of songs, and there’s a nice amount of diversity too" with "some of the instrumental tracks on this album... among the most devastating in Caspian’s discography". Or, as guitarist/keyboardist Philip Jamieson says - "we just made an album for the simple sake of making music".
Canadian singer-songwriter's new album is actually a concept album, standing on the shoulders of one storyline - "Our nameless protagonist meets his buddy Charlie at their neighborhood bar the Skyline, where a bartender named Rose serves them their usual drinks. Upon learning that his ex-girlfriend Judy is back in town, he flashes back to key scenes from their relationship. Eventually, he bumps into her, runs the gamut of emotions, and comes to terms with the passage of years". Stereogum says Andy Shauf's "greatest talent is as an arranger, building out his guitar and piano foundations with an array of carefully placed sounds, seasoning his folksy soft-rock with touches of jazz, country, and chamber-pop".
The third album by the Atlanta quartet was released last week, and critics like it a lot: "The music is as electrifying, unpredictable and chaotic as ever" - the Guardian said, adding how the band enriched their gothic gospel funk with the "right balance of doomy melodrama, metallic Motown and floor-pounding post-punk". AllMusic says the album is "so emotionally charged, it leaves the listener breathless and exhausted, as well as compelled and excited", and Music OMH wrote that "'There Is No Year' reveals subtleties amidst the powerful energy with each play".
"When it comes to doom, I expect gigantic music — not just in sound or sheer weight, though, but in that more indescriptible room-filling, head-invigorating way... Also important is the element of beauty, because what’s more beautiful than tragedy?" - Invisible Oranges wrote in expectation of the new album by UK doom band Garganjua. "This is emotive, almost uplifting music for total devastation".
"They’re one of the rare groups that have no need to push their sound in dramatically new directions; what they make is already so elementally good" - Stereogum says about the new album 'See You Tomorrow' by the indie folk band The Innocence Mission. Their music is "wonderfully organic... spectral and ruminative... breathtakingly intimate and delicate".
"And while Twin Limb seem rooted in a very warm, traditional style of dream-pop... it's not so much the sound of a band at home with an old sound; rather, they're committed to a genre" - PopMatters says in a review of dream-pop's trio new album. Two qualities stand out on this album - "tuneful, […]
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"It’s the same winning mix of grime bangers and radio friendly singing as last time, but, crucially, it’s better at making sure they work together on the same project" - Clash Music says in review of grime star Stormzy's new album 'Heavy is the Head'. Alexis Petridis chose it as his latest Album of the week, […]
The first name in dubstep, reclusive London artist Burial has compiled his highlights from nine-year stretch into 17 tracks over two discs, resulting in "the most immersive Burial experience to date". Stereogum hears it as the best album this week - "a vast collection of music that proves a tour de force doesn’t have to […]
The Quietus is in ecstasy over new album 'Girl' by the North London girl gang - "ride-or-die friendships with other women are the most violently joyful relationships I have experienced in my life. To have this celebrated in music - girl friendship as comradeship; all-hours availability for advice; binning men who try to fuck with the […]
