It’s July’s first new release offering and we’re an embarrassment of riches.
Hello, Friends.
It’s a really full week and we’re starting off with three absolutely amazing vocal performances.
Epic return number one is I Inside the Old Year Dying, the new studio LP from PJ Harvey. Much like everything she has put her name to, her tenth LP is absolutely fantastic. There is a stately quality to the album without sounding dull or overly grandiose. Vocally she has again changed in timbre and her delivery is full of an unforced confidence. We put it on last night and just kept turning it over and over, it's entirely different to anything she has ever released, but also so unmistakingly her, too. A generational talent, we’re thrilled about getting to know this one.
+ We have some really lush posters to give away in the shop.
The Greater Wings is a very welcome return from Julie Byrne and her first new LP in partnership with the Ghostly International label. The production sweeps and bubbles, but never overcrowding or taking space away from Julie's voice which sounds especially incredible and very much leads the album. There is sedate quality and the pacing throughout is pensive, but as an album it is spiritually uplifting without ever feeling overly sad. This one is going to be another one that we really spend time with.
+ Available on exclusive Sky Blue colour vinyl.
+ LP orders will include a fold out A3 poster.
Epic return number two is My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross, a first new studio album in seven years from ANOHNI and the Johnsons. Again, her voice sounds just amazing. A rich whispered timbre that explodes into yearning and emotionally rich wails. Dramatic without feeling overjacked and there is a gorgeous soul energy to much of the tracks too, a really wonderful counterweight to her voice. Hugely impressive stuff, this. Record of the Week.
+ Available on a limited White colour vinyl pressing.
+ Available on a 180g Black vinyl pressing.
+ We have posters to give away in the shop.
+ We have enamel pins to give away with all orders.
A title too long to tweet (does anyone tweet or is Threads the new vernacular?), the mighty King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard return with… PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation. It’s their most overtly thrash-metal routed LP to date (and what are we saying, album no.24?) and if that doesn’t sound like you, this just will not appeal. But, if you are up for a genuine thrasher, this is relentless and hugely gratifying. It’s way more than metal cosplay, there is a real density to the arrangements and they have genuinely taken up the challenge and gone somewhere.
+ Available on double ‘Lucky Rainbow’ colour vinyl.
+ The photo is indicative of what OUR copy looked like, yours might be totally different so be cool about it.
Soul Jazz are bringing the hauntology this week with the fantastic new Telepathic Heights LP from James McKeown as Hawksmoor. Created strictly using modular synths (Moog Sub37), electronic drum rhythms and guitars, there is a richly analogue tone that places this one right back in the German 1970’s, but his use of space and the way he builds each track gives it a contemporary experimentalism energy too. Very easy to get lost in.
Crowd Can Talk/Dressed In Trenches compiles together two EPs from Chicago-based punk trio Lifeguard and it’s really, really good. It’s very hard to find any space at all in post/punk, but they bring tense and neurotic riffing with a little bit of antipodean jangle. Ones very much to watch.
Swedish 4-piece Little Dragon return on Ninja Tune with the big avant-poppin’ Slugs Of Love. Loads of different electronic tones and it all grooves really nicely around Yukimi Nagano’s distinctive vocals.
+ Available on an exclusive ‘Clear Splatter’ colour vinyl pressing.
A Trip to Bolgatanga is the first album in twelve years from African Head Charge, the legendary collaboration between master percussionist Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah and producer Adrian Sherwood. Rich in dub, it’s a pastoral return that floats evocatively.
+ Available on Glow in the Dark colour vinyl.
Proper sonic explorations on Eternally Frozen, a series of canon based compositions for brass ensemble, percussion and synthesiser by Andrea Belfi. Slow and methodical without sounding too metronomic; it’s a real vibe.
+ Pressed on Transparent colour vinyl with a gorgeous custom metallic paper sleeve.
Also this week;
Penguin Cafe return on Erased Tapes with the elegant Rain Before Seven… We have a limited Clear vinyl pressing and will be including free slip matts with LP orders. 33 Tours Et Puis S'en Vont is the new dancefloor-focussed solo LP from French icon Laurent Garnier. We have unexpectedly ended up with just a few more copies of Unloved’s Killing Eve'r "Ode To The Lovers". They absolutely flew out on pre order, so don’t miss this.
Lastly this week, Angels & Queens is the full debut LP from Gabriels and it is pretty astonishing stuff. The trio (who in just coming together and making/releasing music was quite the story) have taken the cinematic soul of the first part of their debut and have brought in an ambitious and soulful 21-st century take on gospel. Jacob Lusk’s vocals are really quite astonishing, but this is very much a trio record and it’s them working in harmony that makes it really stand out. Expect this to be everywhere, it’s that good.
+ Available on limited and exclusive Silver colour vinyl.
Compilations and reissues are also plentiful this week, with; Gal Costa, Gwenno, Karen Dalton, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Joni Mitchell and the Nick Drake “The Endless Coloured Ways” compilation. Be sure to tune in Monday.
- Drift
