New month, new releases, new directions and the same old Drift providing the racking.
Love in Constant Spectacle is the otherworldly return of Jane Weaver and she sounds absolutely incendiary. There is a lot of intimacy; a tranquillity without lacking drive and a subdued calm that certainly doesn’t lack ideas. The album beautifully recaptures the folk melancholy of her early releases and also the psychedelic adventuring of her last few sets. The motoriks still sparkle and the synths ooze and fuzz, it’s gorgeous stuff. Record of the Week.
+ Available as an indies-only deluxe Cold foil Gold effect sleeve. Spot UV Gloss & “Reverse Die cut” sleeve.
Texan trio Khruangbin are very much back this week with their fourth studio album, A La Sala (“To the Room” in Spanish). There is a stately elegance about it all without ever sounding stuffy as they paint sun-scorched instrumental panoramas. It’s at its most engaging when the riffs get really knotty, but they remain rare talents at setting out a groove.
+ Available on exclusive Gold colour vinyl + alternative sleeve
+ Available on limited ‘Soleil’ colour vinyl + alternative sleeve
Created in California’s Yucca Valley, The Sunset Violent marks the return of electronic duo Mount Kimbie. And that is the first thing to note: this isn’t especially electronic. In fact if this was a debut album or presented otherwise mysteriously, no one would attach the electronic genre at all, this all feels very band led, with a multitude of tempos and more layers of shoegaze than computerised clicks and pops. The swimming production creates a hazy vibe, really sounding fantastic wrapped around King Krule’s laconic guest vocals. Weirdly familiar throughout and compositionally rich. Loads to discover and a right cracker.
+ Available on limited Orange colour vinyl.
+ Available on Black vinyl with a signed print.
This week sees the release of Gustaf’s excellent Package Pt. 2, our April 2024 Record of the Month. It really has us on a hook, a proper trip through the sounds of NYC. A banger!
+ Read more and check out some videos, here.
+ Shop the Emerald Green colour vinyl, here.
Fabiana Palladino releases her hotly anticipated, self-titled, debut album this week on Paul Institute / XL Recordings. Self-produced and intimate, it is very much about Fabiana, but the collaborative aspects keep this one bubbling. Paul Institute co-founder Jai Paul is involved, plus a double family bass affair with her father the legendary session bassist Pino Palladino and brother (Yussef Dayes’ bassist) Rocco Palladino.
+ Available on Transparent Red colour vinyl.
+ The LP includes a signed print whilst stocks last.
We have some much-anticipated returns this week as part of the new release offering. Only God Was Above Us is the fifth album from NYC rock band Vampire Weekend and it is really accomplished stuff. Contemporary pop hues with intimacy, some great hooks and lots of weird charm too, it’s an easy one to like! Matthew Houck returns as Phosphorescent with the all new Revelator. Swooning, cinematic and all about that voice. Ohio Players is the twelfth studio album from Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney as The Black Keys. Loads of guest appearances and plenty of great rock and roll soul vibes. Lastly, All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade is the first album in nine years from The Libertines.
We have limited and exclusive editions available on all of those releases too!
MOBO winning punk-grime duo Bob Vylan return with Humble As The Sun. It’s really charged stuff, but it actually comes from a pretty joyous place with indie rock crunch and bass culture beats framing Bobby’s rich baritone.
Also this week; Duo Still Corners release the quietly wistful Dream Talk. Filmic warbles, it’s got a haze about it for sure. David MacGregor returns as Broken Charter on Chemikal Underground with the bristling and characterful Chorus of Doubt. Ramona is the lavish new LP from Australian singer/songwriter Grace Cummings. She produced it with Jonathan Wilson and it really does have a lot going on.
Lastly this week, Angeltape is the excellent new LP from Leeds-based experimentalists Drahla. It is such an interesting mix of chaotic and tightly controlled music, with layers of art-rock riffs flying around and Luciel Brown’s vocal as a sedate centerpoint. When the saxophones start to scronk, this one really goes somewhere special. Frenetic, deliberate and ever propulsive. A very welcome return!
We have some killer reissues this week to include; Cranes, Rail Band, Horace Silver, Fields of the Nephilim and the wonderful Lafayette Afro Rock Band. We also have a handful of compilations so amazing that they will - for the first time - appear on their very own mailer.
