JERKCURB Air Con Eden (Handsome Dad)
ALEX CAMERON Miami Memory (Secretly Canadian)
“These are true stories, of actual events,” proclaims Alex Cameron, the satirical songwriter who has so far built a career around a series of fictitious characters. With an expanded range of instrumentation to boot, ‘Miami Memory’ presents something of a cornerstone for the Australian’s career. Piano-and-organ-laden tracks like lead single ‘Divorce’ and epic ballad ‘Other Ladies’ fuse foottapping Americana with Alex’s own ‘stepdad rock’. Alex’s hilarious lyrics remain the star attraction, though. Highlights include the impressively catchy ‘Far From Born Again’ (which rhymes the title lyric with “she’s doing porn again”), and the sombre ballad ‘End Is Nigh’, on which he croons “there’s a guy who thinks I’m fucking his girlfriend, he says he’s gonna make me cry”. When a man can put a verse and chorus together as well as Alex Cameron, he can sing about whatever he wants (whether it’s the truth or not). (James Bentley) LISTEN: ‘Other Ladies’
Seven years after Jerkcurb emerged comes first fulllength, ‘Air Con Eden’: a Lynchian prom night woozy with eclipses, chicken bone wishes, slow-motion love affairs and punch-drunk riffs. Jacob Read is a skilful storyteller, and with melancholic, reverb-heavy guitar, a little piano and drum, some horse-hoofed percussion, and occasional angelic vocal interjections, he conjures an entire alternate realm. But ‘Air Con Eden’ is no idyll; despite the sweeping romance of ‘Wishbones’ and ‘Aquarena Springs’, menace and despair lurk. Apocalypse looms on spectacular final number ‘Night On Earth’ - but Jerkcurb doesn’t seem to mind, calmly watching dreamland unravel. Song, album and world end in unison as he croons, ever the romantic: “This desperate moment / Could last forever / And I would be / So happy / To spend eternity / Now I’m with you / ‘Cause you picked me / To end eternity / And I chose you.” (Diva Harris) LISTEN: ‘Voodoo Saloon’
ONE TRUE PAIRING One True Pairing (Domino)
Tom Fleming’s first post-Wild Beasts venture feels like an out-and-out reinvention, enough so to justify releasing it under a pseudonym. His own description of the new sound is ‘neo-heartland rock’ and as much as the sense of palpable anger that runs through ‘One True Pairing’ at the present political climate is comparable to Bruce Springsteen’s undaunted confrontation of working class struggle, he actually conjures up a sonic landscape all his own, one that sets dissonant guitars against retro synths to effects both dramatically imposing (‘Dawn at the Factory’) and infectiously melodic (‘Blank Walls’). Throughout, on matters both personal and national, Tom sounds utterly urgent, lending the whole affair a white-hot crackle of nervous energy. Key ‘Beasts tracks like ‘Two Dancers’ and ‘Burning’ always hinted at him being a singular talent in his own right; ‘One True Pairing’ confirms it. (Joe Goggins) LISTEN: ‘Blank Walls’
KING PRINCESS Cheap Queen
The full-length debut from Mikaela Straus is bound to be every bit as iconic as the songs she’s already given us from it.
SWIM DEEP Emerald Classics
The Birmingham boys’ third has been some time coming - both ‘To Feel Good’ and ‘Sail Away, Say Goodbye’ feature on it, set for release on 4th October.
FOALS Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 2
With its epic first part shortlisted for this month’s Mercury Prize, expectations are Very Bloody High for Foals’ second of the year. Out 18th October.
ANGEL OLSEN All Mirrors
She’s previewed the record with the title track - the rest of the follow-up to 2016’s ‘My Woman’ will follow on 4th October.
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