ALBUMS

3.5 / 5

THE SUPPORT BAND INTIMATIONS (NICE MIND RECORDS)

Words: Robert Nichols

North East prog rock instrumentalist The Support Band take the listener on a journey to the underworld and back in a double album that is so long it may well have started in 1973. Taking an inspiration from the atmospheric psychedelia of early 70s Pink Floyd, it is a sound moulded through gathering clouds of ambient synth keyboards and gently chiming, weeping, melancholic guitars.

CHRISTINE & THE QUEENS PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE (BECAUSE MUSIC)

Words: Matt Young

Since the very beginning Chris has written around the expression of self, questioned and employed characters as costumes or masks; part Bowie, Prince or Madonna, shifting between alpha to submissive, bravado and vulnerability. The storytelling, however fantastic, has always been an inherently personal exploration.

PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE takes inspiration from Tony Kushner’s play, Angels In America, again using the “suave and sophisticated” alter ego named Redcar first introduced on last year’s Redcar les adorables étoiles (prologue) album. In the context of this new release, the album sets the tone for an artistic shift that sonically isn’t present on previous releases. Angels – as guardians and avengers – feature heavily in the lyrics, song titles and themes, the album opening Overture calls on a guiding light, the feminine divine and mother as narrator before synths evaporate into the ether and we enter the womb-like Tears Can Be Soft, perhaps erring too close to Massive Attack’s Teardrop in homage, but just as beautiful.

As this album is a collaboration with Mike Dean, best known for his production with Ye dating from The College Dropout onwards, as well as working with Beyoncé and The Weeknd amongst many others, there’s an understandably grandiose scale and sweeping synth atmosphere. Repurposing Pachelbel’s baroque Canon In D for the song Full Of Life is inspired. As an oracle narrating Red’s tale, Madonna features on the tracks Angels Crying In My Bed, I Met An Angel and Lick The Light Out, providing a unique mix of sage advice and erotic portent. Journeys of self-discovery invariably reference Dante, The Rakes’ Progress or Orpheus and Track 10 is a pivotal interlude, a riotous prog rock abandonment, soundtracking the protagonist’s core beliefs. The singles True Love and To Be Honest are synth pop outliers within the album’s orchestral concept, but still fit perfectly when they’re encountered.

PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE is unquestionably an art piece; a sprawling, poetic aural play about the transmutability of life, simultaneously elegiac and mournful. Dense in metaphor and symbolism, tapping into the Chris/Red/Letissier performance, especially in relation to his own gender.

Released: 09.06.23 www.christineandthequeens.com

Also Out This Month

Jenny Lewis – Joy’all (Blue Note/EMI, 09.06) // Grian Chatten – Chaos For The Fly (Partisan Records, 30.06) // Geese – 3D Country (Partisan/Play It Again Sam, 23.06) // Albert Hammond Jr – Melodies On Hiatus (Red Bull Records, 23.06) // Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Council Skies (Sour Mash Records, 02.06) // Swans – The Beggar (Mute, 23.06) // Witch – Zango (Desert Daze Sound, 02.06) // Decisive Pink – Ticket to Fame (Fire Records, 09.06) // Bully – Lucky For You (Sub Pop, 02.06) // Godflesh – Purge (Avalanche Recordings, 09.06) // Big Blood – First Aid Kit (Feeding Tube Records, 09.06) // Divide And Dissolve – Systemic (Invada, 30.06) // Rancid –Tomorrow Never Comes (Epitaph Records, 02.06) // Public Body – Big Mess (FatCat Records, 09.06) // Tigercub – The Perfume of Decay (Loosegroove Records, 02.06) // TEKE::TEKE – Hagata (Kill Rock Stars, 09.06) // Gringo Star – On And On And Gone (My Anxious Mouth, 02.06) // Skating Polly – Chaos Country Line (El Camino Media, 23.06) // Beach Fossils – Bunny (Bayonet, 02.06) // Joanna Sternberg – I’ve Got Me (Fat Possum, 30.06)

The band is a collaboration between ambient artist Whitevanperil (WVP) and garage rocker Chris Riley of The False Poets. They improvise subtle mood building; tracks creep, nudge, knit and noodle until the truly monster 40+ minute finale of Dissociation (Part Two), which might easily be a whole album itself. Immerse yourself in Intimations.

Released: 02.06.23 www.nicemindrecords.bandcamp.com

4 / 5

DAYSHIFTER HIRAETH (SELF-RELEASE)

Words: Robert Nichols

A memorable and meaningful debut album from Newcastle-based melodic hardcore band Dayshifter. The title is a Welsh word for a deep longing for something, and both the album lyrics and song titles chart the turbulent, churning emotions and anxiety that prey on the mind in life’s darker times.

The lyrics are necessarily reflective, melancholic and sometimes even desperate; searching, drowning, suffering. “Falling apart like a broken heart” is one repeated phrase. The music is equally storm-tossed but also occasionally euphoric and exhilarating; a lion’s roar of guttural guitars and drums perhaps offering a way out. Dayshifter are exposing tortured souls and exorcising demons. They are bravely and valiantly bringing mental health into the musical conversation, and that is hardcore.

Released: 08.06.23 www.facebook.com/dayshifteruk

BDRMM I DON’T KNOW (ROCK ACTION)

Matt Young

Second album dilemma: repeat or change things up? Add in a new label, Rock Action, and expectations from all quarters, not least from the band themselves and things could all go...well... weird. Thankfully Hull’s bdrmm (Bedroom) manage to augment the same dreamy melancholy and ambient introspection that made their debut so lush while eyeing up brand new scenery.

The ‘shoegazing’ label is a misnomer really. Yes, there remains a lot for fans of Slowdive, MBV, DIIV et al to love, but from opener Alps through to A Final Movement, the songs on I Don’t Know sound much fuller, focussed on beats and grooves as much as harsher waves of sound, with Be Careful and Hidden Camera both being fine examples, this wider panoramic view fits perfectly.

Released: 30.06.23 www.bdrmm.bandcamp.com

DJANGO DJANGO OFF PLANET (BECAUSE MUSIC)

Words: Tracy Hyman

This latest studio release is a melting pot of different styles and collaborations, a self-professed kaleidoscope depicting four very different planets. Some tracks touch on the early infectiousness of traditional Django Django, such as the funky Fluxus, with its myriad percussive beats and vocal effects. Others transcend different styles, influences and moods across the 21 tracks. Single Complete Me, featuring Self Esteem, oozes early 90s breakbeat dance music. Twists and turns cross house, pop, piano rave, Detroit techno and world music vibes. Creative percussion and electronic beats form the basis of the songs that very much started life as a departure from Django Django. The result: an experimental musical odyssey.

Released: 16.06.23 www.djangodjango.co.uk

BAND OF HOLY JOY FATED BEAUTIFUL MISTAKES (TINY GLOBAL PRODUCTIONS)

Words: Gus Ironside

Why Johny Brown isn’t lauded as one of England’s greatest lyricists is an unfathomable mystery. The North Shields-raised polymath has fronted Band of Holy Joy since the early ‘80s, but the group has had an astonishing run of form over the last seven years, with every new release surpassing its predecessor. Fated Beautiful Mistakes continues this extraordinary upward trajectory. Brown’s lyrics challenge and inspire the listener to be fully alive and conscious of the beauty and fragility of life, while never shying away from the gravity of the state of the world in these disorienting times. Musically, Band of Holy Joy have reached a new peak, evoking Scott Walker, The Velvet Underground even Nelson Riddle-era Sinatra on this gorgeous, warm-hearted and passionate album.

Released: 16.06.23 www.bandofholyjoy.co.uk

YOUTH LAGOON HEAVEN IS A JUNKYARD (FAT POSSUM)

Words: Matt Young

Having shut the door on Youth Lagoon in 2016 promoting a brand new album under that name, Heaven Is A Junkyard is not what Trevor Powers anticipated. However, having always written from the perspective of things ‘far away’ it took returning home to Idaho, severe illness and the creation of some quiet, reflective tunes to revitalise his inner songwriter.

Standout songs like The Sling eerily haunts the listener with its incessant album title refrain, whilst Idaho Alien, Prizefighter and closer Helicopter Toy evoke paint peeling Americana, bare and with a brutal sense of place. Gossamer light patches are stitched and glitched to intermittent beats. Free from the musical chokehold that he experienced previously, Youth Lagoon is breathing easier these days.

Released: 09.06.23 www.youthlagoon.bandcamp.com

HAK BAKER WORLD’S END FM (HAK ATTACK RECORDS/AWAL)

Words: Ikenna Offor

There’s a bountiful melange of delights to get stuck into on Hak Baker’s full-hearted debut LP. Structured as a spirited Doomsday radiocast that’s equal parts raucous and restrained, World’s End FM is at once unapologetically political, winningly candid and richly resonant. Deftly straddling the line between tempered defiance and earnest vulnerability, the East London troubadour displays an ineffable knack for relatability, with lyrics that restlessly flit from cheeky bants to heartbreak, from rage to reluctant acceptance, and melancholy to unabashed joy.

Cockney-twanged freewheeler Doolally comes triple-dipped in an impish satiricality that effortlessly recalls The Streets circa ‘02. Elsewhere, Bricks In The Wall’s jaunty inflections belie a doleful gospel of impending societal strife. Who’d’ve thought the apocalypse would sound so good?

Released: 09.06.23 www.hakbaker.com

Sorry Girls

BRAVO! (ARBUTUS RECORDS)

Words: Stephen Oliver

Montreal duo Heather Foster Kirkpatrick and Dylan Konrad Obront have created an album full of lush adult pop songs. Whether it’s singing about a break up on Enough Is Enough to the toe-tapping Fleetwood Mac-esque The Exiles, a maturity of themes precipitates through the musical veneer. The pleasure here is in the unhurried country feel; each track is distinctly different but they also complement each other. Whilst the lyrics are clearly a journey through self discovery, there is also a celebration in getting the important calls in life correct. The album also features Mitch Davis on saxophone, which compliments the guitars and crisp percussion. This combination results in a life affirming collection of songs that can accompany a chilled out evening.

Released: 02.06.23 www.thesorrygirls.com

Dream Wife

SOCIAL LUBRICATION (LUCKY NUMBER)

Words: Robin Webb

Dream Wife’s latest is a piercing anthemic rouser; raucous, definitely in your face and if you don’t react you’re probably a bit dead inside. Side-stepping into pop punk, particularly in the title track, means no less of a message to a privileged patriarchy, though not overtly political it instils a stirring, unapologetic agenda throughout – empathy is not an anathema, it’s a feeling worth damn-well clinging to.

The music is unrelenting, with a keen eye on live performance as guitarist Alice Go stated “The live show is the truth of the band”. Energy levels are invariably upward as they rock out to the max on key tunes like Hot (Don’t Date A Musician) and the blistering opener Kick In The Teeth.

Released: 09.06.23 www.dreamwife.co

3.5 / 5 4 / 5

LORELLE MEETS THE OBSOLETE DATURA (SONIC CATHEDRAL)

Words: Robin Webb

A sixth full length from the psych specialists from Mexico sees them stripping down their production values and becoming less indulgent. The sound is four-piece instrumentation, no overdubs, just a bass heavy, driven, nihilistic space rock, recorded mostly live in the studio. There are several stand out tracks here: Arco and Dinamo both have that almost Kraut motorik, stoner feel but remain sufficiently post-punk to be fresh, and Golpe Blanco is an insanely disco-driven jazz techno no-wave delight that beavers away at a blistering pace. Nothing lingers, it just gets on with it; no nonsense original tune-smithing from a band who know what they want. They’re coming to Newcastle in September, I’m gonna start queueing now.

Released: 16.06.23 www.obsoletelorelle.bandcamp.com

SQUID O MONOLITH (WARP RECORDS)

Words: Robin Webb

Squid’s second outing is an assured progressive post-punk masterpiece full of twists and unexpected turns that will surely delight fans of the Bright Green Field looking for a next level grandiose offering. It’s expansive, enlightened, full of designed nuance and delicious noise, it’s also funky on Undergrowth, with its groovy walking contemplation of the spiritually mundane. Devil’s Den is discordant folk horror for the next century, The Blades is world devouring, immense and yet emotionally intimate, while Siphon Song has a Spirit Of Eden energy about it with intricate instrumentation, heady anticipated atmosphere all building up into an angelic syncopated cacophony. There are many memorable journeys to be had in this Monolith that it’s hard to do them justice here.

Released: 09.06.23 www.squidband.uk

PROTOMARTYR FORMAL GROWTH IN THE DESERT (DOMINO)

Words: Ben Lowes-Smith

Protomartyr have been consistently releasing great records for a decade or so, cultivating a dedicated fanbase and a wealth of admirers in high places, while never troubling their obvious peers in terms of commercial success. Indeed, this feels like something of an injustice, when lesser groups have taken music cutting similar shapes to bigger rooms. Though this is far from the point where the art is concerned, and ironically, while Joe Casey’s lyrics and delivery remain as idiosyncratic and dense as ever, this record represents the band’s most accessible material. Where previous releases could descend into chaos, control and glacial tension define this record. It’s alchemy of sorts, measured and furious, messy and disciplined. A triumph.

Released: 02.06.23 www.protomartyrband.com

CREEP SHOW YAWNING ABYSS (BELLA UNION)

Words: Stephen Oliver

Creep Show are back with a second album full of electronic sounds and loops. It is a journey that took me right back to those early experimental electronic albums. This release has more in common with The League Unlimited Orchestra’s Love And Dancing album than anything I have heard this century.

Going old school with the construction of the album to a time before Nine Inch Nails popularised industrial electronics gives the album a freshness and a sense of hope. The use of old Rolands and Moogs topped up with some effects on the vocals created something that would be as much at home both at Eurovision or on an 80s station. Crazy and fun, just not for the faint-hearted.

Released: 16.06.23 www.creep-show.bandcamp.com

RIVAL SONS DARKFIGHTER (LOW COUNTRY SOUND)

Words: Luke Waller

Rival Sons had a feat and a half on their hands if they were to outperform 2019’s Feral Roots. However, in the battle for the top spot in the league of their albums, Darkfighter appears a force to be reckoned with.

Rival Sons’ mastery of both a modern, fuzzy take on solid bluesy rock and tender acoustic balladry are displayed throughout, marshalled by the commanding preacher-man voice of Jay Buchanan. Opening with two such compelling numbers, Mirrors and leading single Nobody Wants To Die, Darkfighter is liberally peppered with mouth-watering guitar à-la-Jimmy-Page with notes of Raconteurs-esque Americana, especially on quieter mid-album tracks, namely Bright Light.

Later this year, Darkfighter’s counterpart, Lightbringer, will be released. As with Darkfighter, the bar to meet is high.

Released: 02.06.23 www.rivalsons.com