Unlike last year where sixties dinosaurs made the headlines, this year we saw the welcome return to the eighties with The Cure and T Bone Burnett while Brigette Calls Me Baby channelled The Smiths anyway. The Byrdsian 60' were here though with a great album by Beechwood Sparks. Not forgetting the pacific soul by Aaradhna and great alt country by Katie Crutchfield aka Waxahatchee. Happy listening and check out the Spotify playlist for some standout tracks .
Sweet Surrender - Aaradhna
Clocks ticking meet Polynesian log drums as opener "SHE" signals a soulful tour de force that effortlessly blends retro Motown grooves , reminiscent of her great Treble & Reverb album from 2011, and modern R&B sensibilities. There are themes of self-empowerment and vulnerability , an overall maturity expected considering this is her first release since 2017. Aardhna's voice carries a smoky richness that’s reminiscent of Amy Winehouse, but her delivery remains uniquely her own. Compared to her previous release, Brown Girl, which tackled societal issues with fiery conviction, Sweet Surrender feels like an inward journey, celebrating personal growth and healing. Look for the killer duet "Love2Love" with Ladi6. As always Aardhna seems to be one of New Zealand's best kept secrets.
Across The River of Stars- Beachwood Sparks
You are already thinking of the spirit of The Byrds by the time we reach track six "Gentle Samurai" where these veterans from Los Angeles name check the great Gene Clark's iconic & ignored mid seventies release No Other - "Baby tell me where you've been listening to The Silver Raven". The close harmonies and jangling guitars also evoke the country rock infused McGuinn/Crosby/ Hillman 1966-68 era Byrds amongst the tight timing of each track and the overall album running time of just thirty minutes. All of this evokes an era long gone; "country through a kaleidoscope" as described on their Wikipedia page perfectly .Produced by The Black Crowes Chris Robinson who has added a new benchmark to his impressive production skills that he brought to the great 2008 release Vagabonds from The Jay Hawks frontman Gary Louris.
The Future Is Our Way Out - Brigette Calls Me Baby
I liked this so much I burst into print in September and nothing has changed in the meantime. These guys , in particular vocalist/songwriter Wes Leavins, have embraced English 80's post punk/new wave and launched it back to the mid 2020’s presumably to whole new audiences. There is a reason The Smiths were timeliness ( think melodic/nuanced/virtuoso guitar/bass/drums over charismatic lead vocals with lyrics reaching depths of depression all with a touch of wry humour ). Witness key tracks "I Wanna Die In the Suburbs " - "I want to die in your four car garage, turn out the lights & send in the entourage", or "Palm Of Your Hand" "I'm no narcissist but at times I am so hard to resist". Whatever happens with these guys in the future we are all ears.
Jump Rope-Buffalo Tom
"Put your helmet on, cos we're going to hell!' , yells guitarist/vocalist Bill Janovitz on the opening track "Helmet" ,the first release in six years by the iconic late 80's-90's grunge three piece. If you didn’t know these guys and watched the video to Helmet you would be forgiven for thinking "Weekend Warrior" type "Dad Rock" , but this is misleading. Janovitz in particular knows his reference points having taking a latter day writing gig as a key rock biographer (his Leon Russell biography was reviewed earlier here and he is a great Rolling Stones scholar). We certainly do not get grunge, rather John Hiatt meets Neil Young and that is no bad thing.
The Other Side - T Bone Burnett
The surprise of the year. Under the clear impression he had retired from making his own music, T Bone Burnett returned with trademark insightful lyrics and impeccable acoustic based production. These expecting another Marc Ribot guitar blitz that punctuated his last great album Criminal Under My Own Hat (thirty years ago now!) should likely go elsewhere as the emphasis here was firmly in the first third of last century (perhaps a nod to his work on How Great Thou Art Thou ). He always had a way with crafting a lyric that at times might seem absurd and profound in the same phrase and here we have mortality themes lightly infused with his spiritual side. It has been a big year with T-Bone with reissues of Elvis Costello's King of America and a duet album with Costello under the moniker The Coward Brothers featuring material they have worked on together over the years. Timeless.
Songs From A Lost World - The Cure
To describe this as cinematic is an understatement. The ageless voice of frontman Robert Smith often arrives two-three minutes into each of the eight, usually post the five minute mark, tracks. All embedded by his trademark guitar sound that can only give new meaning to the phrase "oil tanker guitar" (first used here - think heavy, slow, foreboding). The four minute, comparatively short "Warsong" has Smith entering after two minutes of feedback squalls with a plucked string sound in the background. At the same time as much as this is "big" music you detect the concerns are personal rather than global that the album title seems to be alluding to, noting mental illness has been a recurring theme in Smith's lyrics over the years. " We waste each others lives to hide the truth". Like Peter Gabriel last year we are reminded once again that class is permanent . Epic
Mahashmahsana - Father John Misty
If there is an artist today who keeps amassing a huge following and accompanying critical acclaim yet keeps evolving it is Josh Tillman aka Father John Misty. On album number six and abandoning the overarching Weimar Republic torch sound of 2022's Chloe and the next 20th Century , here we find Mr Tillman embracing the distinctive Harry Nilsson/John Lennon/ Phil Spector early - mid 1970's production epics with huge scale orchestrations including multiple horns blasting against heightened strings often at the same time. Yet when you hear the delicate tones and sentiment of key track "Mental Health" you stand back and wonder what else can this guy come up with. A classic of any year.
Passage Du Desir - Johnnie Blue Skies
Hiding in plain site the great Sturgill Simpson adopts an unnecessary non de plume and continues to be one of the most interesting artists from the Nashville scene today. For this outing we have eight songs that mine the outlaw Waylon/Willie seventies vibe within grandeur scale (accordion, stings ) On "Jupiter's Faerie" Simpson is reminiscing on a relationship lost with regret and it is a theme he returns to often " I decided to reach out after so long" , "I used to write so many songs about you" . On "Mint Tea" "Put another band aid on this bullet wound, tell me why are you so afraid of leaving me" The key track is the epic eight minute "One For The Road" complete with Mick Taylor like guitar solo coda. Perhaps this is all too personal to go out under his name, his own Blood On The Tracks or Tunnel of Love.
Tigers Blood Waxahatchee
Reminiscent at times of SG Goodman's Teethmarks (one of the top 10 in 2022) and embracing a particular indie style take on country rock, album number six by Katie Crutchfield aka Waxahatchee builds a blend of raw emotion amongst the intelligent production. The album opens with "3 Sisters" "I pick you up inside a hopeless prayer, I see you beholden to nothing" . There are hints of self loathing in other tracks too , witness “I get caught up in my thoughts/For lack of a better cause/My life’s been mapped out to a ‘T’/But I’m always a little lost,” she confesses in “Lone Star Lake. With singer/songwriter MJ Leidemann often adding close harmonies we are veering close to the great Gillian Welch & David Rawlings which is a very effective influence to have. Nominated for a Grammy in the Americana next year (whatever that means these days).
Only God Was Above Us - Vampire Weekend
Talk about polarising, a cursory glance at reviews for this is equal parts vicious and laudatory. True you get Rachmaninov styled piano runs jammed up against pneumatic drill like tones ,all the while experiencing frenetic tempo changes. However the outcome is never dull and more often that not works (this all describes the first track "Ice Cream Piano" by the way!) Since the departure from the band of one of the greatest names in popular music, multi - instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij , front man Ezra Koenig has soldiered on admirably evoking the ever present world influences with his melodic prowess, while this time lyrically staying close to the native New York City (right down to the cover artwork) With Only God Was Above Us, Vampire Weekend continues to push boundaries while staying true to their unique voice.
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