The Districts - Great American Painting
Great American Painting, the fifth full-length from The Districts, is the rare album that shines a bright light on all that’s wrong in the world but somehow still channels a galvanizing sense of hope.
The Weather Station - How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars
How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars is intended to be heard as a companion piece to Ignorance; songs written at the same time that connect thematically and emotionally, songs that reveal the vulnerability at the heart of the body of work.
VHS Collection - Night Drive
Night Drive is a return to one of the simple, critical pieces of our lived experience via driving drums, stratospheric synths, soaring vocals, and anthemic choruses built to sprint through the night sky.
Blue J - A Sign Of Good Luck
Written in the wake of a long-term relationship ending, the album offers a peek into Justin McLellan’s (lead singer) psyche as he learns to spend more time with himself and learns to find hope in new beginnings.
The Thing With Feathers - Sundays In The South
The Thing With Feathers is an alt-rock, pop and dance enigma, fueled by 4 of Nashville’s favorite fools: Dave Welcsh (vocals and guitar), Sean Carroll (bass), Alex Hendricks (lead guitar) and Chris Roussell (drums).
Longboat - Out of Place
Instead of the jeering pop that has powered so many albums in the past, you get an ambiently dark collection of songs that slowly unfolds and yields no easy answers. The tunes all center around living and creating in a place that is unconducive to artistic ventures.
Foxes - The Kick
The Kick is Foxes’ first album in over five years. Serving as a form of escapism, the record was written and recorded via zoom with producer Ghost Culture during the height of the pandemic.
The Empty Pockets - Tanglewoods
In 2015, The Empty Pockets released their debut full-length album, The Ten Cent Tour, entering both the Billboard Indie and Heatseekers charts for the first time. With the 2017 release of Voices, The Empty Pockets entered a particularly prolific period with four Billboard-charting independent albums, releasing a holiday EP, Snow Day, in 2018, followed a year later by a new studio album, Tanglewoods, and then the live concert album, Live in Seattle.
Ghostly Kisses - Heaven, Wait
All the songs on Heaven, Wait talk at some point about a transition or a relationship Margaux Sauvé had to work on, not wanting to be stuck in a situation forever. Whilst the story of the album is an intensely personal journey, it’s the first time we find Margaux writing about excitement and desire. We also hear her develop as an artist with liberating songs that can be danced to amongst the darker, more melodramatic songs she has built her name on.
Alcopops - Devil
Alcopops is the latest project from Portland punk veterans, singer-songwriter Leland Brehl and drummer Ben Burwell, joined by new bassist Simon Miller. Last year, on the eve of the pandemic, the duo released their debut LP Simulator, a sterling collection of noisy power pop indebted to Superdrag, Yuck, and the entire Creation Records catalog. The group’s Devil EP delivers on the promise set by Simulator, and fortunately comes at a more opportune time.
L.A.B. - L.A.B. V
The new album has once again been recorded at the band’s home of the Surgery Studios in Wellington with Dr Lee Prebble, with the studio helping bring out the nostalgia-tinged sound to the release. Recorded in between sell-out arena shows and lockdown periods, the recording process again saw the band living in the studio for weeks on end, with drummer Brad Kora heading up the production team of Prebble & bassist Ara Adams-Tamatea.
Hayley Mary - Fall in Love with Hayley Mary
Co-produced by Hayley and Oscar Dawson (Holy Holy) during Melbourne’s most recent lockdown, ‘Fall In Love’ (the single) is a dirty Motown-esque love song with contemporary lyricism. A triumphantly uplifting tune that is undeniable to anyone who has ever wanted to fall in love.
Toby Jenkins - Island of Terror
Island of Terror was recorded over a number years and in a variety of studios, bedrooms and backrooms. It draws on such disparate musical threads as Giorgio Moroder, Serge Gainsbourg, Chopin, Steve Vai, Wendy Carlos and Syd Barret. It’s a record that weaves fantastical tales with the real, leaving the listener perplexed and enthralled in equal measure.
Pick A Piper - Sea Steps
Sea Steps closes out with neo-classical beat-driven “Athens”, an elegantly layered composition that hosts the collaborative musicianship of Laura Bates on Violin and Steve Ward on Trombone.
Laurie Larson - Story Road
Multi-instrumentalist & songwriter Laurie Larson is releasing her fourth studio album, Story Road.Laurie plays bass, violin, guitar, keys & sings her way through each chapter of Story Road.