We’re getting close to year-end territory and there’s still a big pile of albums that have come out over the last few months that I wanted to mention. Unless my calendar is wrong, I’ve got two more notes left this year so I’ll try to clear out as much of the backlog as possible so I can leave room for a look back.
👀 Goings On About Music
Let us take a look at some new(ish) albums and singles…
💿 Albums
Jessie Reyez - BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILL US+
I learned about Jessie Reyez during the 2018 Juno Awards. If memory serves, 150% of the pre-show was dedicated to talking about her, her story, her music, everything. If I didn’t immediately like her music I think I would have been really annoyed at how much attention they were giving her. She got a huge push. The best part of the evening - aside from the nominations and award - was her performance with Daniel Caesar (his verse was fantastic and I was really excited to see them release a studio version of it after the show). It was great. I could understand people being put off by her voice - it’s not super unique, but it’s different enough that you might fixate on it - but I love the emotion she conveys with it. She put this album out earlier this year and re-released it recently with a few bonus tracks. I - like a lot of things earlier this year - missed it. I did not make that mistake this time.
grandson - Death of an Optimist
Remember Smrtdeath from last week and how I said I really like when other genres include rock influences in the music? Here we are again. There is (was?) a band called Flobots that put out an album at some point in the mid-to-late 2000’s called Fight With Tools and I eventually came to realize that the reason I would listen to it cover-to-cover was largely because of the production. I liked the lyrics, I liked the combination of different musical influences, but ultimately it was way that it was produced that really hooked me. There are a few standout tracks on this album (and for the life of me I can’t figure out where I’ve heard the song Dirty) but, like Flobots, I think I most enjoy the way the album sounds.
Taylor Swift - evermore
I started this newsletter after Taylor Swift’s release of folklore earlier this year and I thought to myself, “Maybe I should just include it anyways because I really liked it”. Then she released live recordings of the album, the long pond studio sessions, and I again thought to myself, “Perfect! It’s not new… but also it is not not new, so I can include it!” But I didn’t. But here we are - another album. Tweet of the week goes to @skullmandible, “well, she’s not named taylor slow”. I won’t bother reviewing this. It’s been done by many and basically everyone likes it. Though, not everyone. Taylor Swift isn’t the first artist to continually re-invent themselves or continually release albums spanning a handful of different genres but she’s got to be one of the few that also happens to be a top-selling, most-well-known-artist-on-the-planet. It’s, if nothing else, really interesting.
🎵 Tracks
Charlotte Cardin - Passive Aggressive
Every so often I feel like I’m in a musical rut where I’m just not intentionally finding new music. I’ll fall into a loop of listening to the same albums or pulling up one of the For You playlists in Apple Music that just feeds me things I’ve already said I like or things the computer thinks I would like. It’s fine, but sometimes it’s fun to go looking for something new and find it. That was how I came across Charlotte Cardin a couple of years ago. I’m a sucker for a good album cover and when scrolling through the Canadian section of Apple Music I saw their Big Boy EP cover and dug in. I don’t know if there’s a new album or EP following this single, but I wouldn’t mind hearing more songs in this style.
Rhye - Black Rain
There’s something about the sound of this voice that cuts right through me. The first time I heard their song, Taste, it came up in a playlist while I was at work and I stopped working and just stared at my screen listening to it. If this single from the upcoming album is any indication, I’m going to be doing a lot of looking off into the distance while I listen.
Tokyo Police Club - Hundred Dollar Day
When I was in university I had a radio show. It was awesome. Or at least I thought it was awesome. I remember a buddy stopping by and demanding I play a song by this band he had just listened to. I plugged in his iPod and listened to Nature of the Experiment. And then I played it again. And then I played it again. The only other time I can remember falling so quickly for a new artist was when a different friend recommended the Death From Above 1979 album You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine. I was hooked. I’ve enjoyed everything they’ve put out since that debut but I think the album Champ was my favourite (colour or food?). Anyways, it’s been ten years since they released Champ and this song was an outtake from that album.
🎧 In My Queue
I really did consider just putting the entire Taylor Swift album here. I’ve opted not to, but it was close.
Tokyo Police Club - Hundred Dollar Day
Bahamas - Up with The Jones
Jessie REYEZ - NO ONE’S IN THE ROOM
Phoebe Bridgers - If We Make It Through December
Rhye - Black Rain
MONEYPHONE - Indecision
Lights & MYTH - Batshit
Check out the playlist on Apple Music. Check out my profile on Apple Music.
And, I guess, check out the playlist on Spotify if you like a CEO that has a problem with inconsistent, incredibly selective rage.
🤘.