Tag: End of year

Albums

Best albums of 2022: #3 Beach House “Once twice melody”

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date December 26, 2022
4 Comments on Best albums of 2022: #3 Beach House “Once twice melody”

Way back in the late spring of 2007, I saw Beach House open for The Clientele at a tiny club called Babylon (which sadly closed during the pandemic). I had thought their self-titled debut, released the year prior a pleasant enough listen, so I was more than happy to go early to catch their set. Unfortunately, though, the duo didn’t make as huge an impression on me as a live band as The Clientele at the time. Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally seemed talented enough but it was hard to see longevity in their effortless, languid, and hazy sound. And yet, here they are, fifteen years and seven albums later, this last one an epic, double album that grips hard on the attention and doesn’t let go.

For me, Beach House finally found their footing with their third album, 2010’s “Teen dream” and they haven’t looked back since, honing their dream pop craft, expanding upon a sound, a single note and breath, and blowing minds all along the way. Each of the albums since then have been masterpieces in their own right, even when they released two albums within five months of each other back in 2015, each shone in its own personality and spotlight.

Their eighth album comes five years after their aptly named 2017 album, “7”, the longest wait between albums that their fans have had to endure thus far. And listening to the album, you can sense the time and the percolation that has gone into it. “Once twice melody” has the feeling of a best of compilation, songs that we have had lasting relationships with, despite them all being brand new compositions. It is intense and full and heavy and our protagonists are well aware of what they are serving us, choosing to serve it up in chunks. The four chapters (or four sides) of the eighteen-track album were introduced a piece at a time as EPs, once a month starting in November of last year and culminating in the final collected work receiving its official release in the middle of February of this year.

All told, “Once twice melody” has the power lull one to sleep, invoke memories, and create the emotional responses akin to those felt when falling in love. The tracks are all brilliant when taken separately but as a whole, they are unstoppable. I feel that most would have their own favourite songs and my own change upon my changing of moods, and these three that I’ve picked for you are just those that tickled my fancy on the day that I decided this album would be on my year end list.

“Over and over“: “The night, that has no end (over and over)… will be the last, my friend… over and over…” This seven minute explosion closes chapter two, feeling like a direct response to Depeche Mode’s “Waiting for the night”. It explores a time and place between the late hours of night and early hours of morning, between waking and dreaming, when angels croon and demons scream. It is magical and wondrous personified. It is white and black and pink. Just close your eyes and float to the energy.

“Masquerade”: “She comes dressed like Sunday, string of pearls around her neck, room of mirrors, days of lace, porcelain and picturesque.” The gongs and walls of wash hint at a dark and demonic Cinderella ball. The “Masquerade” here, like many of the other polaroid snaps on this album, feels very surreal, rife with dry ice and fog, images perceived but not truly seen. It feels sinister but not deadly. The dance partners twirl and bow, play their part, smile and nod, and at the end, the emptiness and sadness pervades.

“Hurts to love”: Chapter four is the finale and track three feels like the perfect climax. “Hurts to love” was released as a standalone single on Valentine’s Day and because of this, it feels like a thesis statement, a call to arms, a raison d’être. It is a fireworks of guitars and synths and Victoria Legrand wooing the world and explaining the meaning of life. “If it hurts to love, better do it anyway.” It is a song for repeat listens, from earphones to dancefloors to pounding speakers. It is the sound of pounding hearts and fluttering eyelids, the feeling of passionate lips, and a glimpse of tear filled eyes. It is love and it should not be ignored, nor taken for granted.

We’ll return in just two more days with album #2. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

10. Blushing “Possessions”
9. Just Mustard “Heart under”
8. Jeanines “Don’t wait for a sign”
7. The Reds, Pinks and Purples “Summer at land’s end”
6. Tallies “Patina”
5. Suede “Autofiction”
4. Wet Leg “Wet Leg”

You can also check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.

Tags 2020s, 2022, Alternative, Beach House, Best albums, Best of 2022, Dream Pop, Duo, End of year, Indie, Indie Pop

Albums

Best albums of 2022: #4 Wet Leg “Wet Leg”

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date December 24, 2022
4 Comments on Best albums of 2022: #4 Wet Leg “Wet Leg”

I generally feel like I’ve got a pretty good grasp on the comings and goings and new releases of music, especially when it comes to the alternative and indie realm, but I’m obvious not omniscient. Every once in a while, something slips through on first pass and “Wet Leg” is a perfect example of one of those parties to which I arrived unfashionably late. Indeed, I hadn’t heard of them at all until the week of their self-titled debut’s release and I started seeing tons of hype all over the music sites and pictures of the album’s cover and vinyl pressing on the various vinyl-loving pages I follow on Instagram.

Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers are long-time friends who decided to form as a duo in 2019 after years of miring in relative solo musician obscurity on the Isle of Wight. They’ve given a handful of differing reasons as to why they settled on Wet Leg as a moniker but the version I believe or want to believe the most was as a constant reminder to not take themselves too seriously. They signed with Domino Records in late 2020 and recorded the aforementioned debut in the spring of 2021.

A couple of months after the album was finished, Wet Leg released the first advance single and really, their first ever single. And yeah, it went viral, racking up millions of streams in its first year. With the second single almost as successful, it was unsurprising that the music machine started to take notice. “Wet Leg” was finally released a year after it was recorded and was preceded by five singles in total. It debuted at #1 on the UK and Australian record charts and performed well in pretty much every major market. It was nominated for the UK’s Mercury Prize and for a handful of Grammys in the US.

The first time I streamed it, I did so with a dubious ear, but one that quickly melted to the glee that many other music fans have obviously experienced. There’s something universal in their sound, which is probably why I’ve seen them classified as everything from punk to post-punk, from garage rock to britpop, and from new wave to slacker rock. The duo is original and exciting, but given their quick ascent in popularity, they are already treading the fine line of darling and derision. All eyes and ears will be on whether they can properly follow this up but for now, we can appreciate the debut as pure fun and folly.

Indeed, there’s plenty to like here but there’s no arguing with the three singles I’ve picked for you to peruse, just in case you (as I almost did) have missed out on Wet Leg thus far.

“Too late now“: The third single and last track on the album has a rumbling bass line and chiming guitars that keep time with Teasdale’s shifty vocals. It feels at first like it’s got it all together, albeit insular and atmospheric, but little by little, its insecurity shows and by the end it’s a shambolic mess. “Down we go while holding hands. If I fuck this up, I’m taking you down with me.” It’s feedback and hammering drums and chaos and I really wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Wet dream”: Working backward through their singles, track five reminds me a bit of Goat Girl, who were a surprise entry on my end of the year list last year. It’s a bass groove that flirts with Blondie and The Go-Go’s but is perhaps more overt in its sexuality and its refusal to play and accept its role. “What makes you think you’re good enough to think about me when you’re touching yourself?” But in spite of its knowing side glances and sly winks, it is at its heart, a great pop song and has the potential to fill dance floors everywhere.

“Chaise longue”: Here’s the big one. The ear worm. The song you want to hate but can’t help but love. You listen to it over and over and find yourself singing along to that damned repetitive chorus. “On the chaise longue, on the chaise longue, on the chaise longue. All day long, on the chaise longue.” Fast and frenetic and hyperventilating. One could almost imagine Justine Frischmann singing it with her band Elastica back in the mid 90s. It’s no wonder it’s gotten so much play.

We’ll be back after the holiday with album #3. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

You can also check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.

And finally, for those who celebrate, best wishes to you, your friends, and your families for a very merry Christmas.

Tags 2020s, 2022, Alternative, Alternative Rock, Best albums, Best of 2022, British rock, End of year, Garage rock, Indie, Indie rock, Wet Leg

Albums

Best albums of 2022: #5 Suede “Autofiction”

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date December 22, 2022
6 Comments on Best albums of 2022: #5 Suede “Autofiction”

London-based quintet, Suede, has made a number of appearances on this blog’s pages already. I’ve already written about how I picked up on them late but once I finally did, it was true love. I’ve touched on how phenomenal their b-sides were in their early days, tackled one of their covers, and even spoken of their untimely disbanding in the early part of the 2000s. But what I haven’t really gotten to thus far is their post-reunion material.

Seven years after their breakup in 2003, the lineup, as it was upon dissolution, re-formed for what was being called a one-off set as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust shows at Royal Albert Hall. Frontman Brett Anderson had such a blast that more shows followed… and then more… and then tours followed by festival circuits. Their first reunion album, “Bloodsports”, appeared in 2013 and picked right up where they should have left off ten years earlier. Two more albums were released in 2016 and 2018, orchestral and dramatic and notable for lacking what one might call ‘radio-friendly singles’.

All of those last three albums have been enjoyed by this particular fan and have also been critically lauded all around. I think with “Autofiction”, though, their 9th studio album and 4th since reforming, Brett Anderson and crew have created their best piece of work since their biggest album, 1996’s “Coming up”. This new one was originally meant to be recorded live, in front of rabid audiences, to capture their own particular live performance energy. Of course, these plans were scuttled due to the pandemic and they chose instead to keep production light, recording with additional musicians, rather than additional layers. Anderson has called this the band’s ‘punk album’ and it certainly has more energy and less bells and whistles.

“Autofiction” sounds like a Suede album from yesteryear but with the maturity and experience of today. It is dramatic and dirty and romantic. It is eleven fantastic tracks that bare their soul to the listener more and more with each listen. It is a complete album and it should be listened to as such, but if you’re lacking the time, you can start with these three tracks that I’ve picked out for you.

“It’s always the quiet ones“: “Oh they stay in shadows, all the heart breakers. Oh they stay in shadows, all the trouble makers. It’s always the quiet ones.” Isn’t this always the case, though? From the haunting and menacing intro to the feedback screams and uplifting chorus, track nine torments us and warns us not to take anything for granted. And then it screams away into the night.

“What am I without you”: The finale track on the album is the six minute exercise in introspection and self-appraisal. Anderson is recognizing his lot as an entertainer and the rest of the band backs him up with their guns a-blazing. To the question he asks himself over and over – “What am I without you?” – you can almost see him shrinking under the heat of the spotlight. The answer can only be: “I’m nothing without you, so let love burn.”

“She still leads me on”: “But I loved her with my last breath. And I loved her with a love that was strong as death. And I loved her when she was unkind. And I loved her, I loved her, a dangerous mind.” The album’s first track and first single is Anderson’s musings on the death of his mother some thirty-plus years ago. It is as heartbreaking as it is beautiful and passionate. And man does it rock!