Five Albums You Have To Listen To This Month
With the end of the year looming we take a look back at some of our favourite releases from October. This month was great for introspective albums. Arctic Monkey’s released their ballad driven new album ‘The Car’. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard released three albums this month, which is just a bit silly but hey they’re all actually great! We’ve recommended just one on this list but they’re all worth checking out. Loyle Carner also returns with his best work to date. Get listening to the five albums below before someone else tells you to!
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Changes
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard is set to complete another epic year of tours and releases that seems like just the start. With the release of Changes, the future is brighter than ever. The band could go in any direction; let's be honest, it will probably be a hit. But as the group and the world around them change, so will their sound and style. The slow burn of this album sinks into the skin with every listen. Warm and fuzzy reverberations tingle the follicles, while strange and groovy resonances make the hair stand on end. Find a place to vibe and face the changes.
Loyle Carner - hugo
Carner’s, idiosyncratic, languid delivery remains on this record. At times the imagery and wordplay are reminiscent of some of the UK scene’s earlier exponents like Chester P or Jehst. The soulful, jazz-infused poignancy is also a returning feature from his first two albums on tracks like Homerton or Polyfilla but the newfound splenetic venom and raw lyricism pushes this record to address the central themes of identity, cultural oppression & strained relationships with a narrative skill.
The Big Moon - Here Is Everything
Here is Everything is the third album from London-based The Big Moon, and a lot has changed since they released their second album Walking Like We Do, in January 2020. The pandemic had thrown a wrench into many bands’ plans, and the quartet were no different. Despite the success of Walking Like We Do, the timing of its release meant things were put on hold. To adjust to the new reality vocalist, Juliette Jackson found herself teaching fans to play guitar on Zoom to pay the bills — including, to her amazement, Courtney Love. Here is Everything may have been conceived during the bleakness of the pandemic, but when Jackson had a baby towards the end of the lockdown, she knew what she had to write about, and this new life force flows through the record’s eleven songs.
Blue Spectre - Silver Screen
The closing chapter of Silver Screen is introduced with ‘Enchantment’, another intermission style track; the gently strummed guitar strings and brushed drums evoking the classic beach sound of 1960s California. If this was a heist movie, we’d see our hero reclining on a sunlounger in Honolulu, the waves lapping at his feet as he sips on a Pina Colada, blissfully unaware of the police helicopter rounding the next cove. However the movie ends, Silver Screen is a thrilling ride from start to finish. And an exciting debut from a band clearly enamoured with some the lesser celebrated sounds of vintage rock, and adept enough to shape them for their own spooky purposes. It matters not who I am…you are Blue Spectre.
Arctic Monkeys - The Car
On the follow up to 2018s perhaps jarring Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino Arctic Monkeys deep dive further into a stripped back and personal record. With The Car, there is a shift of focus on song writing, with front man Alex Turner penning more introspective lyrics and less fantasy than their space themed predecessor. There’s a level of musicianship that is hard to beat with this band. As they’ve matured as artists so to has their songwriting. There’s a classy grandeur to The Car with it’s deep string arrangements and soulful ballads. This is the Arctic Monkey’s album that Alex Turner has been building up to since day one. Honest, gorgeous and glaring Turner and the boys are speeding into a new era.
