NEW ALBUMS
ROEDELIUS & ARNOLD KASAR Zensibility
7K! 7/10
Venerable kosmiche pioneer explores the quieter side of his nature
Like his recordings with Tim Story as Lunz, Hansjoachim Roedelius’ second album with Berlin-based pianist and producer Arnold Kasar is placid, reective and frequently very pretty. Perhaps because he’s been adventurous enough already, however, the octogenarian breaks little new ground on these eight, mildly edited improvisations. “Lichteruten” and “Sweet Spot” will sound familiar to anyone who enjoys Eno’s early ambient work and “Lifeline” is like a muted Ulrich Schnauss a quarter of a century later, while “Vigoroso” combines piano arpeggios with plucked strings in the manner of Hauschka. Nonetheless, Zensibility conrms that lacking substance isn’t always a aw. WYNDHAM WALLACE
ELENA SETIÉN Moonlit Reveries
THRILL JOCKEY 8/10 Basque artist’s seductive fifth
Since 2013, singer, composer and multiinstrumentalist Setién has wrought an understated blend of modernist alt.folk, artful pop and jazz-edged country that’s pulled in collaborators including Steve Gunn and Mary Lattimore. Now, she’s teamed up with drummer Glenn Kotche, whose unique patterns from his “A Beat A Week” tutorials she used as the basis for some tracks. Though he doesn’t play on every song, this set is more rhythmdriven; it’s also as dreamlike as the title suggests, notes of harpsichord and Setien’s voice, equal parts Cat Power and Nadine Shah, upping the otherworldly ante. Standouts include the glimmering “Strange” and the ute-ecked “Mothers”, written with the late Mimi Parker in mind. SHARON O’CONNELL
SLEATER-KINNEY Little Rope
LOMA VISTA 7/10 The venerable punks address grief and perseverance
On their fourth postreunion studio album – and their second without drummer Janet Weiss – Sleaterkinney strike a ner balance between their established punk sound and the New Wave references that gummed up recent records. While Corin Tucker sings lead, Carrie Brownstein wrote most of the songs in the wake of her mother’s death. On “Hell” and “Say It Like You Mean It”, she depicts grief as an all-consuming and alienating force. When words fail her on the clunky “Hunt You Down” and “Crusader”, her guitar takes over and churns out some of her mightiest and most vivid ris in years. STEPHEN DEUSNER
BRITTNEY SPENCER My Stupid Life
ELEKTRA 7/10 A sharp new voice in country, with help from Jason Isbell and Maren Morris
With its strutting guitars and ebullient hook, Brittney Spencer’s “Night In” is exactly the anthem Nashville needs in 2024: an ode to staying home with your homegirls, getting high and “vibing to an old CD” rather than dodging drunk bros and pedal pubs on Broadway. It’s the nest moment on the Baltimore native’s debut, which introduces her as an assured artist with a fresh take on pop country. Working with producer Daniel Tashian (Kacey Musgraves), she rattles o some of her beloved inuences on “Bigger Than The Song” (Beyoncé and Johnny Cash) and writes a tenderhearted love song to a former self on “The Last Time”. STEPHEN DEUSNER
SPRINTS Letter To Self
CITY SLANG 8/10 Savages-inspired, savage artpunk from Dublin four-piece
Sprints’ debut delivers on thrilling live shows, with singer, guitarist and songwriter Karla Chubb providing a visceral fury, not least on the furious “Adore Adore Adore”, unheard since their label released Hole’s Pretty On The Inside. “Cathedral” is an incendiary Wet Leg, its early tension accelerating into a wall of guitars, while the anthemic “Literary Mind”, destined to ll mosh pits, is full of Amyl & The Sniers’ energy and “Can’t Get Enough Of It” suggests Rid Of Me-era PJ Harvey with a New Gold Dream fetish. As for “Up And Comer”, its bitter sarcasm perfectly suits its gleeful passion. WYNDHAM WALLACE
TORRES What An Enormous Room
MERGE 7/10 Sixth album from non-binary American singer-songwriter
Torres – real name Mackenzie Scott – has come a long way since the indie-folk tropes of her 2013 debut, each successive album expanding her reputation as a singular and compelling alt.rock auteur. What An Enormous Room takes her eclecticism to fresh heights, each of these 10 songs exploring dierent emotional moods while inuences range from The Breeders to Goldfrapp. There are surging synth-pop concoctions (“Life
As We Don’t Know It”), o-kilter folky intimacy (“I Got The Fear”), throbbing art-rock (“Wake To Flowers”), haunting atmospherics (“Ugly Mystery”) and Blondie-like new wave (“Forever Home”) before she ends transcendently with the celestial piano ballad “Songbird Forever”. NIGEL WILLIAMSON
ULTRASONIC GRAND PRIX Instafuzz
NON DELUX 7/10 Little Barrie’s Barrie Cadogan in psych guitar summit
This is a tale of two guitars, with the inevitable indulgent perils. Nottingham freakbeater Barrie Cadogan’s Vox Ultrasonic (favoured by James Brown’s funk atomsplitters) and London-based multiinstrumentalist Shawn Lee’s psychfuzz-friendly Vox Grand Prix are the principle characters in this tribute to their instruments. Cadogan plays regularly with Primal Scream, and the best tracks, such as “Seamoon Rising”, suggest Vanishing Point’s glowering, dirty desert groove, “Kowalski” especially. “Triple Denim” has a deep, fried Link Wray twang, and “22 Years I Worked On This Guitar” is post-sly, wah-wah country-funk. NICK HASTED
THE UMBRELLAS Fairweather Friend
TOUGH LOVE 8/10 San Francisco quartet make a stand for old-school indie-pop
It stands to reason that in a slightly alternate timeline, The Vaselines ended up bigger than their pals in Nirvana. Like Sarah Records circa 1990, that part of the space-time continuum would be a very appreciative home for The Umbrellas and their endearing combination of guitar jangle, cheery melodicism and Morgan Stanleyand Matt Ferrera’s shared vocals.yet for all its retro air and precious airs, the band’s sophomore eort feels like more than a photocopy of past indie-pop glories thanks to the surprisingly punchy contributions by bassist Nick Oka and drummer Keith Frerichs and the degree of cra§ and care that’s evident even in songs as breezy as “When You Find Out”. JASON ANDERSON