THE BEST NEW MUSIC OF THE YEAR

1 AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS SOME MUTTS (CAN’T BE MUZZLED) Mad dogs and Australians come together on this shitkicking opener, a vigorous assertion of the Sniffers’ genius from their self-titled debut. The Melbourne quartet’s MO was encapsulated by Amy ‘Amyl’ Taylor in MOJO 307: “Every so often I’ll go off like a fucking psycho.” (Taylor, Martens, Wilson). Published by Copyright Control ℗&©2019 Rough Trade Records Limited, from the album Amyl And The Sniffers (Rough Trade Records Limited); www.roughtraderecords.com

9 JESSICA PRATT AS THE WORLD TURNS “Like Astrud Gilberto floating in space,” wrote Victoria Segal in MOJO 304, pinpointing the uncanny appeal of As The World Turns. The song is from Quiet Signs, Jessica’s third and most acclaimed album. References to Karen Dalton, Joanna Newsom, Nick Drake are useful, but the LA singer occupies her own hermetic, candlelit world: “Mercurial in every sense: silvery, surprising, spilling away from wherever it’s just been pinned down. Published by Domino Music Publishing. From the album Quiet Signs (City Slang). cityslang.com

2 FONTAINES D.C. BOYS IN THE BETTER LAND Further frenzy, courtesy of the Mercury Prize nominees from Dublin. Fontaines D.C. belong to an emerging generation of politicallyengaged, emotionally and intellectually-literate punk bands, alongside Idles and Shame: note the namedrop of James Joyce in this standout from their debut album, Dogrel. Fontaines D.C. are profiled in this month’s MOJO Rising (p26). (Grian Chatten, Conor Deegan, Carlos O’Connell, Conor Curley, Tom Coll). Produced by Dan Carey at Mr. Dan’s Studio Mastered by Christian Wright at Abbey Road Studios ℗&©Partisan Records 2019.

10 WEYES BLOOD SOMETHING TO BELIEVE After a few years working in a hinterland of avant-garde noise and outsider folk, 2019’s Titanic Rising announced a bold, new widescreen persona for Weyes Blood AKA Natalie Mering. A touring/duetting partner of Father John Misty, Mering is also adept at tweaking the ’70s LA sound – helped by the creamiest Karen Carpenter vocals. (Natalie Mering). Produced by Natalie Mering & Jonathan Rado. Published by Covertly Canadian Publishing (BMI) administered by Secretly Canadian. Taken from the album Titanic Rising. ℗&©2019 Sub Pop Records

3 JAMILA WOODS MUDDY The latest album by Chicagoan Woods features 12 tracks named after her heroes. Hence Muddy, a ferocious slab of heavy funk, inspired by how Muddy Waters started playing electric guitar to drown out audience chatter. “Before I could go forward,” Woods tells us on page 27, “I had to honour those who helped me get here.” (Jamila Woods, Barron Bollar, SAMPLE, Erik Hunter). ℗&©2019 Jagjaguwar Courtesy of Jagjaguwar Published by Blk Girl Art (SESAC) | Barron Bollar Publishing (BMI) from the album LEGACY! LEGACY!

11 BLACK PUMAS FIRE Black Pumas’ key producer and instrumentalist Adrian Quesada has quite a CV, including a Latin-funk Black Sabbath tribute band (Brown Sabbath!) and shifts backing Prince. With fellow Austinite Eric Burton in Black Pumas, he makes vintage-hued psychedelic soul: the twangs and horn stabs of Fire, as observed in MOJO 308, has “a hint of Norman Whitfield’s Temptations”. (Burton, Quesada). Published by Black Pumas. ℗&©2019 ATO Records, from the album Black

Pumas (ATO Records); www.atorecords.com

4 FAYE WEBSTER JONNY Twenty-one-year old Webster studied songwriting at Nashville’s Belmont University, but didn’t stick around long. “It was weird, having professionals tell me how to write,” the Atlantan told MOJO earlier this year. “Actually, I was perfectly content with how I wrote my songs.” Atlanta Millionaires Club, her latest LP including the Natalie Prass-esque Southern soul of Jonny, bears out that self-confidence. (Faye Webster). ℗&©2019 Secretly Canadian, Published by BMI. From the album Atlanta Millionaires Club.

12 MATTIEL KEEP THE CHANGE Another twentysomething from Atlanta, Mattiel Brown’s ye-yeflavoured garage rock is a world away from Faye Webster’s music. Her grandma’s record collection and White Stripes videos on VH1 led her to a rowdy music: of her producers, she recently told MOJO, “[They] were the only ones in town who weren’t ashamed of rock’n’roll.” (Atina Mattiel Brown, Jonah Elijah Swilley, Randy Michael). Universal Music Publishing Group - 2100 Colorado Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90404, from the album Satis Factory. (Heavenly Recordings); heavenlyrecordings.com

APUNK-BOOGIE RABBLE-ROUSER FROM THE AUSTRALIAN hippy town of Mullumbimby. Korean ambience and Tuareg jams. Dubliner literary ramalams. Soul from Atlanta, Chicago, Austin and Bristol. Jazz from London, via Ahmedabad. Motorik freak-outs hymning the English edgelands. And mind-expanding math-prog from Croydon’s home of the hits, the BRIT School.

The class of 2019, it’s clear, are an uncommonly varied bunch. To commemorate an action-packed year thus far, we’ve compiled a 15-track primer to the very best newish artists we’ve come across in the past few months. Collectively, they articulate a disdain for neat categories and stereotypes, and an original spirit of defiance that isn’t predicated on commercial success.

“I started writing to make myself feel better and try to escape from what was going on,” Fontaines D.C. frontman Grian Chatten tells us this month. “Now people are rating me out of five!”

Together, too, they prove that great and adventurous new music is still being made, every day, all over the world, and discovered every month by MOJO. Here are our current favourites...

05 SARATHY KORWAR UMBAY (FEAT. MC MAWALI) US-born, India-raised, Londonbased, jazz percussionist Korwar links musics and cultures. “This is a modern brown record,” he says of 2019’s More Arriving. “This is what Indian music sounds like to me right now, and that means incorporating multiple brown voices” – including, on Umbay, Mumbai rapper MC Mawali. (Sarathy Korwar, Al MacSween, Tamar Osborn, Aklesh Suttar) published by Bucks Music/ copyright control ℗2019 Sarathy Korwar under exclusive licence to The Leaf Label Ltd from the album More Arriving (The Leaf Label); www. theleaflabel.com

13 YOLA WALK THROUGH FIRE “No one had listened to me before,” Yola Carter told MOJO 304, about how a longtime Bristol singer ended up in Nashville produced by Black Key Dan Auerbach. He grasped Carter’s gift for melding country and soul – hence the fiddle-tinged swagger of Walk Through Fire. (Dan Penn, Yola, Dan Auerbach). Published by Dan Penn Music (BMI); Downtown Music Publishing, LLC (BMI); Profit Daniel (BMI) administered by Downtown. Produced by Dan Auerbach. Taken from the Easy Eye Sound album Walk Through Fire. ℗ &©2019 Easy Eye Sound, under license to Nonesuch Records Inc. www.easyeyesound.com www.nonesuch.com

6 BLACK MIDI WESTERN A meticulously-plotted labyrinth of post-rock and rhythm, topped off with the theatrical declamations of Geordie Greep, Western is actually one of the more accessible tunes released by the feted London quartet thus far, perfect for King Crimson, Slint and Radiohead fans alike. MOJO’s feature interview with Black Midi begins on page 38. (Greep, Picton, Simpson, Kelvin) published by Domino Publishing ℗&©2019 Rough Trade Records Limited, from the album Schlagenheim (Rough Trade Records Limited); www. roughtraderecords.com

14 NÉRIJA LAST STRAW It can be thrilling, and exhausting, trying to keep track of the numerous projects Britain’s finest new jazz musicians give themselves. As heard on debut album Blume, Nérija are one of the best: a predominantly female team with star players such as saxophonists Nubya Garcia and Cassie Kinoshi, trumpeter Sheila Maurice-Grey, pianist Rosie Turton and guitarist Shirley Tetteh. (Garcia, Kinoshi, Maurice-Grey, Turton, Exell, Kai, Tetteh). Published by Domino Publishing Co. & Lucky Number Music ℗&©2019 Domino Recording Co. From the album Blume on Domino

7 MDOU MOCTAR ANNA A guitar hero from Agadez in Niger, Mdou Moctar is fast achieving a rep as the desert blues scene’s Hendrix. “Tuareg music from Agadez is very different to Tinariwen,” he told MOJO 306, as his Detroit-recorded Ilana (The Creator) was released. “They play slower and are always focused on the words. The new generation in Agadez want it fast, lots of energy. They want to dance.” (Souleymane). Published by Sahel Sounds Music Worldwide ℗&©2019 Sahel Sounds, from the album Ilana: The Creator (Sahel Sounds); www. sahelsounds.com

15 MODERN NATURE SUPERNATURE “It sounds vaguely grandiose, but I’d like Modern Nature to be seen as part of the experimental English folk music continuum,” founder Jack Cooper told MOJO. “The thread that goes through Anne Briggs, Fairport Convention, Kate Bush, Talk Talk.” On Supernature, the vision of this indie-rock maven is writ large: motorik pulse, Anglorustic trim, and an extended sax solo that suggests Pharoah Sanders taking up residence on Summerisle. (Jack Cooper, Will Young, Aaron Neveu). Copyright control, ℗&©2019 Bella Union. From the ‘Nature’ EP

8 PARK JIHA THUNDER SHOWER At a time when K-Pop is revolutionising the global pop marketplace, Park Jiha represents subtler South Korean music. A serene mix of sacred minimalism and Korean folk, her music results in a sound that’s unfamiliar yet strangely consoling. Listen out for the yanggeum – a hammered dulcimer – that lends Thunder Shower a shimmering texture akin to Laraaji/Eno’s Day Of Radiance. (Park Jiha). Published by Glitterbeat Records ℗&©2019 Glitterbeat Records, from the album

Philos (tak:til); glitterbeat.com