Turn Me On, I’m A Radio
15 tracks of the month’s best new music
1 GRAHAM COXON Angry Me
We begin, this month, with one of our (and Coxon’s) favourites from the guitarist’s first soundtrack album, for the series The End Of The F***ing World. A wonderfully scrappy piece of Velvets-y pop, it finds Coxon in a typically bemused mood. “Can you actually play the organ?” he shouts to himself over a keyboard solo. “No!”
2 THE LOW ANTHEM Give My Body Back
Sounding something like Simon & Garfunkel if they were signed to Warp, this highlight from the Rhode Island group’s fifth album, The Salt Doll Went To Measure The Depth Of The Sea, finds their music subtler, stranger and more arresting than ever before.
3 GWENNO Tir Ha Mor
Gwenno Saunders’ second album as a solo artist finds the singer, songwriter and former Pipette writing exclusively in Cornish, reflecting (half of) her family’s heritage. Here, she pairs her keening, folk-influenced melodies with McCartney-esque bass and all manner of synths.
4 GUIDED BY VOICES Flight Advantage
Robert Pollard’s group haven’t had as much attention since the second breakup of the ‘classic’ lineup back in 2014; a shame, then, seeing as the band are now making some of their finest music, thanks to the return of adept guitarist Doug Gillard. This power-driving slice of arena rock is just one delight from their new Space Gun record.
5 JOAN BAEZ The Great Correction
At 77, Baez has crafted one of her finest albums, a sensitive, lilting collection of songs that reflect the tumultuous present while keeping an eye on the past. The material on Whistle Down The Wind is drawn from the likes of Anohni, Tom Waits, Josh Ritter and, in this case, Eliza Gilkyson.
6 DAVID BYRNE This Is That
This highlight from Byrne’s new LP American Utopia finds him teaming up with Brian Eno and Daniel Lopatin aka Oneohtrix Point Never; over resonant, distant electronic drums and samples of Chinese folk instruments, Byrne channels the imagery of gospel music, but with a modern twist.
7 Simalo MÉLISSA LAVEAUX
Canadian songwriter Laveaux has fully embraced her Haitian heritage on her new album, Radyo Siwèl, mixing up vodou, folk and pop to create an edgy, funky protest music that pays fitting tribute to the world’s first modern-day black republic.
8 JONATHAN WILSON Over The Midnight
Across these eight minutes, Californian producer and serial collaborator Wilson weaves together driving AOR and ambient textures – the result, as with much of his ambitious new Rare Birds LP, is like The War On Drugs collaborating with Talk Talk.
9 HALEY HEYNDERICKX Jo
An emotional, dynamic track from a promising new talent. Based in Portland, Oregon, Heynderickx frames her tactile, anguished voice and atmospheric electric guitar playing with the subtlest of backings on her debut album,
I Need To Start A Garden. Jeff Buckley’s work is evoked, along with Sharon Van Etten’s.
10 CREEP SHOW Modern Parenting
John Grant has increasingly dabbled with electronic textures, but here he fully embraces synths as a quarter of supergroup Creep Show. On Mr Dynamite, there are lush spaceballads and Kraftwerk-esque splendour, but “Modern Parenting” takes a quirkier, swinging tack.
11 LUCY DACUS Addictions
Virginia’s Lucy Dacus mixes her fragile songs with crunching fuzz guitars on her second album, Historian; at times, her work suggests Liz Phair and Juliana Hatfield’s output, but mostly, Dacus is ploughing her own, impressive field.
12 THE MEN Rose On Top Of The World
Mark Perro and Nick Chiericozzi’s group have made a career out of confounding expectations, moving from punk to Americana and, now, an electronic-tinged rock. This highlight from their new LP, Drift, however, is rustic power-pop in the REM and Feelies vein.
13 CAVERN OF ANTIMATTER Motion Flow
The third album from Tim Gane’s current project is reassuringly familiar to fans of Stereolab: buzzing analogue synths, clattering drum machines and a Germanic forward movement are all present, and perfectly arranged. “Motion Flow”’s title might reference Can, but its sound is thrilling Teutonic techno.
14 NAP EYES Dull Me Line
This Nova Scotian quartet, led by singer and guitarist Nigel Chapman, have already released two albums, but their latest, I’m Bad Now, is a huge step forward; on tracks such as “I’m Bad” and the Lou Reed-ish “Dull Me Line”, they come close to matching the hallowed efforts of Teenage Fanclub and The Go-Betweens.
15 TRACEY THORN (FEAT CORINNE BAILEY RAE) Sister
The final track on this month’s CD is a sophisticated disco juggernaut from the former Everything But The Girl singer and songwriter. Like the majority of her new LP, Record, it finds Thorn wryly questioning the patriarchy over the smoothest of beats. “What year is it?” she asks. “Still arguing the same shit…”