Weekly Release Spotlight
That one perfect album that we (and you) almost missed.
Eusexua by FKA Twigs
FKA Twigs is back with a new album detailing a new feeling: eusexua. Defined by the artist as “…when you’ve been kissing a lover for hours and turn into an amoeba with that person. You’re not human anymore, you’re just a feeling,” Twigs encountered this emotion during her time in Prague and existing within its underground dance and clubbing scene. Citing this as her main inspiration for the album, Twigs incorporates heavy bass and drum among melodic and liberating lyrics, really showcasing her commitment to her creative vision without compromise. This album is so true to itself, vulnerable in its rawest moments, translating emotions that can only be conceptualized through music and dance, pure eusexua.
Perverts by Ethel Cain
Ethel Cain’s sophomore album, ‘Perverts’ is a hauntingly beautiful piece of work. This album serves as a darker, more personal follow up to her 2022 release, ‘Preacher’s Daughter.’ Cain’s sound has shifted heavily into drone and ambient music, which she describes as a “meditative, deeply euphoric and indulgent” process. Across the tracks, Ethel Cain divulges feelings about human sexuality, spirituality, and shame over deep, textural drones and creeping piano. The album is slow, pensive, and palpably made with such delicate care and interest. Her passion for music, especially drone, shines through in this album, especially through her detailed explanations of this album’s production and her eagerness to explain her music-making process, often via the musician’s tumblr page. When asked (via tumblr) about the seemingly sudden genre shift, “is it true you’re trying to push away from the more main stream sound to draw in a closer and intimate audience?” she simply replied, “no, i just really like drone music and wanted to make some.” Authentic, genuine passion is needed in music now more than ever, and what an incredible artist Ethel Cain is for bringing us just that.
Heavy Metal by Cameron Winter
Cameron Winter’s solo debut, Heavy Metal, is a heart-on-your-sleeve, intrusive thought-filled, molasses-dripping, gooey, chaotic masterpiece. His vocals, ranging from a deep baritone to a desperate screech, stretch across the album and haunt each track. This solo work diverges from his other project, Geese, to reveal an even more experimental side of Winter. His self-critical lyrics and erratic percussion dance from track to track and really build the album into a full universe. It’s surreal, but not nonsensical–each track tells a full story and perfectly, purposefully weaves into the next track. The album’s biggest moments ensue on the epic six-minute tracks of ‘Nina + Field of Cops’ and ‘$0’. The former begins with a driving piano roll combined with a half-sung half-spoken manifesto that can only be described as a beautiful descent into madness, followed by the haunting a capella opening of ‘$0’ that transitions into a darker piano and string-led ballad. The full lyrical composition and emotional delivery make for the most gut-wrenching, emotionally destabilizing listen. Just fantastic, off-putting, and addictive.
Night Palace by Mount Eerie
Mount Eerie’s ‘Night Palace’ is a self-assured, emotional album. Drawing inspiration from his Pacific Northwest upbringing, Phil Elverum combines familiar sounds from his other project, The Microphones, as well as a new, more experimental and unexpected musicality. The 26-song album covers personal anxieties, existential worry, and the growth that comes from decades of making music. At times, the record is a blast of all-encompassing sound, only to then shift into a deafening silence of blowing wind. Most noticeably, the carefully-crafted space between tracks “Broom of the Wind” and “I Walk” beautifully compliments the slow, pensiveness of the album. Elverum’s use of the natural elements is familiar, nonetheless still provocative. ‘Night Palace’ poses change as the only constant and nature as a comparatively grounding solace.
Cleaner than Clean by Astrachan
Chicago’s own Ben Astrachan creates a sound on ‘Cleaner Than Clean’ that’s effortlessly lo-fi and charmingly twangy. With upbeat, folk-influenced songwriting, Astrachan’s project brings both melancholy and unprecedented silliness to the table. Particularly the song “Monkey Mind” contains an air of Sufjan Stevens-esque musicality–down to a soft choral backing track and soft, introspective lyrics. Another artist returning to straight-to-tape recording, Astrachan gives a glimpse into the future of authentic and artistic Midwest indie rock.
Open Source by World Brain
Home-recorded over the course of years in Berlin, Paris, and Brussels, World Brain’s latest album, “Open Source,” is engaging and dynamic. World Brain uses various software sounds, flutes, synths, as well as heavy vocal modulation to make a project that rides the line between nostalgic and futuristic. To listen through this album is to take a walk and risk the chance of your feet floating off the ground. Taking 90s futurism into today’s era, it makes muzak into something listenable, and dare I say delightful.