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YOU ARE READING ARTICLES BY

Craig Clemens

January 11, 2019
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Brand New Music

You Tell Me | You Tell Me

Peter Brewis, of Field Music, has teamed up with Sarah Hayes, of the Scottish-group Admiral Fallow, to create a brand new project called You Tell Me. Surprisingly this is supposedly Hayes’ first crack at writing lyrics, and for a first timer, she’s done a very admirable job. Weaving restless intimacy and a universal sense of hope into the musically melodic joy and abandon both Brewis and Hayes channel their personal challenges and anxieties. This album is at it’s peak when it leans into it’s up-tempo pop moments and generally relies on it’s emotional weight to carry the record forward. Sweeping orchestration, smatterings of airy woodwind and complex motifs, Brewis and Hayes’ effortless harmonies easily combine forces for an absolutely inspired match.

 

Tallies | Tallies

Is nostalgia still cool? Do we live, currently in 2019, in a post-nostalgia world? Somewhere between 2012’s hipster-apocalypse and 2018’s millennial-takeover, nostalgia became a shrewd marketing tool. The Toronto-native Tallies use the sway of 80’s new wave, guitar effect drenched, shoegaze-y, Morrissey rock to produce a self-titled debut that would feel right at home in 1986.  They may be two years (or 30 years) late to the party, but none the less, the meticulous attention to detail in the production pushes this album over the top to a realm that makes it completely believable. Instead of remaining jaded, I accept that this is the exact sound of that this group expresses in their coming of age – and not at all a passing ‘fad’ that will be replaced by the next nostalgic phase.

 

The Delines | The Imperial

This “retro”-country act out of Portland, Oregon took their time to get The Imperial off the ground. In the middle of their sessions in 2016, singer Amy Boone was run over by a car which required nearly three years of recovery before the group could finish work. Thankfully, this album prooves well worth the wait. Lyrics written by novelist/songwriter Willy Vlautin, The Imperial examines the weird and worn-out world of people who are forced to deal with the trail of destruction left by their own damaged psyches. As powerful as Vlautin’s books have been, his songwriting remains just as striking. This truly exceptional talents are channeling through the physical and mental scars of Amy Boone’s bowed-yet-unbroken performances.

 

Also out today…

Married Man | Hard Bargain

 

Lorelle Meets The Obsolete | De Facto

 

Sungazer | Sungazer, Vol. 2