Brand New Music
Big Thief | Two Hands
It’s futile to try and parse favourites between Big Thief’s previous masterpiece U.F.O.F. and the one released today. Undoubtedly one of the best releases of the year, Two Hands is a crowning achievement for a group that had an absolutely stellar 2019. Loving in an intimate and intangible way, there is a brutal honesty to how incredibly down to earth everything presented here remains. The lyrics, production, song-writing, and story telling all collaborate to create a completely raw yet tactile record that buzzes with energy while telling a heartbreaking story.
Elbow | Giants Of All Sizes
Thematically and musically this is an absolutely vital record. Seeing the world in it’s present darkness and the raising of hope around it, there’s a hard rock swagger to it’s uplifting nature. A gorgeous collection of textures, this is a return to form for a greatly underappreciated band. Standing tall among it’s peers of great rock coming out of the UK in 2019 – Elbow may be the most thrilling thing coming out of Manchester in ages.
Kim Gordon | No Home Record
While in many ways this is a crystallizing of Kim Gordon’s longstanding interests, there is a fragmentation in her lyrics while she still hangs onto many of her essential artistic characteristics. Overall it’s remarkable the amount of balance No Home Records achieves between sheer sonic width and emotional thematic focus. Gordon has stepped up with a body of work that shines, not only by illustrating her multi-faceted nature and the depth of her songwriting capabilities, but it surpassed anything any other Sonic Youth alum have manged to create thus far.
Also out today..
BABYMETAL | Metal Galaxy
Somos | Prison On A Hill
Richard Dawson | 2020
