Tag: Indie

Album Review: Lizzie No – Halfsies

On Lizzie No’s debut album, Hard Won, she showcased her talents as a harp playing folk singer with something to say and she then built on that foundation with her second record Vanity, creating a more ambitious, rockier sound. Her new record Halfsies is released in conjunction with Americana label Thirty Tigers, which is fitting since Lizzie has been a vocal advocate for more black women in country and folk music. Halfsies is a fantastic record which blends those genres along with some intriguing indie rock influences.

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Album Review: Bethany Cosentino – Natural Disaster

One of the albums which really got me through the pandemic was Best Coast’s Always Tomorrow – a blissfully catchy set of songs about the journey towards self-acceptance, sobriety and security. At the time when the world was shutting down those songs about shedding your old skin and learning how to look after yourself really hit a nerve.

So, a few years later, it’s not a huge surprise to me to learn that Bethany Cosentino has gone solo. Starting over, embracing a new life was central to so many of the old songs that the natural next step would be to begin again, moving away from her youthful indie rock and pop punk influences. While Best Coast had always felt like her voice, her project, (no offensive to drummer Bobb Bruno intended) using her own name for her music feels like a chance to really express her individuality.

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Album Review: Jess Williamson – Time Ain’t Accidental

Last year the native Texan Jess Williamson joined Katie Crutchfield to form the duo Plains, together releasing an album of gorgeous windswept indie folk which perfectly showcased her romantic, yearning vocals.

Her new record Time Ain’t Accidental continues in that same vein, offering us a softer take on a break-up record, sounding more like the exhalation breath of freedom rather than the howl of despair.

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Album Review: First Aid Kit – Palomino

We last heard First Aid Kit in ‘Ruins’ an album full of heartbreak songs that weighed so heavily on the band they ended their last touring schedule completely burnt out. After a much needed break they’re back with ‘Palomino’, recorded during the pandemic and produced by Daniel Bengston with some songwriting assistance from Bjorn Yttling. The horse of the title is a symbol of strength and freedom, signalling that the positive changes in their recent personal lives will be reflected in the new music (much like the other album of the same name released this year).

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Album Recommendation: Caitlin Rose – Cazimi

Reading the recent Guardian interview with Caitlin Rose was revealing, but not in the way you might expect. Here was an artist refusing to share her trauma or explain the personal reasons for the nine year gap between records. In an online world where oversharing is normalised (and monetised) the statement: I don’t think artists owe their stories, I think they owe music is radical and refreshing.

What Caitlin did share was that she has felt ‘stuck’ in her career. You can imagine then, how hard it must be to come back after a long time away. Seeing the endless, constant success of others paraded on social media can only add more doubt. Stasis is no surprise.

To break out Caitlin did something simple: she gave herself permission to stay in her ‘comfort zone’, connecting with friends who made her want to enjoy music again rather than aiming for something radically different. Old fans will recognise this artist immediately, with Cazimi reminding us what made her such an engaging voice in the first place.

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Album Review – Courtney Marie Andrews – Loose Future

Since starting this blog in 2017 Courtney Marie Andrews has released three studio albums, establishing herself as one of the most prolific women solo artists of the moment. Each album has been searching, both inwardly and outwardly for a better, more honest life. Musically too she has explored the darkness and the light, touching the edges of genres and influences, weaving her stories into melodies that feel effortless and essential.

Some fans may be worried that this level of productivity suggests she is stuck in the hamster wheel of the music industry content churn (with the consequent inevitable burnout). Luckily for us listeners Loose Future feels more like an exhale. The album is perhaps less sonically ambitious than ‘May Your Kindness Remain’ or emotionally fraught as ‘Old Flowers’ but that well…looseness…feels freeing and refreshing.

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Slight Return

Doesn’t everyone at some point dream of going back in time to their youth? Who wouldn’t want to experience life again without the crushing reality of adult human existence weighing us all down?

After the last eighteen months of coronavirus hell, I was craving such a moment. So when I saw the chance to get tickets to see two bands I had loved as a teenager – Britpop legends Sleeper and the Bluetones – it felt like a strange kind of serendipity. Restrictions had just been lifted in Scotland. I was double jagged and desperate to get some kind of normality back to my flatlined existence. Continue reading “Slight Return” →

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Album Review: Lucy Dacus – Home Video

I once heard about a comedy night where people read out their teenage diaries verbatim, finding humour in the shared horror, innocence and stupidity of youth. The event seemed to tap into that instinct we have to laugh at our younger selves, while also letting us envy the openness which only teenagers have. Lucy Dacus’s new album Home Video draws heavily on her own teenage journals and the title refers to her rewatching childhood videos. By looking at the past her music draws power in the universality of life’s specific memories. Continue reading “Album Review: Lucy Dacus – Home Video” →

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