Six Amazing Albums From 2018 You (Probably) Haven’t Heard Yet

I’ll let you guys in on a little secret: almost everything I do is an accident. When I sat down to plan out this site’s 2018, monthly new music roundups were not even part of the equation. By the end of January I was already so overwhelmed with incredible new music I just couldn’t help but collect it all in a write-up. I wrote that post in one day (a quick turnaround for me), and since then I’ve been keeping track of new releases more than ever before, discovering to new acts, and posting new music roundups along the way each month. 

Now that we’re officially halfway through the year I wanted to look back and pick one album from each month that stood out to me. This article is basically a way for me to repurpose these mini-reviews in a more topical “mid-year recap” that every publication seems to be doing, but with a focus on smaller releases that have flown under the radar. So without further adieu, here are six albums from 2018 you (probably) haven’t heard yet. 

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Shame - Songs of Praise

Far and away my favorite album of January, Songs of Praise is the debut record from London-based post-punk group Shame. It’s an aggressive, moody, and surprisingly poetic album that’s currently filling the IDLES-shaped hole in my heart. Cold and grey, angry and calculating, this is an unflinching and immaculate record that took me by surprise and still hasn’t let go.

Hovvdy - Cranberry

Like most other bands on this list, Hovvdy is a group I’d never heard of until I sat down to listen to them this year. When I first hit play on Cranberry, I instantly fell in love with the warm, hazy, nostalgic sound of the record, and with each further listen a different track has jumped out at me and grabbed my attention. Both spiritually and stylistically, this album reminds me of Turnover’s Peripheral Vision from 2015. Both albums hooked me on first listen and bear the same fuzzy spaced-out sense of nostalgia. While Turnover’s record is more pop-punk influenced, Cranberry finds itself taking cues from bedroom indie, Americana, and even country at times, but both play out like a distant memory that slowly grows to shroud the listener in their own nostalgia.

Haley Heynderickx - I Need To Start a Garden

On I Need To Start a Garden we witness as Haley Hendrickx attempts to balance the cultivation of her soul with the well-being of those around her. With deeply-cutting lyricism, haunting, fragile vocals, and wonderfully-arranged instrumentals, Garden is a carefully-crafted record. At its best moments, the album’s minimalism serves Hendrickx’s style well as the songs crest from held-back whispers into full-blown explosions of sound and emotion. Currently my strongest frontrunner for album of the year, Haley Hendrickx is a person to watch, with a record to love. 

For my full review of I Need To Start a Garden, click here.

Fiddlehead - Springtime and Blind

Fiddlehead is an emo supergroup comprised of members from Basement and Have Heart who are making hard-charging punk in the style of Jawbreaker or Balance and Composure. A recent addition to the Run For Cover family, the label’s co-sign immediately put the band on my radar and got me to give this debut a shot. While the 24-minute running time makes Springtime and Blind an easy listen, the lyrical content makes it anything but. After witnessing the impact of his father’s death on his mom, lead singer Patrick Flynn set out to bottle up that emotion and hurl it back in the face of his audience. Opening track “Spousal Loss” immediately sets the tone of the record, and (aside from an interlude or two) the heavy-hearted energy of this release doesn’t let up until its final moments. It’s a compelling and expansive listen that grabbed me on first spin and has somehow managed to hit even harder with each subsequent listen. It’s musical and spiritual forward momentum.

Ministry of Interior Spaces - Life, Death and the Perpetual Wound

I’m not a sad person. I don’t have many regrets in life, nor a wealth of personal tragedies to draw from. Earlier this year I attended a This Will Destroy You concert, and it was one of the most powerful experiences I’ve had in recent memory. I knew their songs like the back of my hand, and midway through the instrumental set, my mind began to wander into long-forgotten thoughts. It was meditative. I started thinking about people, places, and events I hadn’t considered in years, as if the music was helping my brain re-establish these broken connections in order to feel these things I hadn’t in decades. At its best, I feel music offers listeners a canvas on which to project their own feelings and anxieties. An avenue to interact with deep-seated traumas and unheard thoughts, and that’s exactly what Ministry of Interior Spaces offers on Life, Death and the Perpetual Wound. Half concept album, half whatever you want it to be, Perpetual Wound is an ambient release that recounts the tale of a “mystical road trip through a magic-realist American West.” It’s a document of its creator’s struggle with drugs, depression and, friendship in the face of natural beauty. The record tells a timeless tale that simultaneously acts as a canvas for the listener to venture through and draw upon. A beautiful self-exploration. 

We interviewed Ministry of Interior Spaces here, and did a track by track analysis of LLDATPWD here.

Snail Mail - Lush

At the risk of echoing already-hyperbolic publications, I flat-out adore Lush. I’ve previously written quite a bit about Snail Mail, even going as far as to call this my most anticipated release of the year, and I’m now proud to write that Lush is everything I’d hoped it would be.

I first discovered Snail Mail last year when they were opening for Girlpool. I had already staked out a great spot for the main act one or two people away from the front of the stage in a small 200-some capacity venue here in Portland. I’d never heard of Snail Mail, but once they started playing my jaw just dropped, and I was rapt for their entire set.

There’s something pure about “discovering” a band like that, especially in a live setting just a few feet away from the music. It has been weirdly-affirming to watch Lindsey Jordan blow up since then. Between the Matador signing, her Tiny Desk concert, and all this recent press, it’s been wild to watch her soar so high so quickly.

I guess I feel a microcosm of the “I liked them before they were cool,” but at the same time, I’m goddamn happy for her. I’ve been spinning Habit and her (now deleted?) Sticki EP endlessly since that concert last year, even going as far as to manually rip the Tiny Desk performance onto my phone just so I was able to listen to “Anytime” at any time. This record has been a year in the making for me, and I couldn’t be happier.

Lush is somber, morose, and personal. Built around heartfelt tales and personal drama, each song features Jordan’s voice front and center, often working itself up to an explosive and passionate melody over her own jangly guitar-work. It hurts to listen to, but it also helps the ease the pain at the same time. It’s a beautiful contradiction, an awe-inspiring exploration of growth, and the exact kind of record I need right now.

June 2018: Album Review Roundup

Vermont is for Lovers, and (apparently) June is for Hip-hop. At the time of writing, we now find ourselves halfway through the year, at the start of a hot summer, and emerging from an absolute barrage of new releases from some of the biggest names in music. I’m not gonna beat around the bush, lots of objectively-fucked up shit happened in June, but for the sake of avoiding politics and leaning into happiness, let’s take a break from that and focus on some of the life-affirming art we’ve been lucky enough to receive this past month.

Just in the past 30 days we’ve witnessed numerous Kanye-produced records, multiple collab albums, surprise drops, and long-awaited debuts from rising up-and-comers. Let’s jump into our recap of June’s best albums and kick things off with one of my most conflicted releases of the year.

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Kanye West - ye

Kanye West likes Donald Trump. There’s no way around it, and it’s an ugly fact that I’d rather ignore, but much like AA, the first step is to say it out loud just to get over the mental hangup. Ever since Kanye’s pre-album political nonsense this spring, I’ve approached his music and persona with more apprehension than ever before. While I already detailed my excited, confused, and conflicting thoughts on Kanye’s eighth album here, I feel it’s worth mentioning in this roundup if only because June was a month dominated by Mr. West and it all kicked off with this album. 

On ye, it seems as if Kanye is fully-embracing his life philosophy of “soon as they like you, make ‘em unlike you,” the only problem is, this is the first time I've ever personally found myself unliking him. I can see where he’s coming from (at the end of the day, Kanye has more in common with Trump than he does with Obama) but his public support remains a massive enjoyment-deterring red flag that lingers in the back of my brain while listening to this album. 

If you’re wondering why I’m talking so much about politics, and controversy, and things outside the music, it’s because that’s exactly what the album itself does. My primary criticism with ye is that it’s mired almost exclusively in the events of the past few weeks. It sounds cool, it’s well-produced, and has some fun moments, but politics aside I fear for how well this album will age. Especially when stacked up against other classics in a discography of records that have only gotten better with age, I don’t see ye standing the test of time. Maybe it will turn out to be a fun time capsule, but I don’t know how much I’ll want to be remembering Kanye’s TMZ interview years down the line. ye is timely, not timeless. All we can do now is wait to see how well it holds up and hope that the damage isn’t irreparable.

Read our full review of ye here.

Dance Gavin Dance - Artificial Selection

Dance Gavin Dance’s debut was bookended by the lyrics “I believe there’s meaning / No I believe there’s nothing,” an anthemic refrain that ended up becoming a sort of mission statement for the Sacramento natives. Active for over a decade, Dance Gavin Dance have inadvertently become old guards of the post-hardcore scene, a single constant among one of the most volatile and ever-changing musical genres. Not to say the band themselves haven't had their share of ups and downs; after a revolving door of members leaving, re-joining, and then re-leaving, the group seems to have finally cemented into a steady line-up that they've maintained for four albums now. After hitting a possible career-high with 2016’s Mothership, the group has returned with Artificial Selection, their longest and most powerful output to date. 

To me, Dance Gavin Dance has always embodied the best this genre has to offer; beautiful, emotional, and earnest melodic singing stacked against overtly-goofy but hard-hitting screams all battling for the listener’s attention over hyper-proficient musicianship. It’s a musical Yin and Yang with two sides that are diametrically opposed, yet somehow work together to raise each other. Regardless of the lineup, each Dance Gavin Dance album feels like the band is a cohesive entity working together for one common purpose, clawing tooth and nail toward their greater artistic vision. 

While most of Artifical Selection is precisely what fans have come to expect from DGD, the album’s most impressive feat comes in its closing moments on “Evaporate” when the group runs through a breathtaking medley of eight songs during the album’s final minute. The result is a one-of-a-kind career-spanning highlight reel that encapsulates 13 years of musical highs, lows, phases, and lineups. The 60-seconds are jam-packed with second-long flashes from different bygone eras, each of which unearth long-buried feelings that now feel fresh as ever. It’s an absolutely staggering musical achievement, and one that only long-time fans will fully-appreciate, but this goosebump-inducing outro alone is worth the price of admission. 

Nas - Nasir

Despite claims of album completion in 2016, it took until this month for the public to hear Nas’ long-awaited twelfth studio album. Undoubtedly re-written, retooled, and revamped in the intervening years, Nasir is the penultimate release of Kanye West's Wyoming Sessions. Opener “Not For Radio” throws the listener headlong into a torrent of various political proclamations that let the listener know what they’re in for by immediately baptizing them in the deep end. From there “Cops Shot the Kid” is a unique and poignant track placed over a constantly-repeating Slick Rick loop that bears the song’s title. Other highlights include the soulful “White Label” and the far-out “Simple Things.” Overall, Nasir is a bold, compact, and political release from one of the former figureheads of the hip-hop scene. 

Colin Stetson - Hereditary (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Spoiler-Free 

Whew. I don’t write about soundtracks on here very often, but Hereditary has hung with me long after my first viewing. I went into the movie alone on a stormy Wednesday as a way to test out my new MoviePass card when I found myself with an abundance of free time. Aside from social media hype and my passive A24 fandom I had no idea what the movie was about or what to expect going in. Hereditary is the first time I’ve ever experienced true horror in a movie theater on a genuine level. I covered my mouth during one scene that took me by such surprise I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing. My heart was beating out of my chest for the film’s final act, and I had to consciously remind myself that this was only a movie. I left the theater speechless, physically weak, and in awe of what I’d just taken in. 

Award-worthy direction, writing, and performances aside, an essential element to the film is Colin Stetson’s reserved score. It oscillates between moments of minuscule almost non-existent instrumentation that then quickly drop out into explosions of unease that coincide with the film’s most disturbing moments. Both as a movie and an album, Hereditary is absolutely dreadful. A horrific march through grief, death, and trauma that has haunted me more than any other film I’ve ever seen in my life. 

Beyonce & Jay-Z - Everything Is Love 

Surprise released on an unsuspecting Saturday night in mid-June, Everything Is Love finds the biggest power couple in music teaming up for a collab album of fashionable flexing and marital bliss. Hopefully the final nail in the coffin of the “Lemonade Narrative,” the album sees both Bey and Jay mending fences following 2016’s embarrassingly-public infidelity. Full of lavish beats, ballads, and bangers, the duo’s joint effort is just as opulent as their previous work would lead you to believe. Most of the tracks see Beyonce pulling double duty as both singer and rapper, occasionally passing the mic off to Jay for him to interject a verse or two of his own. Soulful, holistic, and (fittingly) loving, this record is pure fun, even if it’s exactly what you expect going in. 

Nine Inch Nails - Bad Witch

Following a detour into ambient, a memorable Twin Peaks appearance, and a (still-ongoing) love affair with film scores, Reznor and Co. are back with one of the darkest and most disintegrated releases they’ve ever recorded. Both a return to form and a bit of a curveball, Bad Witch is a dark, distant, and delightfully-distorted vision of a bygone future. Simultaneously jazzy and machine-driven, NIN’s latest record finds inspiration in David Bowie’s near-death Blackstar, so much so that I actually mistook album closer “Over and Out” as a posthumous feature from the Goblin King himself. Technically the third entry in a trilogy of EPs following 2016’s Not the Actual Events and 2017’s Add Violence, this record’s Bowie emulation has led fans to believe this grouping of EPs is Reznor’s approximation/interpretation of the Berlin Trilogy. A bold comparison to draw, but Bad Witch is so strong, I don’t think that many could begrudge it. There are long-winding instrumental stretches, far-off intermittent vocals, and even an unexpected sax interjection at one point. The singing is sparse and drowned-out in ancillary noise, but the end result is a potent and impactful release that will likely be vaulted up with the decade-old classics of NIN’s long and storied discography.

Father John Misty - God’s Favorite Customer

I don’t even know where to begin with Josh Tillman anymore. His extra-musical antics range from clever to tiring, but primarily because they’re never-ending. While I enjoyed 2017’s Pure Comedy enough for it to end up on our 2017 AOTY list, that record was still a draining, exhausting, downer of a listen. In contrast, God’s Favorite Customer offers almost a polar opposite: a hyper-specific depiction of Tillman’s life on a micro level that still manages to retain some of the grandiose musicality from his last release. 

If I Love You, Honeybear was an album about his wife, Pure Comedy was a record about all of humanity, and now Pure Comedy is an album about himself. Stark and introspective, Tillman balances the balladry of Comedy with the more ornamental musicality of Honeybear for a record that ends up feeling like the best of both worlds. It’s an album written mid-breakdown while holed away in a Wes Anderson-esque hotel. There are pangs of paranoia, depression, and crippling self-doubt, but the important thing is that both the narrator and the listener emerge from the experience as better people.

Snail Mail - Lush

At the risk of echoing already-hyperbolic publications, I flat-out adore Lush. I’ve previously written quite a bit about Snail Mail, even going as far as to call this my most anticipated release of the year, and I’m now proud to write that Lush is everything I’d hoped it would be.

I first discovered Snail Mail last year when they were opening for Girlpool. I had already staked out a great spot for the main act one or two people away from the front of the stage in a small 200-some capacity venue here in Portland. I’d never heard of Snail Mail, but once they started playing my jaw just dropped, and I was rapt for their entire set.

There’s something pure about “discovering” a band like that, especially in a live setting just a few feet away from the music. It has been weirdly-affirming to watch Lindsey Jordan blow up since then. Between the Matador signing, her Tiny Desk concert, and all this recent press, it’s been wild to watch her soar so high so quickly.

I guess I feel a microcosm of the “I liked them before they were cool,” but at the same time, I’m goddamn happy for her. I’ve been spinning Habit and her (now deleted?) Sticki EP endlessly since that concert last year, even going as far as to manually rip the Tiny Desk performance onto my phone just so I was able to listen to “Anytime” at any time. This record has been a year in the making for me, and I couldn’t be happier.

Lush is somber, morose, and personal. Built around heartfelt tales and personal drama, each song features Jordan’s voice front and center, often working itself up to an explosive and passionate melody over her own jangly guitar-work. It hurts to listen to, but it also helps the ease the pain at the same time. It’s a beautiful contradiction, an awe-inspiring exploration of growth, and the exact kind of record I need right now.

Kids See Ghosts - Kids See Ghosts

Bookending this month’s roundup we have Kids See Ghosts which is the collaborative project of Kid Cudi and Kanye West. Practically the polar opposite of the hyper-timely slice-of-life lyrics found on ye, Kids See Ghosts is a psychedelic and ethereal release that feels much more refined and long-lasting. The album ranges from anthemic (“Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)”) to absurdly-confident (“Cudi Montage”) but everything circles around a central theme of mental health which both men have publicly struggled with in recent years. Having emerged from the other side of their respective traumas (and even beef), Kids See Ghosts is both celebratory and affirming, a joint effort to be better, happier people. Both artists provide spectacular counterpoints to one another, and the entire collaboration feels like an equitable, vibrant, psychedelic journey to the higher self.

Quick Hits

• Oneohtrix Point Never - Age Of: Medieval psychedelic rock beamed to earth from an abandoned space-station that grows increasingly-schizophrenic with each passing minute.

• Natalie Prass - The Future and the Past: Funky hip-swaggering indie rock with heartfelt vocals that pierce through your soul.

• Anthony Green - Would You Still Be In Love: The Circa Survive frontman takes a rustic acoustic detour to wax poetically about love and life.

• Joan Of Arc - 1984: Collaborative indie rock that give a voice to those that are hungriest.

• Get Up Kids - Kicker: A four-track EP and the first material in seven years from the forefathers of pop-punk. A warmly-welcomed return to the genre.

• Pllush - Stranger to the Pain: Blissed-out and dreamy emo rock with siren vocals, swirling soundscapes, and heartfelt lyrics.

• serpentwithfeet - soil: Smutty lower-case R&B that gets progressively more depraved as it goes along.

• gobbinjr. - ocala wick: Hyper-personal bedroom indie rock that bleeds rawly over bouncy electronic bloops and gorgeous guitar work.

• Würst Nürse - Hot Hot Hot: Balls-out fully-female punk rock. A quartet of hot tracks that shred, rip, and thrash their way towards triumph.

• Flasher - Constant Image: Blissed-out grunge-influenced tunes for lovers of the Pixies and similarly-sharp alternative.

• Jorja Smith - Lost & Found: After vaulting to fame thanks to a 2017 Drake appearance, Jorja Smith is now fully-ready for the RnB spotlight.

• Petal - Magic Gone: Throwback grungy tunes with a voice like a bell and emotions like a shark.

• Protomartyr - Consolation: Crushing post-punk with rolling drums and charging bass. A wall ready to be defaced.

• Melody’s Echo Chamber - Bon Voyage: Ever-changing and dreamy French indie rock.

• Jay Rock - Redemption: Reformed gangster tales from the TDE mainstay. Well-polished and hard-hitting, this is the hip-hop dark night of the soul you need at 2am.

• SOPHIE - Oil Of Every Pearl's Un-Insides: Shiny, polished, and clean electronic pop from the renowned and enigmatic producer.

• State Champs - Living Proof: Happy-go-lucky pop-punk with more group chants, anthemic choruses, and maudlin sentiments than you can shake a stick at.

• The Sloppy Boys - Lifelong Vacation: Comprised of indie comedy legends Mike Hanford, Tim Kalpakis, and Jefferson Dutton, Lifelong Vacation is a hilarious, fun, and rockin’ outing that I can’t get enough of.

• Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Hope Downs: Sharp and surfy tunes from the Australian indie rockers.

• Culture Abuse - Bay Dream: Unrelentingly-joyous and fast-moving, Bay Dream is a textbook pop-punk Summer album.

• Death Grips - Year Of The Snitch: 👄

• Freddie Gibbs - Freddie: Hard beats and hard bars, all delivered in under 30 minutes.

• Drake - Scorpion: After getting publicly-owned in one of the decade’s most high-profile rap beefs, Drake is back with an exhausting 25 tracks of rap-singing and Drive-inspired outerwear.

• Jim James - Uniform Distortion: The fourth solo album from the My Morning Jacket frontman with just as much distortion, charm, and good vibes as fans have come to expect.

• Florence + The Machine - High as Hope: Sweeping, ornamental, and theatrical, High as Hope captures slowly-building slice of life confessions.

• Spencer Radcliffe - If I Knew How: Earnest as ever, Spencer Radcliffe’s newest EP contains a handful of early recordings that showcase the development stages of the songwriting process.

• Self Defense Family - Have You Considered Punk Music: The newest stark and emotional journey courtesy of Run For Cover Records.

• The Milk Carton Kids - All The Things That I Did and All The Things That I Didn’t Do: Slow-burning and fast-smoldering country tunes.

Singles from St. Vincent, Mezingers, Saba, Asking Alexandria, Charli XCX, MadeinTYO, IDLES, Interpol, Manchester Orchestra, Mom Jeans, Death Cab For Cutie, Alt-J, The Kooks, Nicki Minaj, Mogwai, Yo La Tengo, Mitski, Sheryl Crow, Angelo De Augustine, Rubblebucket, 2 Chainz, Grimes, The Mountain Goats, Tyler, The Creator, Deafheaven, Meek Mill, Thee Oh Sees, Smashing Pumpkins, and BROCKHAMPTON.

Rewind

Finally, here are some 2018 records from earlier months that I missed, but wish I hadn't.

• Deeper - Deeper: Bouncy indie rock that keeps time like a well-oiled machine.

• Bonny Don - Longwave: Laid-back, jangly, and jaunty indie rock with a tasteful tinge of country. The perfect album for a porch beer.

• The Fearless Flyers - The Fearless Flyers: Someone this passed me by (despite receiving multiple emails about it) but the latest spinoff from the Vulfpeck collective is irresponsibly funky.

• Harrison Whitford - Afraid of Everything: Heartfelt soul-prodding folk with a jangly country bent.

Female-Fronted 2017: A Guide to This Year’s Best Music Made By Women

Editor's Note 2019: I initially wrote this piece in 2017 when I was discovering a wealth of bands helmed by women. I was excited to elevate a set of artists who felt neglected by the mainstream music press. I regret using the term "female-fronted" because so many people now use it as a stand-in for a genre tag or any more meaningful descriptors. I still have love and admiration for all these artists, but painting with such a broad brush feels reductive in retrospect. The remainder of the article remains as it was when first published in 2017, but I wanted to address the title and call out the term "female-fronted" with an asterisk because I recognize how harmful that title can be for women in the music industry.

2017 has been regressive in more ways than I can count. Despite an oppressive political landscape and a constantly-overwhelming news cycle, it’s also been heartening to watch people band together in the face of bigotry, and hatred.

This feeling of resistance has also bled over into art. We’ve finally got a legitimately great female-led superhero movie as well as multiple strong female-centered TV shows (Orange, Veep, Kimmy Schmidt, The Mindy Project, Broad City, Take My Wife). More germane to this blog; the same shift can also be felt in this year’s music. Alongside 2017’s many excellent female-fronted albums, this past month Cardi B become the first solo female rap artist to top the Billboard charts since 1998. Whether it’s a movement or just a sign of the times, we’re witnessing an undeniable change in our culture.

Chalk it up to the political climate, toxic masculinity, or whatever term you prefer; lately I’ve been feeling “over” hyper-masculine music. Maybe it’s a byproduct of a free TIDAL subscription or seeing 20+ concerts in 12 months, but this year I’ve been exposed to a wider variety of music than ever before. Projecting myself onto machismo music has carried me far in life, and that type of music still has a place in my heart (and my iPod), but it’s been connecting with me less and less as time goes on.

I’ve also gotten away from this testosterone-fueled perspective because the alternatives feel infinitely more refreshing than an imitation of something I’ve heard a dozen times before. Even within typically-masculine genres like hip-hop, we now have people like Young Thug and Kevin Abstract who are slowly (but actively) dismantling long-entrenched negative tropes of the scene. This year I’ve found solace and comfort in these unique takes on the human perspective.

Serendipitously, 2017 also happens to be an incredible year for women in music. From vibrant radio bops to hazy bedroom indie, we’ve seen an absolute barrage of impeccable releases this year from female artists. So I wanted to highlight some of the projects that I’ve found myself coming back over and over again. These artists are making some of the freshest, most unique, and lived-in records of recent memory, so let’s take a moment to celebrate these creators and make a toast to new perspectives in art.

Julien Baker

Funnily enough, one of my favorite discoveries of 2017 turned out to be an album from 2015. I’ve already detailed my affection for Julen Baker’s Sprained Ankle in this loving write-up from earlier in the year, but in short, I’m embarrassed that it took me this long to discover it. Baker’s debut record has been lingering with me all year like a specter. I’ve read interviews, watched live performances, and my Julien Baker-related obsession will likely peak when I see her live this December.

Julien Baker has already had an eventful 2017 as she signed to Matador Records, released a haunting 7-inch, and is currently revving up to drop her Sprained Ankle follow-up Turn Out the Lights. I’m willing to admit her music has now fallen into utterly un-objective fandom territory for me, but even the three songs she’s released this year have been spectacular, and I’m fully expecting her album to worm its way onto my end-of-the-year list. Baker’s brand of somber folky slowcore has a way of hooking directly into my brain and violently wrenching on my heartstrings. I’ve already got my tissues stockpiled for her upcoming October 27th release, and I fully expect to cry in public at her concert in December.

Angel Olsen

This November singer/songwriter/guitarist Angel Olsen is treating us to a career-spanning album of loosies, B-Sides, and rarities. I’ve already expressed my love for 2016’s My Woman (which landed at #5 on my end-of-the-year list for 2016), and if Phases’ first single is any indication, we’re in for an equally-great collection of moody guitar-centered folk tracks.

Japanese Breakfast

Japanese Breakfast is the Philadelphia-based solo project of Michelle Zauner. In 2016 she released the grief-stricken 25-minute LP Psychopomp which featured a collection of tracks written in the wake of her mother’s battle with cancer. This year’s Soft Sounds From Another Planet essentially acts as an update. A group of 12 adventurous tracks that offer an honest depiction of what happens after the most important person in your life passes.

Aside from the personal update, Soft Sounds finds itself standing musically above Psychopomp thanks to improved production and added fullness of her now-honed backing band. All of these pieces come together neatly for a more fleshed-out, but less personal album than her debut. The tracks range from saxophone-laden danciness (Machinist) to Roy Orbison-esque balladry (Boyish), but Michelle’s personality shines through each and every moment, making for a hopeful space-themed journey.

Half Waif

Half Waif is the icy electronic side-project of Pinegrove’s resident keyboardist Nandi Plunkett. This year she’s found a voice speaking out against the internet (and the music industry’s) inherent sexism, but Half Waif’s form/a EP is all the proof you need that she’s a musical force all her own.

Often taking a more dark and honest approach than Pinegrove’s good-spirited group-based cheeriness, Half Waif allows Plunkett to explore deeply-personal stories and exercise the demons of her past. With disarming vocals, swaying melodies, and sprawling instrumentation, form/a is one of the most unique EPs this year.

Camp Cope

Camp Cope is a trio of Melburnians creating emotionally-punchy emo rock. In 2016 they released an impeccable self-titled debut that tackled everything from relationship nostalgia to police brutality, all in a little over half an hour. It’s a record of forward momentum, and  Georgia Maq’s unmistakably Australian accent adds a unique tinge to the band’s already-memorable songs.

This year they’ve signed to Run For Cover, released a split with Cayetana, and done an Audiotree session. As they rev up for a tour, it’s unlikely we’ll get a sophomore album from them this year, but it seems like these girls are poised to segue this momentum into something really special within the next year.

Snail Mail

Out of the dozens of concerts I’ve seen this year, a select few have resonated with me deeply, and Snail Mail is one of them. The first time I’d heard of the band was minutes before they were about to take the stage as Girlpool’s second opener. I stood in the crowd, about ten feet from the mic, enjoying my beer and reserving my prime spot for the main act. As Snail Mail took the stage and played their first song, I became slowly disarmed. The singer couldn’t have been older than twenty (she wasn’t) but every song shimmered with a level of maturity and hazy emo malaise.

I found myself hanging on every word, losing track of time, and as soon as it started, it was over. Before their set ended, the bassist and drummer stood and disappeared backstage, leaving frontwoman Lindsey Jordan alone with the crowd. Illuminated by a single spotlight, it was her, a guitar, a mic, and a crowd full of silent people. She played “Anytime,” a (still-unreleased) wandering emo ballad in which she guides you, at first by hand, then by force, deeper into your own emotional rabbit hole.

To put it simply: I was awestruck. It was one of the most powerful things I’ve seen all year. The band has recreated this (to an obviously less personal degree) in their 2017 Tiny Desk performance which dropped the same day the band announced they were signing to Matador records. It’s spectacular, inspiring, and a little jealousy-inducing that this 17-year-old is achieving artistic heights that I could only dream of, but I am so glad to have been here on the ground floor. Snail Mail’s growth will only be exponential from here on out, mark my words.

Diet Cig

High kicks, pom-pom earrings, and pictures of doggos. These are just a few of the characteristics that make New York-based Diet Cig a compelling duo. Aside from an infinitely-goofy and endearing social media presence, the band puts on one of the most energetic live shows I’ve ever witnessed. Fueled by nothing but pop-punk ferocity, guitarist and singer Alex Luciano slides across the stage, jumping, kicking, and diving off equipment all while Noah Bowman lays down a steady beat on the drums.

Their 2017 debut album Swear I’m Good At This opens with a humming guitar and a heart aching delivery as Luciano details her teenage attempts to sleep with a guy that shares her name. Within a minute the album quickly whirs into top speed and remains there until its final notes. Their confetti-filled Tiny Desk session captures their on-stage charm and energy quite well and earned the band a deserved spot in a New York Times profile over the summer.  

BABY!

The emphatically-named BABY! is a Florida-based pop-punk group helmed by Kaley Honeycutt. Fittingly enough, the eternally-hair-dyed Orlandoan released her debut album Sunny, F . L., at the tail end of summer. The record is a breezy marriage of intimate bedroom pop vocals and delicate shimmering instrumentation.

Signed to ex-Japanese Breakfast’s Yellow K Records, BABY! is a prime example of killing it in a local scene. From touring the east coast to hand-making shirts and buttons, Honeycutt is an exemplar of an old-school punk DIY mentality wrapped in a sunny Floridian package.

Lorde

You’d have to have been living under a soundproof rock to have not heard Lorde’s chart-topping “Royals” back in 2013. After making waves with her (nearly-undisputed) song of the summer, she went six-times platinum and then dropped her debut album Pure Heroine, all by the age of 17. After years of touring, writing, and working on other projects, Lorde simply took some time away from the spotlight to live her life.

In 2017, four years after she first introduced herself to the world, Lorde returned to music, ready to reflect on the remainder of her teenage years. She paired up with Bleachers’ Jack Antonoff and released Melodrama, a markedly more mature and thoughtful record. This highly-anticipated sophomore album utilized real instrumentation and found Lorde grappling with a recent breakup. With 11 tracks stretched over 40 minutes, Melodrama offers a wide variety of explosive sounds centered around grounded slice-of-life stories from the worldly New Zealander. It also happens to contain some of the most infectious, ear-wormiest tracks of the year and has slowly crept up against E•MO•TION as one of my favorite pop albums of all time.

Girlpool

Often categorized as “folk punk,” Girlpool is a duo comprised of Cleo Tucker on guitar and Harmony Tividad on bass. The two swap instruments and share vocal duties, which led to the creation of their one-of-a-kind debut Before the World Was Big. This year they added a drummer, second guitarist, and released Powerplant, a more full-bodied follow-up.

The dynamic between the two remains strong as ever, and once the opening track “123” clicks into place, it’s clear the drums are there only to support our two leads. They get dark on tracks like “Soup” and eventually send the listener off smiling with “Static Somewhere.” I personally think the band lost a little bit of personality in going from just guitar and bass to adding drums, but there’s still some great charming moments on this record.

Jay Som

Melina Duterte is a 22-year-old Polyvinyl signee who first made waves in 2016 with her excellent debut Turn Into. This year, amid seemingly-constant touring, she’s already released her official follow-up Everybody Works. The album is packed with clear-eyed songs that depict a single life on an ever-shifting scale. Sometimes zooming down to interpersonal levels, other times peeling back to the cosmic scale, Everybody Works is a crystallization of Duterte as a human. The penultimate title track drills the album’s immensely-catchy title into your head, serving as the first hit of a one-two punch, followed by an epic 7-minute closer that will leave you breathless.

Courtney Barnett

Courtney Barnett is an indie rocker from Australia who charms the listener through witty self-deprecation. Her debut album, 2015’s Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit gained her attention for her deadpan delivery and slacker approach to writing. Sometimes I Sit is wall-to-wall memorable tracks that range in topics from biting punk to suburban settling and environmental helplessness. The album quickly became a critical darling, and Barnett earned a well-deserved spot on many end of the year lists.

This year, Courtney Barnett has released one well-received one-off single and has an upcoming collaborative album with equally-mellow pier Kurt Vile. Seeing how their slacker rock styles commingle this fall will be a treat.

Haim

After releasing one of the best pop albums of 2013, Haim has returned to shake up the musical landscape with Something to Tell You. With more of a retro sound than their debut, the three sisters pull influence from Stevie Nicks, The Eagles, and even Michael Jackson at certain points. The songs on Something to Tell You rattle on in a way that evokes an old Chevy: it’s got a little bit of dust and grit on it, but that dirt is just the countryside, there’s still a shiny hard-working body underneath it all.

Kacy Hill

G.O.O.D. Music’s resident female vocalist, Kacy Hill is a dreamy redhead with an incredible voice and a singular vision. Her 2015 EP Bloo first gave the world a taste of her offering, but this year’s Like a Woman is a sensual, slow, and occasionally violent exploration of the singer’s sexuality and what it means to be “a woman” in 2017. Alongside the album’s launch, Hill played up the sex angle with multiple steamy music videos and a pornographic parody website dirtylittleredhead.com. On Twitter, she’s just a goofy personality that seems genuinely awestruck and appreciative of her fans.

Lana Del Rey

Existing on the periphery of the pop music scene for over a decade, Lana Del Rey has steadily been making some of the most interesting pop music since 2010. Unflinchingly tackling topics like domestic abuse and drug addiction, Lana’s music is often a touch too edgy for radio play, but she’s garnered a sizeable audience since 2010 through a deft understanding of social media and several iconic breakout tracks like “Video Games.”

Her 2017 release Lust for Life finds her, for the first time ever, on the cover of her album smiling. Hair adorned with flowers, this happier Lana finds herself circling familiar topics like summer, and spontaneous beach trips, but manages to add some interesting wrinkles. Featuring guest appearances from the likes of Sean Lennon and Stevie Nicks, Lust for Life also seems to be grappling with some bigger, more existential issues like entertainment in the face of destruction and her own image. The record ends up being a nice offering of sultry, self-contained tracks that expand the world and mythos of miss Del Rey while leaving just enough to keep us hooked.

Paramore

After releasing some of the most important female-fronted emo albums of the 2000’s, Paramore could have gone anywhere. After various lineup changes, a couple monster mainstream hits, and soul-draining complicated legal battles, Hayley Williams decided to ditch the hair dye and embrace a vibrant 80’s throwback vibe. Featuring more engaging and personable songs, After Laughter is a colorful and cheery listen. Anyone paying close attention to the lyrics will quickly notice that the album’s joyful filter is simply a facade used to mask the uncomfortable personnel issues that the album tackles. Despite the lyrical bait and switch, Laughter ends up being a breezy and joyful listen, as long as you don’t spend too much time with the lyric sheet.

St. Vincent

Indie rocker and multi-instrumentalist St. Vincent has too much on her mind. The other-worldly guitar-player won a Grammy in 2014 for her excellent self-titled album that saw her assume the role of a “near-future cult leader.” St. Vincent (whose real name is Annie Clark) has been relatively quiet in the years since her last record, but in the lead-up to her upcoming Masseducation, Clark has rebranded herself as a straight-haired, plastic sex symbol. Perhaps pulling from her stint as a horror director early in the year, St. Vincent’s forthcoming album seems poised to dismantle institutions and send her on a years-long tour.

SZA

Much like Kacy Hill, SZA is the resident female artist of California-based Top Dawg Entertainment. Since 2012 she’s been releasing a string of quality PR&B mixtapes, gradually building a fanbase and expectations for her full-length debut. Featuring Blonde-esque instrumentation and more relationship strife than you can shake a stick at, SZA’s Ctrl is a bright, sexy, and honest portrait of a 20-something who just can’t seem to get things right but has all the best intentions.

Taylor Swift

Controversy seems to follow Taylor Swift around like the Coppertone dog. After a highly-publicized lawsuit, an exposing series of Snapchats, and too many beefs to count, the undisputed queen of pop is back with… something. Forecasted by a social media wipe and “dark” rebranding Reputation sees Swift at her most aggressive to date. Seemingly out for blood, this new sound springboards off her 1989 full-pop sound, updating things to be a little bit more modern. While I found “Look What You Made Me Do” to be an initially repulsive song, the video helps add a much-needed layer of context and rich visuals that make the song better retroactively. Whether it’s good or not, Reputation is bound to be one of the biggest and most-talked-about albums of the year, and will undoubtedly dictate Swift’s place in the pop culture landscape for years to come.

Tiger’s Jaw

After the departure of every other band member, pop-punk iconoclasts Ben Walsh and Brianna Collins have returned with Spin, a record proving that they still have much to say. While Tiger’s Jaw is primarily sung from the perspective of Ben, “June” marks the first entirely-Brianna-helmed track in the band’s discography. The song provides a nice sunny break in an otherwise homogeneous and similar-sounding record and earned the band some well-deserved attention after a few years away from the spotlight.

Carly Rae Jepsen

Taylor Swift may be the reigning queen of pop, but for my money, Carly Rae Jepsen should be the one on that throne. As we all remember, in 2012 each member of the human race was forced to listen to “Call Me Maybe” at gunpoint, and thanks to the song’s oversaturation many listeners came to either actively disliked Jepsen or assumed she was a one-hit-wonder. 2015’s E•MO•TION was a critical success and a commercial failure, but to this day remains one of the best pop albums ever recorded. Lovingly detailed in Max Landis’ 150-page dissertation, CRJ is an artist of darkness and surprising depth. After expelling the rest of the E•MO•TION-era work with a B-sides album, Jepsen dropped a single early in the year that snatched wigs the world over. The fact that a single song invigorated me this much and made such relative waves only excited me more for her next album. Hopefully this time the world sees the light and comes back around to the Canadian goddess because she deserves to be listed up there with the greats.

Phoebe Bridgers

Finally, for the sake of some kind of bookending, Phoebe Bridgers is an LA-based indie folk artist much akin to Julien Baker. Despite a disarmingly-goofy social media presence, Bridgers’ Big Lebowski-referencing debut Stranger in the Alps is a heart-breaking, foggy, first-person recounting of individual experiences. The album has already received co-signs from Hayley Williams, Tiger’s Jaw, Julien Baker, Best Coast, Dan Campbell, and Grimes. She’s currently tearing it up on a tour War on Drugs, but I expect this album to show up on a good number of end of the year lists. If you want to hear a unique collection of stories on heartbreak, you’d be hard-pressed to do better than Stranger.

Additional Artists

This ended up being way longer than I originally intended, but the above albums are some of my favorites this year. There have also been some other great releases this year that I just don’t have the time, knowledge, or words to detail as lovingly as the ones above, so for the sake of keeping this relatively brief, here’s a quick-hit version of some other kickass female artists who dropped some great albums this year.

• Beach House: The dream pop duo follow up their excellent 2015releases with a collection of equally-listless B-Sides and Rarities.

• Feist: After a fluke pop megahit in 2007, Feist hits a new artistic peak with the guitar-drenched Pleasure.

• Cayetana: The self-described “boisterous Philadelphians” released a sophomore album of 12 punchy rock tracks.

• Banks: After an alarmingly-sexy 2014 debut, Banks seems to be ramping up to a new album after dropping two steamy singles this year.

• Jetty Bones: Clearly-delivered indie rock that transparently showcases the struggles of one person’s life.

• Mannequin Pussy: The band revisits their blistering 2016 breakthrough album in an explosive 14-minute Audiotree Session.

• The Japanese House: On her fourth EP as Japanese House, Amber Bain serves up four hypnotic synth-drenched love songs.

• Daddy Issues: Grunge isn’t dead, it’s just been lying dormant until bands like Daddy Issues arrived to bring it back to life.

• Who Is She?: A Seattle-based supergroup consisting of members from Lisa Prank, Chastity Belt, and Tacocat who combine powers to create infectious pop-punk songs dripping with 2000’s-era nostalgia.

• Torres: Three Futures is a mature and careful album that finds Mackenzie Scott at the helm, steering the ship more sure of herself than ever.

• Charly Bliss: On Guppy Charly Bliss is a charming mess of broken humanity featuring the unmistakable vocal stylings of Eva Hendricks.

• Alvvays: The antisocial Canadian indie group utilizes fuzzed-out instrumentals and rich layering to create an enchanting and memorable indie experience.

• Small Circle: backed by three members of Sorority Noise, this Marissa D’elia-fronted emo supergroup effortlessly created one of the years most hard-hitting and emotionally-impactful albums.

• Marika Hackman: I’m Not Your Man begins with the welcoming sound of laughter and immediately launches into a tale of infidelity. The rest unfolds from there.

• Sheer Mag: This summer, the jangly and soulful rock group finally unleashed their long-awaited full-length Need to Feel Your Love.

And

There you have it. You take the good with the bad, and for all that 2017 has taken from us, it’s amazing to see artists and creators like the ones above adding some beauty to the world. Theirs is a perspective that’s sought, appreciated, loved, and needed now more than ever.

Weekly Obsessions | 7/10/17

I listen to a lot of music. Sometimes looking back at my Last.fm or Cymbal and wonder what the fuck kind of music fan I really am. But that’s mainly because I jump from genre to genre so often that I never stay in one place for too long. I’ve been obsessed with a handful of disparate tracks over the past week, and I wanted to take some time to discuss them here. Hopefully, there’s a little something for everybody.

Snail Mail - “Thinning” | Emo

I saw Snail Mail perform live with Girlpool back in May. I’d never heard of them, but they were middling the show, so they were probably quality, right? To say I was blown away by Snail Mail would be an understatement. I was beyond floored watching this band. The lead singer Lindsey Jordan is a transfixing frontwoman, and I’m amazed at the small collection of excellent songs she’s already created by age of seventeen. “Thinning” is a rumbling emo track that flawlessly captures the lethargy of a warm, lazy summer day in suburbia. It’s a track about the simple pleasure (and displeasure) that comes with wasting time.

Half Waif - “Night Heat (Audiotree Live Version)” | Synthpop

Half Waif is the synthy spinoff helmed by Pinegrove’s Nandi Rose Plunkett. The outspoken frontwoman tackles issues of relationships, changing moods, and love in this haunting 3-minute track. It’s a song about losing your sense of self in the face of a relationship. Plunkett’s delicate, layered vocals intertwine over careful drum taps, cymbal crashes, and keyboard swells. It’s an enchanting track from someone that has more to say than words will ever allow.

Phillipa Soo - “Helpless” | Show Tunes

While it’s best experienced in a single sitting as a two and a half hour journey, I’ve recently started listening to individual cuts off Hamilton just to experience flashes of the show’s brilliance in quick, digestible chunks. “Helpless” is a goosebump-inducing track sung from the perspective of Alexander Hamilton’s love interest and soon-to-be-wife Eliza Schuyler. Backed by a chorus of female background singers, this is a love song that recounts the early stages of the historical relationship. It culminates in Alexander asking Philip Schuyler for permission to take his daughter’s hand in marriage. The song explodes in Eliza’s “I do, I do, I do, I do” as the background singers and Hamilton sing different refrains.

21 Savage - “Thug Life” | Hip-hop

While 21 Savage is usually known for overly-dark street music (or “murder music” as he calls it) “Thug Life” off of his recently-released Issa Album is perhaps the brightest and most summery song in his entire discography music. This shimmering ode to 2Pac explodes over a chopped soul sample that peaks with the song’s chorus “I’m thinking to myself you ain’t gang, nigga, fuck you / Feel like 2Pac, Thug Life, nigga, fuck you.” These lyrics provide quite a contrast between the song’s uplifting beat, but somehow it all comes together beautifully in a song that only 21 could have made.

Japanese Breakfast - “Road Head” | Indie Rock

While I have a full review of Japanese Breakfast’s sophomore album Soft Sounds from Another Planet coming up soon, I just can’t stop playing the album’s third single “Road Head.” In the self-directed video, Michelle Zauner finds herself in a toxic relationship with an imposing dark figure. The song itself is a dark but lush depiction of sexuality that ends with a spliced samples of a loop-board-interpolated Michelle placed over an absolutely hypnotic groove.

Vulfpeck - “Cars Too” | Funk

In this Pixar-punned funk song, Vulfpeck finds themselves in their most tripped out and relaxed state yet. It’s an absurdly groovy song, and slower than almost anything else in their repertoire. It’s proof you don’t need to be fast to be funky. In fact, you can slow things down to a snail-like pace and still find room for a bifocal-displacing guitar solo. A choice cut off of a near-perfect debut.

Julien Baker - “Go Home” | Folk

While she’s been on my radar for a while, I’m embarrassed it’s taken me until 2017 to discover Julien Baker’s Sprained Ankle. It’s a heavy-hitting and heartfelt 30-minute listen in which “Go Home” serves as the album’s stark final track. It’s thought-provoking, deflating, and gorgeous all at the same time. A ballad of pure, raw beauty that escalates without warning as Baker sings about skipping her medication and contemplating suicide. I can’t believe it’s taken me two years to discover this record, but I can’t describe how glad I am now that I have something this beautiful in my life.