The Predatory Wasp
Just listen to those drums! They are truly incredible: so much energy and raw angst, and when paired with the restrained huskiness of Yanya’s vocal and the late addition of distorted guitars – with melodies reminiscent of The Smashing Pumpkins – it’s hard to tell whether it’s 2022 or 1992, but it really doesn’t matter as this is SO FUCKING GOOD.
Neil Foster continues to establish himself as one of my favourite new musical discoveries: at least, new to me, as the ambient-focussed Irish composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist has been putting music out for a few years now. Trawalua – named after, I’m assuming, the dramatic shores of Trawalua Strand – is warm and expansive, and does that thing of sitting somewhere between hope and deep melancholy that I’m especially drawn to.
Nope that’s not a typo: it’s really spelt ‘twoards’, which gives some indication of the approach Vegyn has taken on his new mixtape, Don’t Follow Me Because I’m Lost Too!! – as if he banged out the titles in 10 seconds and just thought ‘fuck it that’ll do’. Of course there are Aphex comparisons – not least in the inclusion of the track BPMs – but the entire project has an unpolished, ramshackle vibe that I’m really into and sets it in its own distinct space.
Lady Wray released her long-awaited album Piece Of Me last week, and thankfully it’s a banger, the only drawback being that if you’ve kept up with the run of singles over the last couple of years, you’ve already heard half of it, including a lot of the best tracks. There’s still some previously unreleased gold in there though like opener I Do, and if you’re completely new to her music you’re in for an intensely soulful treat.
Fairly fresh from releasing one of 2021’s best albums Ignorance, The Weather Station have just announced a new album, the enigmatically titled How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars alongside lead single Endless Time. Comprising songs written at the same time as Ignorance, it’s safe to expect more heartfelt, contemplative brilliance, “songs that [are] simple, pure; almost naive… that spoke to many of the same questions and realities as Ignorance, but in a more internal, thoughtful way” according to The Weather Station’s Tamara Lindeman. Sign me up.
Delving back more than 40 years into the past today on this new music blog and celebrating Innovations’ majestic Seabird: a yacht rock staple so I’m reliably informed, but one that had completely escaped my attention until this week. First released back in 1977 and a cover of an Alessi Brothers song from the year before, it’s one of only two singles Innovations released but easily holds its own against similarly sun-drenched offerings from the likes of Steely Dan et al.
https://www.discogs.com/release/16055124-Innovations-Seabird-Put-A-Little-Away
I’ve listened to Ehiorobo’s album Joltjacket a few times since it came out in December, and it’s really a very impressive and incredibly creative body of work. At times it cane be a big jarring: like he’s trying to cram just a few too many disparate ideas, rhythms and textures into too narrow a space, but you can’t argue with the level of artistry on show. He’s managed to carve a pretty peerless space for himself: his music reminds me a little of Choker – but even more freewheeling. Maker is the final track, and a clear highlight from an album that definitely deserves more attention than it’s received so far.
https://daily.bandcamp.com/album-of-the-day/ehiorobo-joltjacket-review
Tell me the lie is the debut single from British Armenian Ripsime and was written a week before war broke out in Armenia back in 2020. Parts of the video was filmed in the Artsakh region, most of which was subsequently destroyed in the war, adding an extra level of poignance to what is already a disarmingly affecting slice of dreamy indie pop, and a remarkably assured, fully-formed first single.
An unpopular opinion: I don’t really like Arca’s music and find it fairly hard, even borderline impossible to listen to. I’m wrong, obviously, and if I think about it it’s objectively ‘good’ (many would argue peerlessly groundbreaking), I’ve just never got on board with it. So it’s a rare treat to hear her remix of the equally experimental Laurie Anderson and enjoy it, so I’m finally free to jump on the Arca Appreciation Juggernaut ™.
Year Of Love is the second single to be released from Jenny Hval’s forthcoming album Classic Objects – her first studio album for 4AD. The song explores a “very troubling” experience she had of witnessing a marriage proposal at one of her performances. Plenty of artists, I’m sure, would have experienced this as a purely romantic act, and thought very little about it afterwards, but for Hval it elicited questions about how her art impacts others, and her own marriage; themes she explores and attempts to resolve over the course of the song.
Of course, you could just ignore all that and enjoy what is – lyrics aside – one of the most upbeat songs in her catalogue to date.
The Predatory Wasp 