The Predatory Wasp
The opening track on Starrah’s debut album The Longest Interlude, Miss This perfectly sets the scene for what followers: namely, 30 minutes or so of woozy, atmospheric r&b ripe for summer nights. Reminiscent of both 070 Shake and Tierra Whack in its finer moment, I expect I’ll be spending quite a lot of time with it over the coming months.
I tried and failed to enjoy serpentwithfeet’s 2018 album soil so many times. It’s clearly really good, but I could just never get into it: it felt too detached and disjointed, like it was trying to trip you up and eject you just as you felt you were finally getting locked in. Since then it’s felt like every release has been a step towards something I would love, and with his new album DEACON, that journey has been fully realised. I REALLY this album, and Old & Fine is everything I wanted but didn’t get from his earlier work: an emotionally-rich record with depth that’s also easy to enjoy and appreciate without having to work too hard. I can’t imagine he’s been tweaking his career with me in mind, but it certainly feels that way.
Australian producer Enki transforms synth punk artist Victorian Death Photos’ Promise from the billowing shoegaze of the original into a glitchy, stumbling cut that harks back to the atmospheric fug of trip-hop’s 90’s heyday. It’s wonderfully creative, consistently engaging, and moves through at least three different moods, from the gentle ambient of its opening to the malfunctioning robotics of the finale.
I love The Antler’s 2014 album Familiars a quite ridiculous amount. It’s probably in my top 5 all time, definitely top 10, so to say I was hyped for the new LP Green to Gold was somewhat of an understatement. After a few listens, I’m sure of at least one thing: the title track is one of the loveliest things they’ve ever recorded. Rolling along on hushed drums, softly twanging guitars and with Peter Silberman’s extraordinary vocal providing the backbone, it’s a lazy, sun-drenched, perfect afternoon at the beach/park/wherever distilled into song form, which, despite being more than seven minutes long, could easily hang around all fucking day and be more than welcome company.
Dawn Richard continues to assert her position as one of the most arresting, distinctive R&B artists in the world with release of Jaccuzi, the second single from her upcoming second album Second Line which will land in April. 2019’s New Breed was one of my favourite albums from that year, and everything about her latest material suggests Second Line will be equally brilliant.
It’s Stott o’Clock! Andy Stott has just announced a new album, Never The Right Time, the Manchester producer’s first since 2016’s Too Many Voices. The Beginning is the lead single, and sounds like a bit of a departure from his trademark bleakness and oppressive atmospheres. He almost sounds optimistic; happy even. Featuring vocals from Stott’s frequent collaborator Alison Skidmore, it’s all open chords and shimmering synth lines, and ends with a minute or so of genuine serenity. Time will tell if this is the vibe we can expect from the rest of the album, but just the fact that there’s new music out there and more on the way is the best news I’ve had for ages.
The Portland duo discuss their addiction to Ruby Haunt’s Sorry, Sabrina
The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!
Today we welcome wife and husband duo Hollie and Keith Kenniff aka Mint Julep to the blog: a group I’ve only recently discovered but are quickly becoming a TPW favourite. Their new album In A Deep and Dreamless Sleep came out last week, and honestly, it’s just so wonderful. Touching on elements of shoegaze, indie-pop and more amorphous forms of electronica, it conjures an atmosphere as rich, vivid and densely packed with ideas as anything you’re likely to hear this year.
For their track, Keith has selected a short but powerful track from Californian group Ruby Haunt’s 2018 album Blue Hour.
Ymir is an experimental multimedia artist from North Dakota who specialises in short-form ambient music and 3D glitch art. Latest single The Crystal Expanse is inspired by a particular scene from Miyazaki’s 1984 Japanese anime film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind in which the protagonists wake up underneath the canopy of a toxic jungle: an enormous, oppressive space punctuated by occasion shafts of light. I’ve not seen the film, but Ymir absolutely manages to conjure an impressive sense of both scale and wonder with this short but extremely intense slice of ambient.
There’s a strong argument to be made that Lana Del Rey has basically make the same album three or four times now, and while there’s nothing on Chemtrials Over The Country Club that’s going to win her any new fans, it’s hard to argue with the strength of some of these “I’m sad, you’re sad: let’s be sad together” ballads. Tulsa Jesus Freak is probably the weepiest of all of these, demonstrating her mastery of both melody and atmosphere.
Ilian Tape really is a remarkably consistent label: I don’t think I’ve heard a single thing on there I haven’t really enjoyed. This is taken from Galaxian alias Kas’s new album Like Sunlight Threads – the first LP on the label since the Zenker Brother’s brilliant Cosmic Transmission from last year – which veers wildly between fairly accessible, melodic breaks and terrifying, panic-inducing techno. In The Absence Of Becoming sits very much in the former category, and is unlikely to make my wife ask “What the fuck are you listening to?” with quite the same venom as some of the other tracks on here.
The Predatory Wasp 