The Predatory Wasp
Coming in like some modern-day hybrid of Lana Del Rey, Diana Ross and Karen Carpenter, Natalie Bergman’s new LP My Home Is Not in This World is somewhat of a mixed bag, but when it works it really works, as in this downtempo, heart-wrenching ballad complete with a highly charismatic, generously expressive bassline and late addition of some actually quite tasteful jazz-flute. Lovely stuff.
https://nataliebergman.bandcamp.com/album/my-home-is-not-in-this-world
Leon Bridges wrote this a decade ago around the time of his fantastic debut LP Coming Home, but it’s only just seeing the light of day. Nostalgic country-soul stylings from one of the best sounding voices in the business.
Reflective country-esque indie-folk from Clara Mann whose debut album Rift is out March 7 via state51. Ideal for sub-zero mornings in January when the year head looks both invigoratingly full of potential and impossibly exhausting.
Leon Bridges’ voice is indescribably lush, and seems to belong to a completely different time. When he sings the hook on That’s What I Love, the stand-out track from his new album, Leon, everything else just melts away and you can ignore the trite, saccharine lyrics and even forgive him the ill-advised spoken word section about “the way the street smells after the rain”. In most other people’s hands this would be unbearable, but he makes it sublime.
I run a little hot and cold on Big Thief – some of their work is incredible, some very meh – but I’m really enjoying Adrienne Lenker’s new solo album Bright Future, which is way more stripped down and even more contemplative, and even veers into Sufjan territory when she picks up the banjo. Track titles like Sadness As A Gift should give you an idea of the overall tone, but if you’re keen for some (arguably) self-indulgent introspection then it absolutely delivers. Already Lost is a highlight, including as it does some truly devastatingly poignant melodies.
Apparently the “sad cowboy” aesthetic is a thing, and while I categorically refuse to dive into TikTok to confirm this, I’m definitely interested in its musical manifestation. Cowboy Sadness is a project from some of my favourite musicians – The Antlers’s Peter Silberman, David Moore of Bing & Ruth, and Nicholas Principe of Port St. Willow – so even without the deliciously bait title of Selected Jambient Works Vol. 1 I was fully invested before I’d heard a note. Cue an hour of luscious pads, hushed drums and effervescent melodies evoking dusty plains and big ol’ skies as far as the eye can see.
https://cowboysadness.bandcamp.com/album/selected-jambient-works-vol-1
Devendra Banhart’s 11th studio album Flying Wig is a collaboration and “actualisation of a precious friendship” with acclaimed solo artist and Mexican Summer label-mate Cate Le Bon; a project somewhat prophesied by the mirror-image titles of their early solo albums (Banhart’s 2002 Oh Me Oh My and Le Bon’s 2009 Me Oh My. For fans of dreamy atmospheres, self-reflective lyrics and fully immersing yourself in deep melancholy.
Recorded following the death of her producer and close friend, Julie Byrne’s first album in six years The Greater Wings embraces her sorrow and attempts to find personal growth in the desolation of loss. Gently meandering from traditional folk compositions to more ambient, textural pieces, it’s an undeniably sad album, but richly, rewardingly so, for the listener as much as its creator.
Bandcamp recently highlighted Sarah Bethe Nelson’s new album Mental Picture as their Album of the Day, and I’m pleased they did, or it would have flown completely under my radar. Opener Five Lovin’ Days is indicative of its lugubrious atmosphere, with Nelson’s unhurried instrumentation and hazy drawl nearly beaten into submission by the Californian sun.
The Predatory Wasp 