Here we go again. Welcome to another year and another bazillion new albums. Here are six opening acts to get your 2025 started:
Julian Cope
Friar Tuck
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Prince of Fried has brung forth 12 brand new humdingers: all hummable and lyrically compelling and replete with wah-acoustic guitars and beautiful orchestrations of Mellotron 400 from Liverpool’s Blondest. So inhale the garage fuzz dub of R in the Hood; the mantric powerdrive of Four Jehovahs in a Volvo Estate; the sentimental Pete Burns lamentations of In Spungent Mansions… and who could resist the affectionate micro-trolling of Will Sergeant’s Blues? Stay cosy, defiant and edgy this autumn with these 12 fruits of Friar Tuck.”
Early James
Medium Raw
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Early James recorded his first two Easy Eye Sound albums, Singing For My Supper (2020) and Strange Time To Be Alive (2022), at the studio inside the vaunted label’s Nashville headquarters. But for James’ third release Medium Raw, producer and Easy Eye Sound label head Dan Auerbach envisioned something quite different for the Alabama-bred singer-songwriter-guitarist’s rawboned, sometimes scarifying music. “Day of the first session, I had my GPS routed to Easy Eye,” James recalls. “We ran into some traffic, and I texted (engineer M.) Allen (Parker) — ‘Hey man, sorry, we’re gonna be about 15 minutes late.’ And he said, ‘It’s OK, we’re still getting set up at the house.’ And I was like, ‘What house?’ ‘We’re recording at this house, it’s really cool.’ It was news to me! It felt unusual in the moment, which I think makes you play the songs differently. But I’m really happy with and proud of the results.”
Franz Ferdinand
The Human Fear
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Produced with Mark Ralph, who previously worked with them on their 2013 album Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, The Human Fear album showcases Franz Ferdinand at their most immediate, upbeat and life-affirming, unashamedly going for the pop-jugular in classic Franz style. Recorded at AYR studios in Scotland, these 11 songs all allude to some deep-set human fears and how overcoming and accepting these fears drives and defines our lives. Alex Kapranos adds: “Making this record was one of the most life-affirming experiences I’ve had, but it’s called The Human Fear. Fear reminds you that you’re alive. I think we all are addicted in some way to the buzz it can give us. How we respond to it shows how we are human. So here’s a bunch of songs searching for the thrill of being human via fears. Not that you’d necessarily notice on first listen.”
Lambrini Girls
Who Let The Dogs Out
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Who Let The Dogs Out is the debut album from Brighton noise-punk duo Lambrini Girls. Recorded with Gilla Band’s Daniel Fox and mixed by Seth Manchester, Who Let The Dogs Out bottles everything wrong with the modern world and shakes it up. If peppering political songs with humour is like sticking a sparkler in some bread, then Who Let The Dogs Out is like a fireworks display in the factory itself: strange, dangerous, exciting. The album rips through a laundry list of social ills. Sirens blare over a heavy distorted bass and a live drum breakbeat. The band dance between upbeat pop punk, dirty grunge tones and discordant post-punk. There’s even some noise-pop cheer for putting yourself first, whether it’s having an autistic meltdown or doing a poo at your mate’s house. With instrumentals that inhale you like a Level 5 tornado and sentiments that make you want to kick the nearest door through, it’s a take-no-prisoners debut from one of the U.K.’s most fun and fearless bands.”
Moonchild Sanelly
Full Moon
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The new album from South African musician and creative visionary Moonchild Sanelly — known for her vibrant, inimitable style and affirming lyricism — Full Moon is a collection of 12 songs which displays her unique sonic fingerprint, joyous attitude, distinctive vocals and genre-bending hits. Recorded in multiple locations while on the road, Full Moon is an introspective yet kinetic display of her versatility. “I can make any genre, I have fun creating music because I’m not limited,” she says. Its club-ready beats oscillate between electronic, afro-punk, edgy pop, kwaito and hip-hop sensibilities.”
Ringo Starr
Look Up
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ringo Starr’s brand-new country music album, Look Up, was produced and co-written by T Bone Burnett. It features 11 original songs, recorded this year in Nashville and Los Angeles. Nine of the songs were written or co-written by Burnett, one by Billy Swan and the other co-written by Starr and Bruce Sugar. Starr sang and played drums on all the songs and co-wrote the album’s closer Thankful, featuring Alison Krauss. Burnett enlisted some of Nashville’s finest and hottest talent for the record, including Billy Strings, Larkin Poe, Lucius, Molly Tuttle and Krauss. Starr’s lifelong love of country music has been apparent and celebrated throughout his illustrious career. He performed and wrote numerous country and country-tinged songs throughout his years with The Beatles (Act Naturally, What Goes On, Don’t Pass Me By) as well as with Rory Storm & The Hurricanes, and recorded a country album, Beaucoups of Blues, in 1970 as his second solo album. The artist’s new album comes after a chance meeting with Burnett in L.A. in 2022. Starr asked Burnett to write a song for an EP he was recording. Taking the task to heart, Burnett returned with nine songs, all in a country vain, which happily put Starr on a path to record his first country album in more than 50 years and his first full-length album since 2019.”
