If you put a gun to my head and forced me to pick just one new album to hear next week, it would obviously be Wet Leg’s Moisturizer. Then again, maybe it would be Tami Neilson’s Neon Cowgirl. Or Brent Cobb And The Fixin’s Ain’t Rocked In A While. Or Anton Barbeau’s Dig The Light. Or another one of the 20 outstanding releases on the way. So I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have to choose just one. And neither do you. Here are your plays of the week. Fire when ready:
Africa Express
Africa Express Presents… Bahidorá
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Globally acclaimed music phenomenon Africa Express are back with a brand new studio album titled Africa Express Presents… Bahidorá, recorded in Mexico and bringing together artists and musicians from four continents. The boundary-breaking music collective has, for over two decades, united artists across countries and genres in radically creative collaborations in which anything can, and does, happen. With the idea of bringing together artists from different cultures, genres, and generations to perform and make music, Africa Express were founded in 2006 with a trip to Mali connecting local stars Toumani Diabaté, Bassekou Kouyaté and Amadou & Mariam with artists including co-founder Damon Albarn, Martha Wainwright and Fatboy Slim. Africa Express presents… Bahidorá is a completely original, one-off collection of 21 songs showcasing an exceptional line-up of talent from across Mexico, South America, Africa, the U.S. and U.K., including: Abou Diarra, Baba Sissoko, Bonobo, Bootie Brown, Damon Albarn, Django Django, Eme Malafe, Fatoumata Diawara, Hak Baker, Imarhan, Joan As Police Woman, Jupiter & Okwess, La Bruja de Texcoco, Los Pream, Luisa Almaguer, M.anifest, Mare Advertencia, Mexican Institute of Sound, Moonchild Sanelly, Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Onipa, Otim Alpha, Poté, Son Rompe Pera, Tayhana and more.”
All Leather
Amateur Surgery On Half-Hog Abortion Island
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “All Leather is the soundtrack to a dance party at the epicenter of doom and destruction: Heavy distortions, sharp, grating guitars, bitter, angry shouts fused with sexual slurs. In the span of its limited time as an active band, All Leather consisted of Nathan Joyner (Psychic Graveyard, Some Girls, Hot Nerds) on guitar, either Jung Sing (Silent, Maniqui Lazer) or Tin Cagayat on drums, and Justin Pearson (The Locust, Deaf Club, Dead Cross) on vocals. The genre is self-described and bluntly stated: ‘Annoying.’ This anthology, titled Amateur Surgery On Half-Hog Abortion Island, is a complete collection of their odd and brief existence. All of the songs in this collection have been either re-recorded, recorded over, and/or revamped, presenting an invigorated vision to their body of music. This re-imagining showcases All Leather’s unique perspective in the only way they know how: with snarling grit and electronic grime.”
Anton Barbeau
Dig The Light
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “While sister album Glitch Wizard spelunked the caves of Anton Barbeau’s psyche, companion album Dig The Light emerges with 13 tracks of musical sunshine. Recorded at the same basement temple (before its darker twin was even complete), this album swaps introspection for connection, featuring psychedelic godfather Barry “The Fish” Melton trading licks with XTC’s Dave Gregory while The Moore Brothers add harmonies sweet enough to require a dental plan. Where Glitch Wizard dives inward, Dig The Light extends a hand outward, offering dry, intimate production that lets big themes breathe without gasping. It’s the musical equivalent of finding an unexpected flashlight just as the sun sets — proof that even the master of psychedelic freakouts knows when to guide us toward rather than away from the light.”
Gina Birch
Trouble
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Trouble is a patchwork of sorts: Its 11 songs are not only eclectic in genre, but play like stitched-together vignettes, fly-on-the-wall scenes in which Gina Birch describes meeting a stranger on a train, or a flare up with her teenage daughter, or the nostalgia of driving past a certain part of your neighborhood that’s been unchanged for as long as you can remember. It’s the politics of the everyday, a work that is feminist not because of slogans or placards, but because it’s a candid portrait of a female artist simply existing. “It’s a bit out there, a bit off the tracks, and I always like to go there,” says Gina about the album’s diaristic undertones. “I unofficially subtitled the album Trouble I’ve Caused and Trouble I’m In, so the songs are based around that feeling — that dangerous place to be.” As such, the connecting factor that links all the songs on Trouble together isn’t one single ideology or theme or topic, but Gina herself. It’s her vision, informed by her status as a rock icon, her voice as a forward-thinking artist, and her perspective as someone who just thinks life should be a bit of a laugh sometimes. For a musician who has had such an impact on her genre, it’s downright life-affirming to realize that she still has so much to share with her audience — and frankly, Trouble is just cracking the surface. “These songs came to me like a radio tuning, the airwaves going along, and I just plucked them out of the air. Something just clicks in the atmosphere, and I just take it. I’m not writing an opus about one thing. I’m writing an opus about being me.”
Brent Cobb & The Fixin’s
Ain’t Rocked In A While
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “This album is a point of reference. It’s not that I’ve never rocked before. Just ain’t rocked in a while… It’s been real cool seeing so many new faces showing up at shows these last couple years. A lot of them even seeming to mostly know stuff from the more recent albums almost exclusively and that’s not a bad problem to have. I’ve always said our crowd is the best on any side of the musical genre tracks. They really care about the songs and come to truly listen. I’ve also always declared myself a songwriter-singer. Songwriter first, singer second. So, I think naturally they expect to have more of a low-key, intimate, songwritery experience and I believe that expectation is delivered upon. However, something that seems to catch some by surprise is that when I’m with The Fixin’s we sorta put on a rock show too and really… that’s nothing new. When making the set-list each night I do my best to pull from the entirety of my 20+ years of catalog to include songs from all eras. A good many of those early ones were rockers written by a teenage me who was more influenced at the time by classic rock than I was by classic country. A few of those even went on to be recorded by more rock-leaning bands. Thank goodness. My resume and light bill appreciate it.”
Cruelster
Make Them Wonder Why
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Make Them Wonder Why is the massive new LP from Cleveland’s Cruelster. The alternate reality of Cruelster is complete, distinct, and elaborate. Cruelster and associated bands like Knowso and Perverts Again have long drawn our ear with their brilliant and uncanny punk. This record is an odyssey. It offers documentation and imagination. It satisfies the stranger parts of living.”
Grace Davies
The Wrong Side of 25
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Grace Davies is a 28-year-old singer, songwriter, musician and producer from Blackburn, Lancashire. Since she began making music she has scored huge success, with over 100 million streams, support across the board at radio and acclaim everywhere. At the age of 18, Grace’s first self-released project received national. In 2017, she was invited to appear on The X Factor, and her audition video of original song Roots went viral. In a first for the show, Grace shook up the format by showcasing her original material throughout the competition and triumphed as runnerup. 2020 marked the start of a new era — her debut EP Friends With The Tragic reaffirmed her reputation as an exceptional songwriter. She self-released her second EP I Wonder If You Wonder in 2021, which was an even bigger success. Her last EP, It Wasn’t Perfect, But We Tried, sees her at her most confident and in the producer’s chair for the first time. As well as writing credits on all five songs, she co-produced three tracks, and fully produced two of the tracks herself, proving her a true multi-hyphenate.”
Karl Frog
Yes, Music
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Anomalous songwriter Karl Frog follows on from his first two albums I Love Music and Why Music? with another affirmative offering, aptly titled Yes, Music. A collection of 11 songs, all in a similar vein to his previous work, tap into a myriad of influences, while so distinctively remaining as a whole. Karl Frog, a Canberrian/Estonian, has worked as an office assistant, a printer technician, a teacher and a baggage handler. In his spare time, he is an amateur musician. Tinkering away at bedroom recordings and stumbling across melodic gems as he goes, Yes, Music is an eclectic album, channeling everything from new-wave, modern jangle, synth pop, and even some slight baroque influences. Frog himself endearingly describes it as ‘ambivalent digital boogie.’ ”
Half Japanese
Adventure
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Legendary indie travelers Half Japanese return with their new album Adventure. The prolific outsider combo, helmed by the ever-optimistic Jad Fair, delivers a heartwarming set of upbeat sonnets celebrating the power of love, affection, and maturity. More than 50 years since Jad and his brother David emerged from their lo-fi bedroom in Uniontown, Maryland, Adventure takes the latest incarnation of the band down new and more refined avenues. Recorded in London at Vacant TV and produced by Jason Willett and Jad, Adventure presents a more pristine and polished canvas for Jad to expand upon. The addition of Euan Hinshelwood to the sonic palette, with saxophone, harmonica, and piano, creates a smoother backdrop for the band’s less lubricated sound.”
Karma Glider
From The Haze Of A Revved Up Youth
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Montréal reverb chasers Karma Glider offer yet another glimpse into their fuzzed-out, mid-fi rock ’n’ roll amalgamation with the release of From The Haze Of A Revved Up Youth. It’s pop delivered with the unapologetic verve of post-punk, shoegazing anthems afforded the elasticity of modern psychedelia, produced with the grit of a ’90s tape cassette bootleg. Akin to the five-piece’s previous EPs, their debut album is packed with dancey earworms, heartwrenching noise rock ballads, as well as experimental sample-packed, dub-infused tracks alike, elevated by ex-Heat Susil Sharma’s signature ocean-deep vocals and uncanny knack for writing a sticky melody. The resulting 12-song full-length offers a wide spectrum of bend-but-don’t-break rock and roll music that should please fans of Fontaines D.C., The Strokes, No Joy, DIIV or Sonic Youth.”
