I’ve gotten into the habit of, whenever I’m recommended a new artist, presaving whatever their upcoming album is. This week feels like the first big payoff of that habit– I’ve been waiting on these four albums for months, and I’m loving what each of these artists has to offer on what I would consider landmark releases for their respective careers. I also feel like the experimental folky sounds of these records pair nicely with the increasingly colder weather– throw an extra layer on and take a walk while you listen.
June McDoom - Follow the Light
Chamber Folk, Baroque Pop
On her debut album, June McDoom weaves a sonic tapestry that sounds both classic and modern. She’s a trained jazz singer with a love for American folk music (I would compare the way she strings her lyrics together to a Paul Simon or Joni Mitchell), and she blends that with influences from her Jamaican heritage. Take how her ghostly vocals float over the crunchy beat of “Dream Dub” and mix with (her own!) fantastic flute playing, or how the bombastic chorus emerges in “Without You,” wrapped in swirling backing vocals. McDoom writes a lot on this album about chasing memories, with heartwrenching tributes on songs like “Memory” and “Grandpa” to her family members and upbringing.
Superfan - My Piledriver Heart
Folk-Rock, Art-Rock
The latest album from Kali Flanagan is a transformative piece of alt-rock. Flanagan (also the bassist for emo band Holidays in United States, who I reviewed this month) crafts a soundscape of pleasant cacophany and sturdy folk melodies. With a vocal style somewhere between Elliott Smith and Lana Del Rey, he expertly flips between busy rock tracks (the fuzzy, tumbling “Keeping Your Smile”) and chilling dirges (“We Were Listening to a Different Time”). The cherry on top is Omeed Almassi, who perfectly balances out the bright, fuzzy guitars with his dark, sweeping cello playing, swimming alongside Flanagan’s voice on “Jason Powers” and adding a methodical edge to Sundays cover “Joy.”
Oscar Lindsey - Sunshine
Indie Folk, Indie Pop
Plaid shirts, acoustic guitar, and sunlight bleeding through a window: this album sounds exactly like its cover. Sunshine’s opening track feels like greeting an old friend, with a warm wash of squeaky guitars and harmonica. The comfortable sound of this album almost hides Lindsey’s vulnerable lyricism, agonizing over an unavoidable breakup on “Flip a Coin” or knocking on wood on the apocalyptic “Painting the Walls.” He also plays with his sound just enough to keep the listener engaged, introducing lots of enticing ideas on different tracks: “Knife” is a hard-driving rock banger with electronic elements, while “2 Drunk 2 Dream” sounds like a rock opera, and “Sunflower Seeds” is a joyous singalong.
@ - Autosmile
Prog-Folk, Psychedelic Folk
From their minimalist band name, to the surrealist cover art, to the breathtaking psych-folk sound of the record itself, you can tell @‘s Autosmile is one of the year’s most boundary-pushing albums. The Philly duo seems to take ideas from electronica (namely repetition and dense vocal layering) and present them instead with acoustic instruments, resulting in a haunting, understated vibe. Singers Stone Filipczak and Victoria Rose sound perfectly creepy together, like they’re possessed by some witchy energy and trying to pull you into their musical coven. Every song on this is worth checking out, but the title track, a hypnotizing folk ballad with a lengthy build-up, is definitely one of the best songs of the year.
