Caroline Polachek, Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

I remember the first time I heard Caroline Polachek's voice. It was on Chairlift's 2012 sophomore album Something. As one half of the pop rock duo, Polachek, her voice, and vocal choices took Chairlift's songs in interesting directions and to great heights. Fast forward thirteen years and Polachek's voice, vocal choices, and pop art sensibilities take her sophomore album, Desire, I want to Turn Into You, and its songs to new heights once more. Desire is pop art gold and by far her best album as an artist to date.

 

Bilk, Bilk

Here's what I know about Bilk...They're a British band from Essex, who formed in 2018. Since then they've gained a sizable and ever-growing following and their live shows are said to be fantastic. Here's what I can tell you about singer, songwriter and guitarist Sol Abrahams, bassist Luke Hare, and drummer Harry Gray's rock, rap, punk music...It's rough and ready, unpolished, unapologetically unoriginal, simple goodness that is catchy, cleaver, and fun. 

 

Robert Forster, The Candle and The Flame

"In early July last year, Karin Bäumler, my wife and musical companion for thirty-two years, was diagnosed with a confronting case of ovarian cancer. It was a time of shock and grief, and that same month, she embarked on a regime of chemotherapy treatment.

Ever since we met, Karin and I have sung and played music together in our home, and in these dark days we turned to music once again. I had a batch of new songs I’d written over the last years, and we started playing them together. Our son Louis often dropped in for a meal and a chat and soon he began joining us on guitar. One night, when sitting cross-legged on the couch, after we had played a song, Karin looked up from her xylophone and said, ‘When we play music, is the only time I forget I have cancer.’ That was a big moment." Robert Forster. 

Australia's The Go-Betweens was one of the best bands that I had never heard of back in the '80's. I only discovered them and Robert Forster (one half of the founding members) years later. I wish that this had happened way sooner. Forster is an earnest and heartfelt songwriter who's made a lot of memorable music over many years. This is once again the case with his eighth and most personal solo album, The Candle and The Flame, written after his wife Karin's cancer diagnosis. Home-recorded with his family, reflecting on his life's journey with Karin and family, Forster's album IS a life affirming family affair that is moving and touching and had me reflecting on my own life's journey with my wife and family. 

 

JD Clayton, Long Way From Home

The pandemic was the worst of times that JD Clayton managed to turn into the best of times, musically speaking. The coffee shop where Clayton worked shut down, so he signed on with a landscape company working on heavy commercial and residential projects. Driving from job to job, Clayton would throw on his headphones and listen to old albums and then write songs. The Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Creedence Clearwater Revival....Clayton became enamored by the production choices and musicality of those records and it helped reframe his own music.

 

"Arkansas, where I’m from, is the natural state. So I felt like I needed to get back to my roots and start making music that felt natural and organic,” he explains. “Production needed to be basic and simplistic with a focus on the story and the song. We would plug in a mic, set it in front of an amp, and let the player share their own story with their instrument. Now, that’s making music.” 

On his debut album, Long Way From Home, JD Clayton's songs and music reflects this simplicity. Clayton is not trying to push any boundaries or create a big bang to attract an audience. He lets his songs and storytelling speak for themselves. In this regard, there is a level of earnestness and genuineness to Clayton's songs that I rarely experience on a debut album. It's a joy to listen to and take in. Now, that's music.