Picks Of The Week

The Flaming Lips, American Head

The Doves, The Universal Want

Widowspeak, Plum

Molly Hamilton and Robert Earl, the duo behind Widowspeak, have crafted an album that their record label best described as feeling comfortable and lived-in: humble in structure, heavy on mood. This all gives Plum a restless yet breezy feel that I just love.

At its core, Plum was a way for Hamilton to summarize ideas that were helpful for her in coming to terms with things that she could not have control over, the ‘existential angst that she was sitting with a lot’.  “From songs such as the title track, which illustrates the passing of time through the metaphor of bruised fruit, it’s clear that Hamilton spent a lot of time thinking about that very existential angst. The tracks “Money” and “Breadwinner” discuss earning a living even when we might not want to.” (Under The Radar)

Hamilton says that the songs on Plum reference life cycles of plants and fruit decay—these really simple symbols that are everywhere, that everybody understands. She said that she has been drawn to simpler things in the last couple of years..."Maybe it’s because everything feels really chaotic.”

Everything may feel chaotic for Hamilton, but it is the way that she and Earl have managed to tame and reframe them within this set of songs that makes Plum so good.

Foot, The Balance of Nature Shifted

Channeling that hard-rocking early nineties Seattle sound and vibe of bands like Alice In Chains, Foot drives the nine songs on The Balance of Nature Shifting with the petal to the floor. This Melbourne, Australian band are loud, heavy, angular, melodic, and thrilling. It's an unyielding album that must be cranked up and heard.

Ulver, Flowers Of Evil

I was unfamiliar with Ulver during their early, dark metal years. I first discovered them with their 2017 release, The Assassination of Julius Caesar. It was one of my favorite albums of that year and continues to be a regular listen for me. Now on their 25^th anniversary, they have released Flowers Of Evil. 

With influences of Depeche Mode and New Order, the band has officially moved as far away from their earlier music and sound as possible. Yet, they have managed to maintain the dark and doom undercurrent that has always defined their sound and storytelling.

As Allmusic exclaimed, 'The music on Flowers of Evil traverses with jarring effectiveness both past and future. Its songs explore grief, hysteria, madness, vulnerability, and romance as inseparable and indelible aspects of the human spirt, resulting in a masterwork of the familiar and the disorienting.

It all makes for thrilling listen.

Creeper, Sex, Death & The Infinite Void

WOW. WOA?! WOW! That was my reaction listing to Creeper's amazingly original, inventive, and over-the-top sophomore  album Sex, Death & The Infinite Void. Since then, I have been trying to figure out just how to describe this one. Then I read Kerrang!'s perfect review; "If the coquettish camp of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is your idea of a good time, or you’ve enjoyed the morbid-idiosyncrasies of a John Waters movie, the lovingly-crafted universe evoked by Sex, Death & The Infinite Void might just feel like home. Imbued with endless passion, colour and a carnival of glorious sound, it’s a musical marvel." A marvel indeed.

Picks Of The Week

Circa Wave, Sad Happy

Evening Hymns, Heavy Nights