Lime Cordiale, 14 Steps To A Better

What a FUN album! Australian brothers, Oliver and Louis Leimbach, along with their bandmates are back with another gem of an album. With their sound that blends 'summery vibes and harmonies and bouncing melodies' (Billboard), Lime Cordiale's catchy sing-along-songs are second to none. Listening to this album will put a smile on your face and bounce in all 14 of your steps...to a better you. This is one of those albums that we all could use a bit more of this year. 

The Haar, The Haar: Irish Traditional Songs

The story goes that Irish folk and traditional percussionist Cormac Byrne and fiddler Adam Summerhayes were on holiday in Inis Oírr when they walked into a pub and were silenced along with everyone else as Molly Donnery began to sing unaccompanied. Fast forward some time and the three meet up in a studio along with accordionist Murray Grainer to record some Irish traditional songs. The four made no plans in advance of entering the studio. As they explained, they just let the music create itself. 

What resulted was the creation of a truly stunning collection of songs captured on their first and only takes. As Folk Radio wrote about The Haar, it's 'a very evocative record, bringing senses of the pain and futility of war and the salt of the ocean, as well as the beauty of the land and the strength of human relationships through its works and music. We need more music like this; spontaneous, alive and affecting, The Haar will take you on a journey and have you appreciating the purest of life's pleasures. Wonderful stuff.' Wonderful indeed!

DEFTONES, OHMS

As Sputnik Music Wrote about Ohms, it's a wrecking ball from the moment it arrives. It's 'abrasive, destructive, and alluringly beautify - but most of all, there's a profound purpose and longing behind every punch thrown.'  Frankly, I cannot think of another album that not only throws a punch as well as Ohms, but lands it so perfectly placed.  With its 'snarled atmospheric layers and soaring choruses', the Deftones have deliver one of their best albums in nearly twenty years. It is astonishingly good and one of the strongest contenders for album of the year. 

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.