Billie Ellish, Happier Than Ever

A lot has been written about Billie Ellish's new album, Happier Than Ever, the follow up to her massively popular, critically acclaimed smash hit album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?. As you can imagine, the expectations for a second Ellish album were just enormous. From my perspective, they were much-to-much to be put on any musician let alone a nineteen year old.

For me, as some who really liked, but did not love Ellish's debut album, I was more curious than anything else to see the musical direction that she and her producer-brother Finneas would take with a second album. My curiosity was heightened when I heard her James Bond movie theme single, No Time To Die. Boy, did I like it.

Now, with more glowing reviews in than I can count, and sitting on top the Billboard charts, it does appear that Ellish has another massively popular, critically acclaimed smash hit album on her hands. And rightfully so. Happier Than Ever sees Ellish having grown and matured as singer, song-writer, and generally speaking, as an artist in leaps and bounds over just a two year period. It's really quite astonishing. While I am not one to rate albums or music in general, I will say that Happier Than Ever is an outstanding album and one definitely not to be missed. 

Stephen Fretwell, Busy Guy

It's impossible not to talk about Busy Guys, Stephen Fetwell's first album in 14 years, without talking about his personal journey from critically acclaimed singer-songer writer to stay at home dad to dishwasher to college student to divorcé to renewed singer-songwriter. In a number of interviews, Fretwell has been candid about his journey. But it is in his songs and their stories where you feel the beauty, pain, joy, and weight of it all.

"It's been a long time and time changed everything," Fetwell sings on the opening verse of The Long Water. He later closes the song expressing the toll and loss that has come with the call and desire to play his music. "Hey man, where has the money gone? I was in the dream, I was swimming on. Frightened by the song. It is a ghost song. And all the bird line up to say, it was a bad idea with your romantical....guitar played. It echos deep in the cavity."It's heart wrenching.

Recording in what Fetwell thought was a two hour 'run through' session of the album, there is a rawness and intimacy to these songs. It perfectly captures part of what has made and continues to make Fetwell's songs so special. Fetwell has said that he is back and that he will continue to record new music. That is great to hear, but what truly must be heard is Busy Guy. 

Fryars, God Melodies

Dubbed 'the Mad professor of pop' by Fader,  English musician Benjamin Garret, who records under the moniker Fryars, has been slinging his own brand of musical pop art for more than a decade. But like with so many artists, while he is well known in some musical circles, he is not in many others. I'm hoping that this changes with his latest album God Melodies. 

"People often talk about music being cathartic, that we use it to work through our sadnesses. But it can also be used as a preservative for joy and the small things that pass us by. We don’t acknowledge happiness enough because it’s really hard to admit when you’re happy and it often doesn’t make other people that happy either! But joy translated well into music has an inflationary effect. That’s what the record is all about really.” Benjamin Garret

Listening to Garret's first album in seven years, you can hear that joy along with his imagination. God Melodies is sonic pop art with 'whimsical flights of fancy' (Music OMH) and heart.

Kings Of Convenience, Peace Or Love

For many years, I had accepted the fact that Norwegian indie duo Eirik Glambek Bøe and Erlend Øye had hung up their Kings of Convenience cloak and called it a day. After three quiet and special albums, they were done making new music together and had moved on. So imagine my surprise when I learned that after twelve years, they were back with a new, forth album. 

Arriving last month, Peace Or Love is quintessential Kings Of Convenience and a welcomed return. The duo break no new ground here, but perfectly recapture what has made them so special. Warm and inviting, song after song, Bøe and Øye's music draws you into their world of navigating love and relationships in a way that is so disarming, relaxing and comforting while expressing their realities in a very human way. This is captured beautifully on Love Is A Lonely Thing as the duo along with Feist sing over their two guitars: 

"If you want someone to enter in your life, show a part of your world they can dream about. It will seem a fair idea if you make it their idea. Go back to your corner. Let them come to you. Patience is the hardest thing to have to learn. Hours seem like oceans when desire burns. Rushing in will ruin all, you must bide your time. Sow a seed in water, wait for love to grow. Love, to you, is given, love is gifted you. No love can be taken, that love is not true. Love is pain and suffering, love can bе a lonely thing. Once you've known that magic, who can livе without it?"

Peace and Love is another lovely, elegant, and nuanced album by Kings of Convenient. Welcome back!

Mad Foxes, Ashamed

Post-Punk music got a jolt of electricity a few years back when Idols came onto the scene. They were, and are, an unconventional band by most accounts. And their music brought a new level of brashness, thoughtfulness, and urgency to the genre. Since then other bands have followed, carving out new spaces for themselves to do what they want to do. None has measured to up to Idols in my opinion..until now.

French trio Mad Foxes sophomore album, Ashamed, has struck a nerve with many including myself. As a band, Mad Foxes are as 'brutish and committed as Idols, but with more self-mockery and complexity.' (Side B). They are also more playful, mixing in other musical genres, such as Garage, Punk, Grunge, and even Indie Folk, as they see fit. What really struck me with Ashamed was the band's cleverness and dynamic sound which features 'clanging guitars, pounding rhythms, often-shouted vocals, angst-fueled lyrics and anthemic song hooks.' (KEXP). 

This is a band carving out a new music space for themselves and it's a space where I definitely want to be hanging out and listening to Ashamed.

Japanese Breakfast, Jubilee

Michelle Zauner and her band Little Big League had finished their second album when she learned that her mother had stage four cancer. Zauner immediately moved back home to Eugene, Oregon to care for her. During that time, she made a few lo-fi recordings under the name Japanese Breakfast. Zauner also started writing a memoir about her life as a half white, half Korean American and whether she could lay claim to that identity anymore.

Following her mother's passing in 2014, Zauner took on the Japanese Breakfast moniker in earnest and released two albums over the next few years. Both centered around  grief, loss, and identity. Both received wide spread attention and praise. For me, I appreciated them both, but never returned to them after a listen or two. 

Earlier this year, Zauner's memoir, Crying In H Mart, was published. It became a New York Times best seller. A few months later, Zauner followed it up with the release of her third album, Jubilee. And as the title implies, things are feeling quite different for Zauner these days. And you can sense it from the opener Paprika as the synthesizer kicks things off and then, as the song builds and the chorus rises, the horn section comes in. It's an '80's inspired synth-pop delight that Kate Bush would love. And then there's her lyrics. Drawing inspiration from sci-fi film maker Satoshi Kon's movie of the same name and its opening psychotic parade dream sequence, Zauner's lyrics paint a surreal world where real life and dreams blend together. It truly feels like a different artist at work here.

Jubilee is by far Zauner's best work to date and an album that should be celebrated.