Every Friday, On Vinyl features 88Nine music director Erin Wolf and Lilliput Records co-owner Tanner Musgrove delivering their top picks and a list of this week’s other releases, so the can’t-miss new albums don’t pass you by.
Slow Pulp, Melodie
Third albums are quite often the charm. Artists ride that initial debut high, gain traction with their second serving, and by the third course their signature flavor shines through. Such is the case for Slow Pulp’s Melodie.
The emotionally locked-in, former-Madison, now-Chicago indie-pop rock band led by Emily Massey (vocals/guitar) and Henry Stoehr (guitar) got things percolating with the steely and synth-laden “Better Man.” The single promised an album full of shimmering breakthrough moments, where the quartet feels like they’re walking (and playing) with a well-balanced, natural-to-them grace.
beabadoobee, Pylon
With a decidedly wider, emo-grunge sweep, beabadoobee has arrived to her Pylon era.
The London-based artist wrote the album on the road while still touring the immensely popular This Is How Tomorrow Moves and crafted it with collaborators like Paramore’s Hayley Williams, Turnstile’s Brendan Yates and Deftone’s Chino Moreno. Pylon leans into those artists’ hallmark sonic palettes, but not performatively. The deep-seated lyrics found throughout the album go darker, hovering melancholic-ly over themes of loneliness, rumination and living in the past.
Beck, Ride Lonesome
As expected of most highly anticipated albums, the reviews for Ride Lonesome have come in hot and heavy, proclaiming it “the perfect companion for those dark nights of the soul” (Record Collector) and "a stunning display of the alchemy of turning pain into sheer beauty” (MOJO).
Both are absolutely true. Much like 2002’s gamechanger of an album Sea Change (also written in the aftermath of a broken relationship), Ride Lonesome finds Beck leaning into a held-breath stillness. This is a searching and acoustic-oriented sound that turns grief and loneliness into the cinematic moment it really is, showcasing Beck Hansen as an artist who’s a deep well of not only creativity, but humanity.
Lilliput pick: Freak Slug, Amulet
Manchester musical freak Xenya Genovese returns with her second full-length, and we’re expecting more droll, slackerish alt rock that echoes elements of The Breeders, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and even The Doors.
On Amulet, Genovese digs into a past life she uncovered via a spiritual reading, sharing that she’s planting one foot in the past and another in the present. She paints a medieval landscape of tyranny against women that shows the butterfly effect that continues to have on contemporary society, romantic relationships and feminine identity.
More of our picks
- Arab Strap, Half-Told Tales
- Boy Harsher, GET MEAN
- Carly Rae Jepsen, Day and Night
- Chelsea Wolfe, The Dark
- Emma Ruth Rundle, These Killing Times
- Lizzy McAlpine, Angel
- Orville Peck, Mule
- Rodrigo y Gabriela, OurHome
- Son Lux, Out Into
- Thee Sinseers, Love Stories
