Exciting Nostalgic comfort
While many of us are turning to music we know and love for comfort, there have been more new releases than normal in the past two weeks.
Are artists panic-releasing albums? It seems likely that music will still be made during the worldwide lockdown, but our tastes are probably changing.
I wasn’t feeling the new Pearl Jam (Gigaton), but it did make me go back and listen to their one album I really liked – No Code.
The new Nine Inch Nails release (Ghosts V: Together ) is more palatable and well-suited to isolation.
It’s atmospheric and ambient, but also made me feel queasy at times. Normally I wouldn’t mind, but it’s comfort I’m searching for right now.
Elsewhere, 24-year-old English pop star Dua Lipa has delivered a barnstormer of a dance/pop/club record in Future Nostalgia. Unfortunately, it’s more likely to be heard in barns than in clubs, and the thought of dancing with absolutely anyone right now feels irresponsible.
It’s hard to resist the groove, however. The slick bass lines in songs such as Don’t Start Now and Physical have strong disco vibes, but feel modern and imminently danceable. Future nostalgia, get it?
Pretty Please shows off her skill set, as she seductively serenades some lucky guy over a deceptively simple, shoulderdropping, elbow-popping beat.
Everything is overt. There’s a lot she can’t resist: one more hit, being in your arms, staying up all night, falling in love again, and that one guy who she always fights with, but keeps going back to.
Future Nostalgia is fun, focused, and either four weeks late or four months early.
Another English woman about the same age, Lapsley, is the introvert to Dua Lipa’s extrovert. The bedroom beat-maker and singer has created an immersive, emotive soundscape on Through Water.
Her second album is best enjoyed on headphones with otherworldly vocals and minimal pianos carving space over scattered percussive rhythms.
Ligne 3 is a perfect entry point – its slow, calculated melody builds to culminate in an understated crescendo.
Through Water comes from an isolated place, but doesn’t fall into itself in introspection, rather it looks at the outside world with quiet yearning and an appreciation for beauty.
If you’d like something more traditional, Waxahatchee’s fifth and brilliant album is
Saint Cloud.
Folk with an Americana twang, the album twinkles and twirls as singer Katie Crutchfield writes about her new-found sobriety. Waxahatchee has long been a darling of the indie music scene and this album is a pleasant, comforting listen.