Time has not been on my side this month and something had to give. And what gave is the time I’ve been able to spend on this month’s releases, so this is a much shorter post than usual. But it in no way reflects on the releases I’m talking about. Now, enough blathering, let’s talk music.
Unfortunately, WordPress still hasn’t caught on to the greatness that is Song Whip, so it doesn’t embed nicely. If you click the link under the Youtube video, it will bring you to the song listed on all of the streaming platforms. Easy, brilliant.
Lunar Lock
The Dream Of Sad City
Lunar Lock are a French Post Punk band who have a great love for some of the darker bands of the 80’s. Their first ep seemed to be influenced by The Chameleons but here they’ve started to add The Cure and Joy Division into their shades of black.
The most surprising addition is the splash of a Slowdive-esque sound on the opening song, Swallow. However, it sounds like Slowdive if they only listened to Faith by The Cure. The stark sound of the drums and bass slowly pulses forward, while the swirling guitar line really lifts the song making it the ep highlight.
The next four songs are as darkly monochrome as any music I’ve heard, but with the same downbeat self assuredness of the bands Luner Lock so clearly love.
The Dream Of Sad City is a bleak ep, but as the nights get darker and colder, pull yourself up a chair and welcome to the Funeral Party. Because this is its soundtrack in 2023.
https://songwhip.com/lunarlock/swallow
Sugar Horse
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
Bristol’s finest contrarians are back with a single 17 minute track. (Broken up into segments so they can get paid on streaming services) I call them contrarians because I’m not sure I’ve seen a band do their own thing as bloody minded as SH do and Truth or Consequences is no different.
The ep starts with a lone voice that slowly builds, first with backing vocals and the instruments join, one by one, sounding like a funeral procession. However this isn’t an ep to sit still. Over the course of 17 minutes the band delve through 80’s rock, Thrash, Sludge and drone. Not one fuck is given on this ep, the band lurch between styles, knowing full well genre divides are pointless in this day and age.
This is a confrontational record and it needs a little patience to get the feel for what the band are doing, but when it clicks, it clicks. I can’t wait to see what they come up with next because I just cannot guess what it’ll be. (Apart from dark and noisy)
https://songwhip.com/sugarhorse/truth-or-consequences-new-mexico
Paul Wolinski
Blood
Paul is a member of 65daysofstatic and he wrote Blood as the original score for a solo dance performance by Jean Abreu. A show that debuted in Royal Opera House in 2013. I’ve taken this quote from Bandcamp as it explains what’s going on here better than I can.
“He (Jean Abreu, the choreographer) wanted me to write something minimal and piano-based. I persuaded him that it should probably also have a load of weird noise all over it. In the end we found a compromise somewhere in the middle.
Pianos and noise. I bet no-one saw that coming.”
And that sums this album up, if in the usual 65days’ self deprecating style. There are some gentle piano tracks but when the electronics are brought into play this sounds like something from the more mellow end of the 65 songbook. I have no idea how anyone can dance to it though.
Blood is well worth your time on its own merits, but seeing as there is no new 65days album in sight, this will help with the withdrawal. It’s not on streaming services so you’re going to have to put your hand in your pocket for this one, but it’s worth it.
https://paulwolinski.bandcamp.com/album/blood-original-score
Soars
Repeater
Soars is the solo project of Kristian Karlsson, a member of Cult of Luna and pg.lost. His first album, Enfold, was a pretty but slight affair, while Repeater feels more fully formed. Unsurprisingly, as he plays keyboards in CoL, Repeater is more electronic than his two other bands.
Surprisingly the biggest influence you can hear on Repeater is God is an Astronaut, and as such there are soaring (no pun intended) synths with some backing vocals (or synths set up to sound like backing vocals) and a smattering of guitars. While not as bombastic as Giaa, this album has the dynamic control to know when to lull you into a state of serene calm or to push things to a widescreen soundscape that can make even a pretty mundane walk to the shop feel particularly epic.
If you’re on the lookout for some very pretty synth post rock, this is one of the best that’s been released this year.
https://songwhip.com/soars/oldandheavy
Leonov
Procession
Leonov are a Norwegian post metal band who have been building out their own unique sound on the fringes of the genre. Hopefully Procession will bring them the attention they deserve.
What sets them apart from other bands is the atmosphere they build. Having both male and female vocalists allows Leonov more dimensions than the usual big riff and bellowing crowd, and there are points here where I’m reminded more of This Mortal Coil than the usual post metal influences.
Sora has a Sabbath feel to the beginning of the song, before it unfurls into something more expansive and dynamic. The album highlight, Mesos, sounds more like a delicate indie song before the drums creep in and slowly build to an avalanche.
Procession came out of nowhere for me. Leonov’s last album was fine but didn’t leave that much of an impression on me. This is making me wonder if I need to bump someone off my end of year list.
https://songwhip.com/leonov/mesos2023
All Structures Align
Cut The Engines
This is ASA’s third album in a year and a half. Normally for pretty much any band I can think of, they’d be running on fumes at this point, somehow Cut the Engines may be the band’s best album so far.
They’re still building on slowcore with dashes of Slint and Shellac but this time the album is far more accessible, it’s faster paced and has a lot more hooks to help you into the album. It’s an amazing achievement for such a new band and I’m looking forward to spending a lot of time with it over the coming weeks.
https://songwhip.com/allstructuresalign/hopes-are-quartered
Where We Sleep
Bang Bang
The new single for Where We Sleep is a bit of a surprise. Beth has turned away from the shoegaze of her debut album to a colder electronic sound.
The song is stripped down, just some percussion and vocals to start, but as the song continues the electronics build filling the space the song had left. It’s an interesting change of direction and on the strength of this single, it will be a very welcome one.
We now have three new songs from WWS, hopefully a new album announcement will happen soon.
https://songwhip.com/wherewesleep/bang-bang
The ways of exile 