Ketchup the Third: King of Slowcore
Something something catching up still. You know the deal. These albums are very good-to-great, I just don’t have time or enough thoughts about them to dedicate a whole review to them (especially as we’re getting to the year-end crunch). But still check them out for sure. Purely by random chance most of these are on the softer side, but they’re perfect for flannel season.
Heaven Is a Junkyard
Youth Lagoon
Bedroom Pop
A beautiful, meditative chamber pop record about the many flaws of human beings and how those flawed humans are still, sometimes, capable of goodness in an otherwise messed-up world. Heaven Is a Junkyard accomplishes being both lo-fi and shimmering, a rare feat.
Time Ain’t Accidental
Jess Williamson
Americana
Jess Williamson delivers a heart-wrenching road-trip record with subtle yet impactful production and powerful vocal performances. This album seems to mark a significant breakthrough, resonating with listeners through its raw emotion and captivating storytelling.
Girl with Fish
Feeble Little Horse
Slacker Rock
Pittsburgh's favorite mad noise-pop scientists find the secret formula they’ve been searching for on this concise, intricate album. Filled with walls of fuzz, complex riffs, and unexpected twists, Girl With Fish showcases Feeble Little Horse’s artistic evolution, offering a captivating blend of soundscapes that's both catchy and delightfully quirky.
The Whaler
Home Is Where
Midwest Emo
I am well known for being…not that into emo. But this second album from the sharp, diversely-influenced Home Is Where skillfully captures their raw energy as they explore themes of perpetual ambition in the face of meager circumstances. With a potent blend of emotion and musical trickery, this album reflects their relentless pursuit of something…more.
Sun Arcs
Blue Lake
Ambient Americana
Imagine if Fleet Foxes did an entire album with no vocals, then add a lot of orchestra strings and a zither. It’s kind of mesmerizing, and the perfect thing for a fall woods-walking soundtrack.
My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross
ANOHNI and the Johnsons
Soul
This album was inches away from its own review but then Carly Rae Jepsen had to go and ruin it by being amazing. After a 13-year separation, ANOHNI returns with The Johnsons to deliver one of the most soulful and intense albums of the year. The record is designed as a safe place to mourn the recent loss of so much progress in civil rights and the planet’s point-of-no-return, and it delivers in all the horrible ways it needs to.
The Greater Wings
Julie Byrne
Chamber Folk
I really missed out on the track “Summer Glass” in time for, you know, summer. The Greater Wings is like if Bat for Lashes and Lana Del Rey had a psychedelic child. Apart from one truly standout track, the rest of the album contains some truly beautiful instrumental arrangements to accompany Byrne’s sentimental, melancholic folk songs.
Jelly Road
Blake Mills
Psychedelic Folk
Surreal, blissful, and suspended out of time, Jelly Road feels like Sufjan Stevens re-recording a Fleetwood Mac album. The lyrics feel like they should be funny, but end up being more like… ludicrously tragic.
Beautiful and Brutal Yard
J Hus
Afroswing
On his third album, London rapper J Hus continues his thought-provoking exploration of masculinity. This introspective journey unfolds over luxurious salsa grooves and powerful R&B beats, creating a distinctive sound that carries a unique commentary on the Black British experience, making for a compelling musical and lyrical journey.
The Ones Ahead
Beverly Glenn-Copeland
Chamber Music
We often overlook older artists because of the weird (and bad) nostalgia of Rolling Stone that makes that publication give anyone who released an album before 1980 an automatic 5/5. But this is a legitimately beautiful selection of artful, Windham Hills-esque ambient folk, and powerful, orchestra-backed spirituals, sung by an artist whose age adds weight and immediacy to their ruminations on life, death, legacy, and alienation.
