Alternative Album Chart: the best new indie and alternative albums this week
It’s not often you hear an album that is so arresting that it causes you to embark on a deeply personal journey, evoking existential questions about your immediate world and the much more sprawling one out there. That is precisely what occurs with Sahra Halgan’s latest effort, Hiddo Dhawr, a potently innovative blend of the music of her native Somaliland with fuzzy 1960s-styled garage rock and a hefty dose of funk. With a title that translates to ‘Promote culture’, it says everything about the defiant sonic voyage in the store as it draws on her experiences of the dark unrest the state has experienced since independence in 1991.
Elsewhere, British shoegaze heroes Ride have returned with their seventh album, Interplay, a culmination of their career up to now, as they take listeners on an oscillating journey through emotions and textures, with ample surprises in store. A welcome return after five years, it resoundingly confirms that the Oxford quartet still have a long road ahead of them despite covering such extensive and gilded ground already.
Following this, South Coast outfit Holiday Ghosts have arrived with their fifth album, Coat of Arms, which blends nostalgic jangle-pop with incisive comments on consumerism and the inherent pitfalls of the contemporary era. They might, on paper, sound like distinct opposites, but the way the band fuse them is a wholehearted triumph, and broadly speaking, the group are deserving of much more prominence.
Not finished with the latest illuminations, newcomer gglum – real name Ella Smoker – offers a luminously eclectic but succinct offering for her debut album, The Garden Dream. It firmly posits her as one to keep an eye on, with her seemingly destined for the major leagues. On the other side of the coin, veteran French post-punk vendors Frustration irritate with their latest effort, Our Decisions, a mightily ironic title, as it could have been much better.
Check out this week’s Alternative Album Chart below.
The best new indie and alternative albums this week:
Hiddo Dhawr – Sahra Halgan – 4.5
Every now and again, you will hear a song or an album that stops you in your tracks; something so groundbreakingly brilliant that it’s hard to imagine a time before you heard it. Oftentimes, these records will come from the most unlikely of places. After all, you cannot always rely on the sales charts to pick out a record that will change your life. In this case, the groundbreaking LP comes in the form of Sahra Halgan’s Hiddo Dhawr, and it comes from the unlikely setting of Somaliland in the horn of Africa.
Blending the traditional African stylings of her Somaliland home with fuzzy guitar riffs and a vintage keyboard evoking the sounds of the 1960s garage rock boom, Halgan’s third album is truly something to behold. Never before has such a disparate collection of influences and instruments worked together in such a seamless manner. It is something of a sonic menagerie, yet it never feels too uncomfortable to bear.
Africa has, historically, produced some of the finest, funkiest music known to mankind, but, in the case of Halgan, it feels different. It is a perfect bridge between the funk of East African music and the abrasive defiance of European rock. Halgan’s efforts feel much more important than those of her contemporaries. Hiddo Dhawr is not merely a collection of catchy guitar-driven tracks. It is a defiant stance against political alienation and conflict. Aside from being an inarguably incredible album, it is a vitally important cultural artefact for the people of Somaliland. [Words: Ben Forrest]
Interplay – Ride – 4
In their first studio album since 2019’s This Is Not A Safe Place, Ride remain loyal to their associative sound while throwing in some attractive instrumental flourishes. Although the group maintains its unmistakable identity throughout most of Interplay, the 12 tracks take the listener through a range of emotions, with several compositional deviations to maintain allure.
Interplay is a consummate celebration of Ride’s journey to date, visiting sounds of the 1980s that inspired them, the anthemic shoegaze scapes of their early masterpieces and the more sample and synth-infused compositions of their 21st-century releases. At times, the album is bold and imposing, at others dejected and foreboding, but at just under an hour in length, not a second is wasted. [Words: Jordan Potter]
Coat of Arms – Holiday Ghosts – 3.5
If you miss the jangly indie pop bands that emerged in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s, fear not. Holiday Ghosts’ new album, Coat of Arms, harks back to the days of anorak-wearing twee groups. These acts were inherently political, and Holiday Ghosts, who hail from the sunny South coast of England, carry this social consciousness with them, infusing their poppy guitar tunes with potent meditations on consumerism, identity and displacement.
The album is rich with complexity, inviting us to move our feet as much as it invites us to pay attention to what the band have to say. Neither lyrics nor instrumentals are sacrificed in favour of the other here – this is a record that achieves exactly what it sets out to do, and it does it well.
Perhaps there is a slight lack of variety at times, although some may argue that the record is simply cohesive and compact. With song lengths averaging two-and-a-half to three minutes long, these are pieces that are straight to the point and accessible, giving the record a distinctive appeal that is easy to dive into. The record isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but Coat of Arms will likely charm you. [Words: Aimee Ferrier]
The Garden Dream – gglum – 3.5
Some might say it’s impossible to do it all on one album, but those people clearly haven’t heard the debut record from gglum. Within one release, and her first at that, Ella Smoker’s project explores the entire indie-pop terrain, seemingly finding every interesting nook and cranny. Tying it all together with perfected production and a thematic path of breadcrumbs, The Garden Dream is an expansive and endlessly promising travelogue.
Across the entire album, elements of pop, indie, R&B, grunge, shoegaze and electro all come into play. gglum refuses to stick to any one sound or strict school of thought, but her audio exploration is always tied back together neatly. Even as her style seems to become vaster with each track, The Garden Dream manages to feel cohesive with a through-path of Smoker’s beautiful vocals and her dream-like lyricism. Her interest in our inner workings comes in and out with enough interest to keep the album focused and directed. Around that, her wandering sound is allowed to feel purely exciting, never exhaustive.
At only 21 years old and with this being her first LP, gglum’s abilities feel mindblowing. This record isn’t just a look into her dreamspace but is a look into the future in which she no doubt has a powerful career in front of her with plenty of potential to unlock. [Words: Lucy Harbron]
Live Laugh Love – Chastity Belt – 3
If you live by the words “live, laugh, love”, you may think that this album is for you. It’s probably not. Rather than adhering to the joy espoused in its title, the fifth full-length offering from Chastity Belt delves head-first into indifference and depression. Though it sometimes seems that they might never find their way out of it, the album does land upon some kind of reluctant acceptance by the end of its runtime.
For the first half of Live Laugh Love, Chastity Belt are decidedly not living, laughing, or loving. Instead, they’re avoiding social events and shrugging off devastating declarations with shocking indifference. Their instrumentation matches this energy, as fuzzy guitars and detached vocal delivery only enhance those themes.
Their track titles serve quite the opposite purpose, with light-hearted adjectives like ‘Funny’ and ‘Kool-Aid’ lulling listeners into a false sense of security. With the arrival of ‘Blue’, their song names seem set to reflect the monotony and melancholy of their words. Still, Chastity Belt seem committed to the art of juxtaposition, right down to the syncopation in their tracks.
The album takes a turn as Chastity Belt find hope in internet detoxes and bike rides across the I-90 bridge. True to life, there’s no sudden moment of realisation on the record, just as there is no instant cure for depression, but there is a growing acceptance and reclamation of control. There’s a gradual movement towards the simplicity of living, laughing and loving. [Words: Elle Palmer]
What’s for Breakfast? – Dent May – 3
Cloud-like. A lot of the time, describing music with an image isn’t very helpful, given the connotations of that image can mean different things to different people. However, when describing Dent May’s newest album, What’s For Breakfast?, the best term that can be applied to it is cloud-like.
Clouds are beautiful, as is this album. Not only are they beautiful, but they are as much in a way that is undeniable. Regardless of what kind of art we are into, we remain united in our ability to lie on the ground and get lost looking at clouds. The same applies to this project. It doesn’t matter what sort of music you are into. The way that What’s For Breakfast? is put together, with its sweet-sounding instrumentation and top-quality lyrics, nobody will rush to turn it off. From metal heads to jazz enthusiasts, the music is lovely.
In effect, this album is a joy throughout; there are no bad songs, and the way that it has been executed is joyous. Equally, it doesn’t do enough to be considered anything more than just good music, a paradoxical critique that will be made more apparent in six months when it remains good music, steadily getting slightly forgotten about. If you were to suggest otherwise, then it may be that you have your head in the clouds. [Words: Dale Maplethorpe]
Our Decisions – Frustration – 1.5
Our Decisions, the sixth album from the celebrated French punk band Frustration, is a strange listening experience. The group has a distinctive take on the post-punk formula and it has brought success in their homeland. Yet, despite being purportedly such a unique act, some areas on the record evoke other outfits. Their resemblance to Cardiacs and the pin-stripe-wearing new wave revivalists of the mid-2000s feels far too uncanny. The connections may come from a subjective context, but they speak to a broader truth. It’s not that original, and it certainly isn’t as arresting as you’d expect from reading about the quintet.
While Frustration aren’t meant to be for everyone – as their name so aptly suggests – Our Decisions is a wholesale paradox. It’s entertaining but annoying, sounds unique but is comprised of many renowned influences, and makes you want to listen again, afraid of missing something essential, while also thinking you’ll leave it there, never to return.
