Alternative Album Chart: the best new indie and alternative albums this week
Attaining total musical refinement is an end that so many artists fail to capture. Yet, on Humanist’s second album, On The Edge of a Lost and Lonely World, Rob Marshall does so with aplomb. Bringing his expansive vision to life with the help of Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan, Isobel Campbell, Peter Hayes and other notable guests, he’s crafted an atmospheric record with many delights.
The new Humanist effort is abnormal in that it is appropriate for an array of different environments. Its immense sonic character would fill stadiums and enormous rooms with pulsating basslines, driving drums and stirring, effects-laden guitar lines. On the other hand, due to the sincerity of some of its tracks, it is also perfect for pensive solo listens when listeners are pondering the simple things.
Tracks such as ‘Keep Me Safe’ are well suited for an intense running session when extra energy is required, which speaks to the broad scope of its rich components. It’s a record that will surely bring Humanist to a larger audience. The sound and themes are destined for wider acclaim.
In another highlight this week, Canada’s art collective Crack Cloud returns after two years with Red Mile. Their 2022 release, Tough Baby, was one of the standout albums of the year, and with this new effort, they have continued to refine their post-punk formula, making it even more emphatic. The constant shifting between darkness and light persists, but now there’s a heavier focus on melody, creating a more profound sonic structure. It appears the band is aware that post-punk is on its way out and are exploring more verdant pastures.
Elsewhere, Sheffield’s Dearthorms produce a bold off-kilter effort in Sapsucker, the latest edition to our era’s healthy environment of weird rock, brimming with surreal lyrics, dissonant guitars and ominous synths. That’s not forgetting the most pleasantly surprising release of the week, Alex Izenberg’s full-band debut, Alex Izenberg and the Exiles. It’s a masterclass in pure songwriting, bringing cosmic American music back to the fore and repackaging it for the now.
Find this week’s Alternative Album Chart below.
The best new indie and alternative albums this week:
On the Edge of a Lost and Lonely World – Humanist – [4]
The debut of Rob Marshall’s musical project Humanist was largely lauded due to its unique listening experience and cohesive sound—a seemingly impossible feat when incorporating the various styles of differing music artists at play, entirely subverting pop. Most musicians strive to create music that taps into emotions more significant than words can describe. On The Edge of a Lost and Lonely World masterfully achieves this by blending diverse influences into a singular, evocative expression of vulnerability and introspection.
Like Humanist, Marshall’s second album blends the visions of his featured artists while creating unique spaces where different creative touches can thrive. Delivering emotionally potent, guitar-driven music with a broader palette, Lost and Lonely World does well to integrate Marshall’s signature lighter and darker counterpoint components, tapping into the dramatic and delicate beauty of life itself.
What this album truly excels at is providing fullness at a capacity that once felt long gone: its substance is almost overwhelming, the material the kind of insatiable food you keep coming back for time and time again, and not in the meaningless way that sentiment is often uttered. It’s entirely fulfilling, but only because it reminds you how hungry you were for music that delivers on its promise to reflect real human experiences with the gravitas great big things like love and loss deserve.
Alex Izenberg – Alex Izenberg and the Exiles – [4]
In his full-band debut album, Alex Izenberg & The Exiles, the titular singer-songwriter pulls out all the stops to bring fans a comprehensive experience that blends classic with contemporary, hot with cold and rural with urban. The result is a musical experience that is at once familiar and highly original. Izenberg’s identity is forged in expansive orchestral movements evocative of romantic movie soundtracks that meld seamlessly with influences from the psychedelic rock wave and subsequent quirks of the progressive movement.
Across the 11 tracks, Izenberg brings crucial balance to proceedings by introducing a range of tempos and moods. Anthemic highlights like ‘The Gospel of Exiles’ and ‘United States (of Mind)’ stand at odds with more sedate moments like ‘Threaded Dances’ and the powerful closer, ‘As the Dawn Serenades the Dark’. If it’s a dance you’re looking for, look no further than the funky little number ‘Pareidolia’. We hope Izenberg can keep things just as classy in a second volume with the Exiles.
[Words: Jordan Potter]
Red Mile – Crack Cloud – 4
Genre conventions and identification can often be limiting for artists, regularly limiting creativity and inspiring an endless deluge of uninspiring music. During such a saturated period in musical history, it is refreshing to hear groups like Crack Cloud, who take little to no notice of genre conventions. Instead, the musical collective from Vancouver, Canada, offers a unique blend of seemingly disparate styles brought together by the artistry of the band members and the incredible chemistry between those members.
It has been two years since the release of Crack Cloud’s previous record, 2022’s Tough Baby – a standout album from that particular year. Seemingly, though, those two years have not been wasted by the band, as their latest effort, Red Mile, is perhaps their most accomplished to date. Darting unpredictably from gentle piano tracks to candid, punk-inspired lyricism, the album succeeds in keeping audiences constantly on their toes. Although the gentle music of songs like the opener, ‘Crack of Life’, lulls listeners into a false sense of security, this relaxation is immediately contrasted by the vocal styles of Zach Choy.
Sapsucker – Dearthworms – [3.5]
The environment of weird rock music has never been so healthy. The world over, strange and dissonant takes on guitar music are capturing the imaginations of droves of listeners, thrusting them into parallel universes. On their debut, Sapsucker, Sheffield‘s Dearthworms delve into this area headfirst and plant their flag firm in the off-coloured soil. A diverse and entertaining batch of songs, it’s a solid debut from the Steel City supergroup.
A collection of nine varied tracks, Sapsucker is comprised of stirring Yorkshire dialect, surreal tales extracted from the eerie side of mundanity à la David Lynch’s liminal ways, swirling guitars, menacing synths, and a touch of that black humour native to ‘God’s Own Country’. While the band certainly has a few discernible influences, there’s no doubt that the record is inventive and entertaining, with surprises around every corner.
If David Firth, Protomartyr and David Lynch started a band, it would probably sound a lot like Sapsucker, as mad as that may be. Creating such an oddity is a striking move for a debut. Such boldness might not quite astound on this occasion, but it certainly promises that with a touch more refinement, bright things lie ahead for Deathworms.
To The Ghosts – Cults – [3.5]
Cults have quietly been making hits for over a decade, like the bittersweet tale of devotion, ‘Always Forever’, which has amassed over 500 million streams on Spotify. Their song ‘Bad Things’ was even sampled by J Cole in the hit ‘She Knows’, allowing the band to reach an even wider audience. Clearly, Cults’ dreamy indie pop songs are well-loved by fans, with every piece inviting listeners to fully immerse themselves in a part-playful and part-nostalgic atmosphere.
Their fifth album, To The Ghosts, sees Cults maintain their classic sound while also experimenting more freely with their lyricism, which lead singer Madeline Follin states was largely the result of a stream-of-consciousness approach. There are many catchy hits here that, although laced with a certain sugariness, never fall into saccharine territory.
Still, it feels as though Cults could push the boat out a little bit further because, in a land saturated with many indie pop artists, constant innovation is required to stand out. With that being said, the band have continued to hone their unmistakable sound, and To the Ghosts features many future Cult(s) classics.
Becoming An Entity – The Doozers – [3]
It could be argued that sometimes art galleries are too big. While the first piece you see might be stunning, and the second and the third, when you are subject to walls of work over multiple floors, the important meaning and craftmanship which has gone into every piece can be lost. Messages overlap and contort to the point that it can be hard to tell one piece from the last. This is how it feels listening to the new indie album by The Doozers, Becoming An Entity.
It’s worth starting by saying that this is a good album. The instrumentation is lovely, the lyricism is insightful, and the harmonies are layered beautifully and executed well. There isn’t much to criticise. Granted, there are a couple of moments where some of the vocals are pitchy, or melodies feel a bit haphazard, but as a general rule, you won’t go far wrong listening to this record.
The issue comes in an apparent hesitancy that seems to haunt the band. It feels very much like they have found a style and a sound that works; therefore, they stick to it like glue. That style and sound are also reminiscent of a great deal of indie music that has come before and will certainly come after. The result is that while the album is an enjoyable listen, it doesn’t offer a great deal that separates it from other records. Tracks like ‘Make It Tessellate’, ‘Ah Shellanté’ and ‘Filter Feed’ are fun indie bops, but that can be said about a lot of music.
Everything Still Worries Me – Abbie Ozard – [2.5]
Introspective lyricism can be an incredibly powerful thing. Some of the best songs in the world feel like outpourings of emotion delivered with little editing for a raw and vulnerable result. Whether they’re a window to the soul or a snapshot of a specific and personal moment, there is power in a diaristic approach to art. However, on her debut album, Everything Still Worries Me, Abbie Ozard fails to move beyond a more juvenile journal.
Instrumentally, the album has the foundations to establish Manchester’s Ozard as the next big name to know in indie-pop. It’s textured and dynamic, pulling together the strings and strains of a whole range of various sounds and genres, from electro detailing and shoegaze-influenced moody moments to pure bubblegum pop. Moments of greatness are found when she really leans into this and uses the music as a genuine tool, working in harmony with her words.
But when the build of a song isn’t big or glossed enough, the spotlight on Ozard’s words leaves the album feeling limp and somewhat immature. There are moments where her vocal performance feels highlighted when it’s at its weakest, as if she can’t keep up with the energy of her own track. At other times, the issue lies in her diaristic lyrics as they begin sounding like the thoughts of a cliché teenager. Or better yet, sometimes it sounds like a first attempt at a song as the rhythming schemes become a bit too obvious and banal, such as in lyrics like, “Right now there’s a party for one and I feel free / to be whoever I wanna be / when no ones watching me.”
