Alternative Album Chart: the best new indie and alternative albums this week
Seven years between albums is a long time by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, after briefly cropping up from underneath the parapets of his self-imposed solitude in 2020 with ‘Black Disco’, Benjamin Booker has now returned with LOWER, only his third album to date. However, to say it has been worth the wait would be something of an understatement. It’s the highlight of this week’s Alternative Album Chart.
While the name Benjamin Booker will undoubtedly bring to mind the garage-esque hues of his self-titled debut album which arrived all the way back in 2014, it’s safe to say that the enigmatic artist has released a record that feels far more unique than even his lauded first outing and its 2017 successor, Witness. This is a truly distinctive, dream-like and deeply postmodern convergence of sounds that has undoubtedly kicked off a new chapter for the American, and will likely thrust his career to even warmer climes.
Booker is not the only artist who excels this week. Another highlight of this outing is The Bad Fire, the 11th album from Scottish post-rock innovators, Mogwai. An utterly masterful and ingenious addition to their already acclaimed oeuvre, it sees Stuart Braithwaite and the group continue to play with the very essence of form and melt the listener’s minds in doing so, a feeling which is rarely so expertly elicited in music. This will likely go down as one of their most accomplished releases.
FKA Twigs has released her long-awaited body of work, Eusexua. Her third studio album, and the follow-up to 2019’s influential Magdalene, it touches on mystery, hedonism and the feeling of feeling unsatisfied, while pushing her distinctive avant-pop and electronic blend into new, compelling spaces. Her dedicated fanbase are already describing it as contender for 2025’s album of the year. We’ll let you decide on that one though…
Find this week’s Alternative Album Chart below.
The best new indie and alternative albums this week:
LOWER – Benjamin Booker – [4.5]
While the name Benjamin Booker might have brought to mind memories of around a decade ago when things seemed much better than they are now, that has now firmly changed. After mostly disappearing for seven years, the American musician is back with his third album, LOWER, which is without question his finest and most accomplished body of work.
The record, initiated by Booker seeking to finally bring to life a seemingly intangible sound that had floated around his imagination for a while, is stellar. It sees him team up with underground hip-hop mastermind Kenny Segal, and together, they create an immensely dream-like and cinematic convergence of traditional instrumentation, electronics and sampling that washes over the listener in an affirming way that albums seldom do.
Booker is a fan of great cinema, with the likes of Paul Schrader and Jean-Pierre Melville listed as influences on LOWER. It shows. Like any great script or film, it’s a lucid collection of songs that lead the listener on a journey into the mind’s eye, and leaves them feeling changed after the final notes ring out. Brilliantly, even when taken on their own, the tracks make a memorable impression.
The Bad Fire – Mogwai – [4.5]
When Mogwai first formed in 1995, they weren’t a band that fit into what was considered mainstream. As the industry became enamoured with the sound of Britpop, Mogwai delivered something counterintuitive to being a long-term commercial success. The group had set themselves up for burnout in many people’s eyes. The opposite happened. An unwavering nature towards music and a constant drive to push new and profound ideas have led to the slow establishment of one of the most exciting bands out there, and they stay true to form on their most recent offering.
Thirty years later, this ethos has created some exciting musical minds, ones that are confident enough in themselves to say no to convention and create within whatever confines they decide to set for themselves. It gives us albums like The Bad Fire, which play around thematically, don’t hold back on mind-bending effects and structure, and are a joy to listen to from start to finish.
Only a couple of years after their first number one album, it’s clear Mogwai aren’t feeling any pressure. Their balls-to-the-wall approach to songwriting and creativity has gotten them this far, so why try anything different? This layered, intoxicating piece of music is one of the easiest albums you could ever get lost in, and it’s something you won’t want to emerge from.
Eusexua – FKA TWIGS – [4]
For art-pop fans with a penchant for rave-ready instrumentation and refreshingly honest lyricism, FKA Twigs has been a cult favourite since the release of her debut album, LP1. Listeners have thus been eagerly awaiting Eusexua, her third LP following Magdalene, various EPs, and a mixtape, Caprisongs. The artist has been teasing the record for a while now, but finally, it’s here, packed full of some of Twigs’ finest work to date.
Eusexua embodies feelings of playful sensuality, mystery, hedonism, and coming to terms with oneself. Twigs is vulnerable, singing about being submissive (“I’m a dog for you”) or struggling to navigate the muddy waters of love and relationships (“Come on/ Say something nice to me”). Moreover, she perfectly articulates the experience of feeling unsatisfied, of wanting to feel something different, to be understood properly: “My body aches to be known/ To be expressive in itself/ I want to forgive myself/ I want to release myself from the pain I have inside.” These lyrics, alongside many others, will almost certainly resonate with a wide scope of listeners.
There are certainly some weaker moments, however, like the last track, ‘Wanderlust’, which might have worked better as a bonus song rather than the album’s closing number. Still, there is no song on here that is bad by any means; Eusexua is a daring, artful, and incredibly well-crafted album that reflects Twigs’ ability to present meaningful lyricism alongside soundscapes that could also stand alone as incredible instrumental pieces.
It’s Only A Love Song – C Duncan – [3.5]
Love and romance have been the bread and butter of songwriters for centuries. These universal emotions have launched countless songwriting stars, but, particularly in recent years, many mainstream love songs have begun to feel vacuous and lacking in any real emotion. While this is hardly a modern problem, songwriters like Glasgow’s C Duncan are on hand to provide an antidote. On his latest album, fittingly titled It’s Only A Love Song, the classically trained multi-instrumentalist bathes audiences in a sonic journey of sublime romanticism while also showcasing his intense songwriting talents.
It has been just under three years since the last C Duncan album, Alluvium, but those intervening years have certainly not been wasted. Returning to Bella Union for the new record, Duncan is at his strongest in years. From the offset, the songwriter creates a stunningly cinematic world with vast overarching themes of love, emotion, and human connection.
His understated vocals blend seamlessly with the grandiose orchestral sounds offered up on each and every track. In addition to the quality of the individual songs themselves, Duncan also manages to create a sense of overarching narrative to the album, which prevents it from ever stalling or feeling overly repetitive.
Never Exhale – Ditz – [3.5]
Not many people talk about the first edition of Mutations Festival; a two-day multi-venue extravaganza in Brighton that seemingly undersold tickets despite boasting an incredible lineup, but when it first descended upon the south coast in 2015, there was one particular venue that played host to a duo of acts that will forever hold a place in my heart for having been a unique spectacle.
Finishing off day two of the festival were Lightning Bolt and METZ; two incredibly raucous acts that pulverised the ears of most of the people that had piled into Concorde 2. Lightning Bolt were a hyperactive and freakish barrage of jazz-inflected noise, while METZ were a far more polished version of the ugly and distorted sounds that preceded them. Either way, it’s a show that sticks in my mind for having been the sort of performance that inspires people to start a band.
It just so happens that Brighton-based noise rock outfit DITZ got the big idea of forming a band at that particular show, and I, for one, can’t blame them for making this decision. While their music doesn’t share the same frenetic qualities as Lightning Bolt, there are certainly similarities on the show with METZ, as well as other prominent acts that fit within the same genre categorisation, such as The Jesus Lizard and Shellac. However, despite having some sense of common ground with these other acts, the Brightonian group are certainly showing signs of carving their own lane for themselves on their second album, Never Exhale.
It’s not exactly a giant leap from their debut album, The Great Regression, but it is one that demonstrates a small sense of growth and desire to experiment with a broader range of dynamics, often thrusting from moments of tense quiet to riffs that clatter the ribcage. If they keep up the gradual build of intensity, then the direction of future albums might become a truly harrowing experience. For now, this is simply the sound of a band worming their way into the macabre underworld and seemingly finding catharsis from this slow descent into chaos.
You and I are the Earth – Anna B Savage – [3.5]
Anna B Savage is reinventing the meaning of intimacy and authenticity. In the music industry, particularly in folk and indie spaces, there’s almost an unspoken battle to capture what constitutes “realness,” culminating in countless discourses that rarely come close to an answer of what crosses the line and what doesn’t. Savage, on the other hand, exudes the definition with rhetoric-less effortlessness, allowing the gentleness of her voice to guide the way.
You and I are Earth isn’t just a record; it’s an open diary entry, an ode to Ireland, and a love letter to soulmates, all wrapped in one. From start to finish, featherlight acoustic notes underscore Savage’s extraordinary vocal delivery, which boasts both delicate, alternative-leaning tonality and a more confident theatricality. It’s startling but most romantically, culminating in hard-hitting moments when least expected.
“When I cry, you say I taste like the sea,” Savage sings in ‘Talk to Me’, one of the many poetic lyricisms that prove this is an artist who knows the power of words to capture experiences and feelings as profound as finding solace in the soothing existence of something or someone else. It also embellishes the idea of seeking sanctity, knowing that the only way to discover gratitude is to exist in the moment while understanding that patience truly is one of life’s greatest virtues.
