Alternative Album Chart: the best new indie and alternative albums this week
It’s an old cliché in music that a band’s first record is always their best, as subsequent releases fail to recapture that early energy. If that is true, however, then the albums released this week certainly do not act in support of it. From the perfection of an already promising sound to groups moving in entirely new directions, it seems as though the past week has been one of innovation and creative bravery – particularly in the case of Ezra Collective.
London-based jazz outfit Ezra Collective are at the forefront of this sonic innovation, following up on their Mercury Prize-winning sophomore album Where I’m Meant To Be with the stunning new record Dance, No One’s Watching. The record, which incorporates the band’s broad range of influences, going from old-school West African highlife to neo-soul and modern R&B, is an absolute triumph for the London jazz scene.
The various collaborators that appear on the record, in the form of Olivia Dean, Yazmin Lacey, M.anifest, and Moonchild Sanelly, offer an abundance of variation within the extensive 19-track album. With modern life continuing to destroy our attention spans, keeping an audience entertained for 19 songs is not an easy task but, with the aid of horns and infectiously danceable jazz, Ezra Collective manage to get there.
Ezra Collective also embraced a common theme this week, which is the recognition of the album as a format. Groups like Ezra Collective and Kit Sebatian – who unveiled their latest effort New Internationale this week – seem to understand the importance of album structure and narrative, rather than simply collating ten disparate songs for release.
Kit Sebastian offers the perfect transitional album from the sunshine of the Summer months into the increasing chill of Autumn, with their complex introspection and exploration of the self. In many ways, Texan trio Being Dead occupy a similar space, though their introspection is much more influenced by psychedelic substances and silliness than the stylistic 1960s sophistication of Kit Sebastian.
Much like Ezra Collective, Being Dead are a group that thrive on improvisation; messing around and seeing if anything rises to the forefront of their musical minds. While many of this week’s records are profound and captivating, none of them offer the same kind of light, joyous relief as EELS, Being Dead’s latest offering.
There are numerous gems hidden within this week’s line-up of album releases. Alongside the old favourites like Kit Sebastian and increasingly established stars like Ezra Collective, there are also brand-new artists taking their first steps. Bahraini-born, British-based duo Dar Disku, for instance, released their eponymous debut this week, which has already singled out the group as ones to keep an eye on in future years. It has truly been a diverse and captivating week within the music world.
Find this week’s full Alternative Album Chart below:
The best new indie and alternative albums this week:
Dance, No One’s Watching – Ezra Collective – [4.5]
In recent years, groups like London’s Ezra Collective have helped orchestrate something of a renaissance in jazz since their initial formation in 2016. Now, the band have unleashed their stunning third album, fittingly entitled Dance, No One’s Watching, which sees them demonstrate their diverse range of influences and endless penchant for collaboration and improvisation.
More so than any other record released in recent years, this is a release that is acutely aware of the power of the album as a format. Far from being a disjointed collection of ten or so songs, Ezra Collective have meticulously created a musical journey that flows seamlessly between grooves and atmospheres.
Although the album is clearly spearheaded by the collective itself, with the bandleader Femi Koleoso as well as the piano styling of Joe Armon-Jones being particular highlights, this album is boosted tenfold by its various collaborators. Within this record, Ezra Collective collide with the likes of R&B vocalist Yazmin Lacey, neo-soul star Olivia Dean, Ghanaian rapper M.anifest, and South African musician Moonchild Sanelly.
Each of these figures provide a new and unique angle to the album. More than that, though, these songs help to bolster the atmosphere of improvisation and organic spontaneity, which is also helped out by the various sound bites of live performances included across the album. It might be something of a cliché, but this is truly a fresh musical experience, rather than being just another jazz record.
New Internationale – Kit Sebastian – [4]
For several years, Kit Sebastian has been making incredible music, blurring the boundaries between genres and countries in search of a unique sound. They remain wholly underrated despite their ability to consistently deliver songs that offer danceable grooves and impressive instrumental stylings, ranging from psychedelic-rock-infused riffs to French-pop-inspired melodies.
New Internationale, their third album, boasts some spectacular fusions of sounds, languages, voices, and moods. The band isn’t afraid to push their music further, maintaining their usual hallmarks while incorporating even more instruments and influences they gleaned from their travels.
They contemplate what it means to have no fixed place and the judgement that comes with living in a foreign country—themes that are right at home within Kit Sebastian’s sonic world, where borders blur, whether between countries or even the past, present, and future. The record also explores some more conventional themes, like love and longing, although these songs are in no way unoriginal.
The band works well with contrasts – enticing us with catchy rhythms before presenting us with timely lyrical topics. New Internationale is an impressive and ambitious record that pays homage to the beauty to be found in other cultures, encouraging listeners to expand their musical tastes. It’s proof that Kit Sebastian is a necessary voice in the current landscape, and their artistic output only seems to keep getting better.
EELS – Being Dead – [4]
It all began while working at a Cinnabon for the Texan trio of Falcon B*tch, Gumball and Ricky Moto. Back then they were just trying to pass the time, experimenting with micro-dosing and dreaming up stark desert landscapes. Now, onto their second album and riding high on relative acclaim, Being Dead manage to retain a sense of that playful spirit and budding friendship in their distinct sound.
Throughout EELS there is an unrefined sense of fucking around in a garage—in the best possible way. Each song explores about 15 different melodies and modes as the three-piece veer from sweet Alvvays choruses to sudden Kingsmen proto-punk at the drop of a tab. In this manner, the record feels decidedly contemporary, unfurling like the content avalanche of ‘the algorithm’ turned into art.
In an age where it’s difficult to find new ways to make the same old 12 notes waltz to a new tune, there are great bands who you worry for nevertheless, wondering how far they can make their one great idea stretch. Being Dead have so many ideas up their sleeves, the potentialities are endless. But perhaps on EELS, there are simply one too many ideas to ever make it their masterpiece—not that you ever imagine they were trying to achieve that just yet; right now, they’re just having fun. And it’s a joy to watch.
Reason Enough – Crows [4]
Crows have been one of the most accomplished bands in the UK for the best part of a decade now. On their third album, Reason Enough, they produce yet another accomplished effort, which steers them in a slightly different direction, with refreshed potency and a refined character that sees them take things up a notch. Surely, now is the time for them to reap what they’ve sowed; the latest album emphatically displays why they’ve been underground favourites for so long and their broad pull.
Crows are still the same band, but they’ve distilled every aspect. Cox’s political and personal ruminations are particularly affective, as are his weaponisation of melody. Goddard’s guitar is more direct than ever, with the riffs excellent, and the use of dissonance and texture adroit. Amarasinghe, an overlooked contemporary bassist, who has consistently crafted robust lines, does so with aplomb again, with a newfound, de-turned character, and Lister holds it all together with rhythmic dynamism, demonstrating again why he and Amarasinghe are a compelling duo, the glue that holds Crows together.
Although there is still a narcotic aspect to the new songs, the group have made them more effective, anthemic and concise by teaming up with revered producer Andy Savours, who has brought not only years of insight but a sheen to their established sound. This concentration on pushing their formula forward, taking more time to work on material due to extra-musical circumstances, and the presence of Savours has created a record in Reason Enough that will earn the band new fans, and ask many exciting questions about where they might go next.
13” – Xiu Xiu [4]
According to “science”, the perfect song is made up of a blend of both predictability and unpredictability. In other words, a listener should be able to recognise a tune and pick out a genre and a direction that the track is going in, but then should also be surprised by different elements within the track. Xiu Xiu stands as the antithesis of this theory, as their new album, 13” Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips, remains an unpredictable mesh of chaos and is an absolute joy from start to finish.
The album starts melancholic. The song ‘Arp Omni’ ponders what has been achieved in adult life over a backdrop of low-rumbling synth and an uneasy string section. It feels like this could set the tone for the entire album, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg. The songs that follow are heavy, with rock-like riffs buried in distortion and head-banging energy following each track like a shadow.
It’s a lot of fun to listen to. While the tone doesn’t shift much from that heaviness after the first track, songs are intercut with various effects, breaks and vocal fluctuations that mean each song remains unpredictable and exciting. Things can get messy at times, but it’s an excellent state to be fixated in, one where we are completely lost amid sonic rebellion.
Below a Massive Dark Land – Naima Bock [4]
When Naima Bock left Goat Girl back in 2022, she was feeling dissatisfied. Despite her old post-punk band going from strength to strength, it is no surprise. Since then, the artist has revealed her true musical power and revealed that it lies in folk. On her second album, Below a Massive Dark Land, that point is proved once again as she shines brightest when the natural atmosphere of her voice is largely undisturbed.
All the best moments of beauty on this record come in its simplest, sparsest form. It’s at its best when Bock’s voice stands alone and then is slowly joined by subtle instrumentation, as if the guitars, harps and horns are almost in the listener’s imagination. It’s at its best when the levelling up in the composition perfectly matches the levelling up of emotion that’s being projected by Bock’s voice like she’s singing out a film scene of feeling and the band around her is a soundtrack; perfectly placed and delicately added as a finishing touch or a sparkle on top rather than the whole thing.
But then the record is at its weakest when that becomes too heavy-handed. There are moments where it forgets that the true jewel here is Bock’s voice; its natural lilt, the way it manages to portray so much feeling like a mere note could bring a tear to the eye. It’s one of those miraculous folk voices that feels imbued with power in its softness. It’s reminiscent of the haunting, cinematic quality of traditional folk songs used in folk horror films, as those old-timey voices just seem to have a story built into them. But for that power to come across best, it needs to be left alone.
Dar Disku – Dar Disku [3.5]
With a vibrant mix of genres, Dar Disku’s Dar Disku takes psychedelia and dance music to new realms with an enchanting swirl of sounds reaching across the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond. Its emphasis on rhythm and groove immediately captivates by urging a sense of joy, while the innovative production techniques provide an endearing balance of past meets present, giving the sound a glaring visceral quality.
In Dar Disku’s world, music transcends boundaries, and various cultures collide, resulting in an extraordinary convergence that only musicians who understand the power of music to connect diverse traditions can achieve. The album title, translating to “house of disco”, merely touches the surface of the richness that permeates the record’s explorations, their Arabic heritage appearing at various junctures and reflecting a longing to revive and celebrate a musical legacy that has shaped their identities.
The record is bold and, at times, can appear overbearing, but mostly, it’s a delightful affair that gives as good as it gets and leaves endless shadows of narrative mystique in its wake. It channels the essence of a forgotten era while leading the way into a brand-new one, showcasing both the intrigue of multiculturalism and the importance of innovating spaces others might have long deemed redundant.
Cure – Katya Yonder [3.5]
The intersection between music fans seeking soaring odes to baroque and classic Hollywood and those seeking pulsing beats and futuristic electronica might not be too sizable, but Russian-born multi-instrumentalist Katya Yonder is making music for those few people who do sit in the middle of that Venn diagram. For those willing to see the beauty in this collision of genres, her new album, Cure is an introspective and atmospheric experience that will leave you with the catharsis its title implies.
Cure veers between the old and the new with ease. Katya’s vocals flit between angelic, layered laments about the human experience and confident rap verses, while the instrumentation around her pulls grand baroque strings together with strange synths, pairing plucked harps with pulsing beats. It’s a combination that probably shouldn’t work, but it just does.
While the soundscapes verge on otherworldly, Katya’s lyrics are consistently grounded. They’re intrinsically human, charting her experiences of loneliness and love, of hurt and heartbreak, and everything in between, each new question and each new theme pushing Katya to understand herself more. Though her stories are not always easy to make out, hidden under strange blends of electronics and strings, it’s easy to tell that they come from the heart.
Botanical Garden – Anna Erhard [3]
Sometimes, what we need most is to have a bit of fun. It can be hard to process the big issues in life – from relationship fallouts and unemployment to war and political turmoil – as well as those tiny frustrations that occur day to day. For many of us, we can easily let our days be ruined by something that, in the grand scheme of things, doesn’t matter. However, Anna Erhard provides us with the remedy on her third record, Botanical Garden.
With each song, Erhard adds a comedic spin to an issue she is facing, whether that be a seemingly insignificant debate over whether she or her friend is taller or a problem that is indicative of a larger topic of conversation. For example, on the song ‘B.M.G Academy’, she playfully expresses her disinterest in seeing The Blue Man Group live after her friend joins the ensemble, stating that he earns more than every other musician she knows – despite the act relying on a money-making gimmick.
