The Alternative Album Chart: The best new indie albums this week
Glastonbury Festival has now drifted back into the far-reaches of memory, leaving just a lingering hint of sun-stroke and beer fear. With that summer behemoth out of the way, new music is given license to roam once more. So, in this week’s album chart, we’ve got plenty of sunshine treats for you to chow down on. From Grian Chatten to Bdrmm, these are the best records this week.
Last week, we saw one of the finest debut records for some time with the punky goodness of Militarie Gun’s Life Under The Gu, and a lovely bit of freak jazz, gospel choirs, electro-funk, indie rock from Geese with their latest, 3D Country. This array continues the current zeitgeist of no fixed genre and growing variety. There might not have been many massive records, but the banquet of music has never been more bountiful.
This is surely a reflection of the trying and bewildering times that we live in. As Lou Rawls once said: “Music is the greatest communication in the world. Even if people don’t understand the language, they still know good music when they hear it.” Well, the modern crop of musicians are trying to communicate a world that is difficult to decipher, and its making things rather interesting.
This week, we’re running you through the Fontaines D.C. frontman’s new solo outing, Sufjan Steven’s protégé, Angelo De Augustine, and some mustachioed post-punk from Do Nothing. This is the alternative album chart this week.
The best new indie and alternative albums this week:
Chaos For The Fly – Grian Chatten – 4/5
He might not be the first frontman to veer off and explore a world of his own, but Chaos For The Fly, the debut solo album from Fontaines D.C. figurehead, Grian Chatten, is proof of the sparks that can soar when a band member steps out of the shadow of their day job. It is a record that wavers around his own wandering muse and proves to be a truly cinematic listen.
With each chapter in this anthology-like record defying expectations that followed him from his band-based past, Chatten embraces his literary ways creating world with his songs from a frosted New York City to sounds almost akin to a James Bond theme. And the triumph of this luscious effort is that new not only wanders around themes, but doles stirring emotions into each of them.
Dream From the Deep Well – Brigid Mae Power – 4/5
“I’m considering a new career,” Brigid Mae Power sings, “but all I can do is play music by ear.” While I’m sure she has other talents, the ease with which she gets experimental but remains melodically grounded in Dream From the Deep Well, certainly proves she will always has that ear to fall back on; there are moments in this whirlwind of songs when you feel like it should be housed in the Smithsonian.
Taking on turns with country inflexions and punchy elements of syncopation, the record is an exhibition on how to waltz simple folk songwriting towards different dancefloors. Holding it together is a beautifully alluring performance from Power who never over-sings or drifts away from sincerity in favour of something more pretentious throughout.
Toil and Trouble – Angelo De Augustine – 3.5/5
The notion of toiling with the heaven and hell of home has a heavy on Angelo De Augustine’s new album. It has good reason to. Opening with his reflection on a tragic mass shooting that occurred near his former residence is an unflinching way to delve into dreamy indie. But as the songwriter expresses: “It felt like if something like that could happen in this little town, then nowhere was safe,” he says. “And that feeling of not being safe anywhere is what led me to start thinking about a lot of themes on this record.”
He then wavers from this profound reflection towards a tale of UFO abduction in ‘The Ballad of Betty and Barney Hill’. This contrast of themes is indicative of “the madness of the world right now and how overwhelming that can be,” as De Augustine expresses. In its own strange way, that makes the dreamlike nature of the music very fitting. It isn’t dreamlike in the sunshine and rainbows sense but rather a pastiche of pillow-propped reality and the kaleidoscope of slumber. This patchwork of the uncanny modern world typifies the whole magic-realist record.
I Don’t Know – Bdrmm – 3.5/5
On their second album, I Don’t Know, Bdrmm take a small step away from their shoegaze roots to incorporate new elements of ambient and electronic sounds. Ditching any devotion to guitars, the record sees Bdrmm move away from their specific niche as they open up to experimentation with wider soundscapes and lyrics. Written on tour between Hull and the French Alps before recording in their home county of Yorkshire, the LP also marks their first release with Rock Action, the label founded and run by Mogwai.
On I Don’t Know, Bdrmm’s once staunch commitment to guitar music wavers as they welcome samples and synthesisers into their dense, swirling shoegaze. The result is a collection of even bigger, even fuller soundscapes to get lost in. (Words: Elle Palmer)
Snake Sideways – Do Nothing – 3/5
Nottingham’s Do Nothing, despite forming several years ago, are only now releasing their long-awaited debut album, Snake Sideways. After many festival slots and gigs, they’ve built a dedicated fanbase over the past few years with a limited catalogue, proving their skills as constantly evolving and exciting musicians with live clout. In fact, the anticipation surrounding the album informed its creation, with lead vocalist Chris Bailey finding it difficult to separate himself from the music, placing immense pressure on himself to make something interesting.
These feelings of insecurity bleed into the lyrics of Snake Sideways, which retains Bailey’s idiosyncratic style, blending humorous lines like, “Why on Earth didn’t you tell me you were in a car accident?/ If it happened to me, I would tell you”, with ones of refreshing honesty such as “Today didn’t go so well”. The record demonstrates Bailey’s impressive vocal abilities, moving between fluttering melodies and sardonic, sprechgesang delivery. Through ten tracks, Bailey reckons with his creative blocks, watches television (something he mentions several times) and ponders the contradictions of modern life. (Words: Aimee Ferrier)
