The Alternative Album Chart: The best new indie albums this week
Listen, we know what the actual album chart is going to look like this week. Two words: Taylor Swift. With the release of Swift’s long-anticipated re-recorded ‘Taylor’s Version’ of her third studio album, Speak Now, coming out this week, nothing else could even conceivably compete for any attention. As someone lucky enough to have seen a concert on The Eras Tour, I know first-hand what it’s like when Swifties are called upon to do their thing.
So what else do we have going for us this week? Surprisingly enough, there’s a whole host of wonderful new indie albums to choose from if you’re not feeling like pumping ‘Dear John’ this weekend. From the grown-up indie rock buzz of Local Natives’ Time Will Wait For No One to the exceptional soul of ANOHNI and The Johnsons’ My Back Was a Bridge For You To Cross, there’s plenty to love outside of Taylorworld.
But perhaps the biggest shock is who isn’t being featured on our Alternative Album Chart this week: PJ Harvey. The legendary alternative goddess had a rare misstep with her tenth studio album, I Inside the Old Year Dying. Our very own Tom Taylor said it best in his review: “There are moments of magic and thrilling innovation, but there are also moments where you wonder whether any of this was done with the listener in mind.”
Harvey has certainly earned the right to write and record whatever she damn well pleases, and chances are she probably won’t be too put out by the polarising reception of her latest work. But we have some other great albums to talk about this week. From Maya Ongaku to Julie Byrne, here are the best albums of the week.
The best new indie and alternative albums this week:
ANOHNI and The Johnsons – My Back Was a Bridge For You To Cross – 4/5
After immersing herself in the rich creative world of New York in the 1990s, ANOHNI rose to prominence in the 2000s with her collaborators, The Johnsons. After releasing universally acclaimed albums such as I Am A Bird Now, ANOHNI experimented with solo material such as 2016’s Hopelessness. However, for her latest project, My Back Was a Bridge For You To Cross, ANOHNI has reunited with The Johnsons for the first time since 2010’s Swanlights.
Over a decade on from ANOHNI & The Johnson’s last collaboration, My Back Was a Bridge For You To Cross, is a pure delight, perfect for late nights and moments of deep contemplation. While there are small moments of complacency, the record is undisputedly beautiful, highlighting ANOHNI as a masterful songwriter.
Treeboy & Arc – Natural Habitat – 4/5
Leeds has always been inundated with DIY music, particularly post-punk. The genre is steeped in the city’s history – in the 1980s, the art school scene surrounding local pub The Fenton birthed the likes of Gang of Four and Delta 5. Now, there’s a new crop of art school kids combining abrasive guitars with deadpan vocals. At the centre of it lies Treeboy & Arc.
Amidst the increasing swarm of so-called post-punk bands taking over the suburbs of Leeds, Treeboy & Arc rise above the rest on the debut LP Natural Habitat. The record tangles itself in intricate and danceable guitar riffs, thumping drum lines, and oscillating synths, while James Kay and Ben Morgan’s distinctively talky lyricism sits just atop. Each element of their sound fits into place seamlessly.
Maya Ongaku – Approach to Anima – 4/5
It’s not very often that an album manages to wash over you, merge with personal experiences buried within and still maintain a wonderfully refreshing sound. Maya Ongaku‘s debut, Approach to Anima, does just that.
A blend of psychedelia, folk and jazz, with the essence of the trio’s native island of Enoshima coursing throughout, it’s a testament to this body of work that, whilst it is so particular to Maya Ongaku, it manages to impact listeners so significantly.
Local Natives – Time Will Wait For No One – 3.5/5
Nobody likes growing up. It’s something that we all have to do, but there’s a certain malaise that inevitably comes with waving goodbye to youth. Rock music has historically been a young man’s game – ageing gracefully isn’t always a guarantee, or even a desired path, for most professional musicians. But as the days of reckless drug use and limited lifespans in music are becoming more and more rare, a growing demographic is coming to the fore: middle-aged indie-rockers. That’s where Local Natives find themselves right now.
The band’s fifth studio album, Time Will Wait For No One, is a full embrace of getting older. Maturity looks good on a band like Local Natives, whose rich harmonic take on modern indie rock never really had any of the recklessness or untamed energy of a naive and feral group of kids.
Julie Byrne – The Greater Wings – 3.5/5
The world of indie folk has always been paved with voices willing to tell a story. From the grand tradition of Bob Dylan to modern artists like Phoebe Bridgers, the music has been about giving the audience a piece of the artist’s heart for the world to see. Although most like to shroud their songs in glossy metaphors, there’s nothing sugarcoated about Julia Byrne’s The Greater Wings.
Having been one of the biggest rising stars in the scene, the road to making Byrne’s latest album feels like a small miracle. While being worked on throughout the lockdowns, the loss of Byrne’s creative partner Eric Littman cast a dark shroud over the music before it was even out. For all of the morbid subjects surrounding the music, none of it ends up overshadowing the work of art on display in every track.
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