We’re into August already, and as the last of the summer festivals come into view on the horizon Live4ever has been looking back on some of the very best albums to have crossed our path during 2015. Here, just ten have been picked out which we feel deserve revisiting time after time or which you should be discovering before it’s too late. Click on each artist and album title to find our reviews in full.
Live4ever’s Essential Listening series is here to share, not preach! An interactive celebration of rock and roll where your favourites can contribute. Make sure your stand-out albums of the year get a clearly deserved mention by leaving a comment below.
10: The Unthanks – ‘Mount The Air’
“Throughout, many of the songs feel more like duets, or dialogues between two lovers, each telling their own story. And in many ways it is, but the duets and dialogue are not between Rachel and Becky, but actually between the vocals and the wonderfully sombre, light instrumental solo trumpet and violin sections that are scattered throughout. These moments are truly highlighted on tracks like ‘Hawthorn’ or ‘Last Lullaby’, where the simple and sparse musicianship gives the tracks the most haunting and chilly of feelings, and the ghostly vocals only succeed in furthering this atmosphere. It is on the truly outstanding tracks ‘Madam’ and ‘Magpie’ where The Unthanks are at their most stunning.”
9: Duke Garwood – ‘Heavy Love’
“Elsewhere, Garwood stretches his musical muscles. ‘Disco Lights’ is a reverb drenched duet that has shades of jazz, and its outro might be the album’s single finest moment. ‘Suppertime In Hell’ brightens the mood with its prickly acoustics and light production. “For it’s two for one in Hell, and the trouble is so real,” Garwood sings with a sly tongue in cheek. The radio finger picking blues of ‘Burning Seas’ diversifies the musical flavor of the album while remaining true to the overall lyrical theme and mood. The deep and dark ‘Honey In The Ear’ provides a rich soundscape for Garwood’s cavernous voice to fill in, and album closer ‘Hawaiian Death Song’ is a dark ambient soundscape that moves gracefully but has an underlying sense of despair.”
8: Lord Huron – ‘Strange Trails’
“Sounding almost like the very essence of Americana, without ever being contrived or kitsch, this is a truly mesmerising album that manages to take the listener on a guided tour of America, incorporating everything that makes the nation and its self-mythologising approach to music so wonderful. Selling an America that feels so real, one that everyone understands, but one that has probably never existed, it is quite literally the stuff of dreams. ‘Strange Trails’ in many ways feels almost like a companion piece to Vikesh Kapoor’s sublime debut, ‘The Ballad of Willy Robbins‘. But where Kapoor spoke about the harsh and bitter realities of the modern America, this album sells the dream of what it still could and should be, steeped in romance and mystery.”
7: Champs – ‘Vamala’
“‘Vamala’ is a beautiful record, seemingly without ever trying to be. The Champion brothers have written a set of songs that fulfill their vision; continuing on from their wondrous debut, these tracks merely sharpen their sound to its true pinnacle. Mixing a number of styles and influences that are somehow disparate, yet fitting, they flit from Dylan-esque musings to some kind of angelic Pet Shop Boys hybrid. This is not an album trying to make an impact, it is instead a comforting cushion, a place to rest your head. From the sweet folk of ‘Forever Be Upstanding At Your Door‘ to the panoramic melancholy of ‘Send Me Down‘, it never startles or surprises, it merely satisfies every need. The sound has moved away from the more direct music of their debut album.”
6: Marika Hackman – ‘We Slept At Last’
“The rolling acoustic guitar of ‘Drown’ is sustained by eerie pulsating synths that enhance the claustrophobic lyrics to produce an air of menace (“I’d choke on you if I could, Maybe I will.”). ‘Next Year’ meanwhile – lying somewhere between The Unthanks and Midlake but with a middle 8 that could’ve been written by Elliott Smith – is enveloped in swathes of harmonies and synth flutes that disguise the complex meter and enrich the Celtic mood allowing Hackman space in which to weave her measured musings. Much like her attitude to making music, Hackman’s approach to lyrics and lyrical themes is uninhibited. There is a real sense of freedom here and a principle that anything can be the root of a song’s inspiration.”
5: Radkey – ‘Dark Black Makeup’
“As gifted and tight as Radkey are at loud, rapid drums, bass and guitar, when they slow down and loosen up on the melodious ‘Hunger Pain‘, revealing their needy side with the anxious “be my weakness, please don’t run”, it displays a strength and an album peak of deep feeling. Sweet, tender moments aren’t really what this band is about though, and it’s quickly on to a darker type of affection in ‘Feed My Brain‘ and confessions of seemingly unrequited desires for amour with a teacher he’s thinking about every night, never letting out of his sight. Ominous. Insecurities resurface on ‘Sank‘, possibly still singing to ‘Feed My Brain’s object of desire, stomping along with big chords and quite disturbing threats of revenge.”
4: Drenge – ‘Undertow’
“Instead, this is their own personal challenge, a record of hideous beauty and power, the sound of a very fresh and deep wound on display to the world, as on the stunning ‘Standing In The Cold‘. They have written something personal, a batch of songs that speak openly and honestly about issues that don’t just affect them, but actively hurt them. This feels less like catharsis and more like self-harm, these wounds are still very raw. But it’s also not some sombre, love note to depression and self-loathing, instead there is frustration and anger on display here also. Eoin Loveless is suffering, he is out for blood and is here to tell absolutely everyone. This powerful, menacing yet painful honesty is brilliant on tracks like ‘Running Wild’.”
3: C Duncan – ‘Architect’
“Fascinating is a word that sounds, in this twenty first century, a lot more affected and prissy than it used to, however it’s an adjective which sits comfortably with ‘Architect‘s timeless, charming aesthetic and in Christopher Duncan we appear to have unearthed a writer/composer of rare talent. The son of classical musicians, his debut album was built in a Glasgow flat using a painstaking process of recording each instrument at a time to evolve the music naturally like a stalactite, allowing for his singular vision to be maintained across the process. Those of you put off by the thought of granting time to yet another bedroom auteur can think again; ‘Architect’ feels like it was assembled by a glamorous ensemble cast of thousands.”
2: Little Comets – ‘Hope Is Just a State Of Mind’
“It’s the powerful taunting of misogynist tendencies in the music industry and society as a whole on final track ‘The Blur, The Line & The Thickest of Onions‘ which truly displays the lyrical potency of the band. Transcending beyond its surface role as an album closer, the sheer disbelief flowing through statements such as, “Question the agenda of an industry that only can objectify, you write about a non-existent blurred line, but not about abortion rights”, becomes a resonating clarion cry for those at odds with a society still largely accepting of gender inequality. This form of engagement with larger questions of humanity at the heart of ‘Hope Is Just a State of Mind’ is precisely why Little Comets have survived and flourished.”
1: Gaz Coombes – ‘Matador’
“The album is a daring departure from his solo debut and takes some risks which largely pay off. Guitars are not as prominent for a start. What does remain though is the consistency in Gaz’s voice, which as usual is faultless. It’s a less commercial sounding album than ‘…Bombs’ and not as immediate, which is by no means a criticism, but those craving a sugar coated album of catchy hits may be left feeling crestfallen. Even those who are seduced by this new direction may struggle to fall in love with a couple of the tracks, but there isn’t enough to overshadow its merits. Elsewhere on the album we find Coombes in more familiar territory with the likes of ‘The Girl Who Fell To Earth‘, a stripped back acoustic driven effort that boasts a sweet melody underpinned with solemn lyrics.”
