Best new music of the month
- Text by Shelley Jones
It’s springtime woohoo! That fresh time of the year when lambs are born, Jesus is resurrected and you throw out loads of stuff from your house in an attempt to make room for the summer.
In the spirit of new beginnings, a bunch of great music has been (or is about to be) dropped this month. Here are our faves.
I don’t like shit, I don’t go outside by Earl Sweatshirt
Doris was one of my favourite albums of 2013 and Earl’s latest delivery seems every bit as dark, raw and introspective as that laconic record. I don’t like shit kind of draws you in with all the language of LA club music but pulls the party rug from under your feet. Lines like, ‘I was making waves, you was surfing in ‘em,’ get a standing ovation.
To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick’s highly anticipated follow-up to good kid, m.A.A.d city is a weird, jazzy collection of songs that features field recordings and guests – from Flying Lotus collaborator Thundercat to Snoop Dogg – in an ingenious and unsettling way. It half makes you want to dance and half makes you feel like you have motion sickness.
Strangers to Ourselves by Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse’s first album in eight years is a return to the familiar jangly indie-rock one might expect but as a concept album with an overarching mission to address man’s mistreatment of the planet, Strangers to Ourselves has the added benefit of acting as an audio book with bells.
Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit by Courtney Barnett
The title made me cringe but if you can get past that Australian grunge revivalist Courtney Barnett and her debut album Sit is a refreshing narrative album that is pretty sweet in its emotional sincerity. Good to put on for the sitting and thinking, and just for the sitting too.
Carrie & Lowell by Sufjan Stevens
On his seventh album Carrie & Lowell, Sufjan Stevens explores the terrible loss he felt at the death of his mother. In this Guardian article he talks to Dave Eggers about how difficult it was to make, his dysfunctional childhood and how playing the songs live will be a joyful relief.
Kintsugi by Death Cab for a Cutie
His marriage to Zooey Deschanel is over, his bandmate Chris Walla has left him, Ben Gibbard from Death Cab has never had more reasons to feel sad. Which actually makes for a great Death Cab album. And actually first listens to Kintsugi, the band’s ninth album, sound more hopeful than despairing. Death Cab experience all the feelings so we don’t have to.
The Powers That B by Death Grips
I can’t really keep up with what’s happening here. Didn’t Death Grips split up via a napkin that almost #broketheinternet last year? Whatever, this album, due to drop March 31, is one to watch. This track ‘On GP’ is like Fucked Up meets Ratking and that’s just about the tightest combo we could hope for.
Latest on Huck
Bobby Gillespie: “This country is poisoned by class”
Primal Scream’s legendary lead singer writes about the band’s latest album ‘Come Ahead’ and the themes of class, conflict and compassion that run throughout it.
Written by: Bobby Gillespie
Vibrant photos of New York’s Downtown performance scene
‘Balloons and Feathers’ is an eclectic collection of images documenting the scene for over two decades.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Picking through the rubble: Glimpses of hope in the US election results
Clambering through the wreckage of the Harris campaign, delving deeper into the election results and building on the networks that already exist, all hope is not gone writes Ben Smoke.
Written by: Ben Smoke
US Election night 2024 in Texas
Photographer Tom “TBow” Bowden travelled to Republican and Democratic watch parties around Houston, capturing their contrasting energies as results began to flow in.
Written by: Isaac Muk
In photos: “Real life is not black and white” – Polaroid x Magnum Open Call winners
See pictures from the competition organised by two titans of contemporary photography, which called upon artists to reject the digitalisation and over-perfectionism of our modern world, technology and image-making.
Written by: Huck
In photos: Rednecks with Paychecks
‘American Diesel’ is a new photo series that looks at the people, places and culture behind the stereotypes of rural America.
Written by: Ben Smoke