New music round-up (for w/e 25 October 2024)

Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 25 October 2024.

For her tenth album on Sony Classical, Khatia Buniatishvili joins the iconic Academy of St Martin in the Fields in performances of two cherished piano concertos by Mozart, her first ever album dedicated to the composer. After a string of releases that have redefined the parameters of the classical recital album, Khatia Buniatishvili is returning to tradition with a recording of two of Mozart’s most sublime late piano concertos. In his Piano Concertos Nos 20 and 23, Mozart takes the genre of the concerto to new heights of sophistication and communicative power. The works come from the cherished crop of late piano concertos that are among the jewels of Mozart’s output and have long formed touchstone works for great pianists and recording artists.

On Soccer Mommy’s fourth album, the tender but resolute Evergreen, Sophie Allison is again writing about her life. But that life’s different these days: Since making her previous album, 2022’s Sometimes, Forever, Allison experienced a profound and also very personal loss. New songs emerged from that change, unflinching and sometimes even funny reflections on what she was feeling. These songs were, once again, Allison’s way to sort through life, to ground herself. She wanted them to sound that way, too, to feel as true to the demos—raw and relatable, unvarnished and honest—as possible. The songwriting would again lead where the production would follow. Evergreen is the absorbing result, an 11-track seesaw of articulate feeling that suggests Allison is driving you through the streets of her native Nashville, the Tennessee sun bright as she plays you a tape of songs she cut to document those very dark days.

Phantogram returns with Memory Of A Day, the band’s highly anticipated fifth album. Known for their genre-defying sound, Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel once again push boundaries with a mesmerizing blend of dark psychedelia, electronic pop and hard-hitting beats, exploring themes of nostalgia and memories. Featuring the hypnotic lead singles “Come Alive” and “All A Mystery”, co-produced by Grammy-winner John Hill.

Wynton Marsalis’ The Shanghai Suite is a nine-movement musical meditation celebrating China’s rich culture. Originally composed for the opening of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s club in Shanghai, the sweeping composition also highlighted the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s 22-23 season opening concert. That effervescent performance is now available as a digital album from Blue Engine Records. Featuring special guest clarinetist Ye Huang, the album explores jazz as a medium for trans-cultural exchange. In composing The Shanghai Suite, Marsalis walked in the footsteps of illustrious Black American musicians like Teddy Weatherford, who flourished in Shanghai in the 1930s and paved the way for many. Inspired by a love for China’s rich mythology, cuisine, and architecture, Marsalis’ suite was hailed “a special work full of innovative spirit” by the Global Times in China.

With a career spanning 60 years, Iain Matthews remains a tireless force, still creating music that resonates across generations. Now 78, the Fairport Convention co-founder has unveiled his latest album, How Much Is Enough? – a project he describes as a parting gift to his fans. “I just felt I needed to make one more solo album as a farewell,” he reflects. Yet, true retirement seems distant: “I honestly don’t know how to stop being a songwriter, and I’m not sure if I ever will.”

Underworld welcome you to their new album Strawberry Hotel. Here, gleaming techno forms clean, straight lines while scratchy acoustic guitars scuff up the edges to produce ghost sounds. Poetry hangs overhead in the overheard, sometimes reappearing later, twisted back to front, side to side. Celestial choirs sing deep within layers of melody and metronomic drums kick to robotic voices. It is all unmistakably, uniquely Underworld.

Sydney’s North Arm have released their new fourth album Stay Young on Broken Stone Records / Remote Control Records. Primarily based around the sound and vision of Roderick Smith, the Newcastle-raised songwriter spent most family holidays with an old guitar in the sleepy coastal town of North Arm Cove. The melodies that slowly emerged from that time came to define his sound. North Arm songs always hypnotise, question, console and intrigue. It’s meditative indie folk music with an endlessly inventive art-rock and pop aesthetic. Roderick conjures up the melodic nous of Neil Finn, the emotional pull of Bon Iver, hazy folk and post rock soundscapes that harken back to Sparklehorse, Mercury Rev and Grandaddy, and the understated, melancholic beauty of Elliott Smith; all bundled up in his wondrous and intimate songs.

Other reviews you might enjoy:

• New music round-up (for w/e 15 October 2021)
• New music round-up (for w/e 6 October 2023)
• New music round-up (for w/e 10 May 2024)