Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 9 June 2023.
Jayda G, the Grammy-nominated writer, producer, DJ, environmental toxicologist, campaigner and broadcaster, returns with her new full length album Guy; co-produced with Jack Peñate (who has previously worked with the likes of SAULT, David Byrne and Adele), with contributions from Lisa-Kaindé Diaz (of Ibeyi), Ed Thomas (Stormzy, Nia Archives, Jorja Smith) and more. Guy brings Jayda’s own voice and words more prominently into focus than ever before, across 13 tracks that draw on her House, Disco, RnB and Soul roots while emphasizing her pop songwriting sensibilities, interspersed with archival recordings of her late father, the eponymous William Richard Guy.
Born of a thousand nights lost in a surrender to stillness and contemplation, In The Air is Anna St. Louis’ second full length album and her most considered work yet. St. Louis’ debut If Only There Was a River seemed to emerge fully formed out of the recesses of her mind; a gritty, mesmerizing affair, filled with jagged edges and ghostly apparitions. The type of record that announces a new voice; one haunted by what has come before. But this time, St. Louis is no longer concerned with what could have been and sets her sights to exploring what could be.
Danny Barwick, the acclaimed producer and singer-songwriter from Melbourne, has released his debut album, ILUKA. The album is a vivid cinematic and textural masterpiece, drawing inspiration from the luscious natural surroundings of a tiny fishing village in Northern NSW. ILUKA is a musical, literary, and cinematic experience that combines neoclassical and folk influences with narrative storytelling. Drawing inspiration from musical heroes including Aldous Harding, Leonard Cohen, Nils Frahm, Bill Callahan, and Nick Cave, the album explores long form narrative storytelling set to gentle piano playing, atmospheric guitar textures, rich string arrangements, and warm woodwinds.
Award-winning bassist and composer, Linda May Han Oh leads a dynamic group of musicians on The Glass Hours: a collection of works based on abstract themes of the fragility of time and life; exploring paradoxes seeded within our individual and societal values.
Produced by Grammy winner Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Susan Tedeschi), Selwyn Birchwood’s new album Exorcist features 13 vividly detailed new originals. It’s an intoxicating mix of deep blues, heady, psychedelic-tinged rock, booty-shaking funk and sweet Southern soul, performed with the fire-and-brimstone fervor of a revival tent preacher.
Karina Canellakis offers the first fruit of her exclusive Pentatone collaboration with a recording of Bartók’s 4 Orchestral Pieces and Concerto for Orchestra, together with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, of which she is the Chief Conductor. The 4 Orchestral Pieces have a strong affinity with the stage works Duke Bluebeard’s Castle and The Wooden Prince, conceived in the same period. The Concerto for Orchestra is one of Bartóks final works, full of folk tunes, and utterly colourful and virtuosic for all the instruments. As such, it’s an ideal piece to showcase the congeniality between the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and its star Chief Conductor. Internationally acclaimed for her emotionally charged performances, technical command and interpretive depth, Karina Canellakis has become one of the most indemand conductors of her generation.
In 2016, Trevor Powers shut the door on Youth Lagoon. Stepping back from the alias, Powers found personal transformation at his home in Idaho and released experimental tapes under his own name (2018’s ‘Mulberry Violence’ and 2020’s ‘Capricorn’). But now he’s back as Youth Lagoon with his new record Heaven Is a Junkyard. With whispers of country, Heaven Is a Junkyard is mutant Americana in a world of love, drugs, storytelling, and miracles — held together by Powers’ voice and an upright piano. “Heaven Is a Junkyard is about all of us. It’s stories of brothers leaving for war, drunk fathers learning to hug, mothers falling in love, neighbors stealing mail, cowboys doing drugs, friends skipping school, me crying in the bathtub, dogs catching rabbits, and children playing in tall grass,” says Powers.
Other reviews you might enjoy:
- New music round-up (for w/e 1 December 2023)
- New music round-up (for w/e 2 June 2023)
- New music round-up (for w/e 4 August 2023)
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television
