It’s that time again! I’m not going to list these as “repeated play” because it’s been a very selected, eclectic play kind of time. I’ve enjoyed all the newer releases that I’ve had on my listening schedule but a lot of my time went for my deadline comfort listens. The Amaarae and New Eve albums came by way of a video interview of Pitchfork editors listing their favourite albums of the year (so far). I really enjoyed both and hope to listen to more. Frog has intrigued me with their singles to date so I checked out their album and was utterly delighted by it. I’ve been entranced by Nourished by Time’s voice for the past two? three? years and really love The Passionate Ones. Mac De Marco will always be one of my comfort listens and Hand Habits is always excellent. My current musical obsession du jour is mark william lewis though and of the seven albums listed below, his is the one I’ve played the most. I am also enthralled with Nation of Language with their complex aural textures of 80s post-punk, 00s electro-indie grooves and their own unique gravitas. I saw their KEXP session and they’re definitely the real deal. Old souls.
2025 Indie/Popular Music Releases
- Blue Reminder — Hand Habits
- Count — Frog
- Black Star — Amaarae
- Dance Called Memory — Nation of Language
- The Passionate Ones — Nourished by Time
- mark william lewis — mark william lewis
- Guitar –Mac De Marco
- The New Eve is Rising — New Eve
Other Albums
A fairly eclectic mix, honestly. The past few weeks have been about playing catch-up with my various deadlines after weeks (months!) of ill-health and deadlines have their own rhythms which necessitates listening to a wide array of things. I’ve been careening between the entire discographies of Mitski, Talvin Singh, Depeche Mode, Massive Attack, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra to Enya, Anuna, the Andor OSTs for both seasons, everything by Ravel and Debussy (my constant, always), The Cure all day all time at some point, The Damned, Joy Division, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and of course, Neko Case.
I’ll probably spend some time detailing the ambient/electronic things I’ve been checking out in a different post!
Singles
- Petals — mark william lewis
- Nobody Matters But You — Leyla Ebrahami
- Everybody Scream — Florence and The Machine
- Now That You’re Gone — Nation of Language
- Life’s Work — Hannah Francis and Daniel Rosen
- I Wish I Didn’t — Thundercat
- rooster — bar italia
- Venus in Nadir — Peel Dream Magazine
- What Is The Reason For It? — David Byrne, Ghost Train Orchestra, Hayley Williams