ALTER.NATION #52
Chrissie Hynde, The Valve Bone Woe Ensemble, Iggy Pop, Frankie Cosmos, Bat For Lashes, Mermaidens, Guaxe, Kendra Amalie, The Comet Is Coming, Chastity Belt, Mikal Cronin, Cigarettes After Sex, Chelsea Wolfe
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"Wild is the Wind"
ALTER.NATION #52 on DEEZER
The notion of Chrissie Hynde recording a jazz album initially seems odd, even incongruous. Hynde admitted as much in the promotional cycle for the release of Valve Bone Woe in 2019, calling herself a "devout rock singer," but revealing that the idea of a jazz album appealed to her because she has a "penchant for cover songs." That much is true... Hints of studio trickery are peppered throughout the record, most evident in elongated electronic echoes, and far from seeming out of place, they lend the album a certain sense of hipness; Hynde isn't shutting out the modern world, she's ushering the past into the present. The vibe is appealing and so is Hynde's performance. Unhurried and nuanced, she eases herself into songs she clearly loves, and that sense of warmth lingers long after the album's last notes fade away.
Iggy Pop - James Bond from Free
If you'd been a baker for more than fifty years, you could be forgiven for being sick of the sight of chocolate eclairs. Similarly, a half-century on from the first Stooges album, Iggy Pop has made it clear he's not in love with rock & roll as he once was. Albums such as 2009's Preliminaries and 2012's Après have found him exploring less aggressive and more thoughtful material, and Iggy continues this trend with 2019's Free... While there are electric guitars on most of these numbers, there's little in the way of fuzz or bark, and a ghostly trumpet and waves of atmospheric keyboards play a much bigger role in the arrangements. Iggy had a hand in writing three of the tracks on Free, but most of the songs were penned by his primarily collaborators on this album, trumpeter Leron Thomas and Noveller, who is credited with "guitarscapes." There are a few playful moments, most notably on the sly and slinky "James Bond...
The onetime bedroom project of singer/songwriter Greta Kline, Frankie Cosmos made its debut as a four-piece band dozens of albums later with 2018's Vessel, a release that doubled as the project's Sub Pop debut. A year and a half later, Close It Quietly continues on the path set by that album, with a sound reinforced by input from, as opposed to the mere presence of, bandmates (here, drummer Luke Pyenson, keyboardist Lauren Martin, and bassist Alex Bailey). As with all Frankie Cosmos output, the spotlight remains on Kline's endearingly candid confessions and observations thanks in part also to first-time collaborator Gabe Wax (The War on Drugs, Fleet Foxes, Palehound), who engineered and co-produced the album...
Bat for Lashes - Feel for You from Lost Girls
By the time Bat for Lashes released Lost Girls, the '80s synth pop revival of the 2000s and 2010s had lasted several years longer than the style's original run. More than 30 years later, the magic, hope and romance of that decade's pop culture and music -- especially when contrasted with its threatening political climate -- still resonated. The imaginary '80s of the 21st century heightened the era's theatricality into a dream world capable of expressing the grandest feelings and desires of artists like M83 and, on her fifth album, Natasha Khan... "Feel for You"'s funky rhythm and laser beam synths make it a perfect rollerskating jam...
Mermaidens - Bastards from Look Me in the Eye
Mermaidens' second album for the Flying Nun label and third overall, Look Me in the Eye was named with a double meaning in mind. Inspired by shifting gender politics, stubborn power structures, and related frustrations, it refers to confrontation as well as intimacy. Continuing to sharpen their increasingly dark, angular sound, the New Zealand trio favor post-punk and psychedelic influences on an album that doesn't completely leave their mix of dream pop, grunge, and other textures behind...
Guaxe - Desafio do Guaxe from Guaxe
Longtime friends and collaborators Dino Almeida and Pedro Bonifrate knew each other from the fringes of Brazil's music scene, where they made reaching experimental rock sounds with their respective bands Boogarins and Supercordas. Over a series of years, the two friends worked on a new musical project that eventually was named Guaxe after a bird native to the Atlantic forests whose call is naturally surreal. With their self-titled debut, Bonifrate and Almeida's musical connection and friendship emanates through these wild yet warm sounds of homespun psychedelia...
Kendra Amalie - Breathe Underwater from Intuition
As the guiding force behind her band Names Divine, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Kendra Amalie leaned into dark textures and sprawling experimentalism. In the context of that band, her songs were pained and explosive rock, like an early Velvet Underground at their most tortured meeting the cosmic expanse of working-class underground drifters like Major Stars or Bardo Pond. With her first proper solo album, Intuition, Amalie branches out in several different directions while sharpening her sounds at every turn. The album begins with the tense, nearly gothic rocker "Breathe Underwater." Composed of spindly guitars, gigantic drums, and dour vocal harmonies, the overpowering presence of the song buries more subtle details like soft synth countermelodies and glimmering guitar textures...
The Comet Is Coming - Lifeforce Part II
English band the Comet Is Coming released their sophomore album, Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery, back in March... “The Afterlife has been a topic of deep consideration and of the keys to spiritual mythology around the world for millennia,” the band’s keyboardist, who goes by Danalogue, said in a press statement. “The two records can be seen as companions, that cannot exist without each other, like day and night, light and dark, creation and destruction. They were made together, at the same time, and have always been intended to be experienced together.”
Chastity Belt - Drown
“I started writing ‘Drown’ back when I was 23 … so almost 6 years ago. It came together with the band a few years later,” Julia Shapiro said in a statement. “It feels good to finally put it out into the world! Everyone’s parts on it are really intricate and thoughtful and overall add to the moodiness of the song.”
“Drown” is a tender swirl, Shapiro’s voice a salve and an escape route. “Believe me,” she sings. “This is the way out/ And doesn’t the water feel good on your skin?”
Mikal Cronin - Shelter
This one’s overpowered by fuzzy guitar and really intense string arrangements. The percussion section is multi-layered, creating this dimensional experience that feels expansive. Apparently this approach was calculated, as Cronin was inspired by ambient linchpin Brian Eno. Here’s what Cronin had to say about the track:
"This is a song about searching for answers in an uncertain world. It’s about the observer reluctantly stepping out of their comfort zone and looking around, while trying to keep their head straight. Musically, it’s dense and polyrhythmic. The string line weaves it all together for me. When writing a song with a lot of additive looping rhythmic parts, I think of Brian Eno."
Cigarettes After Sex - Heavenly
Greg Gonzalez released the self-titled debut LP for his ambient pop project Cigarettes After Sex back in 2017. Today, he’s announcing the follow-up sophomore album, Cry, and sharing its dreamy lead single. “Heavenly” recalls the romantic pop music of the late ’50s and early ’60s. Gonzalez sighs over swelling guitars and synths: “I’m giving you all my love.”
The forthcoming album was recorded in a house on the Spanish island of Mallorca with drummer Jacob Tomsky, bassist Randy Miller, and keyboardist Phillip Tubbs. “I’ve always avoided studios,” Gonzalez says. “There’s something special about recording out in the world, some kind of X-factor that comes from the character and atmosphere of wherever it is that you’re working that becomes essential to the feeling of the music.”
Chelsea Wolfe - Deranged For Rock & Roll
“‘Deranged for Rock & Roll’ is my love song to music,” Wolfe says. “Every time I ever tried to walk a different path, music always called me back home to it. It’s in my blood; it’s my one source of true peace. I love its chaos and its rough edges, and I love the way it can bring understanding and comfort. I belong to music, and it to me. I feel Gilbert’s video illustrates that unnamed pull towards something so well. My character is destined to sing the same song over and over in this purgatory of a desert bar, while different people come through the town and begin to feel the pull as well, drawing them into this vortex to stay for good.”
