FEATURE:
Beyond the Critics’ View
PHOTO CREDIT: @katstokes_/Unsplash
Overlooked, Underappreciated and Underexposed Albums of 2019
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WHILST this might seem a bit subjective…
IN THIS PHOTO: Amyl and The Sniffers’ eponymous debut is one of 2019’s best albums/PHOTO CREDIT: Nat Wood for KERRANG!
I think there are some albums that have not received the acclaim and praise they deserve. Whether critics have been a bit harsh or an album has not quite gained the traction it warrants, it is important to nod to these treasures. Many people are compiling their favourite albums of 2019 lists, and I might put out another feature before the year is through along those lines. I might well update this feature but, right now, I have compiled some albums that are worth a second glance. In each case, I have included a sample review that either doesn’t do the album justice, or it is glowing and makes me wonder why it (the album) didn’t get more acclaim. Make sure you check out these underrated treats…
IN THIS PHOTO: Former Totally Mild lead Elizabeth (Elizabeth Mitchell) released her debut solo album, the wonderful world of nature, earlier this year
FROM a jam-packed and brilliant year.
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Loyle Carner - Not Waving, But Drowning
Release Date: 19th April
Labels: AMF/Virgin EMI
Producers: Jordan Rakei/Tom Misch/Joice, Parsley Palette/Kwes/ Rebel Kleff/Dan Parry (additional)/Charlotte Day Wilson
Standout Cut: Loose Ends (ft. Jorja Smith)
Sample Review:
“At other moments, Carner’s rejection of the blokey posturing that typifies hip-hop – the threats, the boasts, the jokes – proves refreshing. Yet Not Waving, But Drowning isn’t future-facing in a sonic sense: diaristic outpourings of emotion are matched with the comforting patter of boom-bap beats and the cosy tones of vintage soul, while edges are softened further still via luxuriant crooning from Sampha and Jorja Smith. The result is a collection of smooth, soft-centred rap that verges on the sickly, with Carner’s genial charisma floating adrift in a sea of sentimentality and nostalgia” – The Guardian
Brooke Candy – SEXORCISM
Release Date: 25th October
Label: NUXXE
Producers: Boys Noize/Andrew Goldstein/Oscar Scheller/Raf Riley/Carl Ryden/Sega Bodega
Standout Cut: XXXTC (feat. Charli XCX & Maliibu Miitch)
Sample Review:
“What’s particularly ironic is that - thanks to a protracted saga involving her previous label - it’s taken so long for Candy to release her first album that she’s actually been upstaged in the arena of spitting button-pushing, hyper-sexualised, unapologetically crass bars. Over the last few years, CupcakKe has stepped up to the plate and shown how this kind of thing can be done with both technical proficiency and a wicked sense of humour, two things which - on the evidence of ‘Sexorcism’ - Brooke Candy seems to be sadly lacking.
In fact, it’s some of the guest appearances that really show how limited Candy’s range is. Charli XCX is no MC, but she does an alluring turn on ‘XXXTC,’ turning her Home Counties vowels into something more sultry. Similarly, Rico Nasty shows up on album closer, ‘FMU,’ offering a tantalising glance at what could have been.
Ultimately, ‘Sexorcism’ is lacking in ideas and appears to have arrived at the wrong time in Brooke Candy’s career trajectory. There’s always a place to explore and celebrate sexuality in music, but this feels more like a say-nothing, protracted crotch thrust to the ears. Candy’s uncompromising approach has been a breath of fresh air when providing guest verses in the past, but a whole album of pornographic paeans will leave you feeling limp” – CLASH
Sarah Mary Chadwick – The Queen Who Stole the Sky
Release Date: 12th April
Label: Rice Is Nice
Standout Cut: Confetti
Sample Review:
“Personal suffering is often privileged in art. Throughout this record Chadwick challenges this by outlining suffering and then minimising or rationalising it. On the song Next In Line, she spins fairy tale fantasies about romance before shattering them.
“I never had a man around to love me,” she sings over the organ’s drone, before adding, almost like a hastily added post-script, “Having said that, there’s no amount of love could fill me, so I keep working through the line.” It’s romance imagined as construction line, one of life’s great mysteries skewed, dismembered and vacuum-sealed.
Towards the end of the album, on the record’s title track, Chadwick makes peace with life’s dull edges. “Sometimes there will be tears, I’ll have good years and bad years,” she concedes, “I’ll have friends and have no friends, love will start and love will end.” It’s something of a Pyrrhic victory – after an album of trying to rationalise mundane struggle and find something beyond it, we’re told there’s little to be found. Considering the product of that victory, though, it’d be hard to ask for more” – The Guardian
Pom Pom Squad - Ow
Release Date: 12th April
Label: 4MCMC
Standout Cut: Heavy Heavy
Sample Review:
“Pom Pom Squad’s new EP, Ow, is a step above the already-great Hate It Here in every way. The songs are more polished, but they’ve lost none of the edge that made the Hate It Here songs so strong. The vocal hooks are stronger, the production clearer, and the song sequencing highlights Berrin’s strength for storytelling (more on that later). Overall, Ow is just bigger. The diaristic recordings of the last EP have gained about 10 pounds in pure muscle; it’s the same observant, beating heart, but its body is more confident and assertive. Take the first single, “Heavy Heavy.” Its loud electric guitar, sneering vocals, and strong hook make it an instant earworm and crowd-pleaser.
The biggest strength of Ow, however, isn’t just its singles, no matter how good they might be. What makes Ow so great a listen is its structure. Across these seven tracks, the EP takes on a cinematic structure, with “Ow (Intro)” serving as an impressionist opening credits scene and the final song, “Owtro,” mirroring many of those initial sounds. The middle five songs, then, take on the narrator’s story, and that character arc is reflected in both the lyrics and the arrangements themselves. “Heavy Heavy” and “Honeysuckle” are the early attention-grabbers (and first released singles) where a bad month has stretched into a bad month, that bad month has stretched into a bad break up. “Cherry Blossom” and “Again” slow the pace and strip back the production, reflecting both the narrator’s regret and sorrow. The climax, “Cut My Hair,” swells to a finale where the narrator finds some piece of relief in self-acceptance, and she’s able to move on.
If you wanted to take it on that level, you could. Ow has a story and themes for you to pick at and untie: a soundtrack for your (or someone-like-you’s) life. If you just wanted a solid 20 minutes of great song after great song, Ow can be enjoyed as a dynamic collection of singles. Whichever way to want to hear it, though, Pom Pom Squad has gotten bigger and better in the two years since Hate It Here. Pom Pom Squad’s attention to the big-picture might be their greatest strength, but its their knack for writing undeniable pop songs through a grunge filter that will keep you coming back again and again” – Post Trash
Sampa the Great – The Return
Release Date: 13th September
Label: Ninja Tune
Standout Cut: Final Form
Sample Review:
“It’s fair to say that Tembo’s bragging is not your standard cars-and-girls inanity – instead, she is careful to recontextualise her self-aggrandisement as righteous empowerment, using it to write an impassioned alternative to the narrative of western (and white) supremacy (Final Form, The Return), and emphasising the music industry’s exploitation of black talent on Time’s Up and Any Day. Yet despite weaving southern African influences into the drumming and multilingual lyrics, Tembo’s keen intellect and strong personality isn’t always accompanied by the most distinctive sound: highlight Final Form channels Kanye’s brash take on classic soul and there is much busy but generic R&B on the bloated tracklist. Her vocal, meanwhile, can be offputtingly affected, resembling a parody of Kendrick Lamar’s reedy, staccato flow. That said, Tembo is undoubtedly an intriguing addition to rap’s increasingly rich tapestry – albeit one yet to land on a sonic palette as fresh and compelling as her perspective” – The Guardian
Drenge - Strange Creatures
Release Date: 22nd February
Labels: Infectious/Rough Trade
Standout Cut: This Dance
Sample Review:
“The pair’s third album has plenty of peaks but it also has its troughs. Interestingly, they come in what are probably the two most accessible points on ‘Strange Creatures’ – the wiry new wave of ‘Autonomy’ and the laser-sharp guitars of ‘This Dance’. They’re hooky and poppy, but something about them feels off and, placed next to each other on the tracklisting, they feel too repetitive to belong on a record this daring and bristling with ideas. Still, nearly a whole four years since their last album, ‘Strange Creatures’ is an audacious and gratifying return that makes you want to envelope yourself in its gloom” – NME
Ari Lennox - Shea Butter Baby
Release Date: 7th May
Labels: Dreamville/Interscope
Producers: Jermaine Cole (also exec.)/Elite (also exec.)/Ibrahim Hamad (exec.)/Bigg Kid/Christo/Deputy/DJ Grumble/Hollywood JB/Jaylen Rojas/Kojo/Masego/Nick Quinn/Omen/Ron Gilmore/Shroom
Standout Cut: Up Late
Sample Review:
“The issue of navigating relationships is a foundational crux of R&B, and Ari Lennox channels and tackles both the good and the bad of this. At her most vulnerable – which is arguably on ‘I Been’ – the artist slows it down and keeps things relatable. Somewhere between the purple haze, Tinder references and dodging lies, the 28-year old manages to impart some wisdom to her female fans: “Life is too short to be blocking your blessings like that.”
Lennox learns that no relationship is worth emotional trauma and transforms into a contemporary empowerment leader. In an era defined by ‘situationships’, ‘I Been’ serves as a valuable reminder that toxic environments shouldn’t be tolerated.
Perhaps the most endearing aspect of ‘Shea Butter Baby’ is an authentic innocence that threads through it – the subtle interludes that feature in the space between songs lay bare Ari Lennox’s passions, fears, desires, and intentions. They allow listeners to get to know the singer and her universe, evoking an undeniable form of humility – something that makes the soloist captivating.
‘Shea Butter Baby’ manages to meld contemporary R&B with other sounds like soul, funk, and blues, all while introducing us to the Ari Lennox of today – and the inspirations that guide her every move” – CLASH
Jamila Woods – LEGACY! LEGACY!
Release Date: 10th May
Label: Jagjaguwar
Producers: Slot-A/Oddcouple/Peter Cottontale/Ralph Gene/Justin Canavan/Aminata Burton/Jamila Woods/Stephon "Mooch" Brown/Jasmin Charles/Nico Segal
Standout Cut: EARTHA
Sample Review:
“Racism and its side effects, from theft of culture and land to willful distortions and ignorance of black achievement, weigh heaviest on Woods' mind, yet her voice maintains a sweetness, unfurling like ribbon over the rhythms. Vulgar rebukes such as "Shuddup muthaf*cka, I don't take requests" are expressed with enough grace and melodicism to be as quotable and whistle-able as "I tenderly fill my enemies with white light" or "Take a picture if you want me quiet." Just like HEAVN, Woods' debut, LEGACY! LEGACY! is a modern R&B album recorded in Chicago, mostly with Chicagoans. There's more from Saba and Nico Segal, HEAVN collaborators who respectively add a tailwind-generating guest verse and beaming horns. Three-quarters of the songs, plus a garage-flavored remix of "BETTY," are dynamic Slot-A productions, covering sci-fi electro-soul of numerous shades and chunky hip-hop with elements of post-bop jazz, sometimes with an electric quartet. There's evidence his work was custom built, like when the keyboards burble and blare out of "Miles," evoking the namesake trumpeter's early-'70s dates, and the moment a sampled Geoff Barrow/Adrian Utley one-off elbows its way into "MUDDY," resembling the grit of Electric Mud (an LP recorded in Chicago with Chicagoans). This galvanizing declaration of pride, support, and discontent will no doubt inspire covers itself. Every public library should have at least one copy” – AllMusic
Elizabeth - the wonderful world of nature
Release Date: 1st November
Label: Universal Music Australia
Standout Cut: don’t let my love (bring you down)
Sample Review:
“Elizabeth has just dropped a series of well-crafted "heartbreak bangers" in the form of her first solo album The Wonderful World Of Nature.
The singer-songwriter was the lead singer of indie-pop quartet Totally Mild, but after the band’s break-up earlier this year, fans wondered where she would go from there. Armed with a debut album, Elizabeth has emerged unflinching, and is wasting no time in carving out her identity as a solo artist.
Elizabeth’s sharp, intimate vocals are the perfect balance for the hazy backdrop of distant melodies. Her voice acts like a beacon which focuses all your attention on her, and in songs like Take Me Back, it’s almost haunting.
The Wonderful World Of Nature is beautifully tragic and unapologetically sad. Her melodic voice entices you in to indulge in her pain, but instead you’re confronted by love’s ugly truths. Throughout the album, Elizabeth paints herself as the villain in a series of unhealthy relationships, but instead of wallowing in it, she empowers herself through her indiscretions. This is emphasised in tracks like Don’t Let My Love (Bring You Down) and Here, which bear a stark honesty, but are in no way apologetic” – The Music
Rozi Plain - What a Boost
Release Date: 5th April
Label: Memphis Industries
Standout Cut: Conditions
Sample Review:
“The brooding and joyful riffs of "Swing Shut" and percussive whooshing of "Conditions" build with all the playful experimentations of AnCo. It all sounds undeniably English, as well. The sweet and earthy allusions to apple trees and awkward smiles, small-talk about the weather – you know, before the racists got in the way. Even the album title reads like a passage of speech in a particularly hearty comic book, more exclamation points the better! There’s no music video juggling satsumas with your parents, and none of the alt-pop jauntiness from the "See My Boat" days – it’s mellowed and grounded – but there’s still plenty of time for a bad punchline. "Symmetrical" sings about asymmetry, then b-symmetry and c-symmetry, too.
Rozi Plain’s signature lyrical peculiarities stay put – "Dark Heart" a particularly bewitching highlight. Musically there’s a confidence in to every layer, from psychedelic synth lines added by The Comet Is Coming’s Dan Leavers to a soothing closing duet with Sam Amidon. Even the slightly awkward wheezing vocal samples in "The Gap" sound crafted with a knowing smile. To fall flat for hyperbole, What A Boost is Rozi’s best, most interesting and experimental album to date. It’s what happens when her introversions gather the worldliness and confidence to let others in. There’s all the same tenderness, all the same familiarity, but it’s never sounded this good before” – The Line of Best Fit
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Infest the Rats' Nest
Release Date: 16th August
Producer: Stu Mackenzie
Labels: Flightless/ATO
Standout Cut: Planet B
Sample Review:
“Coming from a band that was singing wistfully about birdies just a few months ago, Infest the Rats’ Nest is a convincing display of metal muscle. But as heavy as the album is, it feels slight in the context of the band’s catalog, lacking both the unpredictable detours of their biggest rock-outs and the insidious melodies of their more pop-focused work. At their best, King Gizzard absorb an array of seemingly incompatible influences into a sound uniquely their own, with a careening momentum that ensures you’re never really sure where they’re taking you. Infest the Rats’ Nest, on the other hand, is a rock’n’roll spin class—intense and relentless, to be sure, but ultimately fixed in the same spot. Even when the album’s second side introduces a conceptual narrative about a group of people who escape Earth to live on Venus (spoiler: things do not end well), it doesn’t venture anywhere—musically or thematically—it hasn’t already been” – Pitchfork
SAULT - 7
Release Date: 27th September
Label: Forever Living Originals
Standout Cut: Feel so Good
Sample Review:
“At the other end of the spectrum, both in terms of timeline and tunes, is November’s 7 by Sault. A partner piece to their debut 5, released in May, it’s hard to think of them as anything other than a double album split by a few months and the lack of a spine. Not musically, you understand – these songs possess the backbone of a whale, shaking with carefree punk-funk attitude and deep soul rhythms.
Plundering the past with high-octane abandon, Sault have an incredible sense of which routes lead to the dance. There’s nothing circuitous here, nothing wasted, just an irrepressible desire to find the quickest short-cut to pleasure. Consequently, tracks like “No Bullshit” and “Feels So Good” sound like they were cut in the rush of excitement as soon as the hook had caught. This sense of abandon continues – though taking on a very different form – in “Smile and Go”, which fuses the DIY sound with elements of R&B and African funk. Meanwhile “Threats” is an incredible piece of UK soul – smooth in intent and raw in delivery. It’s about as affecting combination as I’ve ever heard.
Often when bands opt for a melting-pot approach, they run the risk of a clash of flavours that lack coherence and taste of nothing in particular. By stripping back and getting to the essential core of it all, 7 (and its predecessor) reveals something almost indistinguishable from its constituent parts and much, much more appetising. It seems that Sault adds flavour” – The Arts Desk
Kanye West - JESUS IS KING
Release Date: 25th October
Labels: GOOD/Def Jam
Producers: Kanye West (also exec.)/Angel Lopez/Benny Blanco/BoogzDaBeast/Brian "AllDay" Miller/Budgie/DrtWrk/E*vax/Federico Vindver/FNZ/Francis Starlite/Labrinth/Michael Cerda/Mike Dean/Pi'erre Bourne/Ronny J/Timbaland/Warryn Campbell/Xcelence
Standout Cut: Follow God
Sample Review:
“No longer the scumbag of "Runaway," West -- born again and repenting past sins -- fully commits to this direction, forgoing curse words and lewd rhymes in a complete turnaround from the rest of his catalog. While his grasp of Christ's teachings is elementary -- giving detractors further ammunition to question his true intentions (which he tackles on "Hands On") -- his seeming sincerity and vulnerability help temper embarrassing rhymes about fast food chicken sandwiches ("Closed on Sunday") and his troubling alignment with prosperity gospel teachings ("Water," "On God"). Despite the occasional lyrical misstep, Jesus Is King is a wonder of production, housing some of West's most focused and inspired work since 2013's Yeezus. From the rapturous choral sweep on "God Is" and the slapping beat of "Follow God" to the digital swirling "On God" and the languid flow of "Water," the true power of this set lies in what West has accomplished with all his meticulous studio tinkering, crafting an immersive sonic experience that only improves upon repeated listens. Well-utilized guests Ty Dolla $ign and Ant Clemons bridge the secular with the religious, joining gospel singer Fred Hammond and the Sunday Service Choir to add further heft to the proceedings. West even manages to match a reunited Clipse with saxman Kenny G. Considering his new message, the reinvigorated production, and the communal spirit that courses through the album, West seems to be in a healthier place. Presumably reborn in Christ, Jesus Is King reframes Kanye West as a work in progress and, despite the controversies, demonstrates (as humbly as his ego will allow) that he's at least trying” – AllMusic
Shura - forevher
Release Date: 16th August
Label: Secretly Canadian
Producers: Shura/Joel Pott
Standout Cut: the stage
Sample Review:
“As with Shura’s debut, Nothing’s Real, her second album is front-loaded. After a brief intro come Forevher’s three best songs, followed by a slump it never quite recovers from. Side Effects is the clear highlight, a perfect collision of aesthetic and emotion. The English songwriter’s spacey, super-melodic, immaculately produced pop casts a wonderful spell when it works, particularly on lead single Religion (U Can Lay Your Hands on Me) or the swooning, filtered coda to The Stage, as endless as summer seems in early July.
It just feels that whenever the rhythms retreat, the songwriting behind these airy, 80s-Janet Jackson jams isn’t always strong enough to really connect. Shura’s sugary voice works best when the beat is insistent, pulling you towards the dancefloor in your head. Sometimes she sounds tamed, quiescent, processed and treated, her vocal lacking the personality to overcome the distancing effect of its digital rendering. That said, you can always hear how songs such as Forever or the endearingly batty Flyin’ (“a virgin had a baby, it’s crazy… I’m scared of flying/ I’m scared of dying”) could be remixed into magic, while the languorous closer Skyline, Be Mine is a beauty” – The Guardian
Gang Starr - One of the Best Yet
Release Date: 1st November
Labels: To the Top/Gang Starr Enterprises
Producer: DJ Premier
Standout Cut: Family and Loyalty (ft. J.Cole)
Sample Review:
“Premier avoids the pitfalls of posthumous releases. The material he has to work with isn’t stretched too thin – tracks linger long enough for Guru to make his point, then stop; the whole thing clocks in under 40 minutes – and the cameo roles seem to have been filled on the basis of compatibility rather than commerce. The one big contemporary name is J Cole, whose position as upholder of traditional hip-hop values and conscience of mainstream rap is well-established. “Who’d have thought J Cole would be rhyming with ghosts?” he wonders, over a beautifully mournful piano figure on Family and Loyalty. Mostly, the guest microphone is ceded either to Guru’s contemporaries or Gang Starr associates: Q-Tip, Jeru the Damaja, Big Shug, and Group Home, whose turn on What’s Real belies the obscurity into which the duo have fallen since the mid-90s.
There was a time when Gang Starr’s story seemed to have ended rather sadly. The duo’s split clearly wasn’t without acrimony. Worse, on Guru’s passing, his controversial latter-day producer Solar published a bizarre letter, supposedly written by the rapper on his deathbed, insisting that he wanted Premier to “have nothing to do with my name, likeness, events, tributes etc”.Some people insisted the letter was faked by Solar, and alleged abuse and neglect on his part. But you didn’t have to take sides to think this was no way for one of hip-hop’s most intelligent voices to go out. In that context, a genuinely strong final album with Gang Starr’s name on it, even an artfully patched-together one, feels not unlike righting a historical wrong. One of the Best Yet does exactly what long-term fans might expect a Gang Starr album to do. As a full stop to their career, it works perfectly. In the pantheon of posthumous albums, it lives up to its name” – The Guardian
KAINA - Next to the Sun
Release Date: 12th July
Label: Sooper Records
Standout Cut: Green
Sample Review:
“The record is named Next To The Sun, and that’s precisely where you’ll want to be when you listen to it for the first time. A lavish fusion of neo-soul and RnB with elements of her Latin heritage weaving it all together, at its best Next To The Sun is, to quote the city’s most famous musical talent, an unmistakably summertime Chi’ album.
That’s not to say it’s all relentless optimism. The melancholic introspection and personal details that form opening tracks ‘House’ and ‘Ghost’ are a vital part of the immersion KAINA builds throughout. Even the album’s title track has a dark undertone with fuzzy guitar lines galloping under KAINA’s gothic vocals. As the album progresses, however, these clouds pass, and by the time it reaches its towering conclusion on ‘Green’, a track blessed with perfectly mixed horns, beautiful percussion and all manner of vocal goodness from KAINA, the sun is shining once more, maybe forever” – LOUD AND QUIET
Amyl and The Sniffers - Amyl and The Sniffers
Release Date: 24th May
Label: Rough Trade Records
Standout Cut: Got You
Sample Review:
“To an extent, these callbacks are deliberate—certainly, Amyl and the Sniffers borrow heavily from the sartorial style of the sharpies—but what makes the group such a blast is that it takes no knowledge of arcane Australian rock’n’roll to enjoy their debut. The group exists entirely on the surface, cranking amps to 11 and playing like it’s in a rush to head back to the bar.
What makes Amyl and the Sniffers slightly preferable to one of the band’s gigs is that Orton channels its energy and then adds definition to its roar. Also, at home it’s easier to catch lead singer Amy Taylor’s knack for the catchphrases and fleeting images that anchor their songs. Perhaps Taylor doesn’t often shape these words into a coherent story—“Gacked on Anger,” a perennial anthem of the underclass (“I wanna help out the people on the street/But how can I help them when I can’t afford to eat”), and the besotted “Got You” come the closest—but it’s enough to suggest she could sharpen this instinct once she bothered to take a breather.
Then again, the appeal of Amyl and the Sniffers is that it never bothers to slow down. That doesn’t mean the record lacks slack moments—the opening instrumental fanfare “Starfire 500” feels best left on the stage, where the lads can vamp as audience anticipation for Taylor grows—but the aggressive acceleration means the album never invites any time for contemplation. Such relentless momentum can give the illusion that the songs are sturdier than they are, but that’s also the pleasure of Amyl and the Sniffers: The album exists so thoroughly in the moment that it winds up obliterating the group’s fetishization of the past and just delivers pure, uncut rock’n’roll fun” – Pitchfork