| A look at our favourite albums from March. | | Courtney Barnett – 'Creature of Habit' | | On her fourth studio album 'Creature of Habit', Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett turns the camera inward, refusing to flinch for the first time in her recording career. Where her earlier work often staggered through a suburban hellscape, this record is less about surroundings and more about self. Barnett bravely faces torment head-on, sifting through the emotional clutter she has hoarded over the past few years. With anxious hands, she traces along the spine of some of her most painful memories, as well as the stories she's been telling herself to stay afloat. Told through 10 sincere, revelatory tracks, she documents a life in transition, but more pointedly, a mind learning how to loosen its grip. The opening track 'Stay in Your Lane' sets the tone with Barnett's signature deadpan grain, drip-fed through a psychedelic unease. There's a heavy self-awareness, one of being unmoored. It's clear that she's a fish out of water circling in her own discomfort, shrugging off any offers of help from those around her in an act of self-sabotage. 'Mantis' reads like a diary entry deliberately left open on the kitchen table. Barnett flits between days on autopilot, scanning around for any sign of meaning. Even in this new side of Barnett that we're slowly peeling back, her sharper edges still remain and she rediscovers her bite on 'Great Advice'. As far as she's concerned, everyone and their opinions can sling their hook. Whether it's her appearance or her career, the track is a firm reminder that it's within her control and hers only. But 'Creature of Habit' is a record about unlearning old patterns in order to become the person you knew you could always be. Freeing herself from stagnancy, indecision and the paralysing fear of wasting one's life, Barnett is finally able to breathe a sigh of relief and sit with a new kind of clarity. (Heather Collier) [Read the full review here] | | Parker Fans are a unique prospect. Formed in Amsterdam among a flourishing Dutch scene, their music brings indie attitude to a floor-filling dance sound. Their live show is intensely impactful and tremendous fun, its energy perhaps best captured on 2024 EP 'Pool of Fish'. This month they returned with new EP 'Bark!', a slightly more lucid collection but nevertheless packed with addictive grooves. Playful pan flute riffs dance through intense opener 'Enemies' and into the looser title track, which is wound tight around a gem of a bassline. The EP's dance climax is hit with 'I'm Your Dog Baby', which combines a ridiculously huge house keyboard riff with lyrics reminiscent of the knowing slickness of Confidence Man. Then things mellow out with closer 'Verano Holandés', an understatedly sprawling, shapeshifting piece. The band's sound is really made by the contrast of the instrumentals provided by Sem Egter van Wissekerke and Thomas Geleijnse and the bold vocals of Kick Kluiving, who cut his teeth playing drums with Personal Trainer. In its precise composition, which can nevertheless be undercut by bold lyrics and unpredictable transitions, 'Bark!' is an essential introduction to the Parker Fans. (Lloyd Bolton) | | As title 'Epeepee' and lead single name 'Have a Pint' suggests, Cowboy Hunters are not here to take themselves too seriously as artists. This foil creates a space for compositions which wilfully disobey any rules or expectations we might expect a band to follow, which in turn allows them to talk about pertinent social issues in a manner that feels fresh, rather than whingey. The lead section of 'Have a Pint' leans into the laconic, catch-all non-solution of its titular suggestion and the patriarchal status quo it passively supports, before this reasoning is obliterated by the juxtaposition of an obnoxiously heavy B section, which horrifically flashes the vicious circularity of drinking your cares away. Similar in its irreverence and structural freedom is 'Shag Slags Not Flags', in which verses relate the hateful bubbles created online to toxic masculinity and the sexual frustration of iPhone-age alienation before setting up for the ridiculously big chorus, its scale acknowledged by the extra beat left for an imploring 'Everyone!'. 'Epeepee' channels contemporary rage with a balance of humour and catharsis that is difficult to achieve, particularly when the issues at stake feel so wearyingly familiar. (Lloyd Bolton) | | Pollyfromthedirt seems to have a monopoly on songs that stop you in your tracks. With his newest release, a followup to debut EP 'The dirt pt. 1', the artist joins the likes of Imogen and the Knife in honouring their Northern homes. Going by an amalgamation of his mum's name and the nickname of his market-town birthplace, Darlington, Pollyfromthedirt is becoming known for his effortless portraits of smalltown England. Previous tracks including 'Theres no such thing as england' quickly gathered a dedicated fan base, and their expectations have been upheld on this latest EP. The now Manchester-based musician, who engineers, mixes and masters all of his own work, once again proves himself one to watch on 'The dirt pt. 2'. It's immersive and unpredictable, part-cowboy, part-pub regular, reverb-soaked and evocative. Lead single 'When england comes' is national anthemic and almost yearning, a guitar twanging beneath lyrics that are tender but delivered as though offhand ("I forgive you mother, for you were unbothered by what you were/What you were for my father's sake"). It solidifies that England, in this set of songs, is something of a synonym for home. | | Pollyfromthedirt represents a younger generation who've been told they don't show patriotism in the correct way by their older conservative counterparts, a sentiment reinforced by the rising far-right, despite countless examples of Britishness being embraced within pop culture and beyond. Gen-Z, now coming of age in the art scene, are rebuilding a connection that reflects their modern reality of life in the UK, as heard in records like Jim Legxacy's 'Black British Music' and PinkPanthress' 'Fancy That'. It's a far starker look at the country in its present state, embracing that it is a far more diverse place than older generations may recall, and acknowledging the impact of years of austerity in representations of ordinary, working-class life. This EP exemplifies that recent movement. Neither a critique of patriotism, nor a show of it, it simply invokes England, allowing younger listeners to build their own ideas of national and regional identity. Themes of nationality and identity run into the visual world of the EP as well, with single covers including an archetypal British Chinese takeaway smoldering in the night, and a low-resolution photo of a Sunday roast. That haziness of nostalgia is transformed by a brashly constructed soundworld that's wholly unlike anything before it. The release undoubtedly meets the early hype that has surrounded Pollyfromthedirt, whose music insists upon being heard, appreciated, and reckoned with. (Eve Morgan) [Read the full review here] | | The Orielles – 'Only You Left' | | Gritty and anthemic, 'Only You Left' marks the triumphant comeback of the Manchester-based band The Orielles. Released through Heavenly Recordings, 'Only You Left' is their fourth studio album, an exploratory venture that feels more meticulous and dynamic than ever before. The album blends guitarist Henry Wade's shoegaze guitar melodies and Sidonie B. Hand-Halford's pummelling drums, with Esmé Dee Hand-Halford's delicate vocals and guiding bass, cultivating an album complete with dualisms. 'Only You Left' thrives on its paradoxes, embracing disorder and ambiguity through a collaboration that has developed over nearly fifteen years. 'Only You Left' is a bold, atmospheric album that erupts through dynamic instrumentation, anchored by Esmé's evocative vocals. On 'You Are Eating A Part of Yourself', The Orielles expose their most intimate selves. Touching on these all-consuming feelings of death and decay, this glitch-laden track wrestles with the fading contours of memory. Rising synths and jangling strings build to a roaring climax, before receding, leaving only Esmé's echoing vocals singing, "You're choosing a side, you don't really like." The album's closer, 'To Undo the World Itself', distils the experimental spirit of 'Only You Left'. Opening with a quasi-ritualistic chant and Sidonie's hypnotic rhythmic drumline, the song lulls the listener as Esmé laments, "Are you the other part of me?" Like the rest of the album, the track crescendos to a powerful finale. Paired with the reverb-soaked vocals, 'To Undo the World Itself' captures the band's intention to "lean into the beauty of sadness." | | Throughout 'Only You Left', The Orielles navigate contrasts – sparsity and fullness, quietness and aggression, man-made and natural, metal and wood. Despite their return to a more stripped-back, song-centred approach, The Orielles' new release pulses with energy, charged by rich instrumentation, abstract lyricism and an unapologetic embrace of paradox. (Grace Palmer) [Read the full review here] | | Rowan and Friends – 'Go On! Roll That Old Boulder Away' | | York songwriter Rowan Evans is in enviable form, producing some of the best pieces of songwriting going right now. His new album 'Go On! Roll That Old Boulder Away' was released last week under his musical project Rowan and Friends, in which he performs his songs with said 'friends' as backing musicians. Opener 'Poker Night' is immediately arresting with its high stakes (pun unintended), soul-baring lyrics, and from the moment the band kick in – a phone-demo drawl substituted for full-band high definition – its forty minutes (ideal album length) are consistently engrossing and impressive. The absolute high point, however, is undeniably 'You Will Never Get That Feeling Back', a masterful reflection on the whole enterprise of human society, charted through religious mythology, human history and more recent fragments of popular music lore, from the writing of 'It's All Over Now Baby Blue' to Joni Mitchell's wearing of blackface in the late 1970s. Condensed in one tune, the song is emblematic of the whole record in its delicate yet unaffected balance of candour, humour and wry self-awareness. Along with more recent collaborations from further afield, this record is also made by Evans' deep connections to his community in York. The name Rowan and Friends was conceived in anticipation of the revolving list of collaborators who have been involved in this project. A prolific songwriter, this collection represents some of the best of Evans' work to date, reflecting a deep dedication to the craft and the 'friends' and the scene that has made it all possible. It is a truly impressive and continually rewarding set of songs. (Lloyd Bolton) [Read the full review here] | | Top Shortage – 'Contre Nature' | | One of Oxford's most exciting live bands, Top Shortage have packed their impactfully emotive sound into a tightly wound debut EP, 'Contre Nature'. They caught our attention with debut single 'Susan Stryker', an trans anthem built out of an essay by the titular scholar. The ensuing EP delivers on that starting point, full of barbs yet melodically driven, particularly by Harris Ferguson's flanged guitar which commentates on the wildly delivered vocals. Noa Laquèche sings in French and English, themes of trans liberation and alienation under late capitalism most prevalent, the latter suggested by the hollow irony of the title 'Conserve Your Momentum!'. 'Mirror' offers a dark counterpoint to 'Susan Stryker', jangling guitars giving way to a candour and force closer to classic west coast hardcore punk as lyrics tackle the hypocrisy of anti-trans discourse. 'Contre Nature' captures the rawness and rage of Top Shortage's live show, an artistic manifesto built around pertinent social criticism. (Lloyd Bolton) | | Among the new crop of regular performers at the Windmill, gegenpress live up to the footballing style of their name, being among the most intense in the focused directness of the energy of their music. Debut album 'Don't Live For Heaven' establishes that immediately with driving, dynamic opener 'Panic Movement'. Close your eyes and you can see the moshpit shaking, evoked by the sharp breathiness of the repeated offbeat hi-hat. Among harcore and post-hardcore influences, the band show a keen sensitivity for interesting rhythmic, dynamic and non-musical details, often lapsing into breaths of musique concrète, which serve as something like memento mori before the pummeling starts again. As a whole, this record has a tight coherence that belies the relative newness of the project, a testament to the band's musical impulses and their quickly developing live experience. (Lloyd Bolton) | | | | |
