New Releases - July 8, 2022
Weekly Album Reviews
By: Aviv Borenstein
Another less-than-thrilling week. Maybe it is the heat, or maybe that is just summer. Still, let us get started, because a few interesting releases did come out.
Laura Veirs - Found Light
The Portland singer-songwriter, whose music blends folk, country and alternative, returns with her 12th album. This one is special: it is her first in about 20 years without producer and former husband Tucker Martine, one of the best-known producers working today, who also produced her earlier records. It feels different from her other albums. Her guitar picking is lovely, there are plenty of keyboards, and throughout you get the sense that she made a record without worrying about what anyone would say.
Listen on: Spotify
Katy J Pearson - Sound of the Morning
Starting this album may open your eyes. Why? Because at first her voice really annoyed me. It sounded like a small child crying. But something changes after a few seconds, and my opinion began to improve too.
This is the British singer's second album. The opening title track sets the mood straight away. It really feels as though they tried to make a record for the morning, a kind of wake-up album. If the first song wakes you up, the second assumes you are already awake. In fact, the album never takes its foot off the gas. Give it a chance, despite that voice at the start, and you may find yourself coming back to it.
Listen on: Spotify
Viagra Boys - Cave World
The Swedish post-punk band returns with its third album, sung in English, and it is a refreshingly surprising experience. This is a good, surprising punk record. Personally, I had not come across them before, though I read that they are already a familiar name in Europe. After hearing this album, I understand why. They have wonderful energy, and this is high-quality rock and punk with a real kick.
Listen on: Spotify
Rae Morris - Rachel@Fairyland
Rachel Ann Morris is the kind of singer who makes you ask yourself why you only discovered her now. The 29-year-old English singer is on her third album. The pop-rock is not especially surprising, but her voice is so beautiful and the album so charming that you simply get swept along. There is a reason it is called Rachel in Fairyland. From the moment you start listening, she takes you on a journey, and it is a fun one.
Listen on: Spotify
Metric - Formentera
The Canadian rock band returns with its eighth album. Having started as a NEW WAVE band, they had already found success by the mid-2000s by combining guitars and synthesizers. That combination worked very well, notably on BLACK SHEEP from 2010.
The new album, which received mixed reviews, is much more electronic. Its ten-minute opening track takes you back to 1990s techno. As someone who was around then, I can easily imagine it at any dance party of the time. The album itself is good, but apart from the opening track it is not especially memorable, and perhaps that is where it falls short.
Listen on: Spotify
Journey - Freedom
Yes, this is the American band formed in 1973. They have one of the best-known songs of all time, a song that enjoyed renewed popularity at the height of the pandemic: "Don't Stop Believin" from the album "Escape".
First of all, this is their first album since 2011. Explaining the band's history would require an entire course. The name seems to have become a brand, and the lineup has changed so often over the years that it is impossible to keep track. Let us just say that the only remaining original member is guitarist Neal Schon. As for the album, honestly, it sounds like a record from the late 1970s or early 1980s. This is rock that seems to have been sealed in a time capsule and only now brought out. It is not bad, but it also makes me feel as though I am somewhere in the rock world of the 1980s and another Rocky film is about to come out.
Listen on: Spotify
Blind Channel - Lifestyles of the Sick & Dangerous
The Finnish hard-rock band is on its fourth album. If the name sounds familiar, they represented Finland at Eurovision in 2021 and finished sixth. This is a punk-rock album that does not really excite me. The first two songs are very good, but after that it starts to sound repetitive, or like thousands of other things, especially Linkin Park.
Listen on: Spotify
"Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog
Comments