NEW ALBUMS

This month…

P29 DESTROYER

P30 BOB MOULD

P31 JETHRO TULL

P33 THE LOFT

P34 BROWN HORSE

P36 BEIRUT

P38 SONGS OF GREEN PHEASANT

SAM AKPRO

Evenfall ANTI-

8/10

Fab debut from south London skater

Peckham songwriter Sam Akpro has been releasing EPs since 2019, gaining acclaim for his eclectic, layered songs that combine influences from indie, electronica and hip-hop to build something thoroughly original and modern. Evenfall maintains that approach with a rich but laidback sound on songs like the title track, “Death By Entertainment” and the glorious “Cherry”. Even on songs like “Tunnel Vision”, a track about dislocation, or a seemingly abrasive instrumental like “Baka”, there’s an enduring warmth to the record that comes from the fuzz of psychedelia that holds everything together.

PETER WATTS

MARSHALL ALLEN

New Dawn MEXICAN SUMMER

8/10

The exquisite results of a life steeped in cosmic jazz

The solo debut of 100-year-old saxophonist Marshall Allen, leader of the Sun Ra Arkestra since 1995, is a charming, confident voyage through sonic moods he’s explored throughout his career. Recorded with help from Arkestra members (especially longtime saxophonist Knoel Scott) and guests like Neneh Cherry, New Dawn is a beautifully balanced album: the space lounge of “African Sunset”, the crime jazz of “Sonny’s Dance”, the baroque-infused grooves of “Boma”. Classic composition “Angels And Demons At Play” closes the album, incorporating dubbed out moments that send the music of the Arkestra in yet another galactic direction. 

ANA GAVRILOVSKA

JULIEN BAKER & TORRES

Send A Prayer My Way  MATADOR

7/10 

Musical beginnings revisited for Mackenzie ‘Torres’ Scott and boygenius’ Baker

The pivot to country – endorsed by Beyoncé at pop’s very pinnacle–is practically a punchline at this point, but Julien Baker and Mackenzie Scott are no gawping tourists. The Southern-born, Christian-raised queer indie songwriters unironically embrace the genre’s broken-hearted, broken-bottle tropes while rejecting its stereotypically conservative elements – most strikingly on “Tuesday”, a stripped-back, Scott-fronted confessional directed at an old girlfriend and her bigoted mother. Album opener “Dirt” and gentle gut-wrencher “Showdown”, on which Baker takes vocal lead, boast the same sparse, clear-eyed lyricism of her 2021 album Little Oblivions, while Scott’s earthy alto is the perfect foil, whether campfire storyteller or wisecracking sidekick.