theeverlastingshade

[theeverlastingshade]

Favorite Releases of February 2025

5. Rarely Do I Dream- Youth Lagoon

Essentials: “Speed Freak”, “Football”, “Lucy Takes a Picture”

4. Last Leg of the Human Table- Cloakroom

Essentials: “Story of the Egg”, “Unbelonging”, “Clover Looper”

3. Luminescent Creatures- Ichiko Aoba

Essentials: “COLORATURA”, “mazamun”, “FLAG”

2. Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory- Sharon Van Etten

Essentials: “Southern Life (What It Must Be Like)”, “Trouble”, “Afterlife”

1. Sinister Grift- Panda Bear

Essentials: “Elegy for Noah Lou”, “Anywhere but Here”, “Venom’s In”

[theeverlastingshade]

Stereolab recently shared a new single called "Melodie Is A Wound", which is the 2nd taste of their highly anticipated, upcoming 11th LP, Instant Holograms on Metal Film. Opening to a series of polyrhythmic, chiming synths, and a steady kosmiche pulse, Stereolab quickly lock into a lush groove that never lets up throughout its 7 plus minute sprawl. Laetitia Sadier's gentle vocals quickly enter the fold delivering lines that condemn deceitful regimes "Flawed, the extradition request/Blown/ the freedom of conscience/Is there some form of justice possible or/So long, the public's right to know the truth" as the band's twitchy arrangements convulse beneath her.

After a few minutes of "Melodie Is A Wound" continuing along this progression in seemingly linear fashion, the music fades and a beat switch propelled by a funky bassline, sparse sleigh bells, and flickers of cowbell emerges to take us somewhere entirely new. It's during this second progression that Stereolab devolve into one of their tightest jams to date, with a searing synth bass eventually driving the proceedings before a colliding into a screeching saxophone and some synth bleeps that bring us into another driving kosmiche groove that sounds like it's slowly disintegrating as it progresses to close things out. Despite all the tried and true Stereolab hallmarks on display, the construction of "Melodie Is A Wound" sounds like a fresh and extremely promising development for them.

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Panda Bear recently shared a remix of the great Kassie Krut song "Hooh Beat", on the eve of a tour with them. Although the post-Palm, noisy electronic outfit has released very little music to date, their terrific, fully-formed self-titled EP from last year showcases a band already in complete control of their powers (who make perfect sense on paper as both an opener for Panda Bear, and one whose music is ripe for him to remix).

Noah keeps most of the elements of the OG intact (clanging industrial synths juxtaposed with bright, understated synths, jittering drum programming, shards of white noise periodically piercing through the veil, etc) but he swapped frontwoman Eve Alpert's soothing vocals for this signature tenor, psychedelic vocal effects, some 16 bit synth washes, and the kind of jarring screams that bring to mind his halcyon days in Animal Collective.

It's the best kind of remix; one that retains everything that made the OG so distinctive while imbuing it with the remixer's own personal flourishes. This "Hooh Beat" remix is the first taste of an upcoming expanded version of that self-titled Kassie Krut EP. Hopefully the rest of the remixes live up to the promise of this one, and that this isn't the last time Kassie Krut and Panda Bear remix each other's work or collaborate.

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The jazz funk/instrumental hip-hop greats BADBADNOTGOOD recently teamed up with the singer V.C.R. for a lush, 7 minute one-off called "Found A Light (Beale Street)". On "Found A Light", BBNG are right in the pocket with a nimble, bossa nova-esque groove propelled by their characteristically air-tight rhythm section that's ocassionally punctuated by gorgeous flute and vibraphone melodies. V.C.R. periodically weaves in and out of the mix throughout the course of its runtime with a delicate touch.

As engaging as BBNG's playing is, it's V.C.R.'s extremely expressive voice that elevates the proceedings beyond simply being yet another great BBNG song. "Found A Light" subtly builds in intensity without shedding its effervescent cool, but instead of erupting into an electrifying coda, the music recoils back into its silky earlier temperament to close things out. I don't get the sense that "Found A Light" will portend any immediate additional collaborations between BBNG and V.C.R.,but hopefully this isn't the last we hear from this striking, seemingly intuitive pairing.

[theeverlastingshade]

Planning for Burial recently released a new single called "You Think", and it's the second taste of their highly anticipated comeback LP (and first in 8 years), It's Closeness, It's Easy. "You Think" begins unusually propulsive for Thom Wasluck's typically down tempo dirges with its double-time snare beat and chugging distorted guitars, but within short order he eases into a slower tempo that seethes with the same sort of abrasion. The fidelity of the recording is sharper than the typical PfB song, but it thankfully retains the project's gloomy disposition and immaculately layered guitar playing.

Moments later, a post-rock progression courtesy of bright synths emerges, sending us through the stratosphere. Like all great post-rock, the grand sweep of the music ignited by the juxtaposition of the ugly with the utopian is what really drives its potency. The ecstatic, druggy release that's drawn out for nearly half the song's runtime derives its impact from the bludgeoning distortion assault that propels the first few minutes. The immensely evocative and gorgeously rendered guitar work on "You Think" showcases how superbly this project has aged throughout its absence, and suggests that IC, IE could be one of Thom's strongest releases yet.

[theeverlastingshade]

Sinister Grift- Panda Bear

I don’t think there’s a single contemporary artist that has straddled the worlds of the accessible and the avant-garde anywhere near as keenly as Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear). Since his humble beginnings making lo-fi psychedelic electronic noise-pop with his comrades in Animal Collective, Noah has carved out a distinctive sonic niche within his band’s work and his solo work that folds in elements of minimal techno, dub, noise, folk, and many different strains of psychedelia while filtering everything into a disarmingly immediate package (in no small part due to this remarkable voice). His solo work has struck to far more rigid parameters than AnCo’s solo output, but even within either a sampledelic, loop-based framework or something more rangy, and analog instruments-driven, Noah’s continued to evolve in satisfying ways as a solo act. Noah’s most recent solo LP, Sinister Grift, is the most collaborative and approachable record that he’s ever made under the Panda Bear moniker, but it thankfully never quite dilutes the qualities that have made his work so striking. While nothing on SG really challenges the notions of what a PB record can be, it’s nevertheless an immensely rewarding record that exemplifies much of what makes his music so compelling.

SG is Noah’s 7th solo LP, and his first since Reset, the great 2022 collaborative record that he made with Sonic Boom. Like Reset, SG strips away some of the more subversive qualities of Noah’s artistry (no harsh frequencies, screaming, or maniacal vocal harmonies, the slow-burning drone compositions are in shorter supply, the song structures are concise, etc) to make room for very little other than pure, pleasure center pushing pop. AnCo comrade Deakin is behind the boards this time out, and he’s managed to wring the utmost potency out of Noah’s angelic tenor at every turn while still giving plenty of space for the rest of the arrangements to shine. Deakin also (along with Anco comrades Avey Tare and Geologist, Cindy Lee, and Spirit of the Beehive’s Rivka Ravede) played on various songs on SG, giving the record more of a fleshed out, full-band sound than the typical PB record where, as good as it sounds, is clearly the work of one person layering each element together piece by piece in solitude. There’s a real warmth here by virtue of that camaraderie that you don’t always get with Noah’s solo work, and it really helps these songs pop. On many of these songs it actually sounds like Noah fronting a full-blown dub band (especially given the effects utilized on those drums), with infectious grooves propelled through the stratosphere by his calling-card harmonies. While SG sounds like a record that Noah could’ve made at any point within the last 20 years or so, the disarmingly open, and relatively stripped down sound of his voice coupled with these concise arrangements feels like a fresh and welcome spin on his sound.

The tight, ten song run of SG doesn't ever feel slight, nor does it overstay its welcome. Only the record's gutting centerpiece, "Elegy for Noah Lou" exceeds the 5 minute mark. There are no multi-suite compositions nor are there any interludes. Aside from the 2 drifting, drone-adjacent songs towards the end, SG is just one dopamine hit after another while still managing to subvert the staid predictability of traditional pop. Opening cut "Praise" lays the intentions plainly right out of the gates with Noah's urgent croon lathered over cymbal bashes and a rollicking bassline. Along with Tomboy, SG is probably the closest that PB has ever come to making a straight up "rock" record, but that's still more by virtue of having a traditional rock instrumental setup instead of working within a sample-based compositional framework than anything about how the music itself sounds. The gently swaying, echo-laden "Anywhere but Here" with its stunning stacked harmonies and Portuguese poem vocal passage courtesy of Noah's daughter, Nadja, finds the sweet spot between psychedelic barbershop music and reggae. "Ends Meet" is pure Jimmy Buffet style tropicalia for the left of center crowd. The ambient pop of "Left in the Cold" and "Elegy for Noah Lou" trade the communal feel of much of this record for a solemn, chillier sort of solo excursion that’s right in Noah's sweet spot while still sounding fresh. As is typically the case with PB and AnCo records, it's remarkable how well the sonic variety on SG hangs together with such a cohesive feel.

SG follows a similar trajectory of sorts to what's arguably the best AnCo record, Feels, in that it begins with songs that are more immediate and optimistic (or at least not completely devoid of hope) and slowly progresses into increasingly impressionistic compositions that carry a much bleaker tone before ending on a final note of acceptance. SG isn't quite as groundbreaking nor as mind-blowing as Feels, but the arc is just as rewarding, and the intention lends a comparable demand to be taken as a whole regardless of how well each song stands on its own. "Praise" through "Ferry Land" treat the weight of the passing of time as a trojan horse couched within lush, richly-rendered dub-leaning production and sublime vocal harmonies that belie the bleakness bubbling beneath the surface. The three song suite of highlights that emerge on the b-side consists of "Venom's In", "Left in the Cold", and "Elegy for Noah Lou, which peel back the veneer of receding reconciliation as a fluid formlessness begins to take hold. And when Cindy Lee's euphoric guitar work erupts on closer "Defeat", the full circle moment congeals with a bittersweet balm. The effect is spellbinding, and among the most compelling fusions of tone and form that I've heard all year. Even after decades of excellent pop records, it's remarkable how well Noah can still succinctly distill the complexity of his subject matter within sonic landscapes that match their nuances with aplomb.

Much of the narrative surrounding SG has framed it as Noah's "divorce record", and while it's hard to imagine that event not informing the record to some degree given when the music here started to take shape, that read seems a little too straightforward to really convey the record's full thematic bent. There's certainly a darkness to SG, but it's not purely one of romance disintegrating. There are plenty of lines they reinforce that idea ("Because I can't let go, can't say goodbye/A residue, in spite of you", "Thought we'd be friends again/Now we're taking a bow", "Reading the look in your eye/Looking for something that's mine"), but there are also plenty of moments that contend with aging ("I could get all my wishes granted file by file/My engines running, I can feel the miles") shifting parental dynamics ("A kind of bond I wanna make/My heart; it bends before it breaks"), and grappling with the inevitability of change in every arena of one's life ("Never knew my place/Looking for some loving grace") that extend far beyond the bounds of that lens. More than anything else, SG contends with the idea of middle age, but it’s pulled off far more tastefully than that stale sort of template could ever suggest. The resolution of "Defeat" seems a little too neat an ending in light of the darkness that preceded it, but there's enough of a kernel of hope in its communal construction to suggest that, despite what any of us have to contend with throughout the course of our lives, there's no better way through it than with the company of those who show up for you when the floor doesn't seem like it has any more give.

Essentials: “Elegy for Noah Lou”, “Anywhere but here”, “Venom’s In”

[theeverlastingshade]

Boldy James and Valee recently teamed up for a dreamy, supremely melodic one-off called "WHATCHU THINK". Over elegant instrumentation that features little other than a rattling hi-hat/snare rhythm and ornate grand piano loops courtesy of MVW and West, Boldy and Valee trade simmering verses that land right in the pocket with immaculate precision. Valee sounds far more at home over this pillowy production, and the tender flow he employs sounds like it would feel right at home on any of his records. Boldy on the other hand sounds far more out of element than usual, but he managed to temper his grizzled delivery enough for his deep timbre to glide with ease over these keys.

MVW and West are the real MVPs here thanks to their beat's mesmerizing minimalist touch, which strikes the perfect balance between immersive and unobtrusive. The juxtaposition between Valee's tossed off breeziness and Boldy's raw, hard-edged reflections imbues "WHATCHU THINK" with a distinctive flair unlike anything I've heard in awhile. While perhaps better served as a one-off song than the beginning of a collaborative project, "WHATCHU THINK" is nevertheless an engaging meeting point between two very different sounding iconoclasts, and is among one of the best songs either of them has released in years.

[theeverlastingshade]

The post-rock UK based quartet caroline recently released a new single called "Tell me I never knew that" featuring Caroline Polachek, and it's the 2nd song they've shared from their aptly titled 2nd LP, caroline 2. Pivoting from the unnerving, ocassionally cacophonous post-rock/folk of their self-titled debut LP, "Tell me I never knew that" unfurls with a frothy nonchalance that tempers their predilection for noisey bombast in favor of surging chamber pop that burns just as brightly. Polacheck's voice sounds right at home atop the procession of finger plucked guitar and choir of additional voices. Slowly but surely the music picks up steam courtesy of chugging drums, bass, strings, horns and more voices that tug the music into the stratosphere.

The music superbly splits the difference between post-rock and chamber folk, beautifully balancing sharp dynamics and timbres while somehow giving all the elements enough room to breathe. As the dense sonics start to subside, we're left with a gorgeous coda that features little more than warm guitar plucks, the soft squeal of a violin, some white noise, and chants of "It always has been/It always will be". On "Tell me I never knew that", this unlikely pair of idiosyncratic Carolines join forces to create something that accentuates their strengths while subtly shifting the parameters of their respective sounds.

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Hotline TNT recently returned with a new single called "Julia's War" (which is a fun nod to the influential DIY label run by Douglas Dulgarian, who is also the frontman/creative mastermind of the excellent Philly band They Are Gutting a Body of Water), and it's the first song that they've shared from their highly anticipated 3rd LP, Raspberry Moon. RM will be the first HT record made by the full band instead of constructed piece meal by frontman/founder Will Anderson, and the fuller sounding arrangements and intuition on display give plenty of credence to that narrative. The sheer anthemic force of "Julia's War" sounds like a leap forward, but the visceral approach coupled with the enhanced fidelity work in service of pure immediacy.

This is easily one of the most rousing and accessible songs that HT have ever released, but the power-pop element that's propelled many of their best songs being a more prominent component than usual never threatens to render the proceedings rote. Sure, the wordless vocal coos might come off like cheap placeholders for something more distinctive and fleshed out, but it's hard to deny the potency of that vocal melody, especially when propped up by that gloriously fuzzy guitar work. This is HT's bid for stadium supremacy; they're spiritually playing to the cheap seats within a genre that shrivels up when confronted by the prospect of true rockstardom. Although it bums me out to hear the pedalboard ingenuity of Nineteen in Love's finest moments further in the rear view, its impressive to hear HT continuing to quickly grow into the sort of versatile outfit that shoegaze alone can't contain.

[theeverlastingshade]

Stereolab recently returned with a new single called "Aerial Trouble", which is the first taste of their 11th LP, Instant Holograms in Metal Film. Although it's been nearly 15 years since we've gotten a new Stereolab song, the confident, funk-tinged strut of "Aerial Trouble" presents a band that hasn't lost a step in the years since their last record. Over some gentle piano and synth chords, the band quickly introduce layers of guitars, drums, and scattered electronics interlaced with frontwoman Laetitia Sadier's spellbinding voice hovering above the proceedings. The sound design is as spectacular sounding as ever, and there are plenty of rich sonic details that emerge sporadically throughout the course of the runtime.

Like the best Stereolab songs, Sadier's voice on "Aerial Trouble" still cuts through the mix with a gorgeous melody and a heightened sense of clarity despite the dense production on display. There's nothing about the construction of "Aerial Trouble" that will surprise long time fans, and there are moments where the band veer a little too close to auto-pilot for my liking, but there's nothing about "Aerial Trouble" that really comes off like a regression. During the last 20 seconds, Sadier's voice dramatically recedes from the mix while a colorful synth arpeggio leads us to the exit as if to grandly proclaim that they're back. And while I would've appreciated something a little bit stranger and more subversive, it's impossible for me to deny how nice it is to have them back.

[theeverlastingshade]

Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory- Sharon Van Etten

Teaming up with a full band for an entire LP might not have seemed like the most obvious move for Sharon Van Etten after having made her name on hushed, homespun singer-songwriter LPs, but it proved to be an inspired choice that’s resulted in one of her most compelling records to date. While Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory is world’s removed from her halcyon days knocking around Brooklyn cafes, it is the sort of record that Sharon seems to have building towards throughout the past decade or so. Sharon’s excellent 2014 LP Are We There marked a major turning point in her career through her embrace of a wider sonic palette and more striking subject matter, while her opus, 2019’s Remind Me Tomorrow, is the kind of synth-streaked stadium record that marked her arrival as a full-fledged rock star. SVA&TAT doesn’t reshape her sound quite as dramatically as those two records did, but it is in its own way an engrossing, fully-realized statement from one of the most unassumingly engaging songwriters of the last 15 years.

Legend has it that Sharon was feeling constricted by the confines of recording music as a solo act, and so she asked her live band to just jam with her, which resulted in music that became the songs “Southern Life (What It Must Be Like)” and “I Can’t Imagine (Why You Feel This Way)”, effectively setting the tone for the full record that followed. In addition to Sharon singing and playing guitar, TAT consists of Jorge Galbi on drums, Devra Hoff on bass, and Teeny Lieberson on synth. In addition to performing on each song, each member of the band contributed to the overall production, which speaks to the records cohesive yet eclectic sound. TAT draws from stadium-sized heartland rock, post-punk, synth-pop, and more within the span of these tight ten songs. True to what’s suggested with the band’s origin story, the songs on TAT hang together in a way that suggests a band figuring out what kind of music they want to create with one another in real time. These songs are some of the richest and most enormous sounding that Sharon has ever recorded, with immaculate sonic details that subtly skitter beneath the surface, enhancing rather than detracting from each song. Despite the heightened scope and vaster canvas, Sharon’s striking songwriting sensibilities have thankfully remained at the fore.

Opener “Live Forever” makes the scale of this project clear right out of the gates with its slow-burn, industrial synth-pop sway that gracefully unwinds with increasing force as Sharon sighs “Who wants to live forever?”. The writing on TAT also runs the gamut, but themes of love, existentialism, faith, and community continue to resurface, all rendered with Sharon’s unmistakably tender disposition. The following song, “Afterlife” was written in the aftermath of the death of a fan that she continuously saw at her shows over the years “Don’t you try to save me/Tell me I’ll be doing find doin’ what I like”, with the gravity of the tragedy heightened by the band’s soaring synth melodies. Both “Trouble” and highlight “Southern Life” touch on the difficulties of reconciling differences with people across the ideological aisle, the former tackling this from the perspective of being at odds in a relationship (“All the stories I can’t tell/Watered down versions of my own hell”) while the latter finds Sharon contending with the weight of vast cultural differences more broadly (“Why can’t you see if from the other side?/We must imagine what it must be like”). Sharon isn’t shying away from tense subject matter, nor is she offering easy answers. It’s her empathy and curiosity that remain the driving forces animating these arresting songs.

As one might expect from the context surrounding TAT, the most engaging songs here are the ones that really highlight the chemistry between Sharon and her bandmates. That’s not to say that the spectral pair of lovely ballads that put Sharon’s relatively unadorned voice center stage aren’t great songs, but the most satisfying songs highlight the interplay between all the musicians involved. They're in the moments on “Afterlife” where the bass and synths ricochet back and forth while Sharon hits her falsetto, or those on “Trouble” where the melodic bassline snakes around the lumbering snare rhythm as Sharon hangs down the lower end of her register in careful, controlled bursts before shooting high over the arrangements. Whether it’s the new wave sway of “Somethin’ Ain’t Right” or the jangly post-punk march of “Indio”, TAT have successfully distilled their years of practice together on the road into songs brimming with a honed chemistry. Even something as seemingly suited to a solo performance like “Live Forever” is better served by the way it continuously blossoms into an industrial pop symphony beautifully fleshed out by everyone in TAT. TAT is at its best on “Southern Life”, which roars to life with muscular, synth-streaked swagger, and it wouldn’t sound anywhere near as potent if it was a solo Sharon multi-tracked affair. TAT is the best case scenario for an artist expanding their sound without diluting the voice that’s propelled their best work since the jump.

Essentials: “Southern Life (What It Must Be Like)”, “Trouble”, “Afterlife”

[theeverlastingshade]

Home Is Where recently returned with a new single called "migration patterns", and it's the first offering from their highly anticipated 3rd LP, Hunting Season. Everything that's made HIW such a distinctive 5th wave emo touchstone throughout their brief, but beloved discography (disarmingly melodic harmonica and singing saw passages, anarchist ideas cloaked in surrealist imagery, urgency and ambition that never come at the expense of honest expression, etc) is in amply supply here, but the music never begins to sound like a retread so much as a potent refinement of their strengths.

On "migration patterns" it's the distinctive flourishes, like the way the first few beats of the kick/snare rhythm ignite the first riff, which then ignites the harmonica, which then ends up taking the lead role, the giddy "Wooooo" that frontwoman Bea MacDonald yelps right before kicking off the 2nd verse, and the harmonica solo that fucking rips, that all elevate "migration patterns" beyond what might otherwise simply be yet another great HIW song. And in true HIW fashion, they cap off what would otherwise be a straightforward, sincere song grappling with mortality with lines that unfold with a smirk "I'd never want/To live forever/I'd still have/To go to work". In other words, the singular charms of HIW have only continued to amplify.

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Jenny Hval recently shared a new song called "the artist is absent ", which is the 2nd single from her 9th LP, Iris Silver Mist. "the artist is absent" is a peculiar song for Hval, in that it's less than 90 seconds long and it has a slick, propulsive groove that's disarmingly danceable. The music lurches forward courtesy of some menacing bass synth stabs alongside a sturdy breakbeat, and her voice gracefully glides over the proceedings with its characteristically ethereal glow. This is easily some of the most immediate sounding music Hval's ever composed, but it thankfully never threatens to neuter her music's otherworldly allure.

Within short order the rhythm section recedes to make room for a bongo break, which on paper sounds kind of corny, but in Hval's hands it sounds like an unexpected, but inspired twist that allows the initial progression to return with more force than before. While "the artist is absent" closes out just as it sounds like it's really starting to get going, it's nevertheless an engaging exercise for Hval that sees her expanding her spellbinding singing into compelling new contexts. "the artist is absent" is far from the sort of song that screams "single", but I have a feeling that, when taken as an interlude within the greater context of ISM, it’s really going to shine.

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A few weeks ago the legendary experimental post-rock band Tortoise returned from a nearly decade long hibernation with a new single called "Oganesson". On "Oganesson", Tortoise waste no time before slipping into an infectious groove bolstered by snappy cymbal/snare work and a funky bassline while a lovely understated horn melody and sparse flashes of white noise bob and weave throughout the foreground. Like the best Tortoise music, the playing here is tight but unflashy, each component operating in sublime lockstep with every other component and no specific component dominates the proceedings.

After several measures, the drums shift into more of a chugging cymbal heavy rhythm with more negative space opening up to really let the saxophone melody shine before abruptly reverting back to the initial progression. Just when it seems like Tortoise are going to keep it straight through the finish, they dip into this nasty, distorted synth arrangement that tastefully contradicts the graceful preceding several minutes to finish things out. There's an understated elegance to "Oganesson" that belies how excellent the individual musicianship of each member/overall chemistry of Tortoise is, which renders it among the best entry points into their work as well as one of the better comeback singles that I've heard in years. Despite how long that Tortoise have been doing it, the assured sound of "Oganesson" finds them sounding as tight and expressive as ever.

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A few weeks ago Model/Actriz released a new single called "Doves", which is the 2nd song they've shared from their highly anticipated 2nd LP, Pirouette. As with the record's 1st single, "Cinderella", "Doves" is a step up production-wise and far more immediate than anything on their excellent 2023 debut LP, Dogsbody, but it still retains their sinister, frenetic allure. Frontman Cole Haden kicks things off crooning while the band is chiseling away at an anxiety-inducing time bomb cocktail of industrial synth arpeggios and sparse snare beats. It's more unnerving for how easily they slip into something so relaxed and danceable while still allowing a sense of menance to gnaw at the edges of the mix in a way that suggests everything could slip into a nightmare at any moment.

The heightened juxtaposition of M/A's dual impulses of immediacy and abrasion continue to animate their music. Even as Cole's lyrics hint at sacrifice and mutilation "I drag my nails on blackened stone/I scratch my name in crooked row/Trade sweat for wax, and tears for smoke/I make a rapture out of" the tender delivery and snappy groove belie the sense of anguish at the music's core. Both of the currently released Pirouette singles have found M/A sharpening their precision without dulling the overall impact of their approach. There's a real sense that, regardless of whether the rest of Pirouette lives up to the promise of these first 2 songs, M/A's best work is still ahead of them.

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A few weeks ago James Krivchenia (who also plays drums in Big Thief) shared a new solo single called "Bracelets for Unicorns" from his upcoming solo LP, Performing Belief. On "Bracelets for Unicorns", James, who is joined by musicians Sam Wilkes and Joshua Abrams, eschews the more ambient leaning sound that he's long favored in his solo work for a more propulsive, beat-driven sound that features an assortment of looped percussive tones taken from natural objects, and interwoven into blissful polyrhythms.

What begins with nothing more than a soft but steady snare against some of horn and a thin layer of tape hiss begins to evolve into a much thicker, and bouncier groove. The overlapping strains of percussion are gorgeously rendered, and they quickly congeal into a dense thicket of sound that's packed with detail, but never quite feels overstuffed. A much punchier snare quickly emerges, and before long the groove takes flight. It sounds like the kind of highly expressive, ornately constructed beat that someone should rap over, and that could maybe go on indefinitely. On "Bracelets for Unicorns", James returns to the role he plays in his main gig and wrings magic from the mundane.

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A few weeks ago Deerhoof returned with a new single called "Immigrant Songs", which is the first offering from their upcoming 19th LP, Noble and Godlike In Ruin. "Immigrant Songs" begins disarmingly low-key with some clean guitar and chimes alongside singer/bassist Satomi Matsuzaki's lovely, understated vocals. Maracas and a brisk snare/kick beat emerge as the music slowly begins to pick up steam while being punctuated by a series of abrupt starts and stops. A lovely synth drone enters the fold as the guitars and bass begin to pick up some momentum, but the music continues to unfold at a breezy, mid-tempo cruise that belies the song's title.

Snappy tom rolls emerge alongside a thin sheet of white noise, and once Deerhoof reach the halfway point a trail of feedback signals a descent into a free-form noise eruption. The percussive and feedback heavy calamitous squall progresses for a few glories minutes, superbly offsetting the initial progression. On "Immigrant Songs", Deerhoof's inspired descent into noise feels like the sort of superb and well-earned payoff that typically transpires in reverse, but Deerhoof have never adhered to convention. As a continuation of Satomi conveying her immigration experiences on record, "Immigrant Songs" is an unabashedly raw realization of that ordeal.