More Adventurous Albums to Listen to #3 (John Moreland, Vampire Weekend, GloRilla, More)
Albums I'm checking out the week of April 8.
New music Friday was interrupted in New York by the sudden earthquake on April 5. While taking a break to talk to my mom, my day was derailed by the fact that I felt my apartment shake. Tomorrow, it will be derailed by the fact that I’m going to have to go outside to watch the solar eclipse, because I can’t not participated in widespread cultural events.
That being said, it did give me the excuse to make this video, which I think is pretty funny.
Anyway, I’ve been catching up, and there’s a lot to sink your teeth into this week.
John Moreland – Visitor
While there’s plenty of crossover in the country artists that I enjoy with the emo music that really holds my heart, John Moreland is the only one who was a real punk before transitioning to folk music, and those sensibilities show on lyrics like LP5’s excellent opening “Harder Dreams.” His surprise released album Visitor was the one that made me the most excited for New Music Friday last week. While Moreland’s voice sounds like a welcoming calm family member, his lyrics are absolutely destructive. He warns about dangers of war, technology, and aristocracy with a voice that sounds like a chiseled elder witnessing all the terror with a sense of reluctant acceptance.
While there’s plenty to fear in the subjects that Moreland sings about, he doesn’t sound afraid, nor does he sound hopeful. He sounds somewhat resigned to the fate that we’re all doomed for. While there’s certainly some beauty in him being a man telling people about all the bad things he’s seeing, the comfort comes in the calming songwriting. Even though he doesn’t offer solutions, he’ll be there through the hard shit with you.
Vampire Weekend – Only God Was Above Us
Five years after Father of the Bride, Vampire Weekend have finally returned. As someone who was lukewarm on that record, there was a sense of relief when I saw that the title was something that scratched the Catholic guilt for me. Having New York’s Daily News featured prominently on the cover as well as the grainy, classic New York-looking filter really made it seem like a return to form.
While Vampire Weekend isn’t exactly gloomy or ominous sounding, their most exciting moments do tend to lean into some form of darkness, even if it’s with a guiding voice as so much of it is on Only God Was Above Us. There are callbacks to my favorite record of theirs Modern Vampires of the City, and I’m excited to really fall in love with this album.
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