Album of the week
Billy Nomates – Cacti
Cacti is the second album from solo songwriter/musician, Billy Nomates. Her self-titled 2020 debut was good, but this feels like it’s a bit of a step forward. It’s a bit more ambitious, a bit more varied, a bit more personal – just a bit better in every way. Musically, she has kind of an electro post-punky sound, but it’s not that easy to categorise. You could call it experimental, but in quite an accessible way.
The album bursts into life with the sing/shout of her voice on opener, ‘balance is gone’. It’s a really strong start and somehow manages to make a triumph out of what seems to be her describing a state of instability. This along with ‘blue bones (deathwish)’ and ‘spite’ really highlight what she does well. On ‘blue bones’ she makes a subtle celebration out of overcoming a spell of depression. And ‘spite’ (which I previously wrote about in my picks of 2022 post) is a big ‘fuck you’ post-breakup anthem. This is really personal, and kind of dark, songwriting but wrapped up into big radio-friendly singalongs (well, for Radio 6 Music at least).
‘Vertigo’ is closest to her earlier stuff, with a Sleaford Mods-esque beat, the tinge of anger running through the sing/speak vocals, and another big chorus. On ‘fawner’ she pretty much takes on the role of a traditional folk songbird type, and pulls it off. And ‘same gun’ incorporates piano/keyboards into a jaunty but paranoid sounding tune.
The wider range in the music is matched by the range on her voice. There’s still the sing/speak style, but there’s more actual singing. And she’s good at it, whether it’s a soft whisper on the likes of ‘fawner’ or when she goes harder with more of throat-cracking roar.
On the downside, it’s maybe a couple of songs too long. The likes of ‘black curtains in a bag’, ‘CACTI’ and ‘apathy is wild’ aren’t bad songs, but they feel like they drag a little. The music just isn’t quite interesting enough and the songwriting doesn’t have anything that hits in the same way when compared to the bigger tunes around them. Closer ‘blackout signal’ almost goes the same way and ends it on a bit of a whimper, but the distant screams that come in towards the end provide the emotional pay off to justify the slow build. I also have to highlight ‘roundabout sadness’, which acts as a short interlude, splitting the album in two. It’s haunted fairground tune really sticks out and is as memorable as the numerous big choruses on the album.
I don’t think there’s any obvious concept to the album. But if there was one message to takeaway, I think it’d be something like ‘it’s ok, not to be ok’. With a lot of the songs feeling like they rescue some sort of victory, or at least show defiance, in the face of whatever struggle they’re describing. A strong album from an artist seemingly growing in confidence and really developing her sound as she goes.
Best tunes: blue bones (deathwish), roundabout sadness, spite
Tunes of the week
Sleaford Mods – UK Grim
In case you’re not already familiar with Sleaford Mods. I often see them described as punk, but that’s more of an attitude thing. The actual music is a really minimalistic electro sound, with sing/rap/rant vocals over the top. The video for this was done by artist, Cold War Steve. And I think they’re almost a musical equivalent to him. Like it’s a little bit crap, but that’s kind of the point. The minimalism really lays bare the grim reality reflected in the imagery/lyrics.
This will probably sound daft if you’ve not listened to them before, but this actually sounds a bit bigger and cleaner than usual. It’s still very much Sleaford Mods and still minimalistic, but it’s got a menacing pounding beat, like it’s marching you onto some bleak fate awaiting you.
Lyrically, it’s standard Sleaford Mods. There isn’t really any standout lines I’ve picked up so far, but I find with them that I’ll often notice a really good one liner after a few listens. And the chorus shouldn’t be as catchy as it is, but in their typical style, it somehow works it’s way into your head and you’ll rant along with it.
There’s a famous John Peel quote about the band, The Fall – “always different, always the same”. Contrasting their ever evolving sound (and ever changing line-up) with how they still always unmistakably sounded like The Fall. I think something like that should apply to Sleaford Mods at this point, they always sound like themselves but it’s somehow always good. Maybe “always the same, always interesting” – I don’t know, someone more creative than me can come up with it.
Priestgate – White Shirt
Priestgate are an up-and-coming band from Driffield, East Yorkshire. They’ve been releasing solid>really good singles for a couple of years now. If this is the first you’re hearing of them I’d recommend previous singles ‘Summ(air)’ and ‘Eyes Closed For The Winter’.
They have a kind of gothy indie-pop sound. Basically, I’m pretty sure this is what The Cure sound like, except I’ve always avoided listening to them because I can’t get over how daft Robert Smith looks (seriously, as if he kept going with that look into his 30s, let alone still going with it now).
This tune has a dreamy vibe, but also that jangly 80’s indie guitar sound, making it upbeat and quite poppy. And the music contrasts with the slightly mournful sounding vocals. It’s got a big chorus, and breaks down to a catchy bridge with just a finger-click for backing, which has a playground sing-song quality to it.
The influences might be quite obvious, but when you do it this well that doesn’t matter. Another strong tune from a really promising new band.
Smote – Hlaf
Beware, this one is a near 7 minute instrumental. So it might not be for everyone, but I’ll try to sell you on it. From the little I’ve been able to find about them – Smote are from Newcastle, they had two albums out in 2021 and they seem to deal in moody psychedelic instrumentals.
I have to mention one description I found. My concept for this blog was that I think a lot of music writing is too pretentious so I wanted to try something simpler. And this pretty much perfectly highlights the kind of thing I meant – “The first Rocket release for this enigmatic Newcastle-based entity is no less than a mystically-aligned voyage into abandon and epiphany.” Fuck off, man.
Anyway, the song is like a psychedelic folk jam. It fades in with some ominous- sounding low bass, which slowly rolls along in the background throughout. It then settles into a bit of a traditional hippy-folk sound, with (I think) sitar and flute. It feels like it’s building to something bigger, which never quite comes. But, you do get stabs of distorted guitar riffs coming in and out, as if they’re crossing over from a different session completely.
It’s like an exercise in repetition. The same basic tune acts as a constant throughout, to the point it almost washes over you. But that allows you to really pick up on the different instrumental flourishes that are added in along the way.
I was listening to this yesterday on a mid-morning dog walk, the sun was shining but it was freezing and there was frost all round. Firstly, that’s ideal for listening to this – when you have a bit of time to stick your headphones on and just get lost in it. But also, at the risk of sounding pretentious after what I said earlier, it kind of works as a metaphor for the music. The sunshine representing some of the brighter traditional sounds in here. Contrasted with the cold harshness of the winter, which are represented in the darker sounds which seem to be just below the surface and occasionally come to the front.
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Easy Now
No matter how you rate Oasis, I think most people would be able to agree that Noel Gallagher has been trading on past glories for far longer than those past glories actually lasted.
He’s been knocking out solid, but mostly dull stuff for about 20 years now. But, I thought his last album, Who Built The Moon, was actually pretty good. He changed it up and let some of the more psychedelic influences, which he’s often talked up, come through. And there was a bonus track/b-side, Dead in the Water, which was reminiscent of his excellent stripped-back early Oasis b-sides.
However, this is a disappointment. Maybe that last album didn’t sell as well, because he’s went back to the plodding nothingness of much of his work. Like, I suppose it’s technically fine, there’s sort of a mildly catchy chorus there. But it’s just fucking boring, man. A song that’s so average, it becomes bad.
Noel’s never been a particularly great lyricist, outside of early Oasis (and even then there was some drivel). But this seems particularly meaningless, just vague nothingness, which doesn’t inspire any emotion or even feel like there’s any emotional connection on his side. It really is like he’s got nothing left to say.
I used to quite like Noel’s voice. But I think it probably worked best as a brief contrast to the attitude brought by Liam. His vocals here are dreary to the point of being annoying.
Like many people around my age, Oasis were one of the first real bands I got into. So I’ll always look out for Liam and Noel’s new stuff, more in hope than expectation. This is the kind of track that makes me think I shouldn’t bother anymore. I used the word ‘nothingness’ a couple of times in the review, but I left them both in because actually I think that best summarises this. I really don’t get who this music is for at this point.
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