I usually have most of my playlist picked by mid-week and some notes typed up. But nothing was really catching my ear this week, and I’ve found a lot of the stuff I’ve seen getting hyped to be a bit meh. I follow a lot of music blogs/accounts which always seem to be very enthusiastic about loads of music, with stupidly long playlists of new tunes. And, honestly, I don’t really believe it half that time, it comes off as PR to me. I want to avoid that and keep this authentic, with a focus on music that I’ve genuinely been enjoying (or at least is bad enough that it inspires me to write something), so I was close to sacking it off this week. Luckily, there was a flurry of new releases/new finds in the last couple of days that I’ve really liked.
Anyway, the point of this long-winded introduction is to say that I’ve gone with more of a quick-fire overview of the tunes instead of something more in-depth.
Album of the week
King Tuff – Smalltown Stardust
Usually, my album of the week is something that really catches my attention after a couple of listens. But Smalltown Stardust, which came out in January, has crept up on me. I’ve found I keep returning to it over the past few weeks, and it’s a really strong collection, without any obvious weak spots.
It’s all very laid-back, with the pace never really rising above breezy. But that makes for some charming, little folksy indie-pop tunes. There’s a bit of a hippy vibe to things; with song titles like Love Letters to Plants, and a Donovan-esque dash of psychedelia thrown into proceedings.
There isn’t any big moments that would really elevate things. But part of the appeal is in its blissed-out nature, and it works perfectly as an album to wind-down to.
Best tunes: Portrait Of God, Rock River, …Always Find Me
Tunes of the week
Rogue Jones – 1, 2, 3
This is all in Welsh so I’ve got no idea what it’s about (although, I’m fairly confident the chorus says 1, 2, 3). So, if it turns out this is some proper weird shit, then apologies for the recommendation. Otherwise, you don’t need to know what’s being said to understand that this is a big orchestral epic. Proper rousing stuff whatever the language.
100 gecs – Hollywood Baby
I reckon I might be at least 10 years old for this. It’s got bratty-sounding vocals, which would normally put me off. But the big fuzzy riff-age is undeniably good, and this is a hyperpop banger.
Inhaler – If You’re Gonna Break My Heart
Inhaler are a good-looking, very stylish-looking young band. And the frontman’s dad is fucking Bono. So I instinctively want to hate them. This seems to be aiming straight for stadium rock stardom (and he sounds like his dad, FFS). But, fair play to them, this is a good tune. There’s no pretence of it being anything edgier, just a straight-up, big chorus-ed, pop-rock piano ballad.
Lana Del Rey – A&W
This is 4 minutes of standard Lana Del Rey. Like, it’s decent, but you’ve pretty much heard it before. But then the last 3 minutes morph into this weird, paranoid electro beat with a playground singalong chant on top, and it’s fucking great.
LEFTI & Rich Furniss – You Made It (Disco Mix)
A big soulful, disco-house banger. This version sounds better than the radio edit (cos I’m a hipster innit).
Casino – By Your Side
I‘ve written about Casino previously and could probably do a copy and paste job as this is more of the same. And that’s a positive – a lovely little northern soul-inspired number, with a great singer to boot.
Check out previous weeks’ best new music roundups at the link below.
No Frills Reviews 
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