Ten October Albums You Have to Hear
The Orielles Tableau
Signed to Heavenly Recordings
Since forming in the West Yorkshire town of Halifax, over a decade ago whilst still in their early teens, the Orielles have journeyed from lo-fi DIY indie origins to Stereolab and A Certain Ratio inspired avant-pop even directing and scoring their own experimental film and now, with the new album they’ve created a genuinely contemporary record which voyages far beyond the musical limits reached on their previous albums.
A.A. Williams As The Moon Rests
Signed to Bella Union
Following her debut album Forever Blue and her lockdown covers collection Songs From Isolation, As The Moon Rests is A.A. Williams’ much-anticipated new album, an atmospheric intimate collection that confirms the singer-songwriter as one of the UK’s most captivating solo artists. In her own words: “Traditionally, your second album is the worry; where there’s the weight of expectation. But I must create music I like myself, and I’ve had more time on this record; I’ve felt more confidence and conviction. As The Moon Rests is both heavier and softer, there’s more texture and weight, and a string ensemble. It’s Forever Blue times ten!”
Alvvays Blue Rev
Signed to Transgressive Records
Canadian indie rockers Alvvays have released their third studio album Blue Rev and it will warm your shoegazing dream pop heart… It’s been 5 years since Alvvays released their last album Antisocialites and Blue Rev doesn’t simply reassert what’s always been great about the band but instead reimagines it. The 14 songs make it not only the longest Alvvays album but also the most harmonically rich and lyrically provocative.
Alice Boman The Space Between
Signed to Play It Again Sam
Ruminating on intimacy and existential angst, to listen to The Space Between is to hear Boman’s thoughts unfurl in real time, her quiet contemplations cocooned in sympathetic arrangements created in collaboration with her producer. The Space Between is very much a journey in this respect, charting her progress from fear ‘Honey’ and ‘Maybe’ to the “place of tenderness” she ultimately arrives at on ‘Space’, the album’s exquisite closing track. It’s a journey she hopes listeners will share in, finding comfort in community. And a special mention for ‘Feels Like A Dream’ featuring Perfume Genius!
Jesse Tabish Cowboy Ballads, Part 1
Signed to Play It Again Sam
The frontman and creative lynchpin of Other Lives steps out on his own with Cowboy Ballads, Part I. This glorious debut is as epic as it is intimate, the ten songs and four instrumentals distinguished by the same sweeping, cinematic arrangements and haunting, wistful melodies that typify the band’s catalogue, but with a rawer edge that reflects this record’s home-made origins.
Nick Hakim Cometa
Signed to ATO Records
Cometa arrives following Nick Hakim’s critically acclaimed 2020 album Will This Make Me Good and features collaborations with DJ Dahi, Helado Negro and Arto Lindsay. Cometa (Spanish for ‘kite’) is a collection of romantic songs written through different lenses that are guided by Hakim’s experience of falling in love in a way that made him feel like he was floating. This out of body sensation is the theme that anchors the album as he uses the extreme distance between a kite and a comet as a metaphor for the depth of one’s love for someone else and being so humbled by it. Special mention for ‘Feeling Myself’, probably his most confident song to date.
Honey Harper Honey Harper & The Infinite Sky
Signed to ATO Records
Honey Harper & The Infinite Sky is the follow-up to their critically-lauded 2020 full-length debut Starmaker, which earned raves all round and offered wide-ranging comparisons from Gram Parsons to Brian Eno. The new record emerged from a deliberate revamping of the band’s creative approach with Honey Harper co-founder and keyboardist Alana Pagnutti taking on a far greater role in the song-writing process alongside frontman William Fussell. The 12 song collection also marks their first time recording with their stacked band The Infinite Sky.
Vaya Con Dios What’s A Woman
Signed to Le Label
Dani Klein was only ever going to revisit her greatest Vaya Con Dios hits for a stripped down vocal & piano album with her friend and exceptional pianist William Lecomte who has been accompanying her live on tour for more than a decade. “I called him, he immediately said ‘yes’ and started to write out arrangements, we rehearsed for a couple of days and then recorded these twelve songs that are very close to my heart.”
Can – Live In Cuxhaven 1976
Signed to Mute
Live in Cuxhaven 1976, the third album of the curated CAN live concert series, was originally only recorded on tape, and this carefully restored live album comprises the 1976 show in the format of a story with a beginning, middle and end, bringing CAN’s performance to life. The series was overseen by founding member Irmin Schmidt and producer/engineer René Tinner, who delicately worked on restoring the archival recordings to the best quality for current modern technology. Special mention for the limited edition Curacao blue vinyl version!
Let’s Eat Grandma The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself
Signed to Transgressive
Let’s Eat Grandma, the duo composed of songwriters, multi-instrumentalists and vocalists Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth, have composed an entirely original soundtrack for the new Netflix thriller series, The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself. Its creator Joe Barton said: “ Something about the score coming from such young voices feels really cool in this story about the transition from childhood to adulthood. Rosa and Jenny collaborated brilliantly, giving us an amazing score. Emotional, scary, heart-pounding, epic and personal, it is strange and evocative and a huge part of the unique identity of our show.”
Read more of the story behind the Let’s Eat Grandma score HERE.
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