THE YEAR SO FAR ...

We are hardly two months into 2014 and yet there is already an abundance of new music to be devoured; here is my pick of the year's new releases.

 East India Youth - Total Strife Forever

William Doyle's debut solo effort contains an impressive palette of sounds; it is an ambitious record that almost demands to be heard. 

Check out: 'Heaven, How Long', 'Hinterland'

James Vincent McMorrow - Post Tropical

From the first strains of 'Cavalier' it is clear that Post Tropical is an album that whispers rather than shouts. If you take the time to listen close, you will surely be rewarded.

Check out: 'Cavalier', 'Outside Digging'

Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long, See You Tomorrow

An album borne of travel, with home at its heart. The quartet know a good hook when they hear one, and So Long... is full of them.

Check out: 'Home By Now', 'Feel'

Arthur Beatrice - Working Out

A strong debut album underpinned by intriguing vocal contrasts and a sophisicated sound that usually takes several records to cultivate. 

Check out: 'Midland', 'Carter'

Wild Beasts - Present Tense

Building upon Smother's flirtations with electronica, this record weaves synth upon synth and vocal upon vocal in and out of your ears until you inevitably become entwined with it. 

Check out: 'Daughters', 'Palace' 

NEW MUSIC: WILD BEASTS - WANDERLUST

In a whirlwind 24 hours, Wild Beasts have unveiled a new album, single and a smattering of tour dates around the world. 'Wanderlust' is the lead single and first track on 4th LP Present Tense, and it denotes yet another shift in the Wild Beasts sound. The sonic DNA is at its essence the same; Hayden Thorpe's idiosyncratic vocals stretch out into the lower end of his register while Tom Fleming's soar in the background, and the relentless rhythm section is a comforting ever-present. There is, however, as in the Beasts' whole back catalogue, a sense of the Darwinian to be found in 'Wanderlust'; guitars are shed like a skin in favour of powerful, cutting synths that build to a crescendo as Thorpe warns "Don't confuse me with someone who gives a fuck". Present Tense is, as the band put it, an album about "headspace and consciousness"; 'Wanderlust' is the triumphant cry of one who has mastery of these concepts. These thematic concerns bring to mind a little snippet of Shakespeare:

                "O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and
                count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that
                I have bad dreams."
                                                                              Hamlet II.II.265-7

It remains to be seen whether bad dreams will appear on Present Tense alongside the infinite space of 'Wanderlust'. 

Preorder Present Tense and check out the new tour dates here

NEW MUSIC: MAXIMO PARK - BRAIN CELLS

The North-East's finest five-piece Maximo Park are back, burrowing their way into the public consciousness with new track 'Brain Cells', the first offering from fifth LP Too Much Information due for release next February. "Burrowing" is very much the operative word here; 'Brain Cells' is not necessarily what you would expect from a three-minute slice of MP goodness, but it still possesses the far-too-catchy hook quality that the Park have perfected. Perhaps the closest cousin of this track is The National Health's 'Hips And Lips'; murky electronics dominate but unlike 'Hips And Lips' there is no release of pressure here.

Maximo Park

NEW MUSIC: BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB - CARRY ME

Bombay Bicycle Club premiered a brand new track on Radio 1 last night entitled 'Carry Me' and, to use a technical term, it is a stonker of a track. The dancier tendencies present on previous album 'A Different Kind Of Fix' and stand-alone track 'Beg' are explored even further on 'Carry Me', resulting in fragmented yet bouncy rhythms and a central hook that sounds like an inverted, alternate-universe version of 'Glad You Came' by The quartet have announced a new record for February 2014; off the evidence of 'Carry Me', let's hope they start as they mean to go on. 

Check out the interactive video for 'Carry Me' here 

ALBUM: SKY LARKIN - MOTTO

"Keep it newsworthy" Sky Larkin's Katie Harkin urges us; a poignant message in the information-saturated 21st century, but it remains baffling how Sky Larkin themselves have not attracted such widespread attentions. 'Motto' is the band's third record after the solid debut 'The Golden Spike' and the sparkling 'Kaleide', and while the last few years have seen Harkin lending her talents to the Wild Beasts' live set up as well as some line-up changes, the molten core of the Sky Larkin world is unchanged. 

More than anything else, 'Motto' is an album of imperatives. From the lyrical content ("Keep it newsworthy", "Breathe it in, carve it out") to the relentless ever-present guitars, the record asks the listener to listen, to engage, to do. What is more, however much 'Motto' may ask of you it repays in buckets of heart and charm; the importance of this mutual relationship is keenly felt. Tracks like 'Italics' entice you in initially with killer hooks and in return you get the pleasure of listening to a band who have achieved a harmonious equilibrium; every instrument and voice shines without ever stepping on their neighbours' toes. This album in particular stands out in the Sky Larkin discography because it is, at times, more human and pained than what has come before. While 'Loom' and 'Treasury' collide wistful guitars with odes to loss, 'Overgrown' and album closer 'Que Linda (Wake To Applause)' are the most downbeat tracks on 'Motto', arguably even more poignant than Harkin's earlier pleas on 'Newsworthy'.  

There's only so many times you can knock on a door until you must surely be heard. Sky Larkin have been knocking for a while now, and the irresistible quality of 'Motto' will, hopefully, cause many to open the door, usher the band inside and offer them a cup of Yorkshire Tea. It's all they deserve, after all. 

9/10

Sky Larkin