2014 RETROSPECTIVE - DAY 10

2:54 - THE OTHER I

Just a quick one today, partly because of life things but also partly because The Other I is one of those albums where the more you write about it, the more you ruin it. 2:54 have always itched some kind of primal scratch for me; from the first time I heard 'You're Early' from Colette and Hannah Thurlow's self-titled debut record, I was hooked. They continue the good work on The Other I, at once both unsettling and beguiling with strong guitar work and siren-esque vocals. Most of all, the work has a transcendental quality; when I listen I somehow feel like I'm wandering some barren, foreboding terrain and fighting to stay afloat in choppy waters, all at the same time. All of which is to say: it's just a bloody good album. 

2014 RETROSPECTIVE - DAY 9

SPRING OFFENSIVE - YOUNG ANIMAL HEARTS

Revisiting this album now, I cannot help but approach Young Animal Hearts with more than a twinge of sadness. In the last month Spring Offensive have gone on what I will optimistically describe as an indefinite hiatus; it still seems quite hard to stomach that a band with such talent are unable to continue sharing that talent with us. While Young Animal Hearts would've featured in this retrospective regardless of the recent context, there is an added poignancy that colours my perception of it.

There is ample evidence of excellent songcraft to be found here, from the undeniable 'Bodylifting' to the jaunty, direct 'Speak'. There is also a dignified maturity in the lyrical content, perhaps most succinctly communicated in tracks like 'Young Animal Hearts' and 'Cut The Root'. The qualities I've mentioned can be found in droves on this record, but the thing that will stay with me is the image nestled right in the middle of the album, at the end of 'The River': "as the water rose around my knees, I found myself smiling". This coda is built up and repeated, until all instrumentation cuts out and only the voice remains. This is my lasting image of Spring Offensive: beautiful, transient, haunting. 

2014 RETROSPECTIVE - DAY 8

BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB - SO LONG, SEE YOU TOMORROW

I'm going to try my best to prevent it, but today's post is likely to descend into a complete gush-fest because today's album is more than gush-worthy. Sometimes we listen to music when we are sad, to justify our sadness; sometimes we listen to music when we are happy, to accentuate our happiness. Sometimes an album comes along and makes you feel what it wants you to feel, completely disregarding your natural emotional state, and So Long, See You Tomorrow is one of those albums. You just can't ignore this kind of happiness. 

I saw Bombay Bicycle Club on tour in March, a show which has become a live highlight of 2014 for me. One of the reasons that BBC are so good live, aside from the fact that they write a darn good tune, is that you can feel the joy of playing live roll off the band in waves, a tangible and infectious effect. It seems to me that with each album, the band get closer and closer to transmitting this joy on record as well as live, and with So Long, See You Tomorrow they might just have made it to the summit. Getting to know this record over the course of the year has been, quite simply, a pleasure. 

2014 RETROSPECTIVE - DAY 7

JESSIE WARE - TOUGH LOVE

The world is full of people who are either in love, out of love or, to crudely paraphrase Shakespeare's Romeo, "out of favour where I am in love". For those who fall into the latter two categories, never fear; in Tough Love, Jessie Ware has released an album so full of the stuff that there is more than enough to go round for all us lovesick pups. If debut record Devotion is concerned with the thrill of the chase, Tough Love is more of the opinion that there can be just as many thrills in the capture. 

Now I am a grumpy sod; every time I see a couple holding hands in the street I lurch for the nearest bin to hold my vomit. But when I listen to Jessie Ware, my cynicism melts away and is exposed for what it really is: a mere defence mechanism to cover up my singleton sadness. Having torn down this wall down, the tracks on Tough Love take pity on me and allow a peek at the sleeping monster that is love; a counterfeit version, but convincing all the same. In this weakened state, I cannot help but listen to songs like 'Say You Love Me' and 'Sweetest Song' and melt along with my cynicism. "Can you hear it?" Jessie asks on 'Sweetest Song'; yes Jessie, good god I can hear it!

My defence mechanisms kick back into gear, as they always do, but Tough Love will always give me a little glimpse of what I might be missing. 

2014 RETROSPECTIVE - DAY 6

METRONOMY - LOVE LETTERS

Firstly, a confession: I only began to listen to Metronomy 6 months ago. I am truly ashamed to have arrived so late to the Metronomy party but at least I made it, and for this I have Love Letters to thank. I stumbled upon the video for 'I'm Aquarius' by chance and got hooked in by the murky synths, and there are many more myriad electronics to be found across the record and of course, as I have since learned, throughout Metronomy's whole back catalogue. I'm listening to Love Letters now, trying to pin down exactly what it is that I like the most, and I'm finding it difficult. It could well be that there is a track called 'The Most Immaculate Haircut', or that on 'Never Wanted' Joe Mount manages to give a holiday packing list a heart-sinking gravitas, or even that 'Reservoir' makes me yearn for a non-existent long-lost lover. Hell, it might even just be that 'Boy Racers' is my unadulterated jam. After some thought these tracks rise to the top, but only after some coaxing; if I were to describe Love Letters in one word, it would be 'unassuming'. It's a record that waits for you to find it, and rewards your effort and endeavour in discovering it.