CHROMATICS
KILL FOR LOVE
(ITALIANS DO IT BETTER)

After a long lead-up, the NY combo returned with the follow-up to 2007’s Night Drive. In some respects, it’s business as usual: kohl-eyed pop set over noirish synths and crawling disco beats. But there’s a songwriting finesse and an attention to detail that will charm longtime fans all over again. There have been no shortage of Chromatics soundalikes in recent years, but Kill For Love more than rewards all those folks who’ve kept a candle burning for the real thing. 

D’EON
MUSIC FOR KEYBOARDS VOL.1
(SELF-RELEASED)

After a few releases of twangy electronica, Montreal’s d’Eon gifted us a free-floating (and free) album of ambient miniatures and astral etudes. The tracks, dating from 2003-2012, fall somewhere between Erik Satie and Harald Grosskopf. d’Eon recently told FACT about his double-life as as a flower arranger; these graceful, delicate constructions showcase that same eye for the meticulous.

EARTH
ANGELS OF DARKNESS, DEMONS OF LIGHT II
(SOUTHERN LORD)

“Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II is the sound of old rope: tough, unassuming, stained and shined with use. Not only is it every bit as impressive as its predecessor; through a more meditative, contemplative use of elements it is even better.” – full review

GRIMES
VISIONS
(4AD)

“Grimes is the bedroom producer who wears her DIY aesthetic proudly on-sleeve whilst keeping her eyes fixed firmly on the the most plastic regions of chart territory. When it works, it makes for gloriously contradictory pop – it’s just a shame that the formula isn’t a little more consistent.” – full review

HEROIN IN TAHITI
DEATH SURF
(BORING MACHINES)

A suite of drug-hazed instrumentals which purport to be inspired by pulp movies – from surfsploitation romps to Mafia thrillers – and their soundtracks, but which move beyond pastiche into a realm altogether more creepy and compelling. Picture a dark and dangerous doppelgänger to Washed Out’s insipidly aqueous pop.

HORRID RED
CELESTIAL JOY
(HOLIDAYS)

“Pastiche is only ever a half-step away from parody, and there are undoubtedly moments where Horrid Red confuse schtick with style. But the positive tension at the heart of the record – this strange combination of grit and glitter – makes for a thoroughly evocative listen. It’s role play, certainly, but done so affectionately as to be entirely infectious.” – full review

HUMAN TEENAGER
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
(SPECTRUM SPOOLS)

Zonked pop genius from Gary War mainman Greg and Taylor Richardson (one half of Infinity Window with Daniel Lopatin) that seems to take as its starting point the fact that it won’t be fully appreciated until it goes out of print and turns up on Mutant Sounds or its equivalent in 35 years time.

THE INTERNET
PURPLE NAKED LADIES
(ODD FUTURE)

“Daring and surprisingly concerned simply with its own sound, Purple Naked Ladies is like bedroom production demo, with plenty of warmth and discrepancies, and a studio-built classic at the same time. An extremely promising debut.” – full review

JOHN TALABOT
ƒIN
(PERMANENT VACATION)

fIN‘s effective command of light and shade make for an involving listen. Though there are moments where the record lags, Talabot’s modus operandi is distinctive throughout, and at its strongest, fIN’s chilly gleam is at once alluring and foreboding. It’s there in that title: the water’s inviting, but something threatening is lurking under the surface. – full review

JULIA HOLTER
EKSTASIS
(RVNG INTL.)

“There are innumerable elements within each composition that offer to take control and steer the material in a different direction at a given moment. Rather than drifting, the experience is like panning around a rock cut-away, full of surprises and things to observe, yet all compressed into particular shapes and layers.” – full review

LANA DEL REY
BORN TO DIE
(POLYDOR/UNIVERSAL)

“When was the last time a major label debut was 15 tracks long with only one turkey? Born To Die‘s first half is a little too perfect, with songs meticulous to the point of sterility, but when it starts to find form, I can’t think of an album since My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy that’s as big, or sounds as good. – full review

NITE JEWEL
ONE SECOND OF LOVE
(SECRETLY CANADIAN)

“She’s more earnestly a leftfield pop star of now, less beholden to the curious archaeologist’s logic that motivates so much of the contemporary underground…It’s very difficult not to like these songs – for their clarity and craftmanship, but also the strength of their ideas.” – full review

SPACEGHOSTPURRP
GOD OF BLACK
(SELF-RELEASED)

A magnificent mixtape by Miami’s most hyped new rapper (he’s just signed to 4AD, in fact), expanding on the promise of last year’s Blackland Radio 66.6 and those show-stealing guest spots on Juicy J and A$AP Rocky’s last efforts with a desolate, charred interpretation of ’90s Southern hip-hop that, despite having more than an element of the tribute act to it, really doesn’t sound like much else around.

TRIM
BANDOOLOU
(SELF-RELEASED)

“A key line on the record is one of its earliest: ‘I’m in a chair fit for a king, but don’t deserve the throne cos I ain’t fit for a prince’. It’s unclear whether Trim’s pitching for greatness, or spurning it, and the same is true of Bandoolou.” – full review

WOLFGANG VOIGT
RÜCKVERZAUBERUNG 6
(MAGAZINE)

“As one of the most enduring names in minimal techno, Voigt has nothing left to prove, no one left to prove it to. By turning inward, he has enabled himself to produce some of his strangest and most unnerving music to date. Particularly given the ubiquity of the pitched-down/sped-up/fucked-over vocal line in contemporary dance music, it’s refreshing to hear the human voice being treated in ways that raise genuine goose-pimples. – full review