Tag: New Music

Album of the Week: Wolf Alice – The Clearing

Bassist Theo Ellis told Apple Music that Wolf Alice adopted a “less is more” approach to their fourth album. While it may be somewhat pared back compared to 2021’s superb Blue Weekend it does open with strings, so fret not that this is some raw collection of tracks or a diversion into acoustic folk. It retains the essence of the “Wolf Alice” sound but is somewhat tamed – perhaps a consequence of Greg Kirstin’s production. That said, we don’t mind evolution and maturity – this is still a great collection. Ellie Roswell’s vocals are superb – in fact Mojo magazine described this album as “their best yet” although the Financial Times were admittedly less impressed:

Now in their thirties, the four band members have outgrown the style of music formed over a decade ago. But what they have grown into proves underwhelming.

What do you think?

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.

Album of the Week: Molly Tuttle – So Long Little Miss Sunshine

Holler.country thought this album would be particularly resonant with female audiences, describing it as “full of intensely relatable experiences of girlhood, growth and gaining self-confidence”. Full of catchy melodies, she has a pop vibe (“I Love It” is written originally by Charli XCX and recorded by Icona Pop) but still retains its grounding in bluegrass. The guitar work opening the album on “Everything Burns” is a delight and leads into a confident album reaching out to new audiences but in turn perhaps drawing them into the world of Americana.

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.

Album of the Week: The Black Keys – No Rain, No Flowers

Following on quickly from 2024’s Ohio Players (due to being freed up by a cancelled tour) No Rain, No Flowers is another excellent effort, a collection of catchy bluesy numbers that don’t tread new territory but sound great. Some of the reviews have been a bit cool (AllMusic summing it up as “there aren’t many surprises here, for better or worse, and it’s a pleasant, straightforward collection of reliably rocking jams”) but we’ve loved the singles and the album has the swame great groove.

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.

Album of the Week: Tami Neilson – Neon Cowgirl

We think this is adoptive Kiwi Tami Neilson’s tenth studio album, a collection of songs that is country infused. Opening with the orchestrally backed and very traditional “Foolish Heart” this is a polished album that plays to her wonderful voice so suited to old school country and full of drama.

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.

Album of the Week: Lord Huron – The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1

Lord Huron’s fifth album (yes it is a proper album with 12 tracks despite the Vol 1 moniker) comes after a four year hiatus, a time during which their popularity has grown thanks largely to the popularity of song “The Night We Met”. Ben Schneider visits the West again with songs of skies and deserts, jangling guitars and distorted voices. Aside: pet gripe, distortion on vocals is really overdone these days!

It evokes the highway on “Who Laughs Last” with narration from actress Kirsten Stewart but also features simple love songs such as the tender “Fire Eternal” (a duet with Kazu Makino). This is a set of beautiful melodic songs. Apple Music says that “it never tries to sound too earnest or authentic in the mood it captures, instead embracing them for the cinematic archetypes they are”. Paste Magazine describes it as a “vision quest—a spiritual trek into a stark, open landscape under vast skies, where finding yourself means getting lost”.

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.

Album of the Week: Bruce Springsteen – Tracks II “Faithless”

Our journey through Bruce Springsteen’s mammoth Tracks II box set continues. The Music Den‘s excellent review inspired me to move onto disk 3, the soundtrack for a planned ‘spiritual Western’ recorded around 2005. This is a beautiful collection of songs and instrumental pieces inspired by a character (or Bruce’s) struggle with faith and spirituality. According to Pitchfork:

“This was a really unusual collection of songs,” Springsteen said in press materials. “You could recognize details and maybe a character or two. But for the most part, I just wrote atmospheric music that I thought would fit.”

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.

Album of the Week: Bruce Springsteen – Tracks II “Streets of Philadelphia Sessions”

Bruce Springsteen, like many artists wasn’t just sitting around watching Netflix during the Covid era. He had the idea of going back through some unreleased material and polishing it up for release as a sequel to his Tracks of 1998, an understated effort by comparison. It is an indication of his greatness that he had at least seven unreleased albums sitting in the vault that had been put aside. Now here they are in all their glory along with great sleeve notes and a documentary telling the story from The Boss himself. We’re going to focus on the second record, the so-called Streets of Philadelphia sessions, an album recorded in 1994 and put aside “that pairs downtrodden tales of distance and doubt with drum loops and dreamy synths that occasionally border on trip-hop” according to Pitchfork‘s excellent review.

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.

Album of the Week: HAIM – I quit

HAIM are back after quite a wait (their last album was released in 2020) and they don’t disappoint. Qobuz described it as “warm, fresh and idiosyncratic”. This is a great well produced collection of rock/pop – we can’t wait to share tracks from it with you.

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.

Album of the Week: Kaleo – MIXED EMOTIONS

This is the third album from Icelandic rockers Kaleo. It explores some pretty serious material (e.g. mass shootings in “USA Today”) with impactful and polished blues rock. Website When The Horn Blows described how “KALEO have crafted a thunderous, tender, and often harrowing journey through desolation and defiance, death and deathlessness”.

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.

Album of the Week: Turnstile – NEVER ENOUGH

Aside from our OCD dislike of mis-capitalised song titles this great new album is a good counter to the often heard ‘truism’ that rock is dead. This is fresh sounding, melodic and varied rock ranging from great synth-ey and accessible numbers like the title track to more ‘full on’ songs like BIRDS that just push our boundaries of hardcore. An excellent collection from the Baltimore band. Pitchfork capture it perfectly in their review headline:

The biggest band in hardcore grows big enough to encompass electronic rhythms and flute meditation. Its new album winks to outsize expectations but answers to a higher calling”

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.