Music update, March 2023.

I think March was a pretty good month for new music, although I was on the road so much I had less time to explore than I do in most months. We did get comeback songs or albums from three of my favorite bands from the ‘80s, though. As always, here’s the direct link to the playlist if the widget below won’t load for you.

The Beths – Watching the Credits. This New Zealand quartet shared this power-pop gem, recorded during the sessions for my #1 album of 2022, Expert in a Dying Field, but failing to make the final cut.Also, check out their mini-concert as part of the NPR Music Tiny Desk series, including my two favorite tracks from that same LP.

Jungle feat. Erick the Architect – Candle Flame. Jungle announced their upcoming fourth album, Volcano, due out in August, and released this very upbeat lead single with rapper Erick the Architect of Flatbush Zombies, who gives the song a Q-Tip/Chemical Brothers sort of vibe.

Killing Joke – Full Spectrum Dominance. An actual new track from Killing Joke, released to honor their sold-out show at London’s Royal Albert Hall last month. Jaz Coleman is 63 and still delivers, with a track that would have fit well on 2015’s Pylon.

Depeche Mode – People Are Good. But I thought people were people? This is probably my favorite track from Memento Mori, Mode’s fifteenth studio album and first since the death of Andy Fletcher last May. The album is hit or miss but its best tracks recall the gothic new wave sound they brought mainstream in from Black Celebration through Violator.

Arlo Parks – Impurities. Parks’ second album, My Soft Machine, is due out on May 26^th, and all of the advance tracks indicate a vocal style similar to that of Collapsed in Sunbeams but with more electronicelements than the first album offered.

The Japanese House – Boyhood. Not to be confused with Japanese Breakfast or Japanese Wallpaper or Japandroids or the ‘70s band Japan, The Japanese House is Amber Mary Bain of Buckinghamshire, England, and this lush, dreamy song is just lovely – she reminds me quite a bit of Ben Howard circa Old Pine.

Daughter – Swim Back. I’m thrilled that the English shoegaze trio Daughter are back, six years after their last album Music from Before the Storm, a soundtrack to the video game Life is Strange: Before the Storm and maybe the best such example of an album I’ve ever heard. Their third proper album, Stereo Mind Game, comes out on Friday.

Bully – Days Move Slow. I’ve never loved Alicia Bognanno’s nasal, raspy vocal style, which often gets compared to Kurt Cobain’s but I think misses core differences in how they sang (or screamed, as the case may be). This song, about grieving the death of her dog, is one of her best melodies and recalls a lot of 1990s post-grunge indie rock, although once again she’s half-singing through her nose and I have a hard time getting around that.

Black Honey – Cut the Cord. Black Honey released their third album of sunny indie rock, A Fistful of Peaches, in March, featuring this track, “Heavy,” “Charlie Bronson,” and “Out of My Mind.”

Temples – Afterlife. The fourth album from this English psychedelic-rock band, Exotico, drops on April 14^th, their first new music since 2019’s superb Hot Motion.

Bartees Strange – Daily News. Another bonus track from Strange’s 2022 sophomore album, the excellent Farm to Table, where he continues to craft his own sound independent of his indie-rock influences.

Hatchie feat. Liam Benzvi – Rooftops. Hatchie can really write a melody, and she’s one of the best songwriters of dream pop working right now, but I have always lamented the lack of power to her voice. It’s boosted here by vocals from Brooklyn singer-songwriter Benzvi,

Christine and the Queens – To be honest. The lead single from his upcoming album PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE is also a throwback to the grandeur of Chris and his prior work. The lyrics explore both his transition and the last four years since the death of his mother, although some of the lines – “I’m trying to love, but I’m afraid to kill” probably lose something in translation.

Alison Goldfrapp – So Hard So Hot. This is indeed the lead singer of Goldfrapp, who released their first album in 2000 (Felt Mountain), releasing her first proper solo record, with this electronica gem as its lead single.

Nabihah Iqbal – This World Couldn’t See Us. Iqbal used to work with the late producer/DJ Sophie as a vocalist, and is about to release her second solo album, Dreamer, on April 28^th. This track sounds like something right out of London’s post-punk/”cold-wave” scene circa 1981, right down to the reverbed vocals.

boygenius – Satanist. I will never love boygenius the way critics do, in part because I don’t love the laconic vocal style of all three members (Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker), but their second album, the record, is a big step up from their first record musically, with much better hooks.

BLOXX – Television Promises. BLOXX first hit my radar with 2020’s Lie Out Loud, which had two bangers in the title track and “Coming Up Short.” This new song has a similar punk-pop vibe but more topical and denser lyrics, with some clever turns of phrase at the cost of some of the track’s energy, and comes in advance of their EP Modern Day, due out in August.

Project Gemini – After the Dawn. I could have sworn this was a King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard track at first, but it’s actually British multi-instrumentalist Paul Osborne, who also works as an editor at Shindig! magazine. This track draws deeply on ‘70s and even late ‘60s psychedelia with some nifty guitarwork in the middle.

Slow Pulp – Cramps. Slow Pulp’s first new music since the 2021 EP Deleted Scenes brings back their grunge/shoegaze hybrid, with elements for fans of Snail Mail and Velocity Girl alike.

Island of Love – Fed Rock. This London band describes their sound as “brutal slamming death metal” on their Instagram, but they’re much more punk – no death growls here, fortunately, although this seems to be a running gag – and post-punk with a surprising sense of melody beneath the frenetic guitar and drums.

Metallica – 72 Seasons. I have to admit, this is pretty good. They’ll never be the Metallica of Puppets or Justice, but I’ll accept this substitute.