{"id":9870,"date":"2023-04-07T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-07T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=9870"},"modified":"2023-04-06T19:20:18","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T23:20:18","slug":"music-update-march-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/07\/music-update-march-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Music update, March 2023."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>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 \u201880s, though. As always, here\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/playlist\/5i3tojQ0PliTx47Ss0HOza?si=5420b5d9f9614bf2\">the direct link to the playlist<\/a> if the widget below won\u2019t load for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Klaw&amp;apos;s March 2023 music update\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/playlist\/5i3tojQ0PliTx47Ss0HOza?si=cd2ca14f77c64ad7&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Beths \u2013 Watching the Credits. <\/strong>This New Zealand quartet shared this power-pop gem, recorded during the sessions for my #1 album of 2022, <em>Expert in a Dying Field<\/em>, but failing to make the final cut.Also, check out their mini-concert as part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2023\/03\/28\/1165328750\/the-beths-tiny-desk-concert\">NPR Music Tiny Desk<\/a> series, including my two favorite tracks from that same LP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jungle feat. Erick the Architect \u2013 Candle Flame.<\/strong> Jungle announced their upcoming fourth album, <em>Volcano<\/em>, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Killing Joke \u2013 Full Spectrum Dominance.<\/strong> An actual new track from Killing Joke, released to honor their sold-out show at London\u2019s Royal Albert Hall last month. Jaz Coleman is 63 and still delivers, with a track that would have fit well on 2015\u2019s <em>Pylon<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Depeche Mode \u2013 People Are Good.<\/strong> But I thought people were people? This is probably my favorite track from <em>Memento Mori<\/em>, Mode\u2019s 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 <em>Black Celebration<\/em> through <em>Violator<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arlo Parks \u2013 Impurities<\/strong>. Parks\u2019 second album, <em>My Soft Machine<\/em>, is due out on May 26<sup>th<\/sup>, and all of the advance tracks indicate a vocal style similar to that of <em>Collapsed in Sunbeams <\/em>but with more electronicelements than the first album offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Japanese House \u2013 Boyhood.<\/strong> Not to be confused with Japanese Breakfast or Japanese Wallpaper or Japandroids or the \u201870s band Japan, The Japanese House is Amber Mary Bain of Buckinghamshire, England, and this lush, dreamy song is just lovely \u2013 she reminds me quite a bit of Ben Howard circa <em>Old Pine<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Daughter \u2013 Swim Back.<\/strong> I\u2019m thrilled that the English shoegaze trio Daughter are back, six years after their last album <em>Music from Before the Storm<\/em>, a soundtrack to the video game <em>Life is Strange: Before the Storm<\/em> and maybe the best such example of an album I\u2019ve ever heard. Their third proper album, <em>Stereo Mind Game<\/em>, comes out on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bully \u2013 Days Move Slow<\/strong>. I\u2019ve never loved Alicia Bognanno\u2019s nasal, raspy vocal style, which often gets compared to Kurt Cobain\u2019s 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\u2019s half-singing through her nose and I have a hard time getting around that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Black Honey \u2013 Cut the Cord. <\/strong>Black Honey released their third album of sunny indie rock, <em>A Fistful of Peaches<\/em>, in March, featuring this track, \u201cHeavy,\u201d \u201cCharlie Bronson,\u201d and \u201cOut of My Mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Temples \u2013 Afterlife<\/strong>. The fourth album from this English psychedelic-rock band, <em>Exotico<\/em>, drops on April 14<sup>th<\/sup>, their first new music since 2019\u2019s superb <em>Hot Motion<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bartees Strange \u2013 Daily News.<\/strong> Another bonus track from Strange\u2019s 2022 sophomore album, the excellent <em>Farm to Table<\/em>, where he continues to craft his own sound independent of his indie-rock influences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hatchie feat. Liam Benzvi \u2013 Rooftops.<\/strong> Hatchie can really write a melody, and she\u2019s one of the best songwriters of dream pop working right now, but I have always lamented the lack of power to her voice. It\u2019s boosted here by vocals from Brooklyn singer-songwriter Benzvi,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Christine and the Queens \u2013 To be honest.<\/strong> The lead single from his upcoming album <em>PARANO\u00cfA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE <\/em>is also a throwback to the grandeur of <em>Chris <\/em>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 \u2013 \u201cI\u2019m trying to love, but I\u2019m afraid to kill\u201d probably lose something in translation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Alison Goldfrapp \u2013 So Hard So Hot.<\/strong> This is indeed the lead singer of Goldfrapp, who released their first album in 2000 (<em>Felt Mountain<\/em>), releasing her first proper solo record, with this electronica gem as its lead single.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Nabihah Iqbal \u2013 This World Couldn\u2019t See Us.<\/strong> Iqbal used to work with the late producer\/DJ Sophie as a vocalist, and is about to release her second solo album, <em>Dreamer<\/em>, on April 28<sup>th<\/sup>. This track sounds like something right out of London\u2019s post-punk\/\u201dcold-wave\u201d scene circa 1981, right down to the reverbed vocals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>boygenius \u2013 Satanist.<\/strong> I will never love boygenius the way critics do, in part because I don\u2019t love the laconic vocal style of all three members (Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker), but their second album, <em>the record<\/em>, is a big step up from their first record musically, with much better hooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>BLOXX \u2013 Television Promises.<\/strong> BLOXX first hit my radar with 2020\u2019s <em>Lie Out Loud<\/em>, which had two bangers in the title track and \u201cComing Up Short.\u201d 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\u2019s energy, and comes in advance of their EP <em>Modern Day<\/em>, due out in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Project Gemini \u2013 After the Dawn.<\/strong> I could have sworn this was a King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard track at first, but it\u2019s actually British multi-instrumentalist Paul Osborne, who also works as an editor at <em>Shindig!<\/em> magazine. This track draws deeply on \u201870s and even late \u201860s psychedelia with some nifty guitarwork in the middle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Slow Pulp \u2013 Cramps.<\/strong> Slow Pulp\u2019s first new music since the 2021 EP <em>Deleted Scenes<\/em> brings back their grunge\/shoegaze hybrid, with elements for fans of Snail Mail and Velocity Girl alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Island of Love \u2013 Fed Rock.<\/strong> This London band describes their sound as \u201cbrutal slamming death metal\u201d on their Instagram, but they\u2019re much more punk \u2013 no death growls here, fortunately, although this seems to be a running gag \u2013 and post-punk with a surprising sense of melody beneath the frenetic guitar and drums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Metallica \u2013 72 Seasons. <\/strong>I have to admit, this is pretty good. They\u2019ll never be the Metallica of <em>Puppets <\/em>or <em>Justice<\/em>, but I\u2019ll accept this substitute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 \u201880s, though. As always, here\u2019s the direct link to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1328,359,167,757,852,261],"class_list":["post-9870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-2023-in-music","tag-alternative","tag-indie","tag-metal","tag-music","tag-rap","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9870"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9871,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9870\/revisions\/9871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}