Artist: Big Thief Album: Double Infinity Label: 4AD Link: https://www.bigthief.net/ Style:Folk, Pop, Alternative & Indie
Although the four members of Big Thief met while studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston, it was only after graduating that they began playing music together. In 2016, when their first album Masterpiece was released, they were still unknown. Now, with a decade-long career and a handful of albums under their belt, they are one of the most influential folk artists on the independent scene. Their public and critical success continues to grow with each release, reinforced by the solo projects of the band’s members.
After a change of drummer and the recent departure of their bassist, Big Thief are releasing a sixth album featuring numerous guest musicians. While their method may have changed, their inspiration remains as intense as ever, carried by Adrianne Lenker’s powerful songwriting and emotionally charged vocals. It’s guitar-based folk, certainly, but while retaining the intimate and personal aspect that makes this style so appealing, Big Thief adds a broader, more ethereal dimension that takes the listener further, to a dimension that allows this music to appeal to an ever-growing audience.
In line with the evolution of their sound as their discography has progressed, this album benefits from a magnificent production that highlights the timbres and emotions conveyed by the band’s musicians and guest artists. Their number gives rise to the variety mentioned above and may confuse those looking for a copy of Adrianne Lenker’s magnificent latest solo album. On the other hand, attentive music lovers will delight in the intertwining voices and the steady, calm drumming, over which the intense melodies of acoustic and electric guitars float. In addition, the sound recording is so clean that everything is perfectly clear, making for an even greater audiophile pleasure.
Artist: Alex G Album: Headlights Label: RCA Records Link: www.sandyalexg.com Style: Pop, Folk, Alternative & Indie
Alex Giannascoli was introduced to the guitar at the age of eleven by his older brother. At the same time, he began composing and recording himself in his bedroom. In high school, he played in several bands in his hometown of Havertown, Pennsylvania, which allowed him to explore different musical styles. Between 2010 and 2012, the young man released his work independently on Bandcamp, which earned him a strong online following and led to him signing with various labels, including Domino, before signing with RCA. He cites Neil Young and Elliott Smith as his inspirations, and the lo-fi sound of his early work also brings his music closer to that of the band Pavement.
Still centered around his guitar, his compositions oscillate between acoustic folk reminiscent of Bonnie Prince Billy and a much more lush and electric pop. Strings and backing vocals, featuring the singer’s partner, add an extra dimension to a few tracks without sounding too conventional. Although Headlights is a departure from his early online recordings, he has managed to retain the indie charm that made him such an authentic artist. Fans will not be disappointed by this album, which is also likely to appeal to a new audience.
Long reluctant to record in a studio rather than at home, for fear of losing total control of his music in the face of technology he doesn’t fully master, Alex G took the plunge for his previous album and repeats the experience with Headlights. To do so, he once again placed his trust in Jacob Portrait, and the result is clearly convincing. The Lo-Fi spirit is preserved, with a homemade feel still present, but with a much cleaner and more precise sound that is better suited to listening on a high-quality system, allowing you to appreciate the intertwining of the melodic lines and the timbres of the instruments.
Artist: Flavien Berger Album: Plouf! (Léviathan) Label: Pan European Recording Link: paneuropeanrecording.com Style: Pop, French chanson
Parisian Flavien Berger comes from a family involved in the film industry, and his father is also a jazz critic. As a teenager, he listened to rap and discovered composition with the game Music 2000. While studying at ENSCI – Les Ateliers, he formed the Sin collective with other students, where he was responsible for the sound design of their creations. They later moved to Brussels, and it is from the Belgian capital that the artist releases his music, where he has made a name for himself with two EPs and, above all, his first album in 2015, which demonstrates great originality in compositions based on electronics and home studio recording.
Plouf! is an in-depth reinterpretation, ten years on, of that first album. This time around, Flavien Berger has chosen to abandon computers and sequencers in favor of musicians who will literally recompose his tracks. The result is a more organic sound, somewhat timeless, reminiscent of when the great French arrangers experimented with psychedelia. It suggests Jean-Claude Vannier or the weightless moments of Alain Goraguer’s soundtrack for the movie Planète Sauvage. The collective and the acoustics take us to musical lands that play with the usual reference points, provided we pay attention.
The new Léviathan hasn’t completely lost its aquatic sounds, but it has gained a warmth and fluidity that only playing as a group can bring. And indeed, it is the musicians and their instruments that are brought to the fore. The vocals are placed just below them, favoring their contribution to the atmosphere rather than the comprehension of the lyrics. The timbres, and in particular the sound of the synthesizer, seem to pay homage to French studio recordings of the 1970s, when artists experimented with sound without completely letting go.
Artist: Drift Album: At The Party Label: Animal 63 Link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg9UnQk1oPM Style: Electronic, Funk, Pop
Attached to Ferber Studios, notably Studio B where he has set up shop, while providing sound for Jean-Michel Jarre’s concerts, engineer and producer Renaud Letang has worked with an impressive number of musicians, including many of the most important artists on the French scene. In the particularly long list of albums he has produced, he has embraced a multitude of styles, but alongside these achievements, he has also been quietly working on personal compositions, which he is finally releasing. The artists featured on the album are as numerous as they are diverse in their backgrounds and horizons, sometimes very distant from one another.
Under the pseudonym Drift, Renaud Letang delivers music that is uniquely his own. It draws on influences from disco and funk, but it’s as if these styles weren’t meant to make you dance, daring instead to blend with lounge and even easy listening. Given the number of guest artists, the tracks seem to be the result of a collective effort, and depending on the participants, they take on a style closer to electronic music or hip-hop. To stay in keeping with the mood of the album, even the troublemaker Philippe Katerine offers lyrics that are less absurd and divisive than usual.
This album, produced by Renaud Letang himself, is a bit like a dish worthy of a Michelin-starred restaurant, served to us with Grandma’s portions when she found us anemic. The atmosphere is perfect for relaxing on a rooftop, but audiophiles will appreciate the balance across multiple criteria, never excessive. All the instruments and other electronic sounds are very clear and manage not to sacrifice the connection between them. The soundstage is not the widest, but everything finds its place naturally between the speakers. The overall sound also maintains a balance between instrumental warmth and precision.
A leading band of 90s Britpop, Pulp is strongly embodied by the charismatic Jarvis Cocker, founder and sole original member today. Involved in music since his teens, he saw the band evolve around him. Starting out in post-punk New Wave, the band shifted towards a lighter pop sound in the mid-1980s and achieved notable recognition in 1994 with the album His ‘n’ Her, a success reinforced by Different Class, released the following year. Separated for more than twenty years, the band also had to say goodbye to their bassist, who passed away in 2023. The unexpected release of this album is therefore an event that will delight fans of English indie pop.
Jarvis Cocker’s relaxed crooner-style vocals and diction are as sensual and seductive as ever. They work wonders on the pop tracks that make up this album. While the compositions may not reach the intensity of the best tracks of the 90s, they will not disappoint fans with their sophisticated but never complex structures. The alternation of heavy tracks with more refined ones, plus a few stylistic deviations verging on disco, results in a very enjoyable album that can be listened to many times without ever seeming redundant.
As expected from a band of this caliber, the recording and production quality is top notch. The beautiful balance between the vocals and the other instruments is immediately apparent. The bandwidth is well used, with sometimes lush strings that call on the tweeters and rather warm drums, which are skillfully kept from becoming too emphatic if your system has trouble handling the bass. The transition between tracks with varying amounts of instruments highlights either density or precision, both harbingers of good times for the attentive audiophile.
