Hi Gigantic Gang,
We’re back with all the best tunes and albums just dropped this week, all neatly packaged and brought to you in our latest edition of the #NewMusicFriday blog and playlist!
As always, we have the best selection of tickets for gigs and festivals too – so click the links to book shows for your favourite acts.
Have a wicked weekend, and we’ll see you soon xx
ALBUMS
ARLO PARKS – Collapsed In Sunbeams
Arlo Parks is the major new name in spoken word, with her growing number of fans eagerly awaiting her debut album. Their hopes have certainly not been in vain, as Collapsed In Sunbeams is an impressive first record from the South London singer \ poet, fusing trip hop and bright pop vibes into her essential LP.
“It was written and recorded in apartments, essentially. Most of the songs on it were written in January [2020]. We spent a week in this Airbnb just making pasta, writing, recording. And then we had another two weeks during lockdown where most of the record was made. Those were the sessions where I would say a good 70 percent of the record was made. I also did a few sessions with [producer] Paul Epworth and this group called Bad Sounds, where we fleshed out some demos that I had sent their way. In total, it probably only took a few weeks to write this record. I usually just write a song and record it that day, and then that's kind of it. I'm not very good at going back and editing and tinkering it. It's pretty immediate.”
Collapsed In Sunbeams is out now on CD, Red Vinyl and a Bundle containing the Cassette, Flexi-Disk, Limited Edition Coloured Vinyl and a signed Bonus CD Best Of The Lo Fi Lounge.
Arlo Parks tickets are currently available.
THE BESNARD LAKES – The Besnard Lakes Are the Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings
Canadian psyche inflected indie rockers The Besnard Lakes have just dropped their epic new album that covers themes of life, death, loss and the lingering memories which they given the suitably grandiose title The Besnard Lakes Are the Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings!
Included is the spacious single “Our Heads, Our Hearts On Fire Again”, a true extravagant masterpiece which the band have been perfecting over a long time before finally realised in its final form.
“A skeletal version of the song had been in the Besnard vault for several years after we initially rejected it for a film soundtrack. It went through a couple drafts before we tore it apart, rejiggered some parts and resurrected it to its new form. The song is an ode to logic and intuition and being able to learn from the past.”
See The Besnard Lakes when they hit the road in October in promotion of their incredible new record. Tickets are on sale with Gigantic and already selling fast!
The Besnard Lakes tickets are currently available.
GOAT GIRL – On All Fours
Following on from their fiery eponymous first album, art punks Goat Girl return with second LP On All Fours which sheds the confrontation in favour of a more thoughtful approach and reveals a more reflective side to a band now trying to understand their place in the world.
“Music doesn’t need to be political to be important but at the same time it always is in some way. But lyric-wise it was a struggle at the beginning because it was like, how am I gonna continue this idea of what people think of me?” – Lottie ‘Clottie Cream’ Pendlebury
Recorded in South London amidst the chaos and calamities of the previous year and produced by Dan Carey (Black Midi, Kae Tempest and Franz Ferdinand); each song was tracked in the same day, which keeps a real sense of flow throughout the record.
Goat Girl takeover Gorilla in Manchester on Wednesday 22nd of September, where they show off their awesome new album On All Fours, plus play your favourite tracks off the first record.