Mitski – Nothing’s About to Happen to Me: Back in March, I wrote that this is an easy album. I oversimplified. Yes, the album is more sonically accessible than most of her other records. Lyrically, though, this is anything but easy. This is a record of trauma and mistakes and self-doubt and betrayal and death. My initial high point is “If I Leave,” which carries the theme of “I’m Your Man” (from The Land Is Inhospitable…) to an extreme end. The more I listen to Mitski, the more I hear what an incredible artistic vision she has.
Public Image Ltd. – Second Edition: My reaction to Second Edition is similar to my reaction when I first heard Tago Mago by Can, which was basically jaw-dropping awe. I love how most of these songs build on the back of one or two chords, with Keith Levene and John Lydon shredding the vibe just as quickly as Jah Wobble and the drummer create it.
Van Morrison – Moondance: When I wrote about Moondance last year, I quoted Jason Ankeny saying that this is the yang to Astral Weeks’ yin. (He might have gotten that backwards, but he also might’ve gotten it right.) Moondance crossed my path again this week and I listened quietly, at night, before bed. I finally get it. I kept wanting Moondance to be more like Astral Weeks, but it’s not, and part of its greatness lies in the fact that it’s not recreating Astral Weeks’ beautiful chaos but rather creating its other half. This is an album of love and light and rebirth, arguably the same topics as Astral Weeks but delivered so very differently here.
Gia Margaret – Singing: Margaret and her producers and engineers embedded nuances into this quiet album, a harmony vocal, a delicate solo from an unexpected instrument, a word or phrase that could mean two completely different things. One of my favorites that I found this week is the way the vocal melody in “Moon not Mine” alludes to Frou Frou’s “Let Go,” perhaps a nod to co-producer Guy Sigswith (even though he’s not credited on this song). I picked up the vinyl this week, and it comes with a lovely little lyric book adorned with drawings that represent her rediscovery of her singing voice, and it makes sitting and listening/reading a pleasure.
Old friends who made it into rotation this week: DJ Tennis: Fabric Presents DJ Tennis; The National: First Two Pages of Frankenstein; Gracie Abrams: Good Riddance