In No Particular Order – April 17, 2020
*Singing* It’s New Music Fridayyyyy!
Thank you for joining me on this lovely Friday evening for another wonderful collection of In No Particular Order. I’ve filtered through and grabbed a handful my favourite releases from this past week to share with you. As always, there is no particular order in which I’ve ranked them, but nevertheless, the choices are great in their own, weird, quirky, way.
If you enjoy any of the albums below, don’t forget to share them with their friends and family (I’m sure your grandparents would love the new Enter Shikari, it will certainly be loud enough for them to hear). And do an even bigger favour by following Dusty Organ on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Spotify to stay up to date on new releases.
Jaunt – All In One
Indie rock
8.5/10
From the small beginnings as a musical project between two friends who met at a Halloween party, Toronto indie group Jaunt have since grown to a six-piece and have shared their debut album All In One.
The cohesiveness as musicians and as friends comes through as charming musicality, bringing together the funk, soul, jazz, pop, electronica, and rock elements in a fun, gratifying way. As the tracks of All In One cycle through, it’s hard not to feel more and more connected to the band and their music.
All In One has the college-grad articulation of Vampire Weekend mixed with the creative ensemble energy of Arcade Fire and the bedroom laissez-faire of Chad VanGaalen. Most of their songs play around with structure and pattern, giving more depth to the track list. Songs like “Callous Standard” and “Delighted To Be Spoken To” play with your attention, jumping around between key and time signatures, and energy. While “Nostalgia for the Present Moment”, “Bakers Move”, and “Obvious Answer” incorporate some art-rock and bedroom-pop as the more upbeat parts of the record.
Personally, it’s been awhile since I’ve heard such a phenomenal breakout debut release (the most recent being PUP’s self-titled debut). All In One has such character to it, it’s hard not to get caught up in it for a far-too-fast thirty minutes.
Notable tracks: “All In One” // “Nostalgia for the Present Moment” // “Delighted To Be Spoken To”
Enter Shikari – Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible
Electronicore/Experimental Hardcore
9/10
On their sixth album, UK hardcore veterans Enter Shikari have once again propelled themselves one step ahead of the curve. Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible is an ambitious release to say the least, but for such a powerhouse of a group, they have nothing left to do than say “fuck it” and create music that is confidently them.
Enter Shikari have always been on the edge of something, blending together elements of dubstep and house so seamlessly into the genre of metalcore; with each release, the separation between the two worlds blurs more and more. On Nothing Is True…, the self-described “electronicore” quartet have turned their sound into a sonic adventure.
For fans of their previous work, their hit singles are satisfying enough. “THE GREAT UNKNOWN”, “{ The Dreamer’s Hotel }” and “the king” are all there to appease their listeners. But the real soul and core of the album are the so-called “b-side” tracks. “Crossing the Rubicon”, the 2-part “Marionettes” sonata and even the stunning orchestral “Elegy of Extinction”. Seemingly out of place, it is a gripping composition worthy of a place on a Oscar-winning soundtrack.
Built in this criss-cross stitching of sound and music is a career-long frustration of the state of the world and capitalism. “T.I.N.A.” (There Is No Alternative) is a blatant hit at the latter, while “modern living…” is an eerie foreshadowing of the current state of the world. The burning chorus of “We are apocaholics drinking gin and tonics / lying in the flowers counting down the hours” seems to hit differently in April 2020…The line “Everything you’ve loved is about to disappear / I feel it coming there’s something in the air” feels a little too real.
Frontman Rou Reynolds took on the production and mastering duties on the new record, and you can hear his exploration of the band’s sonic potential. “apøcaholics anonymøus (main theme in B minor)” is a glitchy interlude that feels more like a second movement for him to play around in the studio rather than to further the record (not to say it isn’t electrifying to hear at full volume).
For 45 minutes, Enter Shikari smash through expectations on Nothing Is True And Everything Is Possible. Their decision to be more free and experimental with the record gives the philosophical title an extra layer of meaning as the band once again chooses to be revolutionary. The 15 track effort is more than just a sonic opus of Reynold’s mind; it is in fact, a fully-charged critique of the botched corruption of the world and the helplessness and meaninglessness of it all.
Noteable tracks: “{ The Dreamer’s Hotel }” // “T.I.N.A.” // “the king”
Rina Sawayama – Sawayama
8.5/10
Pop/Electro-pop
Japanese-British pop artist Rina Sawayama has been diligently building her repertoire over the last few years to unleash her genre-bending debut album Sawayama. Using the genre of “pop” as a stage, she brings together rock, electronic, disco, funk, and even hints of nu-metal on the 13-track debut.
Bringing the finesse of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera into 2020, Sawayama takes everything she does one step further with swagger and vigour. Hit singles “XS” and “STFU!” tackle identity and materialsim with heavy nu-metal riffs disguised under blankets of electro-pop.
It’s hard not to feel nostalgic towards the ’90s/’00s pop era with hits like “Comme Des Garçons”, “Paradisin'”, and “Love Me 4 Me” (it is also no surprise she worked with writers and producers who have worked alongside Carly Rae Jepsen and Britney Spears).
Her intensity as a person and an artist comes through so strongly on the album it’s almost hypnotic, like a feisty cult leader. I can only imagine what she’ll be able to accomplish in the coming years.
Rina Sawayama is the future of pop.
(Sorry Dua Lipa).
Noteable tracks: “XS” // “STFU!” // “Snakeskin”
