In No Particular Order: Things Are Going to Be Alright (08/14/20)
Don’t worry, music is here to save the day.
Welcome back to In No Particular Order, the place to discover fantastic album releases from this week. My selections this week are here to help brighten your week, in more ways than one. From the bright, youthful spirit of Busty and the Bass’s new record, to the intergalactic experimental installment from Son Lux, to the imaginary beaches of Young Jesus, consolation comes across in different forms.
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Busty & The Bass – Eddie
8.5/10
Funk/Soul
For Montreal 8-piece Busty and the Bass, it’s been quite a run since their debut EP in 2015. The McGill University favourites have gone on to tour the world and share their groovy, fun-loving funk sound with millions of fans. On their sophomore album Eddie, Busty and the Bass have pulled in their college-kid sound to create a mature, well-rounded affair that was inspired by their younger selves. As an album, Eddie poses the question “What advice would you give that younger version of yourself? And if you could pass yourself a mixtape, what would that sound like?”
Lead singles “Kids” and “Out of Love” are pillars of the record’s theme, reassuring the album’s protagonist that things will be alright with iconic B&B flare and soul. The big band energy and horn section help lift each track with its own melodic spirit. “Out of Love”, a song about getting through heartbreak, features R&B songstress Macy Grey, opening the record with brimming positivity, before transferring over into the motivational “Kids”. Similar to their 2017 debut Uncommon Good, some of the songs take on a smooth, R&B vibe, such as “Clouds”, featuring Moonchild vocalist Amber Navran, and “Eddie”, an inspiring song about holding onto your inner child.
Using their R&B flavour to bring out some powerful hip-hop elements on the record, Busty and the Bass add some weight with “Figure It Out”, “ET”, “Go So Far” featuring Detroit rappers Illa J and Jon Connor, and album closer “Cold Nights”.
With this next chapter in the band’s career, their poise and maturity comes out on heartfelt tune “Summer”, a lush soul piano ballad about a summer fling that eventually swells into a beautiful finale.
As a genre, it’s hard to do any wrong when you have a jazz-trained horn section at the heart of your songwriting. The difference maker for Busty and the Bass is their mission to constantly improve and find new avenues to explore, and on Eddie, they manage to remain youthful and fun while finding the sincerity in nostalgia and the soul in their voices.
Notable tracks: “Out of Love” // “Kids” // “Figure It Out”
Son Lux – Tomorrows Pt. I
8/10
Experimental/Indie Electronic
For L.A. trio Son Lux, ambition and discovery are at the core of their sound. Lead by frontman Ryan Lott, and rounded out by multi-instrumentalist Rafiq Bhatia, and percussionist Ian Chang, the group have never shied away from creating powerful, uncharted music. Rich, minimalistic production is met with unpredictable, vibrant textures and string arrangements to create an interstellar, cinematic music listening experience. With two dazzling full-lengths behind them (2015’s BONES, 2018’s Brighter Wounds), Son Lux are looking towards the future with the 3-part release Tomorrows. They have shared the first part of the trilogy, a ten-track exploration of disruption, change, and music’s relationship to life.
The album was written over the last three years, but the lyrics were only penned in the last three months, using the current scope of the world as influence and inspiration for the mutating sound of the record. Lead single “Plans We Made” delves into the fragility of expectations and plans, allowing the universe to carve its own path – an extremely relevant topic for today. Meanwhile, “Last Light”, a brooding song about the unpredictability of life and time follows suit by combining realistic thoughts with ethereal musicality. Standout track “Honesty”, featuring a rare guitar solo from Bhatia, rounds out the album with its orchestral structure and powerful performance from the band as a unit with Lott’s haunting vocals, Chang’s pseudo-rock percussion, and Bhatia’s aforementioned guitar part.
A handful of the tracks remain purely instrumental, allowing the band’s experimentation and iconic soundscape to shine on the record. The staccato’d percussion, swelling bass notes, and prickling string plucking build into a tactile listening experience on opening track “Dissolve” and the Hans Zimmer-esque closing track “Involution”, which brings the trilogy’s opener to a dramatic finish, rounding out the density and heavy topics into an atmospheric and ethereal cluster of strings and textures.
Unsurprisingly so, Tomorrows is not an album meant for passive listening. The beauty and prowess is in the details and chaotic instrumentation, rounded out by the shared duty of its relevant lyricism. Son Lux are masters of their sound, creating beautifully lush soundscapes in a universe of their own.
Notable tracks: “Plans We Made” // “Honesty” // “Last Light”
Young Jesus – Welcome to Conceptual Beach
8/10
Alternative/Indie experimental
For Young Jesus frontman John Rossiter, Welcome to Conceptual Beach is an invitation to his band members, listeners, and change to his mental happy place ‘Conceptual Beach’, the shores of which have spent the last few years occupied by Rossiter alone. His opening up to new elements comes alive on the new record, bringing in songs that were written over four years ago to life.
Mixing together elements of post-punk, jazz, southern rock, and psychedelic, Welcome to Conceptual Beach is a dreamy, captivating addition to the Los Angeles four-piece. Rounded out by bassist Marcel Borbon, keyboardist Eric Shevrin, and drummer Kern Haug, Young Jesus don’t limit themselves to one direction or one sound, giving the 7-track collection a colourful map of genres to explore.
From sombre opener “Faith”, to dusty jazz bar rock on “Pattern Doubt”, to emo-rock “(un)knowing”, the changing time signatures, interchanging solos and experimentation plays like a New York jazz ensemble masked as a long-haired rock band, substituting pretentiousness for candid musical freedom. And that’s only the first three tracks. The rest of the album has a similar trajectory of following the music. The slow-burning explosion of “Meditations” and improvisational spirit of “Lark” showcase the band’s boundary-less experience with music, switching between poignant and sincere, with free-flowing and melodic almost instantly. The progressive jam-rock of bands like Bright Light Social Hour mixed with emo rock of American Football come to mind as Young Jesus provide back to back 10-minute tracks “Lark” and “Magician” to finish off the welcoming LP.
Notable tracks: “Faith” // “Pattern Doubt” // “Lark”
