In No Particular Order: Life, Love, & Noise (08/28/20)
This is an absolutely busy weekend for amazing new releases. I struggled to pick four for this week’s In No Particular Order, but here we are. Before I get going into this week’s review, I need to give a shoutout to The Heaps, Hayley Blais, Dream Nails, and the Avett Brothers for all putting out fantastic full-lengths this week, but I just can’t get to it all. (I wish I had six brains so I could).
Nevertheless, alongside those honourable mentions, we have the latest from electronic duo Disclosure, the debut from Brighton punks CLT DRP, a return from B.C. singer-songwriter Aidan Knight, and two powerful singer-songwriter albums from Haley Blais and Ruston Kelly.
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It’s busy one, so let’s get to it!
CLT DRP – Without the Eyes
9/10
Experimental punk/Fem-punk
“It’s pronounced clit drip”.
“Does a clit drip?”, a high-pitched voice laughs once in the intro before crashing into the brutally honest “I Don’t Want To Go To The Gym”. In terms of an introduction, it’s a fitting first impression for Brighton-based fem-punk trio CLT DRP. On their debut album Without the Eyes, they tackle feminism, empowerment, and self-depreciation in a messy, yet seamless blend of female-pop, electro-punk, and avant-garde hardcore punk, mashing together influences into a head-banging unique sound.
The main source of power comes from the band’s barrelling energy and freedom to create. Drummer Daphne cruises through genres, with heavy metal, noise, punk, and even drum n’ bass adding to the dynamics, while guitarist Scott experiments with pedals, effects, and scratching tones to shape their music into the ether. On lead singles “Where the Boys Are”, and “I Kill For Nothing”, lead singer Annie Dorrett lets her range take charge, moving from quiet, psycho-killer into blood-thirsty, anarchist. Keeping within the noise-complaint level of punk, CLT DRP move freely with song structure, time signature, and experimental details and effects, washing together glitchy guitar effects, unstable electronic textures, and vocal manipulations. It’s punchy, free-spirited, and loud-mouth, something you treasure in a punk album.
CLT DRP are more than just loud, punk artists melding the genre into their own medium; they’re also weirdly witty and comical with their songwriting, making fun of themselves, the patriarch, and extreme feminists.
“Maybe I don’t want to go to the gym / I wish I was 2001 Jennifer Aniston”, they lament on “I Don’t Want To Go to the Gym” – a battle cry to defy beauty standards. Or “Speak to My”, where they explicit call it like it is with the lyrics “speak to my fat, speak to my knees, speak to my pussy… Speak to my FUCK YOU”.
But the album’s pinnacle, in both sound and lyrics, is the second wave feminist anthem/anti-anthem “Where the Boys Are”. Its ferocity comes out in the verses with lyrics “Peaches taught me to fuck the pain away…Peaches taught me to like kinky shit, having fuzzy spots on my crotch and make him deal with it”. The building tension comes out on the explosive chorus “I wanna be where the boys are / god help these second wave feminists”, as CLT DRP scream out the political rage and sexual hypocrisy.
For the duration of the 12-track effort, CLT DRP remain unpredictable, ferocious, and loud. It’s a compelling debut, and even more so, a compelling release in the punk genre (feminist or not). Taking no hostages, Without the Eyes is sitting high on the top albums of the year.
Notable tracks: “Where the Boys Are” // “Skin Remover” // “Speak To My”
Disclosure – Energy
7.5/10
Electronic/House
The Lawrence brothers are back with their first record in almost five years. Working together as Disclosure once again, the UK pair deliver their familiar taste of four-to-the-floor house, but spice things up with a collection of big name features and more approachable pop elements. While their debut album Settle remains their top release, they maintain the hit-making recipes on Energy but with a twist that welcomes the rising electro-hip-hop and alt-R&B scene, a repeition of sorts from their 2015 sophomore Caracal.
Common, Mick Jenkins, Syd,Kehlani, and Khalid make appearances on the record, bringing things down on tracks “Reverie”, “Who Knew”, “Birthday”, and “Know Your Worth” respectively. In reference to the 20-track deluxe version of Energy, these big features almost get lost in the track list, with their names taking over from the house style Disclosure is best known for. Although it should be noted that slowthai and Aminé make a strong presence on “My High” and L.A. rapper Channel Tres on “Lavender” – both possible club hits, with an approachable pop framing.
Nevertheless, Disclosure find their strength when combining their underground house sound with world music. They dip their toes into a handful of African influences, including Mali-inspired “Douha” featuring Malian artist Fatoumata Diawara, Cameroon’s Eko Roosevelt samples on “Tondo, and Niger band Etran Finatawa on “Etran”. The addictive afrobeats and drum patterns combine flawlessly with the UK underground sound of Disclosure, along with Brazilian samba hit “ENERGY” adding to the internationally-inspired club hits.
Naturally, it’s virtually impossible to replicate and then also build upon their debut sound on Settle, but the Lawrence brothers certainly have some fun trying while exploring and experimenting on their third release. And with dance music, having fun is half the experience.
Notable tracks: “My High” // “Douha”// “ENERGY”
Ruston Kelly – Shape & Destroy
7.8/10
Alternative folk/singer-songwriter
There’s an unmarked line between emo and emotive. Singer-songwriter Ruston Kelly walks it delicately, finding a balance between the bitter and the sweet in life and using his melancholic style to swap between the two on his new album Shape & Destroy. The Nashville-based artist paints a folk-tinted picture of life through worn out lenses; the wear and tear of life coming out as he moves through love, loss, doubt, success, sobriety and self-defeat.
For the majority of the record, it’s simply Kelly and his guitar. His intimate approach to songwriting provides an unparalleled richness to his sound, incorporating elements of folk, country, emo, and pop into his music. Although it all sits within the same musical spectrum, he manages to find some versatility in his sound. “Radio Cloud” and “Rubber” lean into his acoustic-pop repertoire, while “Under the Sun” rips into a spirited emo rock song. Most of Shape & Destroy however sits comfortably in the alt-folk universe, with twangy melody lines and the occasional slide guitar. Opener “In the Blue”, “Alive”, and “Closet Thing”
Drenched in heartfelt melancholy and insightful observation, Kelly’s rustic, oaky vocals add to his lyricism. He turns the opening line of “Brave”, his strongest contribution to the record, into a rich, smokey philosophical, existential question of “Who am I and how will I be remembered when I die” as fleeting nostalgia kicks in.
Most of his lyrics feel open to interpretation, using ambiguity to allow listeners to hear their own inspiration in his songs, something folk and emo often share. As is the case with art, its value relies on interpretation, and Kelly puts the songs out there with his life in mind, only to be received by someone else completely, building connection with his listeners and fans. Shape & Destroy is easy on the ears, and with its poetic strengths, has a certain depth and value that many singer-songwriters aspire to.
Notable tracks: “Radio Cloud” // “Brave” // “Under the Sun”
Aidan Knight – Aidan Knight
8.5/10
Alternative/Indie rock
It’s been four years since Victoria-based singer-songwriter released his last album Each Other. Relocating, touring, a new son, and many other accumulating things in life built up the last few years as Knight wrote his self-titled, fourth album. The result is a humanistic story and congregation of the highs and lows of adult life, from depression, loneliness, death, and self deprecation, to love, family, and blissful nostalgia. It’s an all-encompassing musical experience that moves in a flow similar to life itself.
Aidan Knight is an ode to his predecessors, like Neil Young and Paul McCartney, taking the warming styles of ’60s and ’70s pop and folk with gated guitars, fun chord progressions, and harmony-filled hooks. His lyricism is bright and honest too, bringing out hints of Bahamas with the candid humour that ropes you in early on the record, and elements of Ben Gibbard, with colourful detail and narrative. “Call me pretty…ugly as a joke” opens second song “La La”, inviting you in to joke along with a friend. Or the heartfelt sweetness of opening song “Julia in the Garden”, a sincere and beautifully honest song about his life partner.
But while there are (mostly) blissful moments on the record, he takes it on the chin with “Rolodex” and “Mary Turns the Pillow”, singing about loneliness in such vivid detail with lines “I miss you and I hate myself for living with out you / I hate myself for so many things / And it tires me out” on the latter. Facing the opposite way of his love song to Julia, “Rolodex” is a heart-wrenching song about following out of love late in a marriage and life together, as Knight finds a way to show both sides of a long-term relationship.
He reaches to his external environment for inspiration as well on the record, branching out to include the denial of climate change denial by the rich on “Houston, TX”, providing heart and soul with his sombre delivery with lyrics like “rising water swallows us /money changers the tables gonna bust / sooner or later”.
Embracing the cyclical fashion of life and its natural ups and downs, “These Days” brings the album to a close with its blind reassurance of “it’s all gonna work out one of these days”, masked behind a fame-chasing story in L.A.
On his self-titled return, Aidan Knight is stronger than ever, providing a stunningly well-rounded listening experience that tugs at heart strings, fuels the muse, and enriches the soul. Written over the course of three years, Knight uses time to his advantage, building experience and stories to share with the world.
Notable tracks: “Julia in the Garden” // “VVV (Veni Vidi Vici) // “Rolodex”
