Round-up Tracks: St Vincent, The Cribs & More

Forget all those zodiac animals - 2014 was the year of St Vincent. Nobody would’ve blamed Annie Clark for taking some time out to play another game of tag with some Texan rattlesnakes, but as it goes, she’s done the opposite. In her Record Store Day Black Friday release, ‘Pieta/Sparrow’, she went in hard on strange, religious tales of old, twisting them to her own increasingly driven, electronic ends.

‘Bad Believer’ takes these ideas to ever-propulsive extremes. “From the nave and down into the altar/ I left my mama sitting in the pew/ and up before the trembling pastor/ faded as he touched my trembling hand,” Clark sings over squelching synths and frog-poppy little drum machines, narrating her own religious rapture. Thing is, she doesn’t seem that invested in the whole thing; she’s a ‘Bad Believer,’ after all. Annie Clark’s a self-confessed sinner, and word is that the devil’s a big fan. (El Hunt)

The announcement of The Cribs’ new album is probably the most exciting thing to happen in music this week, and it happened eight hours into Monday morning. With ‘For All My Sisters’ set for release on 23rd song ‘An Ivory Hand’ is the first piece of new material from the trio to surface since 2013’s ‘Leather Jacket Love song,’ and it’s everything that fans have been waiting for.

Rousing refrains flood through the very core of the track, leading in and out of awe-inspiring choruses. All the while Gary Jarman’s distinctive layered vocals add further weight to heartfelt lyrics capable of prompting mass-swoonings on the spot. It’s peerless – a glorious pop anthem that’ll sear itself to many a soul. The Cribs have always been a band to inspire ardent dedication, and with this stadium-sized release, the trio are set to tug on more than just a few heartstrings. Rest easy: the Jarman brothers are back at last, and they’re sounding bigger and bolder than ever before. (Jessica Goodman)

In typically genius style, Laura Marling called her newest album ‘Short Movie’. Its name perfectly encapsulates what a good album should be – a miniature-scale piece of audio-cinema that toys with the listener’s feelings and shoves them into an “Emotional Rollercoaster” more erratic than a drunken ride on Inferno. And – in turn – the first sonic slab sliced from the album is perfectly fitting of that, through its mentally unstable narrative of self-alienation (‘Is it still OK that I don’t know how to be, at all?’). That’s like any good plot: dripping with engaging conviction.

Musically, ‘False Hope’ is just as arresting. It’s like making little tiny lightbulb circuits in Physics at school - it’s experimental, bright, and best of all, it’s far more electric than the stuff on ‘Once I Was an Eagle’. The folky elements are still latent, but it’s got a pretty bad-ass guitar riff in its potent underbelly of urgent drums and throbbing bass. Even the vocals have been flecked with something different; there’s a Lou Reed edge to some of the spoken-word drawls, and confidence oozes from the whole track like an arrogant candle with fever. All that’s needed is a nice comfy seat and a vat of popcorn to see you through until March 23rd. (Kyle MacNeill)

74 years young seems as fair an age as any other to have a second bite of the cherry, and as someone who pioneered the beginnings a whole genre, few would deny Giorgio Moroder another dance. Last year on Daft Punk’s ‘Giorgio by Moroder’ he created a nine-minute auto-biography, declaring “once you free your mind about a concept of harmony and music being correct, you can do whatever you want. Nobody told me what to do.” Nearly 40 years on, nobody has had to.

In Moroder’s case, disco is welcomed back more than ever before. ’Right Here, Right Now’ - with a certain Kylie Minogue on vocals - could be another chart-smasher, especially when compared with ‘Get Lucky’ and ’Uptown Funk’; both of which share similar throwback-recalling properties to Moroder’s new track. Two veterans have combined in the present and while borrowing from the past, Moroder proves that there are still new grounds for him to walk. Nobody can knowingly make the sound of the future twice, but that’s not to stop Kylie and Giorgio reminding everyone else that they’re still writing it. (Sean Stanley)

Chaz Bundick is never one to take a break. He spent most of last year writing and performing under the alias Les Sins, and now he’s leaving electronic beats behind to make his return as Toro Y Moi. With new album ‘What For?’ set for release on 6th April, its lead track has had more than a few heads turning.

‘Empty Nesters’ is a first taste of a new direction (which seems to accompany every Chaz Bundick record), and it’s positively radiant. The track marries elements of garage and rock together with sun-drenched refrains and sailing synths, whilst a funk-driven breakdown soars faultlessly in the midst. The result is much more than “another hit for the teens.” Demonstrating guitar pop at its very best, ‘Empty Nesters’ is an infectiously refreshing anthem that practically radiates with the summer heat and youthful energy.

It’s a broad spectrum of sounds that Chaz Bundick has mastered, and with this release he’s showing no signs of slowing down. ‘Empty Nesters’ might not be what’s expected, but it’s definitely what fans have been craving. (Jessica Goodman)

It can’t be denied – ever since The Vaccines stumbled into view in 2011 amidst a mist of hype, they have been adamant that they are a pop band. The signs were certainly there - they clung onto the same three chords like a limpet that loves the Ramones a bit too much, and packed in more hooks than Ricky Hatton having a fist-fight with a fisherman. Yet, at the same time, they were all too easy to squeeze into the notorious ‘guitar band’ category; they were six-strung saviours ready to take on brostep and become indie sweethearts quicker than you can say ‘Alt-J’. Part of the reason it was so easy was that their music fitted in pretty damn well – their first LP had a punk edge, while ‘Come of Age’ contained grungy, alt-rock tunes like ‘Weirdo’ and ‘Ghost Town’.

Their ‘Melody Calling’ EP, released in 2013, changed everything. The Beach-Boys via George Harrison vibe and general sunniness was like a Pop Tart: poppy, and bloody delectable. Around the same time came the revelation that Justin Young had worked with One Direction on new material. Now, their self-defined peppiness has really come to the forefront with ‘Handsome’. Centred around a stylish Hong-Kong Kung-Fu cinema aesthetic, it’s all about Phoenix-y guitar hooks and bopping drums lifted from the most recent Strokes stuff. It’s not only ridiculously infectious and fun, but also manages to perfectly fulfill what we really ‘expected from the Vaccines’ all those years ago: making their third album a handsome prospect indeed. (Kyle MacNeill)

Tobias Jesso Jr.’s always been inextricably linked to his back-story - one featuring plenty of misfortune and pain along the way. His stories inspired his lyrics, but with few people to tell them to, the recognition never quite arrived. Eventually, though, something had to give. Two years ago, Tobias had his epiphany. Finding himself better suited to the piano, he put down his guitar, and got him the break he wanted. Dreams and observations created previous demos ‘True Love’ and ‘Just A Dream’, and while the moving and semi-autobiographical ‘Hollywood’ represented a trilogy of life thus far, ‘How Could You Babe’ shows him very much in the present.

Playing in Californian sunshine, Tobias looks as bright as his surroundings, with no abstracts in his way. ’How Could You Babe’ presents a release for someone who has sought a way to express himself, having been bound for too long. Hammering the piano with verve, it’s another ballad in his building catalogue of classic songwriting. The title bears no question mark - suggesting that his questions have been answered - and his song signatures have firmly dried to paper. There’s a little bit of everything with Tobias Jesso Jr’s music - love, pain, dreams and dejection - but right now this preview for ‘Goon’ suggests freedom and happiness. Accept him for what he is, a completely remarkable spirit. (Sean Stanley)

Tags: St. Vincent, The Cribs, Listen, Features