Big Album Guide
REA
DDO
RK.
COM
Q3/
Q4
201
8
Your ultimate guide to all the big releases you need to know for the rest of 2018!
Deaf Havana. One of British rock’s biggest bands is rewriting the rules.
Index.
Dork’s Big Album Guide Q3/Q4 2018
Ed’s letter.
Depending on which way up you’ve decided to hold this special edition of Dork, this could be your introduction to our fi rst Big Album Guide. With so much happening in the second half of 2018, we’ve put together this guide to all the big releases you can expect over the next few months. Our two cover stars represent two poles of what’s to come - an established band trying something new (Deaf Havana) and a new act aiming to hit the big time (Bad Sounds). It doesn’t stop there, though. Dive in!
S tephen
Editor / @stephenackroyd
DORK
Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler Contributing Editors Jamie Muir, Martyn Young Events Liam James Ward Scribblers Alexander Bradley, Ben Jolley, Cal Cashin, Chris Taylor, Ciaran Steward, Dominic Allum, Janessa Williams, Jessica Goodman, Liam Konemann, Steven Loftin Snappers Isha Shah, Jennifer McCord, Niall Lee, Patrick Gunning, Sarah Louise Bennett Cover photo: Sarah Louise Bennett P U B L I S H E D F RO M
W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M U N I T 10, 23 G RA N G E RO A D, H A S T I N G S, T N34 2R L
SIDE A 4. DEAF HAVANA 11. TWENTY ONE PILOTS 12. THE 1975 14. SPRING KING 16. IDLES 17. MØ 18. BASTILLE 19. DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE 20. PLUS… 24. AND MAYBE…
All material copyright (c). All rights reserved.
3
DORK
READDORK . COM
Need to know
4
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM GUIDE
Deaf Havana’s new album isn’t what you’re expecting from the previously rock focused five piece - ‘Rituals’ is an explosion of pop colour. Words: Ali Shutler. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.
W
ith last year’s ‘All These Countless Nights’, Deaf Havana finally became the band they wanted to be. They found
peace in their struggles, sounded comfortable in who they were and laid their demons to rest. The band had been through a lot, and you could tell. Their debut album saw them as a screaming, hardcore mob until their then lead singer left. ‘Fools and Worthless Liars’, their first with James Veck-Gilodi upfront, was a fizzying mix of
5
DORK
READDORK . COM
frustrated storytelling and britrock enthusiasm, while ‘Old Souls’ had more in common with Bruce Springsteen than Lower Than Atlantis or You Me At Six. After triumphing on the Main Stage of Reading & Leeds in 2014, they disappeared. In the silence, they almost broke up. Two years later and the roar of ‘All These Countless Nights’ saved them. What happened next, “was just the best year we’ve ever had as a band,” beams James. “It was just incredible. We toured more than we’ve ever had.” “But they were worthwhile
tours,” adds Matt. “Everything we did came off well. We wanted it a bit more, as well.” Their new album ‘Rituals’ isn’t about safety, though. It’s not the next step. It’s not a bit more. ‘Rituals’ is something entirely different. When the band came home from tour last November, James knew he had to write an album. “All I had were two demos which were not good,” he says, and the feeling that “there’s no way I’m going to be able to it. I wrote thirty songs over four years for the last album. It was four years of experiences.” Phil Gornell, the band’s front of house technician, invited James up to his studio for three days to do some demos and see if that sparked anything. “I ended up staying for three months,” says James. The pair sat in front of a computer and learnt to build songs that way. “It was so bizarre. It was totally different from how we’ve ever made an album before. I wouldn’t recommend writing a record that way, but it sorta worked out I guess,” he ventures, uncertain for just a moment. Matt doesn’t waver. “Everyone says this when they have an album out, but it is the best thing we’ve done. Yeah, it is slightly more poppy, but it’s also the most creative thing we’ve done.” “We took a lot of influence from hearing stuff, then asking how it was made and trying to recreate that sound, as a challenge to ourselves more than anything,” explains James. “It’s something we’ve never done before. We’ve always just been a two-bit rock band. The demos I was writing before sounded like shit Weezer b-sides.” And that just wasn’t exciting enough. Not content with simple steps, ‘Rituals’ is a giant leap in an odd, unexplored angle for ‘Deaf Havana’. They’ve never had A Sound, but they’ve always stuck to their guitarled lane. From the opening choral welcome of ‘Wake’ that
“I fully understand people might not like it. If they do, brilliant. If they don’t, well, I like it” quickly falls into the stomping jubilance of ‘Sinner’, through the shapeshifting shuffle of ‘Hell’ and the driving horizon swing of ‘Saviour’ until ‘Saint’, the record sees the band full of daring and direction. “If something started sounding a bit bizarre and made us ask, ‘Is this a bit too far?’, instead of saying ‘Let’s not do it’ we decided if we’re going to do it, we have to go for it,” starts Matt. “And go for it wholeheartedly. You can hear that we haven’t given it any half measures. We’ve thrown ourselves completely into it. It might sound different to what people might expect from us, but really, it’s a better record as a result,” he promises. Deaf Havana never once get defensive about ‘Rituals’, their shiny new direction or just how different things sound. It’s another rock band gone pop, but it isn’t cynical or calculated. The band have once again stumbled forward, but there’s a commitment to the change. A confidence in the charge. “If we didn’t fully back this record, we’d feel a lot more worried,” starts James. “If we sat down and said, right, we need to make a pop album, then we would be defensive about it because it would be fake but this, so weirdly, just naturally ending up sounding this way. It wasn’t a conscious decision. It just happened.” For any other band would
6
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM G UIDE
sound unbelievable; ‘Rituals’ is so deliberate, so sure of itself. But Deaf Havana have been turning accident to triumph for their whole careers now. “We don’t need people liking it to validate us thinking they’re good songs. We’ve already got that feeling. If our fans like it, which I think they will and I hope they will, that’s the bonus. Also, who are we to act that way? If people don’t like it, they don’t like it. ‘This is what we’re doing so fuck everyone else?’ Nah. It’s arrogant to be so defensive. I fully understand people might not like it. If they do, brilliant. If they don’t, well, I like it.” Deaf Havana finally got a win on ‘All These Countless Nights’ after years of being a bit unlucky, a bit glum. All the pieces fell into place, so it makes the risk of Going Pop even greater. “At this stage in our career, it’s what we needed to do,” starts Matt. Not for the business of the band, but for the mates who are Deaf Havana. “We could have very easily come out with another record that was just slightly different but much more in keeping with what we’ve done before.” “It still would have been good,” continues James. “But it would have been a follow-on to ‘All These Countless Nights’. That wouldn’t have been shit, but for me, it would have felt the same. I needed a risk. It either needs to go up or down. I need
a radical decision to be made because I can’t keep plateauing and playing average emo music. I need something to happen.” It’s why the band were so open to doing something different. “It’s important to take those risks, otherwise why are we doing it?” questions Matt, before James reflects with a grin: “I remember when I sent you ‘Hope’ and you said, we can’t use that. You said give it to someone else.” “At the start, I didn’t get it,” admits Matt. He wasn’t the only one. The first song finished for the record was ‘Sinner’, so James sent it to their manager. The reply was that this wasn’t going to work. Two days later though, and he’d come around. It was the same for Matt. “And that’s the thing; it might take a bit more work for some people.” That initial doubt led to James questioning himself a lot, but “it’s not like I sat down and said, right, this record needs to be pop. It just ended up sounding like that. What we listen to now is all pop. I don’t really listen to music with guitars in, and that’s an evolution over the past four years. We’ve changed. It’s a natural progression. “All the elements of our band are still there. Regardless of the format we present music in I’ve always written in a very pop way. I’ve always written verse, chorus, verse, chorus, middle eight, chorus because I’m not that intelligent. Prog rock makes my brain explode. I’m very simple, so that’s how I’ve always written.” “All the songs are about stupid fucking rituals that we do to make ourselves feel better,” offers James. “It just felt fitting. I was worried because I didn’t know if people would think I’m an arsehole after listening to the lyrics, but it’s what’s coming out of me. It’s what feels right. The record is about me. It’s a semi-fictionalised version of me
being an arsehole in the past.” About 70% of the record is pure truth. The rest is exaggerated for dramatic effect and because that’s what happens when you’re left alone with your head. The religious titles are a metaphor for that struggle for absolution. They were also written before the songs, to try and help speed up the writing process. “It didn’t work. It was still difficult. I thought it would give me something to write about. It just made it harder.” On ‘Worship’ Deaf Havana sing, “I’m still the fucked up kid I was from the start.” It’s something James always thought he’d grow out of. “You always want to. I always
7
DORK
READDORK . COM
assumed I’d reach an age where I did but I’m 28 now, and I haven’t yet. I don’t know if it ever happens. It’s a conscious decision though, isn’t it? I always assumed it would happen naturally, you’d reach an age in your life and suddenly realise ‘Alright, I’m not going to be a prick anymore and I’m not going to drink all the time’, but it doesn’t happen like that.” “This record is about owning your mistakes. I needed to get it out,” admits James. While the titles sound absolute, ideas of heaven and hell, saints and sinners, the record isn’t so sure. It’s still trying to make sense of those ideals, and where you draw your own lines. Confessions rain
down. It’s all very unfiltered. “That conflict and tension is very important to a lot of art,” continues Matt. “Having lyrics as a form of catharsis is an essential piece of what we do. Every single band I listen to is incredibly miserable as well. That always just chimes better with me. I don’t know whether we’d be able to write a song about how good we were feeling.” And for good reason. “We don’t feel good all the time,” shrugs James. “We’re still poor. It’s a battle to get there, so why make out that it’s any different? I don’t want to listen to a song about how good someone’s
“I needed a risk; I can’t keep plateauing and playing average emo music” life is. I like the lowest points. I love miserable lyrics I don’t know how else to write. “I can see why you’d think this album would be optimistic though. It surprised us, as well. I wasn’t expecting to write this album; it came out. The most extreme parts are a bit elaborated, but it’s mainly me,” he continues, before pausing and 8
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM G UIDE
losing any remaining pride in his past. “If I’m honest, it’s not great. I’ve always thought that art comes from those dark places. Most famous artists are wankers. That’s why what they make is so great, because it comes from that horrible place. I do worry people will think I’m an arsehole, but I’d rather have a good end product
than be liked. If I was really being an arsehole, it would be arrogant. It’s more, this is me, sorry. Avoid at all costs.” ‘Rituals’ bleeds and pours. It was written as a stream of consciousness, and hasn’t changed much since. “Some of the lyrics, I don’t remember writing.” The band had ‘Heaven’ for ages and, with one week to go until they had to hand the record in, they still needed lyrics. It was the day after James’ birthday, and he was still fuzzy from the night before. “I just drank a bottle of prosecco,” he remembers. “I
remember waking up from a blackout, and I’d written these lyrics, recorded these voice notes of melodies, so I went and recorded it. It’s my favourite song on the record, but I do not remember writing those lyrics. The whole thing was like that. It’s very in the moment. I know it sounds cliché, but it came from somewhere else. The lyrics I normally write, I spend hours agonising over. This was so natural. It might be an age thing. It might be subconsciously feeling more comfortable, because I do but it’s never really happened like that before.” Deaf Havana aren’t 9
DORK
READDORK . COM
exaggerating when they call ‘Rituals’ the most miserable record they’ve written. From the off, it’s pretty bleak, and there’s no glimmer of light at the end. Instead, it closes with James on a ledge, ready to jump. ‘Epiphany’ wishes things could start over but buckles knowing you never can. Fizzying and frantic, it’s final words are “I know at times you wanted to kill me, let me save you the trouble.” “Again, I was drunk. I was in a really bad headspace. I just imagined my life if I could start again. Up until now, everything I’ve done has been the opposite of what I wanted to do. I don’t think
Album Factfile
Artist: Deaf Havana Album title: ‘Rituals’ Date: 10th August 2018 Key tracks: ‘Sinner’, ‘Holy’ Fact: The album was in part inspired by Justin Bieber. “Some of the sounds they’ve got on that record are insane,” says James.
“I was worried people would think I’m an arsehole after listening to the lyrics” I’m a good pillar of society. At my core, I don’t think I’m a good person. I ended up writing a list of all the things I wished I’d done. I wanted to turn it into a full song, but it ended up being okay on its own as an outro. “I almost didn’t use it because the last lyric alludes to me killing myself. I was worried, ‘cos that’s a serious issue and I didn’t want to make light of it, even though it’s not. I don’t know how to talk about it,” he awkwardly laughs. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to sing it live.” James is okay, he thinks. “I don’t feel like that every day. At all. But at that point, I did. I imagine most people do. I know everyone in our band has done at some point.” “In writing things like that, it can be so cathartic, it’s important,” starts Matt. “It’s not always easy to talk about but sometimes writing it down can make you own it a bit more.” Deaf Havana are okay being vulnerable. Sure, it’s “less than I think, but I’m working on it,” continues Matt. “It’s difficult. It does require a bit of work, but it’s important.” “I write the best when I’m at that vulnerable point,” ventures James. “It’s where the best art comes from. I know, it sounds horrendously cliché.” From the bold steps of ‘Rituals’ to that big ol’ headline show at Brixton Academy later this year, Deaf Havana mean
business. “Everything about this record and where we are right now is trying to make that statement,” starts Matt, as James adds: “We fucking mean it. It’s the first time I’ve felt this way. I’ve never wanted to be in control of this band. I’ll do the music, everyone else can sort other stuff out, but now, I want to be in charge of everything. I want to do everything. And I have been, which is weirdly satisfying. I don’t know why that is but I back it. I want this record to be for everyone. I’d love people to listen to it and really agonise over the lyrics, but I also want people just to shut off and dance to it. I want it to be for everyone, but also, I haven’t really thought about it,” grins James, as he sums the band up all at once. “It’s for people who like dancing and crying,” beams Matt. Deaf Havana have always just gone with it and whatever happens, happens. 2018 has been no different, but for the first time, they’re not just seeing what happens. They’re hoping for the best. “Well, that’s all you can do really, isn’t it?” reasons James, as Matt breaks out into a smile. “For such a miserable record, everything around it is really positive.” P Deaf Havana’s
album ‘Rituals’ is out 10th August. 11
DORK
READDORK . COM
Twenty One Pilots Up to date on what Twenty One Pilots are up to? Us neither.
Twenty One Pilots don’t do things by halves - their return this summer has seen fans scrambling to uncover a winding online mythology via secret messages, puzzles, time stamps, weird pictures, and so much more. We’re a bit lost, tbh. As far as we can tell, it involves the story of someone called Clancey, who’s breaking free from a mysterious organisation called DEMA, which is ruled by nine bishops who aren’t all that great. Sound a bit nuts? Well, it is. The crux of it is that the band are back with a new album called ‘Trench’, which is coming on 5th October preceded by two singles (so far), ‘Jumpsuit’ and ‘Nico And The Niners’. There’s a massive live run too, The Bandito Tour, which will see them play Birmingham (27th February), Dublin (1st March), Belfast (2nd), Glasgow (4th), Manchester (5th) and two nights at London’s Wembley Arena (7th, 8th) next year. Phew. P
Here’s what we know about the new albums from...
If you measure your buzz on the basis of online noise, then there’s no doubt what-so-ever that The 1975 are the most exciting new band of recent years. When you’ve got a hungry fanbase to feed, you need to pull out all the stops. That’s why, for their next album, Matty, George, Adam and Ross aren’t just putting out one record, but two. Yep - the umbrella of ‘Music For Cars’ looks like the most ambitious project in pop right now. Here’s everything we know so far.
We thought the 1975’s new album was called ‘Music For Cars’. But it isn’t. Sort of. For ages, we were certain the 1975’s next album would be titled ‘Music For Cars’. Also the title of an early EP from the band, frontman Matty Healy had been tweeting the name out at regular intervals for what felt like an eternity, alongside a date - 1st June. Obviously, everyone thought that was the release date, too. Why wouldn’t they? How wrong could we get, eh? Come that fateful Friday, there was no full-length to be found. But, in its own way, ‘Music For Cars’ had arrived...
Actually, we’re getting two albums - ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’ and ‘Notes On A Conditional Form’ Just when we thought we knew what was going on, the 1975 pulled the rug out from under us. For the month before 1st June 2018, they teased with posters bearing the ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’ tag. There was a countdown on their website, hidden conversations, zip files of images buried away in source code. The hype was deafening. Then, on 31st May, the dam broke. New track ‘Give Yourself
A Try’ came with interviews that confirmed ‘Music For Cars’ wasn’t an album, but a new era. There’d be two records - ‘A Brief Inquiry...’ in 2018, then a second - ‘Notes On A Conditional Form’, in 2019.
‘A Brief Inquiry’ looks like it might have 15 tracks, including the brilliant ‘Love It If We Made It’ The second track from the first record, ‘Love It If We Made It’, arrived in mid-July. Announced via a note sent in the post to
Album Factfile
Artist: The 1975 Album title: ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’ / ‘Notes On A Conditional Form’ Date: Late 2018 / 2019 respectively. Key tracks: ‘Give Yourself A Try’, ‘Love It If We Made It’, ‘Sincerity Is Scary’
Dork HQ [Yep, this actually happened - Ed], it was instantly embraced by fans. Obviously. It’s bloody brilliant, after all. After the release, Matty Healy took to Twitter to say he couldn’t wait to release the other thirteen tracks from the record. 2 + 13 = 15, right? We can do maths.
The 1975 are recording ‘Notes On A Conditional Form’ right about now As this magazine lands, the 1975 should be starting work on the second half of their album extravaganza in Los Angeles. Moving out there for a few months to lay it down, we know it should feature a song written by Matty’s actor father Tim, after the latter revealed photos from the band’s hideaway on Twitter. An interview with the Guardian suggests the theme of ‘Notes...’ might be ‘night’, but beyond that, we don’t know a whole lot. Yet.
13
DORK
READDORK . COM
The band will be touring from January of 2019 Signing off from the live arena with their Latitude headline set in 2017, the return of the 1975 to the stage is much anticipated. We’ll have to wait a while yet, though. Normally, bands hit the road in the run-up to a new record to build the buzz, but where the 1975 are concerned, hype is second nature. With two records to tour, they’re instead waiting until the new year to play gigs, by which time they’ll have a pair of albums to perform. Tweets from manager Jamie Oborne suggest the band won’t be playing a smaller run of dates to kick off - instead going straight into the full-fat production. With a project as ambitious as ‘Music For Cars’, we can only imagine how huge they’re planning to go. P The
1975’s ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’ will be released later this year; ‘Notes On A Conditional Form’ will follow in 2019.
Album Factfile
Artist: Spring King Album title: ‘A Better Life’ Date: 17th August 2018 Key tracks: ‘Animal’, ‘Us vs Them’, ‘The Hum’ Fact: Springers were Dork’s first ever cover band, back in the summer of 2016.
14
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM GUIDE
Spring King Animal magic
I
t’s been more than two years since Spring King released their debut album. Getting together
in the spring of 2017, the four-piece quickly set about learning how to write as a band. The result of nearly a year’s worth of hard work, ‘A Better Life’ is Spring King at their most collaborative yet – and the outfit have never sounded so switched on. “In a way, when we wrote this album, there was a lot of trying to write what Spring King sounds like, but developing it,” frontman Tarek Musa describes. “All these guys can write in their own styles, but having to write for Spring King is a different story. It’s a completely different style of writing.” “It took me literally years, in a way, to be able to write a Spring King song,” guitarist Pete Darlington affi rms, laughing. “I’m writing music all the time, but it has my take on it. With Spring King, obviously it can be anything you want it to be, but it has a vision.” In the case of ‘A Better Life’, that vision took the guise of a post-apocalyptic world, where “the world ended, but somehow that was somehow better than what it used to be.” That might
seem a little out there, sure, but driven by the associated notions of optimism and positivity that image provides, the group set about making their most Spring King sounding record yet. “Even though I felt like I could write some tunes, being able to make it work for this band was kind of a challenge in itself,” Pete conveys. “I think we fi nally got there in the end.” “Well, we’ll see,” bassist James Green taunts. “The jury’s not quite out on that one yet,” he laughs. Focused on creating something brighter and more optimistic than the day to day world that surrounded them, ‘A Better Life’ takes turbulent emotion and fuels it into something positive. “We’re all big fans of pop music,” James enthuses. “Negative stories put to a positive backdrop is a big Beach Boys thing, which we’re all massively inspired by.” “I think The Smiths do that well as well,” Pete adds. “Morrissey’s lyrics are just poetry, really quite 15
DORK
READDORK . COM
It’s no secret, Dork’s pretty fond of catchy indie bangers. Just a bit, like. Few hit that sweet spot quite like Spring King, who are back with a new record and ambition to spare. Words: Jessica Goodman Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.
dark, but then the music is transcendental in a way a lot of the time.” He pauses for a moment, and quickly backtracks. “I don’t think we sound like that...” “I don’t think we’ve even scratched the surface,” James laughs with his bandmates. “...But I appreciate that kind of approach to music,” Pete clarifies. “I think that’s something that we try and do.” Getting ready to share their second record with the world, and take the album out on the road, there’s one message the band are trying to purvey: “give it everything you’ve got,” they enthuse. “That’s fundamentally what it’s about.” P Spring King’s album ‘A Better Life’ is out 17th August. Read more in the September issue of Dork, out ‘soon’.
are you
ready? With the world on its arse, there’s a spate of bands trying to improve things for those around them via music that’s drenched in positivity. IDLES are one of them, and their upcoming new record ‘Joy As An Act Of Resistance’ could just be a handbook for anyone wanting to change the status quo. Interview: Ali Shutler. Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett.
I
dles are starting to make their ominous rumble heard even louder. With a
handful of tracks already revealed, one of the planet’s most vital live forces are following up their criticallylauded, genuinely awesome debut album ‘Brutalism’ with a real promise of something huge. “It’s more succinct; it’s more powerful, it’s more honest,” frontman Joe Talbot muses of their new record, arriving this summer. “It’s a very concise piece of art that we fucking love and I’m really excited to play it, and enjoy it. “We started writing the second record, knowing, realising and fi nding out
16
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM GUIDE
what people enjoyed on the fi rst album and what they didn’t enjoy. So we started to overthink our writing. We started to do what we did years before that, which was try and subside our own wants and needs for other people’s. “As an artist, you shouldn’t do that ever because it’s not what people want. So we scrapped it and started again. I went through some horrific life occurrences during the second album, and it made me realise I will never give a fuck what people think, as long as I’m honest and I’m kind, and I’m compassionate.” P Idles’
album ‘Joy As An Act Of Resistance’ is out 31st August.
MØ
This MØ albums feels to have been such a long time coming, right? Her debut ‘No Mythologies To Follow’ arrived in 2014. 2014! Maybe we’re just excited, but bloody hell, mate. Queen of pop hits, MØ has finally announced details of her second album. Titled ‘Forever Neverland’, the full-length will land on 19th October via Chess Club / RCA Victor. The news arrived a few weeks back alongside a brand new single, ‘Sun In Our Eyes’, which was co-written with frequent collaborator Diplo. “One of the many reasons I love working with him is because I always feel like it’s a free and creative process and I always like the end product,” says MØ. “We both loved ‘Sun In Our Eyes’ from the beginning and what makes it special to me is that It’s a combination of the two ingredients I’m always craving in music: uplifting and melancholy vibes. “This song feels like both a coming together of everything Wes [that’s Diplo, ‘FYI’] and I have done so far but also a new beginning which is fitting with a new album.” MØ will celebrate the release with a big old European tour, which kicks off in Hamburg on 9th November. P
Album Factfile
Artist: Idles Album title: ‘Joy As An Act Of Resistance’ Date: 31st August 2018 Key tracks: ‘Colossus’, ‘Samaritans’ Fact: This album sees the band head out on their first ever world tour; the UK dates are in October.
17
DORK
READDORK . COM
Here’s what we know about the new album from...
Bastille are one of those bands that makes the buzzo-meter go into overdrive, and with Dan Smith and co. having spent ages now teasing their new record, well - there’s a lot to get excited about.
Album Factfile
Artist: Bastille Album title: TBC Date: Late 2018 Key tracks: ‘Quarter Past Midnight’ Fact: While working on the album, the band’s Will Farquarson became a fully-fledged pilot. Aye aye, capt’n!
Bastille They’ve not just got an album on the way this year
“We’ve got all this stuff we’ve been working on, and I just want it out there,” Dan Smith told us back in February. “This year we’re releasing our third album. We’re going to have a new mixtape. We’re going to have lots of new music out,”
They tried to take a break, but it didn’t really work The band tried to pause before working on the flurry of next chapters. Honestly, they really did. “I tried to stop, and I 18
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM GUIDE
lasted about a week,” says Dan, but the allure of the new was too much. “It took three and a bit years for us to put out our second record and I want to move a bit quicker these days. I’m not someone who is going to stop and not be making music in some way. We’ve been lucky to tour constantly for about five years, so even just being in London, even if I’m doing music all the time, it still feels like a break. And also, I’m so fucking lucky. It’s so fucking fun. It’s hard work sometimes, like anything you care about would be, but yeah. Why the fuck would I take a break when I love it?”
The album was recorded in an old porn studio While debuting the fi rst track from the album, Dan Smith revealed that they’d worked on it in “an old porn studio that we turned into a place that could be ours”. The product of five months recording new music, it’s the longest the band have spent recording in one place since their debut, ‘Bad Blood’.
We’ve already heard one track, ‘Quarter Past Midnight “It’s just about trying to capture that Sliding Doors moment on a night out,” explains Dan. “Some people are gonna go home; for some this is just the beginning. It became about being in someone’s car, driving
through the city, and I wanted to try and capture that sense of excitement, and that rush.” “It’s way easier to escape in the night time,” says Smith. “Places that aren’t normally open are open to the world, and the places that you associate with reality and work are all shut down. There’s a parallel universe that exists, and this other set of people who are out and about.”
The album will be with us this year Shortly after ‘Quarter Past Midnight’ arrived, the band posted a mobile number which Dan started answering. He confi rmed t one fan the album would be defi nitely out before November. Get excited. P
Death Cab For Cutie
Death Cab return with a new line-up following the departure of co-founder, producer and guitarist Chris Walla, and a renewed sense of fun. Interview: Steven Loftin
D
eath Cab For Cutie’s new album is one of change - both thematically, and for the band’s personnel. A new line-
up could have seen them stumble, but instead they’re embracing the opportunity to come back refreshed. “I believe that this record, it sounds a little cliché, but it’s the beginning of a new chapter,” says frontman Ben Gibbard of ‘Thank You For Today’. “It’s one that I’m excited about. Will people like it as much, or will it be as revered as these albums
we made in the earlymid oughts that have become our calling cards? We’ll see, who knows?” “If you’re looking for your favourite band to stay the same forever you are destined for a lifetime of listening disappointment,” he adds, laughing. “The only band that I’d want that from is AC/DC. I want every AC/DC record to be songs about girls or guitars and rocking or not rocking.” P
19
DORK
READDORK . COM
Album Factfile
Artist: Death Cab For Cutie Album title: ‘Thank You For Today’ Date: 17th August 2018 Key tracks: ‘Gold Rush’, ‘I Dreamt We Spoke Again’ Fact: Finale ‘60 & Punk’ is about “a huge hero of mine,” says Ben, but he won’t say who. Boo.
Plus...
Christine and the Queens Chris
Release date: 21st September
There are so many brilliant artists dropping new albums over the next few months, it’s a struggle to fit them all in.
On her second album, Christine and the Queens becomes simply Chris, a super assertive, sexual being. Ooo-errr. After the massive worldwide success of debut album ‘Chaleur Humaine’, and its 1.3 million copies sold to date, she can do whatever she damn well wants.
What they say... “It gets to be a bit more exhilarating [than debut ‘Chaleur Humaine’], because I get to say, okay, I’ve been introduced now. I get to be more confident, and it matches what happened in my life as a woman.” - Christine and the Queens
Menace Beach
Black Rainbow Sound Release date: 31st August
Mitski
Be The Cowboy
Release date: 17th August
Following up on the release of 2016’s breakout album ‘Puberty 2’, Mitski is set to return this August with ‘Be The Cowboy’, released via Dead oceans’. The 14 track release is described as delving “into the loneliness of being someone, how it can feel so much like being no one”. So there you go.
What they say... “For this new record, I experimented in narrative and fiction. [I had in mind] a very controlled icy repressed woman who is starting to unravel. Because women have so little power and showing emotion is seen as weakness, this ‘character’ clings to any amount of control she can get. Still, there is something very primordial in her that is trying to find a way to get out.” - Mitski
Honne
Love Me / Love Me Not
Release date: 24th August
Honne’s second album is a game of two halves. Titled ‘Love Me / Love Me Not’, half of the tracks explore life’s positives – love, nostalgia and contentment and the other half life’s great difficulties – heartbreak, anxiety and grief. There’s a world tour to come, too, including a headline date at Brixton Academy.
What they say... “Those two sides have been rooted in us from the beginning, but now is the first time we’ve truly demonstrated it. One doesn’t exist without the other, and so this time these songs have to be there together. A lot of films and TV shows either explore the good or bad, but we wanted to show a balance and the grey space.” - Honne
20
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM GUIDE
New album ‘Black Rainbow Sound’ is the Menace Beach’s first new material since early 2017’s ‘Lemon Memory’, and after a self-imposed break from tour duties. Unlike the band’s previous records, it came to life in the band’s studio, where Liza Violet and Ryan Needham built “dense late-night orchestrations”.
What they say... “It’s quite different from the last one. I think it has a lot more energy; we were both in more of a positive place when we wrote it. It’s definitely dominated by analogue synths too which is way more familiar territory for me than guitars.” - Liza Violet
The Lemon Twigs Go To School
Release date: 31st August
A musical conceived by brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario, ‘Go To School’ is a 15 track opus, written, recorded, produced and
mixed by the pair at their home in Long Island. The album features contributions from Jody Stephens (Big Star) and their father, Ronnie.
What they say... “Something now, then, big, small, bleak, and hopeful. All in under an hour.” - Brian and Michael D’Addario
Black Peaks
All That Divides
Release date: 5th October
In an era where British rock is starting to show the green shoots of standing-the-fuck-up, Black Peaks sound ready to lead that charge. Their second album, ‘All That Divides’, may not be with us until early October, but it already sounds like the kind of hyperspace jump forwards that can set light to an entire genre. They were good before, but greatness awaits.
What they say... “Lyrically this album represents the fear of a future where freedom is restricted. Over the last two years, we as a band have been incredibly lucky to have been able to travel across Europe and play our music. The fact this
happened to take place during a period where various political changes, at home and abroad, made us focus a lot about the freedom and right to travel. We have seen people, families, relationships and countries divided by conflict and political upheaval.” - Will Gardner
Anna Calvi Hunter
Release date: 31st August
‘Hunter’, the third longplayer from the BRIT Award and double Mercury Prizenominated Anna Calvi, will be released on 31st August via Domino. It’s described as a “queer and feminist record” which explores “sexuality and breaking the laws of gender conformity”.
What they say... “I’m hunting for something - I want experiences, I want agency, I want sexual freedom, I want intimacy, I want to feel strong, I want to feel protected and I want to find something beautiful in all the mess. I want to go beyond gender. I don’t want to have to choose between the male and female in me. I’m fighting against feeling an outsider and trying to find a place that feels like home.” Anna Calvi
AND ALL THESE TOO! 10th August As It Is The Great Depression Jake Shears Jake Shears Kodaline Politics of Living Nicki Minaj Queen Still Corners Slow Air 17th August Ariana Grande Sweetener Cullen Omori The Diet Oh Sees Smote Reverser Trevor Powers Mulberry Violence 24th August Alice in Chains Rainier Fog The Frights Hypochondriac Interpol Marauder Justice Woman Worldwide Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood With Animals Neil and Liam Finn Lightsleeper Nothing Dance On The Blacktop Plain White T’s Parallel Universe White Denim Performance 31st August Alkaline Trio Is This Thing Cursed? Darwin Deez 10 Songs That Happened When You Left Me With My Stupid Heart The Kooks Let’s Go Sunshine Meghan Trainor Treat Myself Muncie Girls Fixed Ideals Troye Sivan Bloom Wild Nothing Indigo WSTR Identity Crisis 7th September Boston Manor Welcome To The Neighbourhood
21
DORK
READDORK . COM
Fatherson
Sum Of All Your Parts Release date: 14th September
It’s not unusual to find a record described as some sort of rebirth for a band, and that’s exactly what ‘Sum Of All Your Parts’ is described as. Fatherson, though, have long been a band with something special bubbling beneath the surface. The promise it could surface here is an enticing one.
What they say... “As a band, we’re always going to have “rocky” songs, but rock music can be very formulaic and boring. We didn’t want this record to just be a carbon copy of ‘Open Book’ or ‘I Am An Island’. ‘Making Waves’ was the song that made us rethink our process and start to get really excited about this new album.” - Marc Strain
Blood Orange Negro Swan
Release date: 17th August
Dev Hynes has come a long way since his days in Test Icicles. The producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, songwriter and vocalist will release his fourth album as Blood Orange this August.
What they say... “My newest album is an
exploration into my own and many types of black depression, an honest look at the corners of black existence, and the ongoing anxieties of queer/ people of colour. A reach back into childhood and modern traumas, and the things we do to get through it all. The underlying thread through each piece on the album is the idea of HOPE, and the lights we can try to turn on within ourselves with a hopefully positive outcome of helping others out of their darkness” - Dev Hynes
Doe
Grow into It
for their second album, Doe are ready for a big step up this September. With a wider range of influences and a drive to succeed, you’d best clear a path.
What they say... “‘Grow Into It’ is an album about the ageing process and growth. I wanted to write an album about getting older that was an antithesis of the overdone trope of male bands singing about rejecting adulthood and wanting to stay young and get wasted with their friends forever. Instead, ‘Grow Into It’ is about finding light and freedom in age and finding autonomy in death.” ” Nicola Leel
Release date: 28th September
Signing to renowned indies Big Scary Monsters and Topshelf
Alt-J
Reduxer
Release date: 28th September
What do you expect from Alt-J? If your answer isn’t ‘a record full of hip-hop influenced reworkings of their previous record ‘Relaxer’, then you’re doing it wrong.
What they say... “It’s no secret that we love and are influenced by hip-hop, and it’s always been a dream of ours to work with hip-hop artists in re-imagining our music. With ‘Reduxer’ that dream has come true. We couldn’t be happier with the results. This album is truly global, featuring rappers and producers from all over the
22
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM GUIDE
world. After a very long time in the making, we are stoked to share it with you all.” - Alt-J
Dilly Dally Heaven
Release date: 14th September
Despite the fact previous album ‘Sore’ provided Dilly Dally with a breakthrough, it also almost resulted in the band calling it a day too. They didn’t, though, and so they go again with their second full-length, ‘Heaven’. Truly, it’s a glorious place.
What they say... “This feels like the album we’d make if the band died and went to heaven.” - Katie Monks
Slaves
Acts of Fear and Love
Release date: 17th August
Just when you think you know what you’re getting from Slaves, they go and mix it up. First single from the band’s third fulllength ‘Cut And Run’ breaks the duo’s loud and brash template, swapping it up for smart, effective pop - albeit with a ragged, punk edge. Always able to find the infectious needle in an abrasive haystack, it’s the nuance that makes their next
move their most exciting next.
What they say... “There’s no such thing as hate, just acts of fear and love.” Isaac Holman
The Coral
Move Through The Dawn Release date: 10th August
The Coral’s new album, ‘Move Through The Sawn’ comes alongside a new book from the band’s keyboard player, Nick Power. Titled ‘Into The Void’, it’s described as “an insightful, amusing and evocative firsthand account of the recording, release and touring” of previous album, 2016’s ‘Distance Inbetween’. Find an extract below.
What they say... “There are moments on a tour when things suddenly become crystal clear. “We should aim for something a bit more songbased now, change it up a bit. Like some kind of surf thing. The Beach Boys in Llandudno. Phil Spector and The Ramones. Dion in the 70s. A strange Mexican cartoon.” “It’s almost like the opposite of the last album.” “We’d be repeating ourselves otherwise, wouldn’t we?” “It’s a risk, but definitely.” “Fuck it.” “Let’s do it”.” - from ‘Into The Void’, by Nick Power
AND ALL THESE TOO! 7th September (cont) JEFF The Brotherhood Magick Songs Mothers Render Another Ugly Method Paul McCartney Egypt Station Rudimental Toast To Our Differences Sauna Youth Deaths Spiritualized And Nothing Hurt Teleman Family Of Aliens 14th September Dirty Nil Master Volume Good Charlotte Generation Rx The Goon Sax We’re Not Talking Thrice Palms 21st September Joyce Manor Million Dollars to Kill Me Mutual Benefit Thunder Follows The Light Suede The Blue Hour Villagers The Art Of Pretending To Swim 28th September Amber Arcades European Heartbreak The Joy Formidable AAARTH Lala Lala The Lamb 5th October Coheed and Cambria The Unheavenly Creatures Tokyo Police Club TPC You Me At Six VI 12th October Tom Odell Jubilee Road John Grant Love is Magic
23
DORK
READDORK . COM
and maybe... We don’t know if this lot will drop a new album this year. Most probably won’t, but a few might.
Bellamy turning into a werewolf (because “Teen Wolf is cool”), and the news that they intend to release their new album in November. It’s thought to be called ‘Simulation Theory’ via all sorts of fan theory gymnastics that include URL registrations, anagrams, video games and badges.
Blood Red Shoes
Laura-Mary Carter and Steven Ansell have already dropped a few new songs this year (’Call Me Up Victoria’, ‘God Complex’), and while there aren’t any firm details ‘out there’, they’ve been chatting a bit about the followup to 2014’s self-titled too. “It’s the first album where we’ve had to ask ourselves if we even like some of it because we got so far away from our typical style,” reveals Steven. “We rejected more than we’ve ever thrown away, probably about 30 songs.”
Robyn
If we’re to take Robyn’s word for it, the follow-up to 2010’s ‘Body Talk’ is definitely coming “some time this year”. She’s previously teased her new material with a taste of new track ‘Honey’ on US telly show Girls, of all places, and in May confirmed that the record’s “almost there”.
Vampire Weekend
Earlier this year, frontman Ezra Koenig suggested the band’s fourth album - which has ‘Mitsubishi Macchiato’ as its working title, and a “springtime” vibe, apparently - was “94%” done. They’ve posted their first Instagram pictures since 2013 already this year, and have signed up to play End of the Road this September.
live shows, and now news of a new EP. The follow-up to 2015’s ‘Undertow’ is def coming, but with ‘Autonomy’ scheduled for October, the odds of it arriving this year don’t look good.
Muse
Have you heard Muse’s new tune ‘Something Human’? It arrived with a video that features frontman Matt
Drenge
The Loveless brothers have started kicking about again this year, with new material in the form of ’This Dance’ and ‘Before The War Begins’, lots of 24
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM GUIDE
Grimes
Grimes is currently working on the follow up to 2015’s ‘Art Angels’, and has suggested we can expect the new record around September-ish. Mind you, she also said we’d have new music by now, so who knows? She’s posted some hints about the tracklisting too, and it turns out the album includes a ‘powerful spell’. Blimey.
Sky Ferreira
Sky Ferreira has been teasing her second album ‘Masochism’ since 2014, could 2018 be the year it finally drops? Last November she revealed that the delays have partially been down to a misdiagnosed illness, and that she’s “still putting out new music very soon though & have been working on it the entire time.” More recently, we were treated to “the official first photo” from her “upcoming music release”.
25
DORK
READDORK . COM
Marina and the Diamonds
Marina has been plotting her new record all year. Currently working on the follow-up to 2015’s ‘Froot’, her fourth album is apparently “worth the wait”. “I’m on my way to LA to finish production on my next record, and I feel so happy with it,” she revealed back in July. “I know it’s been a while, but I promise this next record will be worth the wait! See you in the Autumn.”
Swim Deep
The follow-up to Swim Deep’s 2013 debut ‘Where the Heaven Are We’ and 2015’s ‘Mothers’ has seen the band posting teasers all over Twitter and Instagram. “We’re off to a studio by the sea to finally finish the album we’ve been dreaming of our whole lives,” they posted in July. “We’ve had a new lease of life and ended up making some of the best music we’ve ever done.”
Sundara Karma
It might be a bit early for Sunny-K, what with their debut only arriving last year, but they’re already back in the studio it seems. “The incubation period is nearly complete. It has been a process of deep healing and refinement. From the depths of our slumber, we will once again
emerge,” they posted in May, followed by: “We start recording album 2 in a few weeks!! It’s gunna knock your socks off !!!!”
Foals
Last year, Foals revealed that they had started working on their fifth album - the follow-up to 2015’s ‘What Went Down’ with some snaps from inside the studio. They followed the teaser with news that bassist Walter Gervers was leaving to “pursue a new life”, and the declaration that their next record would be “the best yet”. So that’s nice.
Blaenavon
Blaeners declared “album
recorded” on Twitter a few weeks ago, but they were a bit cagier on their second full-length when Dork tackled them backstage at Truck Festival, claiming it was “somewhere between 70-100% done”. Teases.
FIDLAR
Earlier this year, FIDLAR returned with a brand new banger. Typically rambunctious, bratty and brilliantly fun, ‘Alcohol’ is presumably the first taster of a third album from the West Coast punks.
The Strokes
The New York band have been teasing their new album for ages, with guitarist Nick Valensi claiming back in 2016 that “we are working on music and we want to hopefully put music out next year,” followed by Albert Hammond Jr. saying they “are not in the studio recording” last summer. Make your mind up, lads.
The Japanese House
Amber Bain has been super quiet this year, holed up working on her debut. “My album is basically going to be [Beyonce’s] ‘Lemonade’ – I’d be happy with that,” she joked last summer. “Just a cover of the whole album from start to finish, hahaha!” P 26
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM GUIDE
OUT 14TH SEPTEMBER LISTEN TO SINGLES MAKING WAVES & CHARM SCHOOL NOW
What’s your favourite album of the year so far, ‘the bands’? Matt Maltese
“U.S. Girls is the project of Meghan Remy - a prolific Toronto-based musician and producer who constructs slinky experimental pop songs with superb lyrics attached. Her sixth album ‘In a Poem Unlimited’ is one of my favourites this year. The songs on it have these short, cutting, ingenious narratives that depict male abuse of power and female authority - all to the rhythm of Blondie’s disco. In ‘Incidental Boogie’ she considers her need for a partner yet undying inability to be free to the backdrop of angry guitar funk. And in one of the album’s highlights, ‘Pearly Gates’ she tells of a patriarchal heaven where she’d have to perform sexual favours for St Peter just to get a good wrap. And the song itself is a
catchy choir-driven piece of brilliance. The instrumentation of the whole record is strange, hook-driven and playful. And there’s arguably one of the best 10-second audio clips of all time on this album. Remy - the master of meaningful disco.”
Theresa, Yonaka
“‘High as Hope’ by Florence and the Machine – it’s a masterpiece.”
Fee, Bloxx
“Tricky question. I’m a big Drake fan, so I’m into his new one a lot. I’d say my fave so far is ‘Beautiful People 25
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM GUIDE
Will Ruin Your Life’ by The Wombats!”
Mez, LIFE
“Parquet Courts ‘Wide Awake’. Is that funk, is that pub rock piano, well maybe... but it’s fucking Parquet Courts which means only one thing, the music and lyrics are all consuming and totally alive! This is by far my most spun record of the year to date. Wide Awake is brilliant. The sound of anxiety and relationships have made way for fun and yeah there is fun to be had in your 30s. This record is art rock with a groove that you could party on all night, even the more loving and tender moments sparkle like a tab of acid. Top marks and ahead of the game says I.”
Chris, Catholic Action
“Crack Cloud’s self-titled “album”. It’s their first two EPs stuck together and released on one LP. It ticks every single one of my boxes at the moment. Firstly, it’s fairly intense, experimental guitar and drum based music. But, for every time it freaks you out, it’ll reel you back in with colourful melodies, real hooks and inventive groove - I think that balance is where its genius lies. Most importantly though. IT IS guitar music that IS NOT CONSERVATIVE. I’m so bored of guitar music that operates within such tiny, black and white parameters. No wonder nobody cares about it any more. Crack Cloud might be leading the way.”
Sam and Petter, Francobollo “L.A. Salami’s new album, ‘The
City Of Bootmakers’ is one the three of us Franco Swedes wrote and performed on, which we’re all really proud of! He’s a crazy talented guy and everyone should go see him. Benin City’s new album, ‘Last Night’ as well! We met those guys at SXSW earlier this year and had a special time with them, and their new record is amaaaaazing!”
Natti, Fickle Friends
“Oooh... maybe the Charlie Puth album, ha. Still waiting on the new one from Friendly Fires.”
Ren, Petrol Girls “Cinder
Well - ‘The Unconscious Echo’. This is a perfect folk
record, with a great balance of tracks that immediately stand out and others that grow on you slowly. Amelia Baker’s vocals have an incredible tone that’s piercing without ever being shrill, and her lyrics have a lot of depth so the more you listen, the more the meanings of the songs develop. I have a low twee tolerance which puts me off a lot of folk, but this record is miles from that. It’s haunting and emotive without being depressing. The harmonies are stunning. I love the version of Mayn Rue Platz, which I learned at their recent Glasgow gig is a Jewish factory workers’ folk song, and on the record, it sits perfectly amongst original songs, some of which are about friends they have lost. The record powerfully combines a personal history with history in a bigger sense, which is something folk has a lot of potential for because of the way songs are passed down. I also love their use of the pump organ that they inherited from a friend - it creates an incredible atmosphere.”
Charles Watson “‘Group
Listening Clarinet & Piano: Selected Works, Vol.1’. This
album so beautiful. The feel of it is so delicate. I really can’t place my finger on what it is that makes it so special, but I’ve listened to it a lot. It has a pace to it that’s unconcerned with what’s happening now. It has nothing that dates it. Basically, if you like music and you’re fed up
26
DORK
READDORK . COM
of hearing the same old tripe do yourself a favour and on you’re way home from work, or the gym, or your pal’s snooker party, drive in the wrong direction until you’ve listened to the whole of this record and then drive home. Top laughs.”
Zac, FIDLAR
“Dude, I am fucking obsessed with this kid scarlxrd from Birmingham, UK. It’s so good! I think it’s the new Marilyn Manson, straight up, that’s all I’m going to say. He is the new Marilyn Manson, it’s like metal with trap and hiphop. It’s fucking sick. scarlxrd, check it out.”
Lydia, The Regrettes
“I really love ‘Bay Dream’ by Culture Abuse.”
Girli
“Janelle Monae ‘Dirty Computer’
is amazing. I love her because she’s unapologetically herself, and everything she produces around the music is as important as the songs; the images, the videos (she made a film!); the characters she plays that she attaches to each song narrative. She’s an artist.”
Awsten, Waterparks
“Waterparks’ ‘Entertainment’ is the best album.” P
than ever to open up their sound, to experiment and, ultimately, to create a record that shines in the face of darkness. P Chris Taylor
What they say... “All the way through I knew that the lyrical content of this record was super important to me. I knew I wanted to make my vocals more prominent. I wanted to bring them to the front of the mix a lot more than I have done in the past, use them in a more traditional manner. A lot of the records I’ve been working on over the last few years, with bands like Martha and The Spook School and Trust Fund and people like that, have lyrics I adore. I think they’re amazing - not only amazing people, but the way that they can put those incredibly emotional or political lyrics into a pop song is really inspiring to me. I knew I wanted to do something with this as well.” - MJ
realised that a song was about them, though…” - Snail Mail
Soccer Mommy
Clean
Released: 2nd March
When Sophie Allison - that’s Soccer Mommy to the rest of us - quit school to go all in on her art, she probably had doubts. Everyone would. She shouldn’t, though. Not on the strength of her latest full-length ‘Clean’, the Follow up to last year’s bedroomrecorded compilation ‘Collection’. Opener ‘Still Clean’ has a clarity that’s enough to stop even the most distracted listener in their tracks. With production values levelled up, this isn’t an album that throws out the old to find new, easier paths. Instead, it
builds on strong foundations. ‘Cool’ is equal parts love and hate, while ‘Your Dog’ is a juxtaposition of emotions wrapped around an inner strength most artists take decades to perfect. Soccer Mommy’s music fits perfectly into a universe filled with creative, brilliant peers - one where her star shines brighter than most. P
Stephen Ackroyd What they say...
“I had a great time [in the studio]. It was a great group of people me, Gabe Wax and Julian Powell - and we got to try out a bunch of cool ideas on these songs. It was a great experience. I just wanted to make something cohesive and representative of myself. It felt like it was my chance to make a great album and show everyone who I am and what Soccer Mommy is.” - Soccer Mommy
Snail Mail Lush
Released: 8th June
The ‘coming-of-age’ debut is a trope tried and tested through indie history, but it takes a special sort of soul to get it exactly right. Whether upbeat or downtrodden, the guitar work throughout ‘Lush’ is nothing short of magnificent, knowing when to pare back and when to go for gold. At just 18, Jordan has already amassed 13 years of experience in her instrument, and ‘Lush’ is an undisputed love letter to her sixstringer, a reassuring constant in the resulting stories of adolescent love, house-party heartbreak and self-esteem wobbles. P Janessa
Williams
What they say... “Apathetic rocking bums me out. It’s so boring - get your feelings out there. I’ve never regretted anything I’ve written; I don’t name names, and I try not to get too in my own head. Whatever feels cathartic to write about, I just do and then what happens happens. I have had a situation where somebody
Arctic Monkeys
Tranquility Base Hotel And Casino Released: 11th May
We’ll be honest, Dear Reader, at first we didn’t know what to make of Arctic Monkeys latest full-length. Initially feeling light on the massive indie bangers the band
23
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM G UIDE
built their name on, it was easy to sit on the fence. Once it actually arrived, though, the brilliance of ‘Tranquility Base Hotel And Casino’ was obvious to all. A joke on which the band is on, while concept albums might usually be a load of old wank, you can hardly complain when it finds Alex Turner playing the role of a receptionist hooting about sideboob, now can you?
YOU SAY I’M TOO MUCH I SAY YOU’RE NOT ENOUGH THE DEBUT ALBUM 5TH OCTOBER ESTRONS.COM
much about me, put your money where your mouth is,” she invites. ‘No Shame’ is her refusing to feel guilty about other people’s expectations. ‘No Shame’ is her side of the story. What follows is a scrapbook of the past few years. The bruises in high definition, Lily doesn’t hold back. Songs of addiction, betrayal, loneliness and tears find a home next to new resolve. After trying to be the loud, proud, social commentator people said they wanted on ‘Sheezus’, ‘No Shame’ is Lily being herself, for herself. And there’s nothing more powerful. P Ali
Shutler
life to a character to show off his disdain for human nature. Returning, for now, his fourth album as good ol’ Father J, ‘God’s Favorite Customer’ finds our sassy lothario out on his ass and losing his faith in all that drove him wild in his 2015 masterpiece ‘I Love You, Honeybear’. Safe to say, the “Honeybear Honeymoon” is well and truly over. While not being a concept album as such, the ten tracks are suspended in limbo around various phases of heartache. ‘God’s Favorite Customer’ is the dark side to ‘Honeybear’ and the distance between the mask and the Josh Tillman underneath is closer than ever. P Alexander Bradley
Peace
Kindness Is The New Rock And Roll Released: 4th May
‘Kindness Is The New Rock And Roll’ is Peace at their most positive. Even in its darkest moments - such as the hauntingly effective ‘From Under Liquid Glass’ - there’s a sense of undeniable hope. In part, that’s down to a new, bolder outlook. This is still Peace, but delivered in a purer form than ever before. ‘You Don’t Walk Away From Love’ is packed with bombast strutting on a singular guitar line, cocksure and proud - while the title-track takes hippieish
sentiment and turns it into starryeyed possibility. It’s a theme that turns what could have been a desperate throw of the dice into a manifesto to believe in. Closer ‘Choose Love’ swells the heart, while ‘Magnificent’ pleads “don’t give up on me just yet”. There’s no chance of that. Give Peace a chance, and they’ll save us all.P
Stephen Ackroyd What they say...
“’Kindness Is The New Rock And Roll’ is just what I’ve seen happening. It really is that simple. It is fucking so basic, but so true. There’s these aquarian tectonics at play, and this shift in the world. There’s less of this rock and roll bravado. People are waking up a little bit and being like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna treat people a little bit better. I’m gonna do things to make everything a little bit better.’” - Harry Koisser
Lily Allen
No Shame
Released: 8th June
‘No Shame’ sees Lily Allen taking back control. “I try to keep an open mind, I feel like I’m under attack all of the time,” starts ‘Come On Then’. “My head can’t always hold itself so high,” it admits but rather that welling in misery, putting on a fake smile or turning it all into a joke, she takes a breath and digs deeps. “Come on then, if you know so
21
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM G UIDE
What they say... “I believe that we as humans work through things by talking about them, and that’s what making music is, for me. It’s sharing things that you hope are going to connect with people; not that are going to connect with algorithms. I think we are so led by outside forces in terms of the way we express ourselves nowadays, because we’re so scared of what comes back. It’s something I’ve always wanted to explore. It’s why I went into it at the beginning, when it felt a lot more free.” - Lily Allen
Hookworms
Microshift
Released: 2nd February
The floods of 2015, the last minute cancellation of an important US tour, a number of personal tragedies and a dalliance with LCD Soundsystem cover band status seems to have shaped Hookworms’ third full-length album, ‘Microshift’. It’s a dark record tonally, but the clearing of the psych fog that permeated their previous two albums almost feels like a clearing of the mind; the band ready to tackle these events head-on. The introduction of a more electronic element to ‘Microshift’’s forefront unleashes a whole new side to Hookworms. This is anything but a microshift. Here the band are more willing
Fickle Friends You Are Someone Else
Released: 16th March
Fickle Friends feel like childhood mates. Ever since they dropped ‘Swim’ into the world, they’ve dazzled brighter than most - combining unabashed freedom with doeeyed innocence that has had us following their every move. ‘You Are Someone Else’ revels in letting off party poppers in life’s most confusing and heartbreaking moments. The sheer size of cuts like ‘Hello Hello’, ‘Swim’, ‘Say No More’, ‘Wake Me Up’ and ‘Brooklyn’ is jaw-dropping, delivering the sort of big-time pop licks that come from years spent honing their craft. Sugary sweet, it’s a force that practically signs Fickle Friends as gatekeepers for where indie-pop goes next, and in their hands - it’s going to be mesmerising. P
Stephen Ackroyd What they say...
“A lot of it is about turbulent relationships or feeling like you’re not yourself. I think the overarching theme of the whole record is not recognising yourself, or growing up a little bit. I kind of lost myself a little bit at the beginning and then re-found myself. That’s kind of what everything is about, really.” Natti Shiner
Courtney Barnett Tell Me How You Really Feel
Released: 18th May
If we were using one word - just one - to describe Courtney Barnett’s second full-length, it would probably be effortless. That’s not in any way suggesting a lack of care taken in its creation quite the opposite, in fact. Instead, it’s a record where every note feels to flow perfectly, yet not once does it feel overly polished or showy. Even in its shadowy, darker moments, ‘Tell Me How You Really Feel’ musically is so perfectly natural and at ease with itself it’s positively infectious. That by her second full-length Barnett is able to match the confused, emotionally unsure modern world to a delivery pitched with such deft care,
22
DORK
READDORK . COM
without ever seeming to try too hard with it, is a testament to the artist she’s become. With a warmth and intelligence those twice her vintage still struggle to find, we feel okay, actually. P
Stephen Ackroyd What they say...
“It was a real study of myself. I told everyone I didn’t have any songs, so they expected nothing from me. There was no pressure from anyone but myself. I’m pretty hard on myself, so that was pretty intense but that’s just my problem to deal with. We were on a quest to find weird sounds. That’s the fun thing about the studio; you can take the time to go and do it differently. My music changes so much over time, as you grow and you learn more and try different things. I still just make the music I want to hear, that’s all it is. It’s fun to play, and it’s fun to see myself playing, and that’s all.” Courtney Barnett
The Magic Gang The Magic Gang Released: 16th March
There’s a glorious juxtaposition to the music of The Magic Gang. Both fresh and impossible exciting, but also classic and timeless, they’re a band delivered by DeLorean from a simpler, more wholesome time. From the opening tight harmonies of ‘Oh Saki’, the template is firmly set. Building on a back catalogue of sunshineheavy standouts, the familiar bangers aren’t left out - ‘All This Way’ jangles with abandon, ‘Alright’ finally fully grown into the anthem it always threatened
Shame
Songs of Praise
Released: 12th January
People who judge books by the cover are a bunch of right ol’ fools, aren’t they?! If you’d heard about Shame through the core facts, here’s what you would have probably read: visceral punk, in your face live shows, comparisons with the Fat White Family and based in South London. Shame are much more than that, and
to be. There are still new gems to be found, though - prime amongst them the brilliant ‘I’ll Show You’. Showing a new, but still gloriously familiar side to The Magic Gang, it towers head and shoulders above all previous expectations. Just when we thought we knew what to expect from The Magic Gang, they prove they’ve still got that sparkle up their sleeve. P
Stephen Ackroyd What they say...
“I think we always intended on making the first album the best of everything we’ve done up until the album being made. We thought that’s what a debut album should be: it should be
‘Songs Of Praise’ is too – a staggering opus that finds them fully realised and confident in their skin, ready to tear down anything in their path with a record of undeniable importance. Holding a mirror up to the world they’ve found themselves in, it’s a band discovering more at every moment – and that’s why it’s so exciting. Gripping, rich and ready to drag you from your seat, people are going to know about Shame, and know
19
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM GUIDE
all the good stuff, regardless of when it was from I think we did an alright job of choosing the right ones?” - Kristian Smith
Let’s Eat Grandma I’m All Ears
Released: 29th June
The future is supposed to be unknown, right? If the joy is in the journey, then knowing the final destination should spoil the fun. If that’s the case, someone explain why ‘I’m All Ears’ is such a riotous blast. Because, make no bones about it, Let’s Eat Grandma have shown us what’s coming. In a three-track blast at the front end of their second full-length, they showcase a world of youthful exuberance, glorious, carefree fun and pop brilliance that sets their peers back on their heels.
exactly what they’re destined to become. P Jamie Muir
What they say... “The lyrics have come from a period of three years from when we were 17 til 20. All of the stuff that happens to you, whether you’re in a band or not - those years of your life you’re exposed to so much. A lot of the lyrics on the album are about social commentary; it’s a way for me to be able to spray down whatever I’m thinking.” Charlie Steen
From the audacious, warping brilliance of ‘Hot Pink’ through the glimmering ‘It’s Not Just Me’, and the confident, empowered battle cry of ‘you got this’ in ‘Falling Into Me’, it’s a tour de force which becomes almost transcendental. ‘I’m All Ears’ isn’t an answer to a broken system - it’s a new set of no-rules to replace all establishment norms. Fuck expectation. Be yourself. Do what you want. It’s the future. P
Stephen Ackroyd What they say...
“The sound we had with [debut] ‘I, Gemini’ was a better representation of us back then, and this is a better representation of where we’re at now. It’s just inevitable that we’re going to progress and develop our sound and I think that we like going in lots of different directions at once. I think the couple of years that we wrote the record over was a big time of change for us. Especially being the age that we are.” - Rosa Walton
Boy Azooga
1, 2, Kung Fu!
Released: 8th June
The story of Boy Azooga feels like it has played out very quickly. Since January, they’ve been everywhere - jumping and darting into frame and brimming with all the excitement that the hype train brings. It’s understandable, ‘Face Behind Her Cigarette’ and ‘Loner Boogie’ are certified, heavy hitters. It’s a fair wonder then, what exactly a debut album can bring to the table? Led not by the voice of frontman Davey Newington but by his mind instead, ‘1,2, Kung Fu!’ delivers on the hype and more - a stunning album that manages to sound distinctively fresh yet undeniably classic at the same time. P
Jamie Muir
What they say... “I think the blink-y interludes and skips allow you to be a bit freer -
whereas if it was just song, song, song it might be quite jarring. [It] feels like a lot of thought has gone into it and that it takes the listener on a journey.” - Davey Newington
George Ezra
Staying at Tamara’s Released: 23rd March
George Ezra went blooming huge in 2014. His debut album ‘Wanted On Voyage’ sold millions, he played across the globe and became a national sweetheart in the process. You’ll have heard all about it, and we’re pretty sure you will have sung along to ‘Budapest’ at the very least many, many times. So where do you go next, after all that success? Well, ‘Staying At Tamara’s’ is packing a beefier punch than ever before as a record full of eternal optimism and wholesome joy from one of the nation’s most direct and soaring songwriters. Hooks abound, ready to be sung along at the biggest stages possible - whether that’s the runaway gallop of ‘Don’t Matter Now’ or the glistening heights of ‘Pretty Shining People’ - everything about George Ezra’s next step is steeped in that feeling of hope and camaraderie, finding the golden nuggets in a darkening world. Yes, these are some troubled times - but there’s much more beauty than we think.
20
DORK
READDORK . COM
‘Staying At Tamara’s’ is a reminder of this, with enough ready-made anthems to make George Ezra the pop star we need. P Jamie Muir
What they say... “With the first album, I was obsessed with really synthetic noises,” points out George. “Like, even with ‘Budapest’, we really fucked around with the bass and then on ‘Did You Hear The Rain’ we ended up with a didgeridoo loop on it - it was that moment of being let loose in the studio for the first time and being like, fuck it, we can do anything. This time, after playing for two years with a band, I was kinda really keen to get more acoustic or traditional instruments on the album. There’s still the wonky sounds; I think I’ll always love that, but toned down a little bit.” George Ezra
Father John Misty
God’s Favorite Customer Released: 1st June
The distance between the mask and Josh Tillman has been fascinating since the beginning of the paradox that is Father John Misty. Under the name “J. Tillman”, he was just another cliché wrapped up in melancholy but, under the guise of his pseudo-religious alter ego, Josh Tillman gave
From the slack strive shuffle of ‘Everybody Wants To Be Famous’ to the fantastical ‘SPRORGNSM’ (all the best bands have a theme song - Ed), every beep, bloop and twang has a once in a generation swagger. Like the first point Avalanches headshrunk new frontiers the better part of two decades before, it’s nothing short of fascinating. P Stephen
Ackroyd
What they say... “It’s that feeling of being on edge all the time. It’s that feeling of impending doom. These songs are quite uplifting, but with any great uplifting feeling, there’s always the down and the up. I feel like we do both of those on the record. The extremes. That’s what we like to do. The extreme lows, extreme highs.” - Emily
Years & Years Palo Santo
Released: 6th July
It’s not as if Years & Years were previously slouches. Their debut album marked them out as one of the breakthrough acts of 2015. It had actual radio hits, and introduced the masses to a genuine pop star in the form of frontman Olly Alexander. And yet, when compared to follow up ‘Palo Santo’, they may as well have been playing obscure Bavarian parlour jazz. Here, Dear Readers, be bangers. In truth, it’s hard to remember an album that’s so packed, front to back, with potential singles. Not just standalone, cynical strikes, either. Each track is joined by a thematic thread, and yet every single one sounds bigger than the last. An almost unheard of motherlode that sets a new high bar, these kings are under nobody’s control now. P Stephen Ackroyd
Goat Girl Goat Girl
Released: 6th April
‘Goat Girl’ is a maniacal record, a
journey through muddied waters far from your homely idea of London’s concrete thoroughfare. The murky rockabilly of lead single ‘Cracker Drool’ and the slackjaw rock ‘n’ roll of ‘Country Sleaze’ only give away a small quotient of their sound. Tracks like the nightmarish skit ‘A Swamp Dog’s Tale’ and the higgledy-piggledy ‘The Man With No Heart or Brain’ indicate that this is a band with a broad sonic palette and interests far beyond just thrashing sixstringed instruments to quell boredom, as they effortlessly create their own urban, dystopic spaghetti western throughout. The ease at which a whole other world is created, and the amount of catchy and effortlessly cool melodies on the way, ensure that Goat Girl’s debut is not only accomplished, but special. P
Cal Cashin
What they say... “We didn’t really feel pressure to be what people thought we should be, we kinda really wanted to make an album that felt right and interesting to us. We all write our own music, so that’s where it comes from really, those little interludes are just little snippets of ideas too that we have and it puts our music into a different world too. We’re not just a basic four-piece chart band, so it goes out of that world. The thing is we don’t listen to that music. Growing up we’d 17
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM GUIDE
listen to loads of punk and stuff, but it doesn’t thrill me anymore. I don’t find it that interesting to listen to. We all kinda listen to a lot of different things, and we wanted to show that.” - Rosy Bones
Sophie
Oil Of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides Released: 15th June
The best pop is all about emotions. Emotions that attack your heart and soul and disturb your very equilibrium. Emotions that bend your mind and move your body. Emotions that you can’t describe but know that they make you feel something quite special. Right now, nobody quite messes with those emotions like Sophie. ‘Oil Of Every Pearl’s UnInsides’ is the Scottish producer and pioneer of new pop sounds’ debut album and it contains all the genre-hopping madness you’d expect. The whole thing is a kaleidoscopic tour de force that fully showcases why Sophie is one of the music exciting musicians on the planet. The record does have its challenging moments, but that’s the whole point; the light becomes that more illuminating when it follows the darkness. A towering statement from an artist who is forging her own path any way she likes it. P Martyn Young
Chvrches
Love Is Dead
Released: 25th May
Chvrches have definitely not ‘gone pop’. In most part, that’s because the Scottish three-piece have never not been connoisseurs of music’s fast lanes. Their previous two albums of fizzing, electronic gems have been packed with moments of genuine, mainstream bothering delight. Shimmering in their disco ball neon jungle, ‘Love Is Dead’ is a concentration of an idea - the most Chvrches that Chvrches have ever sounded. From the Coldplay-esque-inagood-way repeating refrain of ‘Deliverance’ (think the hook to ‘Paradise’ that’s still earworming its way to the brain) to the brilliantly new ‘Miracle’, they’ll always find a way to hit their mark. In truth, this is pop gone Chvrches just the way it should be. P
Dream Wife Dream Wife Released: 26th January
Plenty of bands set out to start a ruckus. From their first brilliantly discordant steps, Dream Wife have always felt that cut above. Not once has their passion felt forced or showy. From day one, they’ve been an assured, deliberate assault - every move calculated in the moment, matching pinpoint accuracy with the sparks of immediacy. Their debut album isn’t a roll of the dice, but instead, a laser-guided WMD. ‘Let’s Make Out’ throws down a challenge, impossibly cool but never aloof. ‘Hey Heartbreaker’ already a banger of legendary proportions - is shined up to hit
Stephen Ackroyd What they say...
“We knew when we were naming it that it was a little bolder and more theatrical than the last albums, but it felt like this collection of songs, when we looked at them, it needed a title to name the body of work. It’s supposed to be a conversation starter or to push peoples buttons to think about something. Sometimes I get up and I emphatically agree with that title, and other days I don’t. We always say, there’s almost an ellipsis or a question mark at the end.” - Lauren Mayberry
18
DORK
READDORK . COM
new levels. Dream Wife aren’t just starting the party. They’re closing it down too. P Stephen
Ackroyd
What they say... “It’s about feeling empowered. Everyone’s sensitive, everyone angry. Sometimes they feel happy; sometimes they feel sad. Sometimes people feel like they want to punch people. It’s this thing about girls being noisy, girls being loud, girls being angry. It’s about being these things that society doesn’t expect. That was definitely in our hearts; it’s noisy, but it’s still fun. There’s anger because things need to change but it doesn’t have to always be a downer. The album is a positive, hopeful message rather than angry.” - Alice Go
Albums of the year ( so far )
With ‘Q1’ and ‘Q2’ sorted, we’re safe to look back on the first part of 2018. You’ll have already run through our Bangers of the Year (so far) list in August’s edition of Dork. Now, we’re turning our gaze to the albums. It’s been a year packed with brilliant records, from both new and returning artists. Over the next few pages, we’ll run through some of our very favourite full-lengths from the year to date.
15
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM GUIDE
Matt Maltese
Bad Contestant Released: 8th June
“You said you use chocolate / When you and him take off all your clothes / Why the fuck you’d tell me that?” Welcome to the world of Matt Maltese. South London’s premier crooner’s debut has finally arrived, and it’s hitting its mark. While comparisons to the likes of Father John Misty are easy to understand and even harder to avoid, Maltese is far from a budget hotel lobby tribute act to planet indie’s king of the beardy weirdies. Wry, selfdepreciating and disarming, ‘Bad Contestant’ is a hyper-aware parade of seemingly offhand, cutting wordplay matched to super smart instrumentation. Pass the Dairy Milk. P Stephen
Ackroyd
What they say... “I like the truth, and I like songs that put the truth out there regardless of how ridiculous or messy it sounds. We all have these experiences or whatever that are too strange to speak out loud about. I like the idea of just writing songs where you aren’t thinking about what someone might think of you because unfortunately, a lot of us do have feelings that are quite pathetic and do things that are quite pathetic.” - Matt Maltese
Confidence Man
Confident Music For Confident People Released: 13th April
When was the last time you threw yourself into a party? That exact feeling, of leaving your inhibitions at the door, is what makes Confidence Man such a special band - and ‘Confident Music For Confident People’ such an essential album for a time where being afraid and stepping back may seem like the easiest thing to do. A glorious eruption of party culture and unabashed Skittle-pop, it’s Confidence Man distilling the ‘give no fucks’ attitude of clubland with mesmerising melodies and the sort of immediate hit that pulls you right into their world. We’ll
16
DORK
READDORK . COM
see you under the disco ball. P
Jamie Muir
What they say... “We didn’t feel like there was anything out there that was exactly what we wanted to do or see when we went out and got drunk. We decided that we’ll just make it ourselves then, if it’s not there. All our friends were a bit confused. They were like, what is this? Why are you writing dance music? What are these lyrics?” Janet Planet
Superorganism Superorganism Released: 2nd March
There are a lot of positive things for a new band to be. Exciting is a must; nobody wants to be boring. Intriguing is a good one, a touch of mystique can help. A good personality is important to drag oneself out of the grasping hands of the less engaging masses. Superorganism have something few others could ever hope to posses though - they’re positively infectious. The sparks of energy that only exist when seemingly impossible things collide, it only takes a quick glance at the collective to realise they’re a little different to the norm. But crucially, this isn’t about visible oddity. It’s about sounding like the best, coolest - and most importantly fun - party in town.
Bring the Noises
Our Girl You might recognise Soph Nathan from her ‘other band’ The Big Moon - but Our Girl are far more than just a side project.
O
Interview: Dominic Allum
ur Girl probably aren’t going to be playing Wembley Stadium one day, their album won’t go straight in at Number 1.
They’re not even the most famous Our Girl, thanks to
the BBC drama of the same name. “We often find ourselves trending on Twitter when ‘we’re’ actually not,” guitarist/ vocalist Soph Nathan - also of The Big Moon, ‘FYI’ - jokes. With ‘Stranger Today’ though, they have a debut that’ll see them loved by all who hear it. “I’m really proud of it,” says drummer Lauren Wilson. “I guess debut albums are always going to be special, since it’s the first time we’ve done this process altogether as a three, but I think it’s a
13
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM G UIDE
really cool snapshot of where we are at the moment.” The record saw them team up with Bill Ryder-Jones, occasionally going so far as to sleep in the studio. “It made a big difference,” Soph remembers. Everything with this band is a fullthrottle, heart-on-sleeve adventure. “It was so allconsuming; it tired me out in a way that was cool but intense – I’d never felt like that before.”
P Our Girls’ debut album ‘Stranger Today’ is out 17th August.
Her’s Interview: Ciaran Steward
H
er’s debut album, ‘Invitation to Her’s’ will be released on 24th August - it’s not their
first record of this length, however. The pair previously dropped a self-dubbed ‘collection’, ‘Songs Of Her’s’. “I feel like people thought we were wussing out with the collection thing,” Stephen Fitzpatrick explains. “When we announced this one they were like, ‘Isn’t this the second album really?’ We got cold feet for the debut, but we approached this one more confidently.” They’re hitting the road for a tour this October too, kicking off on 17th October in Liverpool, going on to visit Reading - for a Dork Live! show, no less - Brighton, London, Leicester and Leeds. Their live sets are loads of fun; in fact, Audun Laading has been known to don a cape... “It works well when you boogie,” he says. “I’m only wearing black most the time, it does give me a certain Batman aesthetic...” P Her’s’ debut
Estrons It’s all going on for Estrons.
The band have been on the road (and in fields) pretty much all summer, and now they’re about to release their long-awaited debut. Titled ‘You Say I’m Too Much, I Say You’re Not Enough’, it’ll be released on 5th October followed by a lengthy UK tour - including a night at London’s Scala next February. “Estrons’ music, it’s a lot about
just being proud of whatever it is that you do,” considers frontwoman Tali Källström. “It’s about happiness. Even though it’s direct and seems dark, it’s about being completely shameless.” The Welsh alt-rock rabble are heading out again this September for some supports with Garbage, loads of European dates, and then a UK headliner that kicks off on 1st November.
P Estrons’ debut album ‘You Say I’m Too Much, I Say You’re Not Enough’ is out 5th October.
album ‘Invitation To Her’s’ is out 24th August.
Ben Khan Interview: Ben Jolley
Once the king of buzz, Ben Khan released a couple of EPs then dropped off the radar.
Now he’s back, signed with Dirty Hit, and releasing a debut many
14
DORK
READDORK . COM
thought would never come. “I just had to step back,” Ben explains. “I was like, nah man, if you like what I’m doing then you’ve just got to let me do it rather than ask me to do things.” It’ll see his self-titled debut arrive on 10th August - and it’s been worth the wait. P
Bring the Noises
Black Honey Black Honey have been building to this moment for what feels like an age. After years on the live circuit, building a charge, and an arsenal of bangers carefully gathered on the way, it’s finally here. The kind of band made for the long-form album format, in Izzy B Phillips they’ve already got a genuine indie icon in waiting. Now, the moment is upon them. Get ready.
“I
love the recordings we’ve done. I feel like
I’m really coming into my own with a new direction concerning hip-hop drums,” Izzy B Phillips told Dork when we last pestered her about Black Honey’s debut album. “We’ll always be a rock band at heart, we’re still the same band, but I’ve been getting into really experimental sounds and beats, looking at different genres and fi nding something that feels like more of a hybrid than just linear rock music.” A new-found appreciation for the Beastie Boys, “looking at how they made a weird marriage between rock music
11
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM GUIDE
and hip-hop,” she said, was also a creative inspiration. All the teasing in the world couldn’t have prepared us for the album’s lead gambit, ‘Bad Friends’, though. It’s so slick and so shiny, if you were to try and sit on it you’d just slide straight off. Splat, on the floor. Alongside opener ‘Only Hurt The Ones I Love’, which sits nearby previous staples ‘Hello Today’ and ‘Dig’ on the record, it suggests their forthcoming self-titled debut - which arrives on 21st September - will likely mark out a new and exciting territory for the band. But we’ll have to wait and see, won’t we. P
Dizzy Canada has a fine history of uncovering new indie gems. Now it has another. Meet Dizzy - they’ll have you in a spin.
C
anadian upstarts Dizzy are gearing up to release their debut album. Titled ‘Baby
Teeth’, the full-length is set to arrive on 17th August. “Something you’ll notice about this record is it’s consistent references to water,” the band reveal. “l like the imagery of taking all of the things that hurt you, scare you, excite you- and putting them in a vat. Dipping each one of your shy limbs in until you’re fully submerged in these feelings. Good or bad. Letting them turn your fingers into prunes. “So just in case you’re wondering. This record is water, water, water - and healing.” The band, who made a bit of a fuss at The Great Escape earlier this year, will return to the UK this Autumn where they’ll Album Factfile headline Omeara Artist: Dizzy on 18th Album title: ‘Baby Teeth’ September. P Date: 17th August 2018
Key tracks: ‘Swim’, ‘Backstroke’, ‘Joshua’
Album Factfile
Artist: Black Honey Album title: ‘Black Honey’ Date: 21st September 2018 Key tracks: ‘Hello Today’, ‘Bad Friends’ Fact: Black Honey’s new pop leanings aren’t a total surprise - “I’m always chasing a pop melody,” Izzy says.
12
DORK
READDORK . COM
Album Factfile
Artist: Pale Waves Album title: ‘My Mind Makes Noises’ Date: 14th September 2018 Key tracks: ‘Noises’, ‘Drive’, ‘Eighteen’, ‘Red’, ‘Karl (I Wonder What It’s Like To Die)’
“We’re ready to take over the world”
Bring the Noises
Pale Waves
P
ale Waves want to be the biggest band in the world, but you probably already knew that.
Their ambition has been clear since the opening shimmer of their signature banger ‘There’s A Honey’ dazzled into view back in February 2017. Their drive has been constant, from fearlessly supporting stablemates The 1975 on their trek across American academies and arenas with only one song to their name, through to releasing a steady stream of stone-cold pop classics, doused in red, black and blue. At every turn, they’ve commanded the spotlight and asked for more. They’ve been relentless, uncompromising and constant in their need to be heard. It’s why they’ve spent the past six months almost always on the road. It’s why their name is on the bill for pretty much every festival happening this summer. All that, though, was leading to this - their debut album. Titled ‘My Mind Makes Noises’ and released on 14th September, the fourteen tracks come just a year and a half after that debut single, but the difference is huge. Pale Waves don’t just dream of being the biggest band in the world; they’re doing everything in their power to make it their
reality. “It feels crazy,” starts vocalist Heather Baron-Gracie. “Even when I’m listening to it on my phone, it’s still so odd to picture us with a full-length album of Pale Waves music. We’ve worked so hard for this to happen and now it’s actually, finally here,” she grins. Excited and nervous, but not in equal measures, you can tell the next few months are going to be tough for them, but the record is done, and now, they just have to wait. Pale Waves have constantly been writing, eager to make sure they got their biggest and brightest ideas onto ‘My Mind Makes Noises’. A lot of songs were started “but we haven’t finished most of them,” Heather admits. “We’ve got loads of ideas, but we were strict. We knew what vibe we wanted to go with, so it was easy to figure out which songs were going to work and which ones weren’t.” “People have got this idea of us writing the same song but with a different title, which I think is funny,” she muses. “It’s just that we love major chords. We 10
DORK
READDORK . COM
They’re the buzziest new band of 2018, and they’re about to release their debut album. Words: Ali Shutler Photos: Niall Lea.
love pop music.” No song on ‘My Mind Makes Noises’ sounds like another. Not really. Sure, they’re all massive, immediate gems in pop’s crown jewels, shaped with that same magical Pale Waves toolkit, but each one has its own glimmering charm. “At the end of the day, we could do whatever,” she continues. “As long as it’s got my voice on it, it is Pale Waves, isn’t it?” “We’re always growing as artists, growing as people, and that’s going to influence our writing,” says Heather. The band are also ever-growing. “It’s going to be even more different on the second album, but it’s still going to sound like Pale Waves,” she promises. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves… P
Read more in the August issue of Dork, out now. Pale Waves’ album ‘My Mind Makes Noises’ is out 14th September.
“It gets me down sometimes that people think we’re just fucking around” There is definitely a touch of the Dust Brothers, and Beck on fan favourite ‘Are You High?’ which is conspicuous in its absence on the album. After the single premiered on Annie Mac’s BBC Radio 1 show, ‘Are You High?’ became popular so quickly that the band could see it gaining momentum in real time on their 2017 headline tour. “That was a weird one for us, because we did this headline tour and it came out literally the first night of the tour. Nobody knew it, but they were still enthusiastic, nodding their heads and it was really nice,” says Callum. “Then by the end of that tour, everyone was singing it back to us and doing the ‘yes!’ sample. We literally saw that transition happen over the course of a week. It was pretty weird.” With the album release on the horizon then, can Bad Sounds feel a similar situation coming on the wind? “It’s gonna be interesting to go on tour after and see which tracks people respond to that aren’t the singles. Me and Cal have our own favourites, neither of which are singles yet, so we’re kind of interested to see how those go down,” says Ewan. “I know ‘Thomas’ is going to be a Marmite situation.” “Structuring our live show has always been a big thing for us as well, we want it to be a
celebratory thing rather than people just coming to watch us play. It’s going to be interesting for us trying to structure our set so that we can make room for songs like ‘Another Man’ or ‘Thomas’. Like, how are we going to do that? Are we gonna separate our set into different segments or are we just going to only play the upbeat ones? I guess we don’t know yet, but I’m looking forward to trying to figure it all out,” Callum says. “The whole big thing of the album for me is showing sides to us people haven’t seen, so I’m looking forward to translating 7
DORK
’ S BIG AL BUM G UIDE
that to the live show as well, being able to have all these different elements going on rather than just bangers as soon as you walk in the room. You know what I mean?” Ewan agrees. “Yeah,” says Callum. Ewan doesn’t leave room for confusion, though. “Which it will be. Obviously.” With Bad Sounds, the bangers are non-negotiable. It’s just that this time around some of them might break your heart. P Bad Sounds’ album ‘Get Better’ is out on 17th August. They tour the UK from 24th October.
ork_QP.indd 1
25/07/2018 08:12
“There’s definitely nothing masculine about either of us,” Callum laughs. Truthfully, ‘Another Man’ is more about insecurity in general, Ewan explains. “I always feel like I fuck up the first attempt of everything I do. Some people just seem to naturally walk into a room, and everything goes right,” he says. “I guess it’s just that kind of vibe, wishing you could be more like that. But in less of a bitter way.” For his brother, the song also speaks to the sense of having missed opportunities that other people managed to catch. “I’m naturally quite reserved, and I feel like there’s a lot of shit I could’ve done in my 20s that I didn’t do. Even though I’m still like halfway through. Never did university or anything,” he says. ‘Another Man’ is indicative of a more emotional side to Bad Sounds, and one that they delve into more deeply for the first time on ‘Get Better’. ‘Couldn’t Give It Away’ is one of the most affecting of these more quoteunquote serious songs, acting as an outlet for Ewan to sing about grief, loss, and the guilt of moving on. “Lyrically, I don’t really like the idea of being too specific with the exact situation we’re talking about, but I like being specific about the events,” Ewan says. “So. I guess I find it hard to toe that line with it because it’s obviously more of a personal track and I didn’t want to feel weird about it. D’you know what I mean?” It’s clearly a tangled issue, and one that is not so easy to explain on a personal level, and so Callum picks up the thread. “Ewan was dealing with some... obviously the track’s about loss, and he was dealing with some grief. It actually spurred on some of the tracks on the album. ‘Thomas Is A Killer’ is based around similar events,” he says. “It’s almost a prequel, even though ‘Couldn’t Give It Away’ comes before it on the album.
“I always feel like I fuck up the first attempt of everything I do” Lyrically it was Ewan’s way of dealing with that situation and -” “Getting better!” Ewan cuts in. The eyebrow waggle is so blatant it’s practically audible down the phone line. “Waheeeey!” They both descend into hysterics. When he comes back, Callum says cheerfully: “It’s very easy to see already how awkward we are talking about the more serious tracks.” No kidding. Still, Bad Sounds have got party bangers to spare and ‘Couldn’t Give It Away’ and ‘Thomas Is A Killer’ are a good counterbalance on the more serious side of the album. The latter is an emotionally raw track about exactly what the title suggests, perhaps a little bit more minimalist than Bad Sounds are known for but none the worse for it. “We’ve always had that side to us, but it feels like, for the first time on the album we can show it a bit more,” Ewan says. “I feel like we’re showing more sides to us than we had before.” “Yeah,” Callum agrees. “It gets me down sometimes that people think we’re these happy go lucky, just like – I dunno, not taking it seriously and just fucking around.” “Why don’t they notice how miserable we are?” Ewan cries dramatically. Callum sagely chooses not to let that undermine anything he’s just said, though. “It’s kind of nice to show that we
are mature adults and hopefully people like that side as well,” he says. Speaking of new sides, Bad Sounds found other aspects to themselves and their own work while making the record, too. Since the early days, the Merrett brothers have been one another’s foil, with Ewan interested in hip-hop beats and production, and Callum drawn more to the songwriting side of things. These days, the roles are somewhat different. “By the end of the album – as neat at this sounds – I feel like we are almost going in the opposite direction from each other, like we’ve crossed. Because Callum’s definitely comfortable with the hip-hop production stuff now, and very in that world, and I got more confident with the songwriting stuff as well,” Ewan says.
6
DORK
READDORK . COM
They agree on the brilliance of the Dust Brothers, the iconic production duo behind Beck’s ‘Odelay’, Beastie Boys’ ‘Paul’s Boutique’ and the Fight Club soundtrack, among others. “The production techniques and style of that era had a huge impact on us when we were starting Bad Sounds, when we were sort of ‘finding our sound’ for lack of a more pretentious phrase. That stuff is so deep in the origins of the band, that’s why the Beck reference comes up quite a lot,” Callum says.
Album Factfile
Artist: Bad Sounds Album title: ‘Get Better’ Date: 17th August 2018 Key tracks: ‘Honestly’, ‘Evil Powers’, ‘Wages’ Fact: Callum hates camping. “I hate camping,” he told Dork earlier this year. There you go. (Facts are hard.)
Evil
Powers.
Bad Sounds make bangers. As they prepare to drop their debut album ‘Get Better’, we meet the brothers sitting on 2018’s alt-pop motherlode. Words: Liam Konemann. Photos: Isha Shah.
B
ad Sounds are here to help. Really, they are. Chuck out your crystals and your positive affirmations, because Ewan and Callum Merrett have the solution for what ails you. Well, -ish. Maybe. A bit. Their debut album ‘Get Better’ opens with Ewan trying out his hypnotherapist voice, urging the listener to ‘take a deep breath, stop what you’re doing, and get better.’ Throughout the ensuing forty-six minute ‘sonic self-help guide’ (more on that in a second), Bad Sounds riff on disappointing paychecks, luck and conspicuously not-sulking, among other things. Everything falls loosely under the ‘Get Better’ theme, the title forming a uniting thread. “The last thing we did before the album was ‘Mixtape One’, which was our second EP, and it was the first time we’d written something to be a cohesive piece of work. So we really went in hard on that, about wanting the whole thing to feel like it belonged together,” Ewan says. “Rather than just, you know, eleven songs that we liked, we were looking for the songs that worked together and trying to see what was in there that could come out as a theme. Weirdly, it wasn’t an intentional thing, but we noticed a lot of the lyrics were based on poking fun at... I don’t know how to say it, but I guess that overthe-top, ‘self-help’ thing.” He’s quick to clarify. “Not in like a derogatory way of the issue, but more about the industry, I guess,” he says. “When we had that we started to tailor a few of the things too so that it all came together. I think we were looking for something that could tie it all together and that showed itself.” “The whole writing and recording the album was such a process of learning and literally getting better as songwriters and producers; I felt like it applied to so many aspects of what was happening to us,” Callum points out. “It just became really fun to riff off the whole selfhelp thing and ‘get better’.” At the time, the online positivity campaign waged by laptop spiritualists felt relentless, they say. “When we were doing it, all I was seeing on social media was shit about improving yourself, you know? Those Insta-quotes. And I really couldn’t give a fuck about that,” Ewan laughs. “I’m happy with my flaws.” As a matter of fact, as album track ‘Another Man’ claims, Bad Sounds reckon they’ve “got more flaws than the ceiling sees”. If they were different, the track implies, if they were each ‘Another Man’ maybe, things would come more easily. But, they’re quick to point out, despite the title the track isn’t meant to be strictly gender-based or focussed on masculinity.
THE DEBUT ALBUM st SEPTEMBER 21st PRE-ORDER NOW
LONDON - ELECTRIC BALLROOM th OCTOBER 24th WWW.SONGKICK.COM
Dork’s Big Album Guide Q3/Q4 2018
Ed’s letter.
Depending on which way up you’ ve decided to hold this special edition of Dork, this could be your introduction to our fi rst Big Album Guide. With so much happening in the second half of 2018, we’ve put together this guide to all the big releases you can expect over the next few months. Our two cover stars represent two poles of what’s to come - an established band trying something new (Deaf Havana) and a new act aiming to hit the big time (Bad Sounds). It doesn’t stop there, though. Dive in!
Index.
S tephen
Editor / @stephenackroyd
DORK
Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy Editor Victoria Sinden Associate Editor Ali Shutler Contributing Editors Jamie Muir, Martyn Young Events Liam James Ward Scribblers Alexander Bradley, Ben Jolley, Cal Cashin, Chris Taylor, Ciaran Steward, Dominic Allum, Janessa Williams, Jessica Goodman, Liam Konemann, Steven Loftin Snappers Isha Shah, Jennifer McCord, Niall Lee, Patrick Gunning, Sarah Louise Bennett Cover photo: Isha Shah P U B L I S H E D F RO M
W E LCO M E TOT H E B U N K E R.CO M
SIDE B 4. BAD SOUNDS 9. PALE WAVES 11. BLACK HONEY 12. DIZZY 13. OUR GIRL 14. HER’S 14. BEN KHAN 14. ESTRONS 15. ALBUMS OF THE YEAR (SO FAR)
U N I T 10, 23 G RA N G E RO A D, H A S T I N G S, T N34 2R L
All material copyright (c). All rights reserved.
3
DORK
READDORK . COM
Big Album Guide
REA
DDO
RK.
COM
Q3/
Q4
201
8
Your ultimate guide to all the big releases you need to know for the rest of 2018!
Bad Sounds and the debuts still to come in 2018.