lunapaper

[lunapaper]

Album Review: 'Country Curious' EP - Lola Kirke

Pop has never been more country, and country has never been more pop.   

Names like Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris, Kelsea Ballerini and Morgan Wallen (controversies aside) have well and truly embedded themselves in the mainstream. And, of course, there’s Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, which, despite all the country imagery and distinct country twang, is not a country album, according to the singer.  

Country Curious, by singer/actress Lola Kirke, however, is a country album (or EP, to be specific). It’s right there in the title. Her cowgirl journey started long ago: Born in London, raised in New York and moving to Nashville in the middle of a pandemic, developing a love for Tanya Tucker, The Judds and Rosanne Cash's Seven Year Ache along the way. Her second album, Lady for Sale, was even released through Jack White's Third Man Records.  

She chronicles this full-on transformation on the EP's first single, 'He Says Y'all,' a feminist take on 'bro-country' delivered with tongue firmly in cheek. Like 2022's Lady for Sale, Kirke turns the campy goodness up to 11 with a rollicking honky tonk groove, ready to move down South and start teasing her hair for a dirty man with a cowboy drawl. I bet she thinks his tractor's sexy, too!  

The smoky slow burn of 'All My Exes Live in LA' (featuring Swedish sister duo and fellow lovers of Americana, First Aid Kit) is also fun, flirty and feminist, referencing George Strait as she leaves the freeway littered with broken hearts, heading 'For the mountains or the desert or my mama's or anywhere else.'  

‘My House,’ meanwhile, serves absolute cunt when it comes to the traditional country ballad. Instead of begging for her man to come back home, she’s kicking him out and reclaiming her space, singing ''Cause I never have to worry about if you'll come home/I'm not crying over you, now I'm better off alone' with a big damn smile on her faceas she dances around her house while chugging a beer at 10am.  

Ending the EP is the slow winding ‘Karma,’ featuring the aforementioned Rosanne Cash. Dedicated to a lying, cheating douche bro with the big important job, it's a perfect mix of contemporary country and rugged 70s nostalgia, featuring sublime harmonies that just beautifully melt into one another and lyrics that give Taylor's own 'Karma' a serious run for their money ('She never quits/Or forgets/I don't mess with karma/But I sure love that bitch').  

Lola Kirke is more than just a little curious about country music. Where Lady for Sale saw her give it a bright, kitschy 80s glow, this EP sees her lean all the way in, with a lot of its blues and roots influence able to be attributed to producer and lifelong friend, Elle King. 

It’s masterfully constructed and cleverly written, more so than Lady for Sale at times. It should earn Kirke some kind of acclaim as Musgraves or Ballerini or Morris, just like Lady for Sale should’ve had the singer/actress occupying the same space as Rina and Carly Rae: Cult pop girlies who deliver on the niche camp in spades. 

This imbalance hasn’t gone unnoticed by Kirke noting the ‘mediocre’ 6.4 review Lady for Sale received from Pitchfork (which, coming from those guys, is laughable) in a recent interview with the official Grammys website, along with her dissatisfaction with Hollywood and the lack of decent roles (While I’m at it, Mozart in the Jungle deserved so much better, fuck Amazon for cancelling it so they could fund their stupid Lord of the Rings spinoff series). 

Nonetheless, Country Curious proves that heartbreak can be rather empowering and even funny sometimes. Kirke manages to pull off the impossible, balancing humour and heart in a country song without sounding too cartoonish or cynical. She just sounds like she’s having a blast, at this point making way better country bops than the bros... 

[lunapaper]

So, uh... I wasn't exactly the biggest fan of Clairo's last album.  

Sure, there were a couple of good tracks, like 'Zinnias' and the brilliant 'Amoeba' with its simmering, folk-disco cool. But other than that, Sling was a pretty drab record, let down by an unimaginative sonic palette mostly helmed by the all-consuming force that is Jack Antonoff.  

Thankfully, it looks like the Atlanta-born singer is returning to the bedroom pop dreaminess of her 2019 debut, Immunity.  

Following on from the breezy 'Sexy to Someone,' Cottrill wishes to be alone on her latest single, 'Nomad,' combining indie ruggedness with a gentle, home-spun groove. She dreams of going off the romantic grid, admitting 'I’d rather wake up alone than be reminded/ Of how it was a dream this time' rather than have her heart broken again. And really, who can’t relate? 

Clairo's new album, Charm, is out July 12 via Clairo Records. Read the review for Sling here.  

- Bianca B.  

[lunapaper]

Exploring the 'paradoxical duality' of the elusive It Girl in the internet age, Charli XCX assembles a veritable who's who of famous It Girls in her new video for ‘360,’ including Julia Fox, Rachel Sennott, Emma Chamberlain. Hari Nef, Gabbriette and the 90s It Girl herself, Chloë Sevigny.   

In it, there’s a meeting at the It Girl summit, with Charli & co. preparing to 'fulfil the prophecy of finding a new hot internet girl,' or else their kind will cease to exist … forever.  

Omg, can you imagine a world without It Girls?? (☉_ ☉) 

Apparently, it’s quite easy to become an It Girl. All you need is:  

A little je ne sais quoi  

To be really hot in, like, a scary way  

To be, like, known—but at the same time, unknowable.  

Being an It Girl also means you end up in some pretty strange places, including straddling an old man in a hospital bed, drinking wine on a treadmill and at the scene of multi-car pile-up. The clip, naturally, ends with all the Charli & co. strutting away from the accident and striking a pose, ‘cos who cares about vehicular manslaughter when you look this good? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Charli XCX’s new album, Brat, is out now. Read the review for her 2022 album, Crash, here.  

- Bianca B. 

[lunapaper]

Beabadoobee finds joy in domestic bliss on her latest single, ‘Coming Home.’  

While the track recalls the twee, softly plucked folk she perfected earlier in her career, it doesn’t prove nearly as sugary or as forgettable as recent efforts like ‘That’s the Way Things Go.’  

Stuck on the road, the British singer daydreams about washing dishes and doing a load of laundry with her beloved, singing of household chores with the same reverence as one would a lovesick ballad. Swooning harmonies and flourishing horns also add to the Disney-like magic, which might suddenly bring to mind a bunch of cute woodland creatures helping Bea take out the rubbish, Cinderella-style...  

Says Bea about ’Coming Home’ (via Stereogum):  

'I wrote it in a hotel room in LA when I was away from my boyfriend, my loved ones, my two cats [...] It opens with all the little mundane things like doing the dishes, that I miss because I’m always away. Really, it’s just a cute little love song with a weird non-existent structure.'  

Beabadoobee's new album This Is How Tomorrow Moves is out August 16. Read the review for her 2022 album, Beatopia, here.  

- Bianca B.  

[lunapaper]

I don't know if you’ve heard, but WILLOW is feeling a lot of ‘b i g f e e l i n g s’ at the moment...  

Continuing on from the whimsical rush of previous songs, the singer channels those big feelings into a warm haze of jazzy, frenetic keys and propulsive beats, her vocals elastic and beautiful in nature. To listen is a wonderfully heady and exhilarating experience, with WILLOW yet again showing off a deft musicality that belies her young years.  

Calling ‘b i g f e e l i n g s’ her ‘my favorite song that I’ve ever recorded to this date,’ WILLOW says about the track (via NME):  

'The piano part of this song is so dense and dissonant but also darkly beautiful. I wrote ‘b i g f e e l i n g s’ during a week where I was coming to terms with my own emotional patterns that I hadn’t known were there. Musically, it has a darkness and complexity that reflects what we all experience in our own minds. The song is about accepting those intense feelings that you have no idea what to do with.'  

WILLOW’s new album, EMPATHOGEN, is out now. Read the review for her 2022 album, COPINGMECHANISM, here.  

- Bianca B. 

[lunapaper]

Amy Allen is a ‘girl with a problem’ of heartbreaking proportions.  

It’s a woozy and pretty track with a grimy 90s feel, swirling and aching in a twinkling haze as the singer/songwriter’s heart battles with her head amid the turmoil.  

It also comes with a woozy and pretty video to match, equally awash in 90s nostalgia as Allen gives us a glimpse of her life through a fish eye lens.  

Although she’s released only a handful of tracks so far, Allen has racked up quite an impressive set of songwriting credits, including for Halsey’s ‘Without Me,’ Harry Styles’ ‘Adore You’ and even Sabrina Carpenter’s recent summer banger, ‘Espresso.’ That’s some serious pop cred right there...  

Says Allen (via Stereogum):  

'I wrote ‘girl with a problem’ when I was in the throes of a relationship I could feel was slowly turning into something ugly and unsustainable, and making the conscious decision to overlook every pitfall for the sake of loving a boy [...] Turns out it’s incredibly problematic how good our hearts are at overriding our guts.'  

- Bianca B.  

[lunapaper]

Album Review: 'I Don't Want You Anymore' - Cherry Glazerr

COVID lockdown, as it did for many, left Clementine Creevy with a lot of time to reflect, resulting in Cherry Glazerr’s darkest album yet. 

‘[T]he music I make is always a reflection of where I'm at in life, and what I'm going through,’ the singer/guitarist told Alternative Press It's funny because I was just telling someone that this album specifically might sound like it's the heaviest, darkest thing that I've made — and people have even been like, “Whoa, it's really heavy” — and I think that's true, but I also feel like I was in a worse place mentally in my life when I was writing [2017’s] Stuffed & Ready, the one that I put out before this one.’    An ode to tortured romance and all-consuming obsession, I Don’t Know You Anymore combines the slick, grimy grooves of 2017’s Apocalypstick with the fuzzy, synth-infused rock of Stuffed and Ready, along with a big, heaping dose of snark and sleaze. It’s like the audio equivalent of having an existential crisis while staying in a cheap motel room: The wallpaper peeling, the carpet all brown and matted, crying on the edge of a bed you’d be scared to run a UV light over. 

‘Addicted to Your Love’ aches with a melancholic desire, with Creevy declaring ‘I’d die for you.’ On ‘Soft Like a Flower,’ she admits, ‘I like you killing me.’ ‘Bad Habit’ does a complete 360 with its cybernetic dance pop, lit up in bright, lurid neon as the singer/guitarist likens her love to, well, y’know... ‘Sugar,’ meanwhile, can either be interpreted as a seductive promise or a threat, Creevy’s acid-fuelled self-loathing harking back to the scrappy, lo-fi charm of previous releases like Haxel Princess.    Though most of the tracks on I Don’t Want You Anymore describe a brutal and toxic love affair, they could just as easily apply to Creevy’s relationship with herself, often self-destructive and fatalistic. I’m a very therapeutic writer. It’s all a form of therapy for me,’ says Creevy. ‘I have a complicated relationship with myself. I went through a period of gaslighting myself a lot, because I had gotten into that mode [of] hanging out with people who did that.’     ‘Touched You With My Chaos’ is a rather desperate plea, Creevy breaking down under the weight of bruising riffs as she apologises to the people that ‘I’ve sucked into my world.’ ‘Ready for You’ - easily my favourite track on the album - seemingly revels in the aforementioned sleaze and scuzz, so delightfully menacing at times. But beneath the filth, there’s a world of pain (‘I get choked up/I've got to find my way outta my brain/Don't think that I can get the words out/I've got to find my way outta my brain/Up against me now’), Creevy ultimately at war with her own mind.    Eventually, though, the singer/guitarist comes to a grudging truce with her anxieties and insecurities. ‘Shattered’ contributes to a more psychedelic second half of the record, written in the aftermath of family drama when Creevy came to co-producer Yves Rothman ‘bawling’ and ‘crying.’    Interesting detours like the glitchy and fluttering nu-jazz of ‘Golden’ and the swirling Tame Impala-esque ‘Eat You Like a Pill,’ with its lush synth work and limber bass, also deliver on the dark yet kooky humour and wordplay that Creevy has long made her own. ‘Wild Times’ is especially fun, its woozy New Wave feeling like a much grimier take on city pop. Seriously, Make City Pop Grunge Again... for the First Time.    I Don’t Want You Anymore is one big filthy rock exorcism, Creevy tearing into the emotional viscera with a hurricane force. It’s messy, brutally human and downright ugly at times but also rather fun, effortlessly swerving between grooves. Rock hasn’t felt this exciting in a while, and it’s a shame that bands who serve up sweaty, ramshackle garage rock in spades like Cherry Glazerr, Slothrust and Bully are (still) so wildly underrated, sounding a hell of a lot rawer and more interesting than what the rock scene is delivering nowadays... 

I definitely want more of this... 

- Bianca B.

[lunapaper]

Isn’t ‘Bluetooth Hell’ just when your connection keeps dropping out?

Riddled with scrappy, lo-fi charm, Glasgow indie band Dancer turn modern angst into a light and springy cut of rollicking garage rock. Frontwoman Georgia Fleet cute through the fuzz with biting snark and wit, sometimes bordering on the absurd with her delightful sing-speak as she longs for a much simpler time, when love wasn’t complicated by the threat of a DM being left on ‘read’ or an unsolicited dick pic... ꒰•⌓•꒱

- Bianca B. 

[lunapaper]

h. pruz explores that murky and confusing grey area of love on her latest single, ‘Dawn.’ 

Led by twinkling keys and a gentle sweep of snares, Hannah Pruzinsky’s sweet folk pop lullaby is filled with soft and desperate yearning as the singer/songwriter slips even deeper into her lovesick reverie, weaving pure poetry throughout its gorgeous layers. The synthesised flute towards the end also adds to the magic, evoking the sound of birds in an early morning chorus. 

Says Pruzinsky (via Stereogum): 

‘‘Dawn’ intends to capture that transition point between utter naive infatuation and falling into trusting a person [...] That in-between ‘point’ of love seems to be more of a dragging ellipsis for me. I initially wanted to play with space and silence in this song to underline that, but then the instrumental chorus became just as full of longing and doubt as any words or space.’ 

h. pruz upcoming debut album, No Glory, is out now. 

- Bianca B. 

[lunapaper]

SCANDAL’s latest single ‘Plum’ is definitely as sweet as it sounds. 

The iconic J-rock girl band deliver a rather upbeat and infectious ode to heartbreak, feeling very 2000s with its sparkling and super-glossy groove. 

When translated, the lyrics are oddly heartfelt and delightfully kooky, making a discarded tissue metaphor feel strangely poetic and relatable. References to blood, hair and skin, entwined with a desperate need to be loved, also offer a charmingly human element into the mix. 

Click the link and read the lyrics in the YouTube comments for yourself! (◠‿◠✿)

SCANDAL’s new album, LUMINOUS, is out now. 

- Bianca B. 

[lunapaper]

Rachel Chinouriri strips things back on her timely new single, ‘What a Devastating Turn of Events.’

Against a plain dark backdrop, the British singer tells a rather harrowing tale over a slick 90s-style groove, starting off as a typical heartbreak narrative until Chinouriri begins delving into much darker subject matter, including forced pregnancy, loss of bodily autonomy and suicide, a dark reality for many women after the repealing of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Chinouriri explains the inspiration behind the track (via The Line of Best Fit):

'This song is one of my saddest but proudest achievements. It’s personal and based around a true story. It’s the tragic story of a girl who is a similar age to me. I think with every step of her journey, someone somewhere can understand the feelings she felt to some degree. Whether it’s to do with relationships, friendships, neglect, motherhood, depression, rejection, battling internal hatred or suicidal thoughts … I feel like this is something most people can relate to.'

'The decision to take her own life is something many people have contemplated and her life was almost the perfect storm to create that environment which is heartbreaking. Without the right support or understanding around you, people can feel trapped and it’s sad she ever made this choice. Her story deserves to be told and I hope more people know that this is a feeling that many people have felt and you should always ask for help.'

Yet another sad reminder that we all deserve to live with dignity, to be in control of our own bodies and to have access to lifesaving healthcare and other resources, no matter the circumstances.

Rachel Chinouriri's debut album, What A Devastating Turn Of Events, is out May 3 via Parlophone/Atlas Artists.

- Bianca B. 

[lunapaper]

YAAAAASSS hunny, let those 90s RnB vibes FLO...  

On ‘Walk Like This,’ the London trio are strutting and strutting hard, walking with a swing in their hips thanks to a hot new crush. Everything about this track is a delicious throwback, from the sublime harmonies to that thicc, juicy bass groove. So’s the video, featuring a seamless dance routine and leather-heavy fashions like they came straight outta Mary J’s wardrobe.  

Says the group (via Stereogum):  

'We made “Walk Like This” with our frequent and loved collaborators MNEK, Ashton Sellars, Kabba, Relyt and Talay Riley. It was the end of 2023 and we wanted to create something sexy, still fun and upbeat and for the certified lover girl in us all. The song is about that energy you have when you embrace your sensuality and womanhood. It’s okay to admit a man’s doing well from time to time! We hope it makes you feel confident, a bit naughty and adds that extra sway to your walk.'  

I rate this whole thing a 1999/10 (✿◠‿◠) 

- Bianca B.   

[lunapaper]

So I’ve had A LOT to say about the direction Maggie Rogers’ music has taken these past couple of years, seemingly toning down on the idiosyncrasies that made her debut single, ‘Alaska’ (the song that made Pharrell cry!) so special.  

‘Don’t Forget Me,' the first single from Rogers’ upcoming album of the same name, was pretty forgettable, the kind of adult contemporary dreck you probably would’ve heard coming out of your radio/CD player combo back in 1995. Her latest, however...  

‘Sick of Dreaming’ remains firmly in the middle of the road, but something about it feels a lot more fun and easygoing - that country twang, that classic rock groove, that breezy ‘oh-woah-oh’ hook. Even the spoken-word section has some charm, with Rogers recounting the time she ditched out on a shitty date (‘So he calls me up 15 minutes before the reservation/And says he’s got Knicks tickets instead/I mean, I was at the restaurant!” she says in the song. “So I took the steaks to go, I had two martinis at the bar/And went to meet my friends down the street’).  

For once, the singer/songwriter doesn’t seem to be overthinking things... Hopefully the rest of the album is just as good.  

Maggie Rogers’ Don’t Forget Me is out April 12. Read the review for her 2022 album, Surrender, here.  

- Bianca B. 

[lunapaper]

To say Rico Nasty and Boyz Noize’s latest collab goes hard is an understatement.  

‘Arintintin’ takes me back to the throbbing, fast-paced Eurodance I remember hearing as a kid during the 90s, Rico basically revelling in the delicious electroclash of it all as she declares in eerily determined fashion: 'Face down, ass up, I ain't going home.'  

Says Rico (via Stereogum):  

'Me and Boys Noize started working back in 2018… We finally met in real life after being mutuals for like a year. We did one session, it was fire! And then a few months later ended up on the Friendship Cruise together (for the first time). After the cruise, we made “Money” (feat. Flo Milli) and “1+1” — a song you’ll hear very soon on this project. Fast forward again, maybe 3-4 years, and we did a couple more sessions. We kept gravitating towards techno dance music. He started putting me on to German dance music, and we traded a bunch of songs back and forth. Little by little over a few days, we ended up making three more songs that we really loved and decided we wanted to share with the world. Every session was so much fun and I’m sure that energy is felt across all of these tracks. One of my favorite songs on the project is… all of them. That’s why she is so short!! Talk to you later and see you guys soon.'  

I listened to Rico’s ‘IPHONE’ a lot during lockdown when it was released all the way back in the Dark Ages of 2020, so I love it when she goes full hyper-electro pop... (◠‿◠✿)  

Rico Nasty and Boyz Noize’s HVRDCORE DR3WMZ EP is out March 29.  

- Bianca B. 

[lunapaper]

girl in red’s upcoming album is called I’m Doing It Again, Baby. And yet, her latest single is called ‘Doing It Again, Baby,’ which kinda qualifies as a title track, I guess? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In true girl in red fashion, the song throws in a little bit of everything - punchy 00s pop, pulsating dance, snazzy art rock, even a bit of a country twang. It’s rather defiant and brimming with confidence, in stark contrast to previous girl in red tracks, as the Norwegian singer rolls with the boys all decked out in Japanese denim and loafers, ‘looking like a rockstar from the 70s.’

So basically ,girl in red’s on a totally new level and loving this new self esteem, which is really great to hear... (◠‿◠✿)

girl in red’s I’m Doing It Again Baby! is out April 12 via Columbia. Read the review for her debut album, If I Could Make It Go Quiet, here. 

- Bianca B.

[lunapaper]

It’s a strange world out there... but we’ll be fine (◠‿◠✿)  

La Luz turn pandemic pandemic-era anxiety into fun and cheesy B-grade sci-fi in their latest video, the band fing theselves trapped in some sort of suburban dystopia that they eventually escape via some sort of space vortex via their fridge, before taking the form of a council of space noir dictators that were once separate beings that ruled over them, creating a kind of circular narrative that sees the band taking on their final forms, and...  

You know what, I’ve got no fucking idea. It’s spacey and it’s camp, that’s all you need to know. And is it me, or has most of the band's lineup changed?? ⊙﹏⊙  

‘It’s been a strange and difficult few years, and at moments, I have found myself rushing to move forward in time, to leave the present and escape to whatever is next,’ notes bandleader Shana Cleveland (via Stereogum). ‘The best advice a friend gave me during a time when I was feeling particularly overwhelmed and battling consecutive panic attacks was to go outside, take my shoes off, and sit with my feet on the earth. This seemed to slow the universe down in a way that made it feel easier to handle. So this chorus is something of a mantra to myself ‘we’ll be fine, just take your time.’  

La Luz’s new album, News of the Universe, is out May 24 via Sub Pop.  

- Bianca B. 

[lunapaper]

Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a while...  

Despite being reduced to a two-piece after the departure of bassist Ade Martín and drummer Amber Grimbergen, Spanish band Hinds seem pretty mellow on their latest single, ‘Coffee,’ a scrappy pop charmer that celebrates the girls' love of coffee (duh), cigarettes and 'flowers from boys that I'm not sleeping with,' helping to get the adrenaline running by performing a few motorcycle stunts (Nothing too dangerous, but still pretty gnarly...)  

The duo describes the track as 'a sincericide, screaming the nasty truth as loud as you can with no shame. It’s about admitting to all the things you’re not supposed to like or doing all the things you’re not meant to do,” they shared in a statement. “It’s a lot of fun when you can be fully honest and shut that little voice in your head that tells you what you should or shouldn’t do.'  

Vroom, vroom, but in Spanish... (◠‿◠✿) 

- Bianca B.