We'd never go so far as to sneak an unsolicited album into your iTunes library — Bono says he's sorry, but the trauma remains — with Exclaim!'s Staff Picks, but we're still keen on introducing you to a new release you might fall in love with while retaining our innocence. (Another joke for you, too!)
So as not to startle, here's what's on the docket this week: the incomparable force that is Björk, an anti-folk hero, a cross-border collaborative return, and a sources of last-minute cartoon Halloween costumer fodder. (Again, there's also Björk.)
Dive into our album reviews section for more notable new releases, including that one everyone on your timeline has been arguing about.
Björk
Fossora
(One Little Independent)
Perhaps too many of my recent Staff Picks have started with an anecdote about getting back into something right before a new release is announced, but there is just something so comforting about it. Fossora has been a gift after a summer of having Post on repeat again, as its earthy odes to femininity are both soothing and grounding. Many of Björk's melodies are familiar and comforting, with lyrics like "hope is a muscle" punching you in just the right way. We should all be grateful to bear witness to her unwavering career, truly.
Sydney Brasil
Cam'ron & A-Trak
U Wasn't There
(EMPIRE)
Arriving nearly a decade on from the first promise of joint EP Federal Reserve, this bit of cross-border diplomacy between the Dipset leader and Fool's Gold Records co-founder feels as relaxed as the pair's reported lamb cookout/studio session where it began. A-Trak has said he "tried to make the album that I wanted to hear from Cam as a fan," and he succeeds, cheffing up chipmunk soul, the boldest horns and the breeziest reggae for all that flows from the MC's expectedly sharp pen.
Calum Slingerland
Mabe Fratti
Se Ve Desde Aquí
(Unheard of Hope)
Mabe Fratti's previous records mimicked flowers — velvety petals dashed with big pearls of dew — where her latest, Se Ve Desde Aquí, is all thorns. Well, maybe not all thorns; the Guatemala-born, Mexico City-based cellist, singer and composer's new LP retains her delicate melodies and tender-hearted songwriting, but the sounds surrounding are drier, sharper and more gently menacing. Built from sawing cello, burbling electronics, Fratti's now-solitary voice and squeals of saxophone, Se Ve Desde Aquí is an acrid art-pop wonderland.
Kaelen Bell
Camille Léon
Near Quaint
(Independent)
Not just Kim Possible's villainous former cat food heiress from after all, Camille Léon is also the stage name of Toronto-based multidisciplinary artist Jenelle Lewis (full disclosure, she has contributed visual art to Exclaim! in the past). She penned her debut EP — an anagram of the word "quarantine" — of self-described "glitter grunge" songs during the 2020 lockdowns, save for a cover of newly christened bisexual anthem "Sweater Weather" by the Neighbourhood; the 2014 Tumblr girl era is back, baby! Léon's full-toned vocals have a plaintive quality, which really shines on the driving, glow-in-the-dark "9 Times Outta 10," twisting technicolour into the cosmos of its atmospheric latter half.
Megan LaPierre
Jeffrey Lewis
When That Really Old Cat Dies
(Independent)
With dozens of albums to his name, prolific anti-folk hero Jeffrey Lewis has continued his winning streak with the seven tracks of When That Really Old Cat Dies. The album kicks off on an admittedly low note with the title track — think A Crow Looked at Me for cat people — but quickly turns the mood around on gleeful ode to Yorkshire pudding, "What I Love Most in England (Is the Food!)." Mid-album romper "Wow & Flutter" is a standout among standouts, while closer "Guest List Song" comedically ponders the statute of limitations on returning favours.
Allie Gregory
Zoon
A Sterling Murmuration
(Paper Bag)
On from OMBIIGIZI's Sewn Back Together in February and Zoon's Big Pharma in June, Daniel Monkman is back with their third release of 2022. Following the folksy and electronic leanings of the past couple releases, the four-song A Sterling Murmuration captures the full expanse of their self-described "moccasin gaze": churning shoegaze on "Play Ground," electroacoustic experimentation on "In the Woods," dream folk on "Move" — and I'm particularly partial to the peaceful new age drift of "Giizhig."
Alex Hudson
So as not to startle, here's what's on the docket this week: the incomparable force that is Björk, an anti-folk hero, a cross-border collaborative return, and a sources of last-minute cartoon Halloween costumer fodder. (Again, there's also Björk.)
Dive into our album reviews section for more notable new releases, including that one everyone on your timeline has been arguing about.
Björk
Fossora
(One Little Independent)
Perhaps too many of my recent Staff Picks have started with an anecdote about getting back into something right before a new release is announced, but there is just something so comforting about it. Fossora has been a gift after a summer of having Post on repeat again, as its earthy odes to femininity are both soothing and grounding. Many of Björk's melodies are familiar and comforting, with lyrics like "hope is a muscle" punching you in just the right way. We should all be grateful to bear witness to her unwavering career, truly.
Sydney Brasil
Cam'ron & A-Trak
U Wasn't There
(EMPIRE)
Arriving nearly a decade on from the first promise of joint EP Federal Reserve, this bit of cross-border diplomacy between the Dipset leader and Fool's Gold Records co-founder feels as relaxed as the pair's reported lamb cookout/studio session where it began. A-Trak has said he "tried to make the album that I wanted to hear from Cam as a fan," and he succeeds, cheffing up chipmunk soul, the boldest horns and the breeziest reggae for all that flows from the MC's expectedly sharp pen.
Calum Slingerland
Mabe Fratti
Se Ve Desde Aquí
(Unheard of Hope)
Mabe Fratti's previous records mimicked flowers — velvety petals dashed with big pearls of dew — where her latest, Se Ve Desde Aquí, is all thorns. Well, maybe not all thorns; the Guatemala-born, Mexico City-based cellist, singer and composer's new LP retains her delicate melodies and tender-hearted songwriting, but the sounds surrounding are drier, sharper and more gently menacing. Built from sawing cello, burbling electronics, Fratti's now-solitary voice and squeals of saxophone, Se Ve Desde Aquí is an acrid art-pop wonderland.
Kaelen Bell
Camille Léon
Near Quaint
(Independent)
Not just Kim Possible's villainous former cat food heiress from after all, Camille Léon is also the stage name of Toronto-based multidisciplinary artist Jenelle Lewis (full disclosure, she has contributed visual art to Exclaim! in the past). She penned her debut EP — an anagram of the word "quarantine" — of self-described "glitter grunge" songs during the 2020 lockdowns, save for a cover of newly christened bisexual anthem "Sweater Weather" by the Neighbourhood; the 2014 Tumblr girl era is back, baby! Léon's full-toned vocals have a plaintive quality, which really shines on the driving, glow-in-the-dark "9 Times Outta 10," twisting technicolour into the cosmos of its atmospheric latter half.
Megan LaPierre
Jeffrey Lewis
When That Really Old Cat Dies
(Independent)
With dozens of albums to his name, prolific anti-folk hero Jeffrey Lewis has continued his winning streak with the seven tracks of When That Really Old Cat Dies. The album kicks off on an admittedly low note with the title track — think A Crow Looked at Me for cat people — but quickly turns the mood around on gleeful ode to Yorkshire pudding, "What I Love Most in England (Is the Food!)." Mid-album romper "Wow & Flutter" is a standout among standouts, while closer "Guest List Song" comedically ponders the statute of limitations on returning favours.
Allie Gregory
Zoon
A Sterling Murmuration
(Paper Bag)
On from OMBIIGIZI's Sewn Back Together in February and Zoon's Big Pharma in June, Daniel Monkman is back with their third release of 2022. Following the folksy and electronic leanings of the past couple releases, the four-song A Sterling Murmuration captures the full expanse of their self-described "moccasin gaze": churning shoegaze on "Play Ground," electroacoustic experimentation on "In the Woods," dream folk on "Move" — and I'm particularly partial to the peaceful new age drift of "Giizhig."
Alex Hudson
