Canvas X 2019

Since the release of 2015’s Love Songs for Robots, Montreal art-rock savant Patrick Watson has endured all manner of hardships—the death of his mother, the end of a long-term relationship, the departure of drummer Robbie Kuster, and the loss of a friend to suicide. They’re the sort of life-altering events that can’t help but filter down into an artist’s work. But while the title of his eponymous band’s sixth album, Wave, references the emotional tsunami he was forced to navigate, Watson refused to let grief be his guiding principle. “I just wanted to make a really simple and beautiful record—a little bit like Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden,” Watson tells Apple Music. That focus yields some of the most elegant, lyrically direct songwriting of Watson’s career, as he deftly threads Lennon-esque melodies and lean acoustic/piano arrangements with orchestration. But Wave’s spare canvas also leaves Watson with enough space to indulge his love of off-kilter experimentation—as he explains, making a low-volume record is not necessarily the same thing as making a low-key one.

For their third studio album, the Brooklyn-based alt-pop band traveled to a mountainside studio 20 minutes outside Nashville. The change of scenery is reflected on Seasons: The highs are higher, the mood bright and introspective. “Bring It on Home,” “Neighborhood,” and “Can’t Stop Me Now” feed off the same energy that made “Best Day of My Life” a 2014 breakout hit. There's something more reverential this time around: “Deep Water” searches for meaning with the passion of a preacher (“I can’t find my purpose if I don’t know what my worth is," goes a line). “Say Amen” (featuring Ontario singer-songwriter Billy Raffoul) and “A Real Place” go even further, swirling with restorative gospel touches. Seasons shows that American Authors still make joyful, fun alt-pop, but have found different routes to get there.

Fire! Orchestra - Arrival (2019) {Rune Grammofon RCD2205}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 387 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 158 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 91 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2019 Rune Grammofon | RCD2205
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Contemporary Jazz Vocals / Experimental Big Band

Fire! Orchestra started out as a 28 piece ensemble in 2011, initiated by the Fire! trio of Mats Gustafsson, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin. Now down to a "mere" 14 members, keeping the rhythm and horn sections to their bare necessities while bringing on a string quartet to expand the canvas, this "cleanup" has worked wonders. The two exceptional and powerful singers, Mariam Wallentin and Sofia Jernberg have been members since the start and shine as brightly as ever. With "Arrival" the ensemble have upped the ante on all levels and produced a stunning new album, with five originals and achingly beautiful cover versions of Robbie Bashos´s "Blue Crystal Fire" and "At Last I Am Free" by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rogers.

All good things must come to an end, and if we are to hold this understanding as true then there is no reason not to ensure that the finale is massive, glorious and affirming. Such is the scenario we find with UK legends Her Name Is Calla as we witness their final musical statement, the diverse and persistently riveting double album Animal Choir. This is one of those rare and exciting albums that feels like art clicking on all cylinders; no rules, no boundaries, nothing holding the performers back from doing exactly what is in their hearts, watching as every stroke lands just right on the canvas.

Part of the fun of listening to Lana Del Rey’s ethereal lullabies is the sly sense of humour that brings them back down to earth. Tucked inside her dreamscapes about Hollywood and the Hamptons are reminders—and celebrations—of just how empty these places can be. Here, on her sixth album, she fixes her gaze on another place primed for exploration: the art world. Winking and vivid, Norman F*****g Rockwell! is a conceptual riff on the rules that govern integrity and authenticity from an artist who has made a career out of breaking them.