Removing Snare Bleed From Cymbal Mics

Life is horribly dark right now. And yet, it is not unfunny. That’s the sentiment that animates Water From Your Eyes on their new album, and first for Matador, ‘Everyone’s Crushed,’ out May 26. On the follow-up to the Brooklyn duo’s 2021 breakthrough, ‘Structure,’Rachel Brown (they/them) and Nate Amos (he/him) find silliness and fatalism dancing in a frantic lockstep, using heart palpitating rhythms and absurdist, deadpan lyrics to convey stories of personal and societal unease. Described by Brown as Water From Your Eyes’ most collaborative record ever, it’s a swollen contusion of an album: experimental pop music that’s pretty and violent, raw and indelible.

An all-encompassing aural assault, a force as unstoppable and fiercely alive as the tide. The post-rock powerhouse known as AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR have returned with their 7th studio album, ‘Megafauna’.

After 20 years of having their heads fused together in their signature double-noggin logo, Death From Above 1979’s Sebastien Grainger and Jesse Keeler can now say they officially share the same brain. As the Toronto-bred duo explain to Apple Music, the decision to self-produce their fourth album, Is 4 Lovers, wasn’t so much driven by a desire to get back to the DIY conditions that spawned their debut 2004 disco-metal classic You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine. Rather, it was an attempt to apply all the studio knowledge they’ve accumulated in the interim working with A-list producers like Dave Sardy (on 2014’s The Physical World) and Eric Valentine (2017’s Outrage! Is Now) and use it to elevate Grainger and Keeler’s long-standing psychic connection into a full-on mind-meld.

A strong debut demands a strong follow-up. The pop/rock sextet BOYS FROM HEAVEN are now ready with their sophomore album, “The Descendant”. The group, though still faithful to the 80’s AOR universe, have found greater inspiration in a more atmospheric sound, where dreamy pads, punchy synthesizers and drum machines are blended with the band’s organic and authentic sound. All musical elements have been meticulously crafted in this incredibly detailed production, which is mixed and mastered by Erik Martensson (Eclipse, Ammunition, etc.). On “The Descendant”, Boys From Heaven present the sonic equivalent of cruising back to the future, straight to the arcade hall, on to the drive-in cinema, and back home to mend a broken heart. “With this release, we have made an album that doesn’t just draw its inspiration from the 80’s, but also takes the listener through an array of emotions analogous with this period of music”, keyboardist Mads Noye offers.