As the fight against COVID-19 continues, the importance of music intensifies. In these uncertain times, it delivers wonder, reassurance, and provides a precious emotional currency.
Time may be an illusion, but if you believe in it, we’ve already made it over halfway through 2021. This means it’s time to reflect on the preceding six months and list the musical moments that have helped us get through some troubling times. These are the albums that have influenced 2021 so far… what a ruckus it’s been.
Jazmine Sullivan, Heaux Tales
Jazmine Sullivan is one of the greatest R&B vocalists currently in rotation, developing enveloping narratives which evoke all of the feels.
Her latest offering, Heaux Tales, is a work of fictional beauty and relatability. At just 32 minutes running-time, her fourth album instalment is short enough to be classified as an EP. Even so, this offering harnesses an intelligence and depth which innumerable albums of the same genre lack. Heaux Tales depends on a substantially simpler palette than her prior releases, notably her brilliant 2015 LP Reality Show, with its vibrant songwriting and unique sense of urgency.
Sullivan hones in on her unusual ability to weave together disparate narratives, establishing a unifying musical thoroughfare. The album is centred around spoken word tales from various women, purportedly inspired by real occurrences. Sullivan utilises each tale as a trigger which she then amplifies in song form, allowing each distinct perspective to shine before infusing them with her own voice and personality.
“Heaux Tales” is schematic, a successor to didactic concept albums like “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” and the visual version of Beyoncé’s “Lemonade.” Spoken-word “tales” from six women — confessions and hard-earned observations — are followed by songs that flesh them out as character studies.”
Source: The New York Times
Sullivan’s songs venture into challenging and confusing territory at times. The dark and righteous indignation of a breakup is one of the album’s most prominent overtones. In “Lost One,” the singer is the betrayer; it’s a confession of absolute anguish, sung in Sullivan’s low range over a hollowly echoing guitar, as she watches the one she cheated on die.
Ashnikko, Demidevil
This release, dubbed a ‘mixtape’, is a collection of bawdy bangers which form the pop agitator’s debut; the product of a blaze of excitement – which originated, of course, on TikTok – that has seen her garner acclaim from everyone from Grimes to Miley Cyrus.
The road to Demidevil was bumpy. The mixtape was set for release in October 2020, however, it was pushed back several times. Critics speculated whether the frequent delays were organised intentionally to give her breakout track Daisy more breathing room for independent success.
In spite of Demidevil‘s unusual roll-out, Ashnikko’s debut album builds upon the early buzz and pulls from a considerably larger pool of musical inspirations. Nu-metal, pop-punk and a Neptunes-esque production techniques all make an appearance on a record that samples Kelis’ “Caught Out There” and features celebrity cameos from Princess Nokia and Grimes.
“The last song on DEMIDEVIL… “Clitoris! The Musical.” Over jaunty cabaret piano, after a movie-trailer voice intro and a piercing giggle, Ashnikko belts out her frustration with guys who can’t get the job done in bed. “Cisgender heterosexual men/ I’m bored of your fumbling hands, it’s not hard!” goes the chorus.”
Source: Stereogum
Ashnikko, a 24-year-old North Carolina native born Ashton Nicole Casey, is abrasive and provocative. This much has been clear since she came out laughing and gasping into her 2019 smash hit, Young Baby Tate collaboration “STUPID,” which saw Ashnikko spewing uncomfortable lyrics over a bass-bombed beat from Oscar Scheller, a British indie-pop classic stalwart.
The Avalanches, We Will Always Love You
This might just be The Avalanches’ greatest album yet. We Will Always Love You captures the same spirit of discovery as their debut, capturing the band’s growing sense of maturity, indicative of a new beginning.
The ethereal music borrows samples from The Roches and Smokey Robinson, featuring Blood Orange on vocals. Also featured is Devonté Hynes’ sugary, R&B falsetto. A statement from The Avalanches regarding the release, explains that,
“Sometimes we receive a message, telling us our music has been there; through dark times, loneliness, loss… There are no words to express how moving or profound this connection with you is. Because the music [is] born out of such moments itself, and so it is felt, by those with open hearts, on the same wavelength…”
Source: Junkee
Several billboards with the words “After we die, what then? We will always love you” appeared around Australia in February of 2021 , sending visitors to wwaly.earth. It features a morse message, spelling out “The Avalanches.” Later in February, the band announced the song’s release through morse code from the Capitol Towers in Los Angeles.
Merpire, Simulation Ride
Merpire, the moniker of Melbourne-based artist Rhiannon Atkinson-Howatt, writes music that finds its home somewhere between the rom-com and horror movie sections of her mind.
Her debut album, Simulation Ride, is like a musical journal entry, providing a developed collection of beautifully crafted songs. Simulation Ride expertly demonstrates the depth of Atkinson-Howatt’s range of emotions. The singer-songwriter conveys her messages in a sympathetic and engaging manner, with songs which provide a glimmer of optimism, even within the album’s darkest moments.
“When you’re an anxious person, it’s really hard to be vulnerable and say what’s going on in your head. I write to get that off my mind,”
Source: NME
Throughout the album’s journey, a sense of intense reflection is ever-present. Atkinson-Howaat captures a self-reflective tone, investigating her feelings in an incredibly relatable way. Her songwriting is both revealing and reassuring, full of complicated sentiments and emotions that most of us can identify with. This is a gorgeous rock record. Every guitar tone is striking, every arrangement is precise and full of space, and Merpire’s voice is a constant source of comfort.
The album’s production is lush and empathetic, softly leading listeners through the emotional journey set out by the songs. Whether it’s the lo-fi “Yusiimii”, the off-the-wall “Dinosaur”, or the faintly country-toned “Habit”. Each thoughtful sound and quality arrangement gives the included tracks an un-skippable quality.
Simulation Ride is a bright-sounding pop tune, yet it never seems fake. It’s a study of complicated emotions that avoids dramatisation, drawing its force instead from a pureness of heart.
Check out Merpire’s single Village, below:
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