This is a monster week for amazing album releases! Both MS MR and Alt-J are putting out their debut albums, while veterans Band of Horses and Grizzly Bear are both putting out their fourth studio efforts. Band of Horses‘ Mirage Rock has a distinctly classic rock vibe, while Grizzly Bear’s Shields raises the bar for the group’s exploration into the art rock genre. Old favorites and rookies alike, it’s a particularly great week for new releases.
This week, New York’s MS MR (@msmrsounds) released their first “fully-realized” EP, Candy Bar Creep Show. The overall sound is a bewitching mix of soul, dreamwave, and theatrical pop — “Hurricane”, the closing track, reminds me of Florence Welch if she’d have hit it big in the late nineties. MS MR will be supporting GROUPLOVE November 2nd at Terminal 5.
Although Britain’s Alt-J (@alt_j) have been together since 2007, An Awesome Wave marks the band’s first full-length studio release. I may be a new listener, but their music seems to strike a refreshing balance between strangeness and accessibility, making Alt-J easy to fall for. An Awesome Wave is chock-full of charming idiosyncrasies tied loosely together with dreamy guitar riffs. I’m already craving more.
After the critical success of Grizzly Bear’s (@grizzlybear) third album, Veckatimest, I have to admit, I was a little worried that the quality of the band’s follow-up would be somewhat compromised. However, this week’s release, Shields, proves that the Brooklyn quartet rose to the occasion, allowing themselves more artistic freedom than ever. I’d love to say something fancy, but this album is straight-up wonderful, and that’s all.
This week, Charleston’s Band of Horses (@bandofhorses) released their fourth studio album, Mirage Rock. The album has a distinctly classic rock vibe led, intrepidly as ever, by frontman Ben Bridwell’s unmistakable vocals. My favorite track so far off of Mirage Rock, “Dumpster World”, opens and closes with an America-like melody that evokes an awesomely haunting mood. Band of Horses will be playing a show September 29th in Central Park.