ANTICIPATED SUMMER LPS 2015 | 1FTP
It's that time again, we're on the stroke of summer and there's a whole new batch of brilliant anticipated albums on the verge of release. We spend a lot of time rattling on about the quality of specific track releases and a lot of those bands and musicians don't even make it to the point of releasing an album. So in honour of all those with the ability, luck and determination to get there - these anticipated posts are for you. Yes, some of the releases are through major labels, offshoots, subsidiaries, blah blah blah lets be clear - these albums are here on our merit, nothing else.
Summer is a bit of a notorious month for album releases, you either get bands hoping to capitalise on sales through festival appearances or bands not bothering because they've already dropped their new album. Some bands might be wanting to try out their new stuff while on the festival circuit and so will be waiting for an autumn album release date. Because of this, releases over the summer can be a bit sporadic, but never-the-less we have some beauties forthcoming. As with Spring, we have hotshot Samme Snow on artwork duty - just look at that beauty above - and along with that we'll compile a playlist of standout tracks from each anticipated album featured.
Wolf Alice - My Love Is Cool (Dirty Hit: June 23rd)
Wolf Alice have been doing the circuit for a fair amount of time now and if anyone part of the UK live music scene was to deserve a debut LP release, Wolf Alice are most certainly the ones. We've so far heard "Bros", "Giant Peach", "You're A Germ", "Freazy" and well the full My Love Is Cool album stream too. So rather than anticipating the music, it's more a case of anticipating that lovely slab of vinyl from the postman. Even so, My Love Is Cool has been anticipated by us for longer than a single season of the year so had to feature heavily here. Listen to most recent track "Freazy" below.
Class Actress - Movies EP (Casablanca Records: June 23rd)
This is pretty much the only EP we're featuring in this Summers feature and possibly the most POP of the lot. Class Actress are back and in glorious, rich and raunchy fashion - as always. Elizabeth Harper sounds refreshed and invigorated on these new tracks and "More Than You" is one of the biggest smashes of the year for us. Synth-pop never sounded so sexy in our opinion and for that reason, obviously, we can't wait to hear the full Movies EP.
Tame Impala - Currents (Interscope: July 17th)
Have to be honest, we weren't all that sure how this new Tame Impala LP would turn out and even when we first heard "Let It Happen" we had some doubts. That was until we heard "'Cause I'm A Man" and all the doubts fizzled out into a haze of floaty floaty, chill chill. Got lost for a second there but yeah, Its good. Since then they've probably given us a bit too much other new stuff, but never-the-less we can't wait for Currents which will no doubt raise the bar for all their copy-cats. Tame Impala take a bow, you've done it again with Currents - we're positive.
Ducktails - St. Catherine (Domino Records: July 24th)
Ducktails' St. Catherine is one of those releases we're anticipating could go one of two ways, it could be ridiculously good or it could just be samey samey all the way through - we're obviously hoping for the former but either way we're still excited for it. So far we've heard the killer cool "Headbanging In The Mirror" and "Surreal Exposure" which is edging more on the jaunty, upbeat side of things with those oh-so Ducktails intrinsic vocals. If St. Catherine follows suit as a whole, we're on an absolute winner.
The Maccabees - Marks To Prove It (Fiction: July 31st)
Here's a mainstream album due out this Summer. The Maccabees will most definitely refute any claims of mainstream but in comparison to the rest of the music in this feature, they are - it's not a dirty word though and shouldn't ever be seen as one. Marks To Prove It has some very big shoes to fill after the huge success of Given To The Wild and for that reason alone we can't wait to see how it turns out. Add that to the fact The Maccabees have only actually dropped the one track, Marks To Prove It must surely be worth waiting for.
Mac Demarco - Another One (Captured Tracks: August 7th)
The man, the myth, the legend, well maybe not a myth but he's pretty awesome. Maccy's back for another one and this time it's on a oh-so-trendy "mini album" - so basically Mac Demarco is bringing out another album this year by the name of Another One and its going to have 8-tracks on it and so to call it an album would make him look a bit lazy maybe? I don't know but one thing I do know is, Mac Demarco has not dropped the quality. So far we've heard "The Way You'd Love Her" and the title track, "Another One". Maybe the next one will be a full one - who knows.
Gardens & Villa - Music For Dogs (Secretly Canadian: August 21st)
You could go as far as saying Gardens & Villa are probably the David amongst some of the Goliath's in this list - and we love it that way. Gardens & Villa brought previous album Dunes out last year and they're already about to release another album - Music For Dogs - sounding a lot more mature and in fairness, improved. "Fixations" is the only track we have to go from for the minute but it's so good, it doesn't even matter. Rich, full-bodied and joyously upbeat, with way more depth than we've previously heard from the band. To say we're looking forward to Music For Dogs is an understatement.
Tamaryn - Cranekiss (Mexican Summer: August 28th)
One of the bigger surprises of this feature has to be the inclusion of Tamaryn, who left behind previous work with Rex Shelverton to adorn releases with her new band and "Cranekiss" ticks all the boxes for a huge amount of improvement on basically all levels. There's still some minimal shoegaze aspects going on, but really it's more of a synth-pop/shoegaze homogenisation and it sounds stunning. Whether Tamaryn's full Cranekiss release tows this line or goes off on different tangents remains to be seen.
Beach House - Depression Cherry (Sub Pop Records: August 28th)
We're taking a risk with Beach House and their upcoming Depression Cherry release. Well it's not that much of a risk but considering we've not even heard one solitary track from the album there's not much to go on, other than all the previous quality they've dealt us. Depression Cherry is due out at the end of August so presumably we;ll hear one or two tracks before then, but for now we're anticipating another top draw Beach House album.
Foals - What Went Down (Warner Music: August 28th)
What is there to say about this release, Foals keep progressing, even when you think they may have peaked. "What Went Down" was premiered just last week and the album's title track came across a bit strange to start with, but after a few more listens it's a massive grower. Maybe the album will go that route too but this sounds rather similar to the styling of "Inhaler", when Foals brought out Holy Fire previously. Maybe we're gonna get some other similarities to "My Number", "Late Night" and other Holy Fire classics come the release of What Went Down.
Hibou - Hibou (Barsuk: September 18th)
Hibou went quiet for a brief stint after unveiling a handful of his debut tracks but he's now ready to drop Hibou his self-titled debut EP following time with Craft Spells. "Dissolve" is a delightful number filled with jangling guitars, melancholic vibes and hushed whispering vocals. The breakdown towards the end is a bit different too and with all those elements taken into consideration it's going to be interesting to see what he's got in store on a full length album.
Chromatics - Dear Tommy (Italians Do It Better: TBA)
We're onto our TBA section of the feature, with albums that have been teasing us for some time now and none so more than Chromatics' Johnny Jewel who's been teasing Dear Tommy since last December time. So far we've heard three tracks from the album which has most likely been delayed due to Jewel's part in the soundtrack to Ryan Gosling's Lost River. With that now done and dusted we're expecting either, another track or a release date for a very long overdue Dear Tommy. One thing is for sure, Chromatics don't tend to disappoint and especially not with the below, "I Can Never Be Myself When You're Around".
James Blake - Radio Silence (Republic: TBA)
Finally we have James Blake's forthcoming, without a release date, Radio Silence, that was apparently going to be out "next month" - that was back in March. It's now June and we're hoping Radio Silence is going to rear its head some time this summer, of course it may be kept until later in the year when we get to the business end of the year aka Autumn. Anything James Blake always turns heads though and at times we've been one of his minority critics for well, being a bit boring. Anyway, we're hoping to see a slight change in pace on Radio Silence - lets hope we're right.
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