Cameron Avery – Ripe Deams, Pipe Dreams (Spinning Top/Anti-)
Having worked his magic as part of Tame Impala, Pond and The Growl, Cameron Avery’s solo debut carves a new path with gospel and soul-infused rock. It’s his powerful vocals that really sell this release, kicking off with Do You Know Me By Heart, where “Avery's breathy yearning unfold over a waltzing, dark dance hall atmosphere and trilling motifs”.
We gave it four-and-a-half stars and our Album Of The Week.
Laura Marling – Semper Femina (More Alarming Records/Kobalt)
It’s hard to pinpoint which direction Laura Marling is heading with the release of Semper Femina – as she steps back from the noisier and rockier sounds of Short Movie but not really returning to her acoustic roots. “Really, it's just a little bit weirder,” our reviewer said, which “gives the album a unique personality and speaks to an increasingly intriguing future for Marling”.
We gave it three-and-a-half stars.
The Shins – Heartworms (Aural Apothecary/Sony)
Heartworms blends bursts of youthful energy with “an almost quintessential 'adult contemporary' sound; lyrically rich yet musically safe pop”. With more density to their sound and a slower feel overall, the album is “less innocent than The Shins we're used to, they make it no less enjoyable.”
We gave it four stars.
and the rest of the releases…
A Ghost Orchestra – Blood (Firestarter)
Bush – Black And White Rainbows (Caroline)
Buzzcocks – Buzzcocks (mk.1) Box (Domino/EMI)
Circa Waves – Different Creatures (Dew Process/Universal)
Cohenbeats – Daily Affirmations (Stone Throw/Inertia)
Colin Hay – Fierce Mercy (Sony)
Dada Ono – Granny Loves Smith (Independent)
Domini Forster – Raven (Independent)
Evocation – The Shadow Archetype (Metal Blade Records/Rocket)
Fink – Fink’s Sunday Night Blues Club Volume 1 (R’COUP’D/Interia)
Greg Graffin – Millport (Anti-/Warner)
Havok – Conformicide (Century Media)
Hurray For The Riff Raff – The Navigator (ATO/[PIAS] Australia)
Jacques Greene – Feel Infinite (LuckyMe/Inertia)
Kelly Dance – Wild Grass (Broken Stone Records/Remote Control)
Mama K & The Big Love – Blind (Independent)
Marty Stuart – Way Out West (Superlatone/Cooking Vinyl)
Nathan Fake – Providence (Ninja Tune/Inertia)
Nova Collective – The Further Side (Metal Blade Records/Rocket)
Omar Rodriquez-Lopez – Azul, Mis Dientes (Ipecac/[PIAS] Australia)
Outside The Academy – Second-Guessing (Independent)
Pirra – Animal Kingdom (Independent)
Porter Ray – Watercolor (Sub Pop)
Roland Kay-Smith - As Cool As They Come (Independent)
Roland Tings – Each Moment A Diamond (Sony)
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – The French Press (Ivy League/Liberation)
Shobaleader One – Elektac (Warp/Inertia)
sirWas – Digging A Tunnel (City Slang)
The Floors – Beat It Down (Beast)
The Picturebooks – Home Is A Heartache (Another Century)
Valerie June – The Order Of Time (Concord/Caroline)
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