In Music — January 2024

It was a pretty decent start to the year with a few of my favourite artists releasing new albums; Gruff Rhys releasing the 25th album of his career with 'Sadness Sets Me Free', and Bill Ryder-Jones returned with 'Iechyd Da'.

The thing with Gruff is, is that no matter what he puts out I'll enjoy. Same goes for this new album. It follows on nicely where 2021's 'Seeking New Gods' left off. Songs about property developers and the government, with easy on the ear melodies, it's an album that doesn't really push any boundaries — something which Gruff has often done throughout his career, but more of an album that highlights his consistency as an one of the best melodic, psych-pop artists around.

Bill Ryder-Jones' first new material since 2018 is his best work to date in my opinion; and I'm a big fan of his previous efforts. A self-produced album recored at his own studio in West Kirby, this is another very personal album from Bill as he opens up about his mental health struggles during various lockdowns during the pandemic. Give this album a listen! It's great.

Both Bill and Gruff are playing in Berlin soon, which reminds me... I need to still book tickets for both gigs! Bill, if you're reading this... bring some vinyl with you! I still can't find your new one anywhere.

Elsewhere, Marika Hackman's new album, 'Big Sigh', is excellent. I enjoyed 'Pick-Up Full Of Carnations' by The Vaccines more than I was expecting to, and if minimal, delicate folk is your thing, then I would highly recommend an album by Daudi Matsiko, 'The King of Misery'. It's perfect for a late Sunday evening listen.

A few other new releases that I've had on over the course of the month, but haven't formed an opinion either way yet are; Future Islands — 'People Who Aren't There Anymore', The Smile — 'Wall of Eyes', and New Dad — 'Madra'. All of which are decent, but none of them really grabbed me.

I'm hoping to write one of these posts each month. I usually have a pretty bad track record at keeping up with things like this, so lets see how I get on.

I don't use Spotify anymore, and creating a playlist on Apple Music might be a waste of time. Instead, I've added a few YouTube videos below of some of the tracks I've enjoyed from the albums mentioned above. Also, watch more music videos!

Have a nice February.

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