STACK #214 August 2022

FEATURE MUSIC

singer-songwriter’s “Prince-like genius” on FutureNever , adding that Johns “packs more ideas into just one side of a D90 cassette than most artists have in their entire

categories of sound. Canadian swing maestro Michael Bublé dropped the charm offensive with his Paul McCartney produced 11th

Styles ’ third album Harry’s House . Zoë described it as “life in beautiful, unabashed motion,” from the “LCD Soundsystem-level heartwrenching” Love of My Life to

album, Higher . The crooner said he’d “never felt more excited after completing an album”, describing “dancing around laughing and crying in my underwear in [his] home studio.” Oh, Boobles! We do love you. On the same day that Higher landed, we got

career” (truth!) and ultimately dubbing it “an immensely rewarding, immersive experience.” Last up for April was TheWeeknd ’s Dawn FM ; though it officially

the brilliant Cinema , a “squidgy little chunk of funk with pops of harmony and noodly electric guitar.” Fans agreed, and rejoiced. Hot on Harry’s heels came Doja Cat , whose excellent Planet Her had officially dropped months earlier – but like The Weeknd,

dropped in January, logistical bottlenecks meant we didn’t get it on physical media until almost four months later – but fans quickly snapped up its JB-exclusive

surf coast folk-blues muso Xavier Rudd ’s Jan Juc Moon , which Jeff suggested as a companion piece to the Oils’ Resist . “The beauty of Rudd’s work is that he can sound cruisy

vinyl delivery issues meant we had to sit on our hands waiting for its physical release. Once it dropped anchor, the record’s interstellar

silver vinyl edition, sending its dynamic, vivid pop flavours careening up the vinyl chart. MAY Arcade Fire ’s “mind-meltingly brilliant” (as Bryget

even when addressing serious issues,” Jeff wrote. “The result is a hypnotic collection, both soothing and searing.” APR April was chockers with excellent

investigations into R’n’B and hip hop, curled all around with Doja’s vivacious observations on love, sex, and femininity, sent it ripping up the chart. JUN South Korean

penned) sixth LP WE was first cab off the rank for May: “Listening

new music, from the greats to the newbies. Fools’ Day gave us Red Hot Chili Peppers ’

to WE pours a doting reminder directly into our earholes that connection is actually a core human requirement,” she attested. Coming up behind with the swirl of a chiffon cape was Florence Welch, whose album Dance Fever (as Florence + the Machine )

boy band BTS sprinkled their first-ever anthology album Proof into the waiting hands of rabid fans in early

Unlimited Love , the first album from the LA funkheads to feature golden-era guitarist John Frusciante since 2006, which the act described as “the ride that is the sum of our lives” – and boy, did they deliver. Much-hyped indie-rock besties-turned bandmates Wet Leg released their self-titled debut the following week, and Zoë thought their “astonishingly well-formed sound

captivated us: “On Dance Fever, Welch saunters, creeps, brings spectral flamenco to its utter brink, collapses and gasps back to life

June, which arrived with a brand new track – Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment) , a glorious slice of rosy hip-pop that received global critical acclaim. The week it dropped, we were treated to two of the biggest homegrown titles of the

year. Vance Joy ’s radiant In Our Own Sweet Time showed up “propelled by that softly marching percussion which always somehow

with searing power,” Zoë wrote. “Welch has raised her own bar, and vaulted it with air to spare.” On the same day came hip-hop king Kendrick Lamar ’s dense and didactic Mr

(wrapped neatly around a spine of deadpan humour)… [was the] honest-to

Morale & the Big Steppers . STACK ’s Tim Lambert wrote that “Lamar explores one subject more

goodness real deal”. On that same day, JackWhite bequeathed us the first of his two albums for the year, Fear

slots into time with your own

heart’s beat,” and “bursting with the colours of love,” wrote Zoë. Alongside it landed Here Comes Everybody , the second LP from Perth’s Spacey Jane . It was a record “alive on arrival,” wrote Jeff, “with an indie rock sound that’s

of the Dawn . Bryget reckoned the former White Stripe was “sickeningly good” on the LP, which offered a “bluesy rock’n’roll baptism” via White’s guitar playing majesty.

deeply than he has ever before: himself,” adding that the artist’s

“piercing honesty demands the listener get comfortable being uncomfortable, with the profound goal of creating a dialogue that shifts consciousnesses.” As we moved towards the end of May, hype reached a fever pitch and then exploded into acclaim as our ears wrapped around Harry

instantly accessible and stadium-ready… Spacey Jane are ready for stardom.”

At the end of April came the long-awaited solo album from former Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns . Bryget praised the Newcastle

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