STACK #244 February 2025

MUSIC FEATURE

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Whether it’s a voyage of musical discover or a sonic reacquaintance with a favourite band or artist, check out these fresh releases heading to JB this month. WHAT’S OUT THIS

ARCHITECTS The Sky, the Earth & All Between ROCKET British band Architects have designs on the charts with their 11th studio album The Sky, the Earth & All Between . Shooting for their fifth Top 10 album in a row, their progressive metalcore sound certainly packs a punch. Check out the aptly titled Whiplash . It will shake the windows and wake the neighbours.

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE This Consequence ROCKET American metalcore band Killswitch Engage unleash their ninth studio album, explaining that it was a difficult beast to build. “This album has been a great challenge for me,” singer Jesse Leach admits. “But now that it’s almost complete I can say that I wouldn’t change a thing. All the trials, difficulties and deep anxieties were all worth it... I gave this my everything and it will show.”

MICHIGANDER Michigander ROCKET

EDITOR’S PICK MALLRAT Light Hit My Face Like a Straight Right DEW PROCESS/ UNIVERSAL Mallrat’s second album lands on Valentine’s Day. The follow-up to her Top 10 debut, Butterfly Blue , it finds the 26-year-old Brisbane artist exploring “the intangible and mysterious allure of human connection, held together by curious investigations into light”. The result is ethereal electropop. “Look outside and I’m amazed,” Mallrat sings in Ray of Light , “how the clouds are making shapes.” Light Hit My Face Like a Straight Right is a potent mix of romance and magic, where the artist is “floating, floating, floating, floating”.

Michigander is a term that refers to people

who live in the US state of Michigan. Michigander, the

pop-rock band, are from Kalamazoo in Michigan. After a string of singles and EPs, this is their self-titled debut album. Singer Jason Singer says: “To make an analogy, the EPs were like television episodes of my story, and the album is the movie version.”

LACUNA COIL Sleepless Empire SONY

NESSA BARRETT Aftercare INERTIA

DREAM THEATER Parasomnia SONY

Fun fact: Lacuna Coil means “empty spiral”. Sleepless Empire is the tenth studio album for the Italian goth metal

After finding fame on TikTok, America’s Nessa Barrett released her debut album, Young Forever , in 2022.

American metal band Dream Theater celebrate their 40th anniversary with their sweet 16th studio

band who formed in Milan in 1994. What sets Lacuna Coil apart is the male/female vocal dynamic, which still works a treat. Andrea Ferro’s growl is sweetened by the soaring vocals of Cristina Scabbia.

Her sultry second album, Aftercare , has now been given the deluxe treatment with six additional tracks, including Love Looks Pretty on You, Does God Cry? and Breakfast in Bed .

album, the first to feature original drummer Mike Portnoy since 2009. It’s an epic 71-minute adventure that lives up to its title, which describes disruptive, sleep-related disturbances including sleepwalking, sleep paralysis and night terrors. HORSEGIRL XPhonetics On and On MATADOR/ INERTIA

LISA Alter Ego SONY

PANDA BEAR Sinister Grift DOMINO/ UNIVERSAL

It looks like it’s going to be a big year for solo releases by members of South Korean superstars Blackpink. Next in line is

Panda Bear is the recording name for America’s Noah

Horsegirl is an indie rock band from Chicago, featuring Nora Cheng, Penelope Lowenstein, and Gigi Reece. Phonetics

Lennox, who now lives in Portugal, and is also

Lisa, who is also set to appear in the new series of The White Lotus . On the album, Lisa says she’s embodying five characters, “each representing a unique personality”. The album shows she’s

a member of the band Animal Collective. Sinister Grift is his seventh solo album, and it showcases his trademark mix of lo-fi indie psychedelic pop. A wonderful odyssey.

On and On is their second album. Produced by Cate Le Bon, they explain that it is “an exploration of the lines between pop, minimalism and playful experimentation”. The first single is called 2468 . Who do we appreciate? Horsegirl!

keen to move on from the group, declaring: “I’m a new woman.”

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