"No Room for Error"
Manu Grace
Platoon
South African songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Manu Grace breaks new ground with her latest offering, "No Room For Error" EP, out Oct. 16, in an unlocking of freedom and femininity. Committed to earning her way to Berlin to record with producers Ross Dorkin and Robin Brink (a la Beatenberg), Grace found herself spending a life-altering few weeks in Italy that saw her tumbling head-and-heart-first into love, loss and eventually a much stronger sense of self, narrated through seven tracks off this brave and breezy sophomore EP.
"This record taught me to trust my instincts and to trust the muse. The songs always arrive, if you're open to receiving them. I approached the process with a sense of freedom and fearlessness -- no idea was ever too wild, and I really love working like that," she says.
Grace has become a purveyor of "sensitive pop" -- unguarded and groovy, appealing to both heart and feet alike. Raised in a creative family, and sheltered from the distractions of technological advancements, Grace grew up with plenty of room for her imagination to thrive. At 15, she wrote her first full composition the day her baby brother came home from the hospital and joined her first band during her final high school exams. She notes, "I learned so much about my craft from that experience -- I learned about arrangement, recording, and gear in general. It quite literally altered my world."
"Fake It Flowers"
beabadoobee
Dirty Hit
On Oct. 16, beabadoobee, one of the buzziest artists of 2020 with more than 900 million streams, released "Fake It Flowers," her highly-anticipated debut full-length album.
beabadoobee has been on a stratospheric rise since the release of her first acoustic songs, crafted in her childhood bedroom. A raw, confessional album with real trauma at its heart, "Fake It Flowers" is by far Bea's most mature body of work to date, taking a sonic journey that documents the delicate sounds of her early EPs all the way through to huge jangling guitar anthems that nod to her 90's grunge heroes. "Fake It Flowers" has appeared on numerous most-anticipated album lists of Fall 2020 including Pitchfork, Vulture, Consequence of Sound, Paste, UPROXX and more.
Born in the Philippines and raised in London, Bea Kristi began recording music as beabadoobee in 2017. At just 20 years old, she has built her huge, dedicated Gen-Z fan base with her flawless output of confessional bedroom pop songs and DIY aesthetic, making her one of music's most exciting artists to watch.
"Shpongle Remixes"
Cosmic Trigger
Twisted Records
Wunderkind producer Jamie Grashion has made impressive inroads into the psychedelic electronica scene, working for years as an engineer for leading artists at Youth's studio before becoming Simon Posford's assistant. His brilliance was so evident while he helped with preparations for Shpongle's legendary 2019 Red Rocks concerts (he plays an integral role in the live shows) that Posford invited him to make his own remixes of the fabled band's tracks. The result is the Oct. 19 release of Shpongle remixes by Cosmic Trigger -- an album of multifaceted soundscapes that draw the listener deep into a parallel dimension of Shpongleland.
With a fusion of skillful storytelling and impeccable engineering, Grashion has produced six tracks that are more like recompositions than remixes. Different facets of beloved jewels from Shpongle's output are illuminated through each number's organic structure, varied tonal palette and pronounced percussive undercurrents. The atmospheres, rhythms and styles are as diverse as those of the originals, each moment so creatively crafted that it feels like listening to something paradoxically new and familiar.
"III"
FUZZ
The Red Recordings
FUZZ, the Los Angeles-based trio of Ty Segall (drums, vocals), Charles Moothart (guitar, vocals) and Chad Ubovich (bass, vocals), released their first album in five years, "III," on Oct. 23. The album uses an approach of taking the essential ingredients of "guitar based music" and "rock and roll power trio" and putting them on the chopping block.
The follow-up to 2015's "II," "an impressive double album made for headbanging and the cultivation of bad vibes" (NPR Music), "III" keeps the focus on the live sounds of the band. It was recorded and mixed at United Recording under the sonic lordship of Steve Albini, with minimal use of overdubs and studio tricks. Albini's mastery in capturing sound gave FUZZ the ability to focus entirely on the playing while knowing the natural sounds would land. It was a much more honest approach for FUZZ -- three humans getting primitive, staying primitive.
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With not enough live music to fill a weekly listing, this spot will be filled by news and reviews of new albums, both local and national. Send information about your new releases to Jocelyn Murphy at [email protected].
