Breaking through the noise (or lack thereof) with a more acoustic range of instruments can be hard, but Ada Lea fine tunes all the hues of her sound to make something that feels richer than the sum of its parts. Often magical and emotionally stirring, this album even manages to give legs to a usually daunting 16-song track list. “Baby Blue Frigidaire Mini Fridge” quickly escapes its simple acoustic confines, gaining new scope to its production several times over and constantly expanding its rustic sound into something transcendentally sweet. There’s an instant rush of colour to the sound of “Something in the Wind” that sends the mind into a frenzy of visualizing the force of nature responsible for such a puncturing guitar, as Levy hones in on a few small details to make her song cosmic. The Carpenters and a bit of Carole King come alive on “Midnight Magic” giving this already sunny piano ballad some truly magnificent vocal highs that stand as masterful performances. “Bob Dylan’s 115th Haircut” rests as a hilariously cheeky track lyrically playing with the singer, but soars so much in the layers of its arrangements that you feel like you’re listening to someone who has absorbed Dylan’s entire body of work and already surpassed him sonically. It’s truly the sound of an artist in utter control of the perfect production they’re trying to make real.
Sonically living in the spirit of many forerunners of electronic music, Sun Freezing Cold finds new flavours in its influences. Blending touches of 80s goth and synthwave with some of Blondie’s electronic tracks, “Nowhere to Hide” has a moody yet danceable charge to it, having fun in spite of the terrors ahead. Erasure meets Sparks on “Fight All You Want,” resulting in a euphoric, but ultimately conflicted track with triumphant synth flare. The growling guitars and bass combo present some of the most finessed pop on “Why Don’t You,” as the duo find deeper confidence and move away from strict chorus structure in the service of a richer sound. There’s a frantic sense of fun in “What Remains” that sends out the record in a tornado of keyboard lines, and combines the band’s many influences in a more subtle and holistic way.
Coming from his roots in Flight of the Conchords, Bret McKenzie has held tight to the strong and often hilarious lyricism that pulls him and Jemaine Clement on the map. But as his solo career has flourished and taken in a whole lot of great scores for film, his latest album shows that his sonic scope has become something all its own, giving him the tools to be legendary singer songwriter that comes out the gate with all edges sharpened to blades. And weirdly enough, fans of his work with Flight of the Conchords will find enough small musical details in how he constructs songs and plays certain melodies that it feels like you’re still listening to that artist you heard back in the day. There’s such a funny approach to the swinging pop of “Freak Out City,” that you can often be so lost in the story that you aren’t paying attention to how punchy and smooth the sound is, all without feeling like a pastiche. This enrichment of his sound is most obvious on “The Only Dream I Know,” as McKenzie merged creamy harmonies, heavenly strings and star-like key lines to create a whimsy at slow tempo. “All I Need” shines as it brings strong brass and harmonic beauty to an early 2000s style pop track, with McKenzie showing more cunning through the layers and the soulful outro section that really shows the fun that’s kept him sticking with music through the years. The surge of optimism never feels saccharine on “Eyes on the Sun,” as McKenzie infects a strong sense of concern into the music itself through heavy, descending melodies to instill that this bright focus is something worth holding onto in dark times.
Taking a bit of Sloan and BTO into their own chaotic blend, Absolute Losers craft a rock gem on their latest single. With brash drums flying, subtle but fortified harmonies lifting the song, and clanging chords zipping out like daggers, the track is constantly giving you a new angle to take it in from. It quickly escapes its semi-predictable starting point, and explodes into an excited and all too combustive celebration of rock at its most energizing. But it’s those off-the-wall drums that continuously stand out here, giving this song a crazy x-factor that can’t be stopped.
Never one to settle for less than perfection, Kaytranada is a force of nature on his latest album. “Space Invader” sets things off on a loose channel, changing between two seductive sounds, before merging them into one sublime drop that feels like a live mashup on record. The ’90s house and funk ingredients on “Home” make for a dazzling spectacle, as you feel pulled through a sonic light show that is constantly upping the smoke and a blown-out production to keep it fresh. The sunburnt aesthetics of “Shine Your Light for We” gives the whole song the feeling a sample banger from earlier in the 2010s, but letting that bass ramp up to the point that it’s missing one extra section to take it over the top. It’s hard to decide which is most satisfying between the smooth R&B, the glorious vocals from TLC and the mounting percussion on “Do It! (Again!)”, but the whole track just keeps evolving until you’re surrounded by a heavenly swirl of drums and vocals that you want to just loop infinitely.
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