Album Reviews: David Byrne, Kit Sebastian, Jehnny Beth

David Byrne – Who Is the Sky?
Dumbarton, Scotland/New York City

With his solo career continuing on a great upswing for the past decade, David Byrne has found a powerful groove in celebrating the good in humanity and our little quirks. Though this record can go quite weird or hilariously bright, the powerful orchestrations and writing that could only come from Byrne assures it’s a fun and often thought-provoking listen. Though it can feel deceptively simplistic at times, “Everybody Laughs” keeps booming with louder and more expansive band arrangements to create this genuine joy of life that makes you want to sing and dance along with Byrne. It’s cool to see the jagged edges and darkness Hayley Williams helps inject on “What Is the Reason for It?” even in its salsa-Byrne flair, creating a true sense of unbridled chaos. There’s a fun bit of commentary and self-reflection on “The Avant Garde,” as he goes from nearly too abrasive verses to warm and hopeful choruses, seemingly skewering the try-hard weirdness of some musicians and maybe even phases of his own work. The sweetness of partnership or maybe even fatherhood gives “She Explains Things to Me” a feeling that could border on saccharine, but it’s Byrne’s ability to reflect on his inability to reconcile these things and how it’s so easy for others that makes it something deeper and more interestingly existential.

Rachel Bobbitt – Hush (Single)
Toronto/Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia

With each new song revealing a different edge of her truly cosmic sound, Rachel Bobbitt gives us a true masterclass on using harmony through “Hush.” The deathly creep of the beat let’s the slow build of voices almost slip past you, until you get this pulsating punch chord that feels like a wave of electronic beings trying to come alive in one synthetic gasp of life. But it’s that triumphant sigh-like pull into the chorus that is the song’s divine moment, with Bobbitt hitting full siren status between the main vocal and all her surrounding backups. This all ties together to weave this lush and overwhelming spiral of ghostly energy that speaks to losing some humanity in a rough patch of a relationship, and really, losing focus of yourself. It even calls to Carolinie Polachek’s cover of “Breathless” for a brief moment, before blooming in entire new ways that would make the Chairlift singer proud.

Kit Sebastian – New Internationale
London, England/Istanbul, Turkey/France

The wave of Turkish psych pop continues to soar with the sharp and intoxicating sounds of Kit Sebastian. While this will definitely appeal to fans of their contemporaries (ie Altin Gün, Gaye Su Akyol), this band blends more of its French influences under the hood and offers a rich instrumental focus that quickly see set them in their own lane. Though we missed this record when it dropped, it was too fun to pass up. “Ellerin Ellerimde” weaves a psych riff through divine grooves and wonderfully retro synths for a track that delights in how infectious each little hook can be. The vintage Turkish pop sounds hit a peak on “Göç/Me” as they let the Phrygian tones creep in and some of their more French influences play out in the harmonies for a dream cloud of a track. The frantic jazz pop explodes into theatrics on “Metropolis” for a track that is either in funky pointed piano slaps or massive walls of oppressive harmony. The bass and bell work along would make “Bul bul bul” a one-a-kind gem, but the band make so much work of the pop, and shifting percussion and rhythms here that you end up with a dozen unforgettable moments.

Begonia – Hotter Than the Sun (Single)
Winnipeg

Begonia truly enters her effortless pop era with “Hotter Than the Sun,” as the song unfurls like something that’s always been and somehow never come out before. The mock trumpet roll of the song lets the track bounce and groove, with Alexa Dirks booming vocals keeping the rather heavy introspection lively and fast. The whole momentum of the track is a monument to Begonia’s growth as an artist, as the track builds the harmonies and expands the arrangement without ever overbearing the classic melody she’s running with. Skipping a typical chorus drive, the way Dirks adds and adds to her wailing and scorching vocals gives the track a different way to find direction in the music, and stands out as a result.

Jehnny Beth – You Heartbreaker, You
London, England/Poitiers, France

Constantly veering to stay off the exact course you’d expect, Jehnny Beth lands in a more explosive place on her new record. While the core of these tracks feel more accessible than she’s been in a while, she keeps her listeners on their feet with productions and writing choices that take genre and constantly mash it through a blender. Mixing a punk charge with metal bombast, there’s a frightening fury to “Broken Rib” that revels in the power that comes from overcoming pain. While the Massive Attack-meets-Fever Ray style of attacking electronica takes a moment to sink into, “No Good for People” wails like a sonic boxing match, amping you up to face the world. “Out of My Reach” takes a more expansive, stadium metal run, letting Beth loose her frustrations in more abstract terms. There’s almost an early, bite-sized Muse charge to “High Resolution Sadness” that can make you temporarily forget how hard Beth is going herself, as she rarely lets her arrangements hit a full band, frantic focus like this. But she easily matches their freak to give her most unhinged and the exciting melange of performances on the record in one short track.

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