Album Reviews: Turnstile, Little Simz, Erika de Casier

Turnstile – Never Enough
Baltimore, MD

Threading a needle between their beefy guitar sound and all their pop tendencies as a band, Turnstile has their own After Laughter-type album with Never Enough. Full of infectious production and writing, and using a more familiar set of aesthetics to get weirder in places, this is a fantastic and inspiring outing for the band. Turnstile takes on more ethereal synths and tones of the pearly gates as they open on a moody serenade for “Never Enough,” before exploding into some of their most soaring riffs yet. The neon gloss gives an extra layer of upbeat joy to “I Care,” as the bouncy bass and lively drum machine sounds highlight how easily they shift from a blend of sounds to pure pop. The shift back to ripping riff-rock has gained a lot of sonic experimentation on “Look Out for Me,” showing the band taking their classic sound up a notch. You can hear Talking Heads, Flock of Seagulls and Echo and The Bunnymen among others in the darker new wave tones of “Seeing Stars,” as they take a more explorative dive through dark corners of their sound.

JayWood – Assumptions (Single)
Winnipeg/Montreal

With its Latin guitars and swinging beats, JayWood is taking things in a more unhinged direction on “Assumptions.” There’s a different kind of controlled chaos than we saw on “Big Tings,” as he blends a little Tyler, The Creator-esque grime under the wheels, while letting the layers of beats and vocals turn it into a house party of a song. This party includes several different layers of JayWood’s own deliveries, making it seem like we’re seeing every personality of his at once. And then a high-flying bridge sends you to psychedelic highs above the clouds for just a moment, before dropping everything back into slapping gunshots, and then another chipper break, albeit this time a little more warped in the wake of all the danger. The final blend of these two ends of the music creates a glossy outro, sending you out smiling, but ready to hit replay.

Little Simz – Lotus
London, England

Always one to keep people guessing, Little Simz has tightened up the focus on their latest record. Giving us a bit of her sound from influential roots to her own brand of hip hop to some quirkier lo-fi pop ideas, you’re getting a very personal grab bag, and yet it never feels disconnected. The driving beat of “Flood” sets off a flurry of emotion and tension, letting the back-and-forth vocals build with the mounting ferocious layer of noise to create a frantic gem. “Young” is a more British spoken-word punk-style track that takes a cheekier and pop-leaning focus to give it a fun edge rather than the abrasiveness you’d get with a band like Dry Cleaning. The old school guitar R&B tones of “Free” harken to 70s soul and Little Simz smooth flow never loses a grip on this drive, creating a soothing thinker that sets the mind flying. The bounce to the rhythms on “Lion” is undeniably affecting, sending your body into a dance much like the swaying trades between Little Simz and Obongjayar throughout the song.

Glitterfox – Wildfires
Portland, OR

There’s a lot more neon under the hood of Glitterfox’s latest single, giving a new glaze to the already potent desert rock they’ve crafted over the years. Between the bright and bumping vocals, the stuttering hook they use to break up lines is so infectious and unexpected that it lodges itself in your ears right away. The dance between the bass and synth is intoxicating, letting the guitar merely paint a sonic vista for the light and dark to inhabit. Even after they shift between slower and grittier moments, they slink right into that final, unbridled dance chorus. With the synths unleashed like a wash of colours, drums loosening to a near disco and harmonies warming our hearts, Glitterfox are showing off, and it’s working.

Erika de Casier – Lifetime
Portugal/Copenhagen, Denmark

Another album that scratches that “feels like a lost gem” itch, Erika de Casier has crafted something serene, yet driven from note one. Sitting between late 90s genre-fusion of trip hop and finessed production, and elements that evoke a bit of Warpaint, this album is finding the textbook definition of “ethereal” and remixing it.  There’s glossy floating beauty to “Miss” that lets it drip you into the album softly, letting those self-assured beats and watery synths lull you into a dream state. There’s a much more dire approach to “Seasons,” as it lets harsh, cold stabs into the cloudy sound feel like a major moment in its often silky narrative. Flowing from the lo-fi charms of “You Got It!” that come off like a semi-lucid tape confession, to the aurora borealis glow of “December,” you can really gather all the textures and mind-warping power of this record. De Casier drives up her delivery to an iconic, and addictive place on “Delusional,” trying to reconcile online relationships to figure out where the parasocial has crossed with the true connection.