Recent New Album Releases – Wintersleep, Drugdealer, Proper Ornaments, The Drums and Cage The Elephant.

It’s the weekend and we’ve got some new and recent releases to dig into. With that huge release day last Saturday there’s always a few regular releases from the Friday before that get lost in the shuffle so we’ll feature those today along with a couple other fresh albums. This week we’ve got the latest from Wintersleep, Drugdealer, Proper Ornaments, The Drums and Cage The Elephant.

There’s a big new vinyl restock and additions list down below.

Let’s get on to the new stuff!


Wintersleep – In the Land Of

Wintersleep’s seventh full-length record, In The Land Of, was recorded between Bath, Ontario’s Bathouse Recording Studio and Toronto’s Revolution Recording, with Scottish producer and longtime collaborator Tony Doogan (Belle + Sebastien, Mogwai) back at the helm. The record’s cover features an image captured by photographer Richard Carey. It’s an underwater shot of garbage and debris floating just below the surface; the ocean as a component of our geography.

It’s an example of how In the Land Of doesn’t inhabit one terrain, but many. It might also be why none of these terrains feel comfortable. “I don’t really feel 100% at home anywhere,” says vocalist and guitarist Paul Murphy. “Over time, that’s something that weighs a lot on me, not feeling really connected to my environment.”


Drugdealer – Raw Honey

After becoming enmeshed in the Los Angeles underground scene after 2013’s The End of Comedy, Raw Honey (Michael Collins second album as Drugdealer) sees Collins once again leading an ace crew of collaborators to coalesce the spirit of Drugdealer’s classically modern pop with lush arrangements, memetic melodies, and a vulnerable tunefulness that tries to make sense of self-doubt and connected loneliness in our shared simulacra. Raw Honey features contributions of Josh Da Costa (drums), Jackson MacIntosh (guitar), Danny Garcia (guitar), Michael Long (lead guitar), and Benjamin Schwab (backing vocals, guitar, organ, piano, wurlitzer), as well as guest vocalists like country balladeer Dougie Poole (“Wild Motion”), Harley Hill-Richmond (“Lonely”), and frequent collaborator Natalie Mering (Weyes Blood) whose dulcet tones sing low before soaring on “Honey,” a track as silky as the nectar itself.


Proper Ornaments – 6 Lenins

6 Lenins, the third album release from The Proper Ornaments, sees the band master their seemingly effortless but finely-wrought sound. The London jangle pop group led by James Hoare (also of Ultimate Painting/Veronica Falls) and Max Claps (Toy) went into James’ home studio in London and made their finest recordings to date. What their supremely melodic work suggests is a nonchalance or naivety but is in fact an expensively-bought slice of coherence and clarity within a constantly shifting backdrop to their lives and landscapes. This is well-crafted songwriting and controlled sonics despite a zealous analog sensibility.


The Drums – Brutalism

Brutalism is quite possibly the best collection of songs in The Drums’ ten-year career. The album is defined by growth, transformation and questions, but it doesn’t provide all the answers. Brutalism is a form of simplistic architecture defined by blocks of raw concrete. Brutalism is rooted in an emotional rawness but its layers are soft, intricate and warm, full of frivolous and exquisitely crafted pop songs that blast sunlight and high energy in the face of anxiety, solitude and crippling self-doubt. Even the fact that Brutalism sounds intentional, focused and efficient is a symbol of how Pierce’s prioritizing of his own health and well being has bled into how he makes music. For the making of this album, between his lake house in Upstate New York and a studio in Stinson Beach, California, Pierce was more open than ever, keeping his control freakery at bay, working with others to produce and record the album. He brought in Chris Coady (Beach House, Future Islands, Amen Dunes) to mix it. If there was a guitar part he wanted to write but couldn’t play, he brought in a guitarist. It’s also the first Drums record with a live drummer. Delegating freed up Pierce’s time to produce a more specific vision. Brutalism is the fifth studio album from The Drums.


Cage The Elephant – Social Cues

Social Cues was produced by John Hill (Santigold, Florence + The Machine, Portugal. The Man, tUnE-yArDs), recorded at Battle Tapes Recording, Blackbird Studio and Sound Emporium in Nashville and The Village Recording Studio in Los Angeles, and mixed by Tom Elmhirst and mastered by Randy Merrill in New York City. Deeply inspired by punk music, brothers Matt and Brad Shultz began playing music in high-school with fellow students Jared Champion and Daniel Tichenor. Shortly after forming the band, they made the bold move to London to begin their career. Their self-titled debut album gained them international attention, catapulting them up the Billboard Alternative and Rock charts and achieving RIAA Platinum certification. Cage the Elephant has released three additional studio albums – 2011’s Thank You, Happy Birthday, the Gold-certified Melophobia and the GRAMMY®-winning Tell Me I’m Pretty. At radio, Cage The Elephant holds the record for the most #1 Alternative songs of any artist this decade. Based in Nashville, Cage The Elephant is vocalist Matt Shultz, rhythm guitarist Brad Shultz, drummer Jared Champion, bassist Daniel Tichenor, lead guitarist Nick Bockrath and keyboardist Matthan Minster.

 


Restocks and Additions to the new record selection here at Backbeat.

ARTIST TITLE
Alice In Chains Dirt
Alice In Chains Jar Of Flies
Arcade Fire The Suburb
Baby Huey The Living Legend
Baker, Chet Chet (colour Vinyl)
Baker, Chet Sings (colour Vinyl)
Band Music From The Big Pink
Beach Boys Pet Sounds
Beastie Boys Paul’s Boutique
Beastie Boys Solid Gold Hits
Beatles Abbey Road
Bjork Debut
Black Keys Brothers
Blur Think Tank
Bowie, David Changesonebowie
Bowie, David The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust
Brubeck, Dave Time Out
Cornell, Chris Chris Cornell
Def Leppard The Story So Far (RECORD STORE DAY)
Deftones Around The Fur
Eilish, Billie When We All Fall Asleep
Florence & The Machine Lungs
Gorillaz Demon Days
Gorillaz Gorillaz
Gorillaz Plastic Beach
Grateful Dead Sage & Spirit (RECORD STORE DAY)
Guns N Roses Appetite For Destruction
Hancock, Herbie Headhunter
Hendrix, Jimi Are You Experienced
Hendrix, Jimi Axis: Bold As Love
Johnson, Robert Me And The Devil
Karen O & Danger Mouse Lux Prima
Kraftwerk The Man Machine
Lamar, Kendrick Good Kid, M.A.A.D City
Led Zeppelin Houses Of The Holy
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin III
Mazzy Star So Tonight That I Might See
Milk Carton Kids All The Things I Did
Modest Mo Good News For People Who Like Bad News
Motorhead Overkill
Mumford & Sons Babel
Mumford & Sons Delta
Neutral Milk Hotel In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
Nine Inch Nails Pretty Hate Machine
Pearl Jam Vitalogy
Pink Floyd Animals
Pink Floyd The Dark Side Of The Moon
Queen A Night At The Opera
Rage Against The Machine Rage Against The Machine
Rage Against The Machine The Battle Of Los Angeles
Reed, Lou Transformer
Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers
Slayer Reign In Blood
Slipknot All Hope Is Gone (10TH Anniversary 3LP)
Smiths Strangeways, Here We Come
Soundtrack Pulp Fiction
Soundtrack Reservoir Dogs
Soundtrack Tron: Legacy
Soundtrack William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet
Soundtrack Judgement Night
Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots
System Of A Down Steal This Album
Tea Party Splendor Solis
Tragically Hip Fully Completely
Tweedy, Jeff Warm
Van Morrison Astral Weeks
Various Artists American Epic: The Best Of The Blues
Various Artists Mickey Mouse Disco (RECORD STORE DAY)
Vaughan, Stevie Ray IN Step
Walker, T-Bone T-Bone Blues
West, Kanye My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan
White Stripes Icky Thump
White Stripes White Blood Cells
Winehouse, Amy Back To Black
Zombies Odessey & Oracle

 

 

 

 

 

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