This week in album news, we hear a taste of Cloud Nothings‘ fourth studio album, Sampha is set to release his highly-anticipated debut and The Flaming Lips are as influential and prolific as ever…
BONOBO
Simon Green, the multi-talented muso behind Bonobo, will release his first solo album since 2013 this January via Ninja Tune. Titled Migration, Green explains that his “Own personal idea of identity has played into this record and the theme of migration,” exploring how riptides of change slowly shift parts of the world, along with their identities.
Bonobo fans will be pleased to hear the familiar atmospheric, experimental pop in the first single released from the album, “Kerala”. It’s a gorgeous dive into pulsing, electronic beats followed closely by playful ukulele.
Migration is out January 13th, but is available for pre-order HERE and includes a zine and art card set.
CLOUD NOTHINGS
Cleveland indie-rockers Cloud Nothings will crack into the new year with the release of their fourth studio album, Life Without Sound, due January 27th. This record will see the guys taking on a more “vocal-heavy” lead, teasing us with the first single off the album, “Modern Act”.
The guitars are sunny and vocalist/guitarist Dylan Baldi’s pipes are less aggressive, making for pop-heavy melodies and ace storytelling. Life Without Sound will be the newest release from the band since Here and Nowhere Else (2014), and their recent collaboration with WAVVES, No Life For Me (2015).
Listen to “Modern Act” below!
SOHN
Vienna based, London-born singer/songwriter/producer Christopher Taylor, also known as Sohn, is releasing his second studio album on January 13th, titled Rennen (a German verb meaning ‘to run’). Since his celebrated debut Tremors (2014), Sohn has made waves over the last twelve months with his incredibly smooth brand of indie R&B that has Taylor’s soulful vocals glide over brooding, warped beats reminiscent of Bon Iver’s latest release.
Check out the track list below and pre-order HERE.
01. Hard Liquor
02. Conrad
03. Signal
04. Dead Wrong
05. Primary
06. Rennen
07. Falling
08. Proof
09. Still Water
10. Harbour
THE FLAMING LIPS
Arguabley one of the most prolific psychedelic-rock bands of recent times, Oklahoma-born legends The Flaming Lips aren’t showing signs of falling off the radar any time soon. Having announced a brand new album titled Oczy Mlody due January 13, following up their 2013 record The Terror and an unexpected Miley Cyrus collaboration last year, The Flaming Lips are prevailing to be one of the most influential and respected bands of their generation.
The first single released from the upcoming album, “The Castle”, features Wayne Coyne’s unwavering falsetto floating atop a low-fi beat, making for a super lush, blissed-out track. Check out the equally beautiful music video for it below!
SAMPHA
After working on collaborations with some huge names like Kanye, SBTRKT, Drake and Solange, Sampha is backing up his two solo EP’s Sundanza (2010) and Dual (2013) with a long-awaited debut album, Process, due February 3rd.
After resurfacing with his single “Timmy’s Prayer” earlier this year, Sampha just released another taste of the album, “Blood On Me”- a dark R&B number driven by Sampha’s chopped up, layered, always soulful vocals. Check it out below.
TEMPLES
English rock outfit Temples are following up their debut studio album Sun Structures (2015) with Volcano, set to be released March 3rd. Although keeping align with a natural geographical theme in album titles, Temples have shifted away from the psychedelic 70’s haze to a gutsier brand of indie-rock, punctuated with insistent choruses and tighter production.
Frontman James Bagshaw admits this time round, “It was really just a result of implementing a load of things that we didn’t know about the first time round. We didn’t even have a subwoofer to listen back to things that we did on Sun Structures, so there was nothing below 50Hz on that record. We didn’t even know those frequencies were there!”.
Pre-order for Volcano is available for both digital and physical copies HERE.
———-
