It's New Release Monday again, and the big album of the week, as plugged fairly heavily last week, is Arctic Monkey's Humbug. And on first listen? It's pretty strong. It's a huge step forward, certainly - the kitchen sink lyrics are mostly gone (although Alex Turner gets a big gold star for the reference to Des'ree's ghost/toast rhyme on Cornerstone...), with a more drug-fuelled, psychedelic vibe replacing it. I'm going to let it stew for a bit, and may come back to it, but it's certainly highly recommended.
Single wise, the pick of the week is Noah and the Whale's Blue Skies, out today on download, and a very limited 7' at Pure Groove records (where the band are playing an in-store tonight), from the band's second album The First Days Of Spring - the release of which next week will be accompanied by a film directed by the band's frontman Charlie Fink.
The first Noah and the Whale Album was a little disappointing, but the follow up sees them meeting their potential, with a broader sound, and stronger vocals from Fink. Blue Skies adds a slightly Arcade Fire-ish choir and a lovely piano riff to the indie-folk mix, and the single's backed up by a couple of top remixes; one by ace New York band YACHT, the other (and superior version) by Brazil's ever-reliable The Twelves, which dumps everything except the vocals, and it turns the song into into a Chic-ified disco floor-filler. Download's below, and both the single, the album and the film all come highly recommended.
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