All that I wanted was somebody honest

     

Continuing my trip down The Guardian's top 50 albums of 2022. 

#30 : Muna - Muna

After getting dropped by their major label, the LA trio signed to Phoebe Bridgers’ imprint of indie Secretly Canadian and made their poppiest album yet. Their collaboration with the boss, Silk Chiffon, is the purest hit on the record, a breathless, uncomplicated gasp of adoration in the direction of some perfect girl. But Muna’s eye for complicated – and often unflattering – relationship dynamics still seethes beneath the album’s gleaming pop structures, Y2K aesthetics and quasi-Taylor Swift hooks as singer Katie Gavin wrestles with post-breakup regret.

I know and love this album, so my expectations are, well, not really expectations - except that I was expecting it to be on the list and there would have been trouble if The Guardian had ignored it.  "Silk Chiffon", "What I Want" and "Anything But Me" ("You're gonna say that I'm on a high horse - I think that my horse is regular-sized") are all great tracks which lead me to the album - "Home By Now" is probably my pick of the rest but I pretty much like all of them.  It's quite La Roux like, giving us "gleaming pop structures, Y2K aesthetics and quasi-Taylor Swift hooks" - I like it!

It managed to chart - #61 for a week.  Woo-hoo!  It gets a Wikipedia entry as well - it tells us that they were dropped from their record label in 2020 and things have gone pretty well since then.  They've supported Phoebe Bridgers and Kacey Musgraves on tour, released this album which was very well received by the critics and next year they're going to support Taylor.  On what is going to be quite a big tour (I should say they're not the only supporting acts - Phoebe, HAIM, Gayle, Beabadoobee and Paramore are also involved).  Anyways, Josette Maskin, Muna's guitarist was very proud of the album because "people are going to feel a kind of catharsis, even if it's a catharsis that I might never have known myself, because I'm fucked up".

"Customers also listened to" Tove Lo (which is definitely in the same vein), FLETCHER and Foxes (never heard of either of 'em).  As previously stated, I love this album so was pleased to see it on the list.

#29 : Two Ribbons - Let's Eat Grandma

Since they arrived six years ago, the Norwich duo have never been anything less than unique, moving from the insular teen lore of their 2016 debut I, Gemini to neon-bright proto-hyperpop on 2018’s I’m All Ears. Two Ribbons is their third landmark record in a row: a viscerally brave contemplation of loss, as Jenny Hollingworth faced the death of her boyfriend from cancer, and she and Rosa Walton found themselves helplessly drifting apart, bridged via ravey euphoria, startling honesty and an intriguing newfound foray into ambience.

I've listened to one LEG album and quite enjoyed it, so have quite obviously never listened to any others - because that's the way I roll, baby.  Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to this...

And yeah, I liked it.  The more upbeat stuff reminded me of Ladytron (how can the late '00s be 15 year ago now?) and the slower stuff offered a nice contrast - there was more variety than I was expecting across the album.  No one track jumped out at me on first listen, but it certainly deserves a second visit.

Yay - they whupped Muna by getting to #26 in the charts (for one week, so no such a whupping, but I'm sure LEG will take it).  Wikipedia tells us the album had a somewhat troubled production, coming out of a period where one of their boyfriends died of cancer and their friendship went through a rocky patch when they realised "they realised they could no longer finish each other's sentences" (and Wikipedia seems more concerned about that than the dude dying).  It seems like some time in small Norfolk towns and a walk round a cemetary helped sort everything out - the critics were very complimentary about it, with one noting a likeness to Chrvches which is definitely a decent reference.

"Customers also listened to" Phoebe Green, PVA, Ladyhawke (and yes, the do seem to inhabit a space between Ladyhawke and Ladytron) and The Big Moon (who we've met before).  I liked this and will make an effort to listen to it again because I suspect it would grow on me even more.

Two albums that were right up my street.

#32-31 - Not really for me
#28-26 - Nice if you like that sort of thing