And I loved her with a love that was strong as death
Continuing my trip down The Guardian's top 50 albums of 2022.
#44 : Pre Pleasure - Julia Jacklin
Julia Jacklin’s first two records are rooted in relentless, cathartic self-interrogation. But Pre Pleasure is about picking yourself up, stepping over the strange entrails of truth you unearthed, and trying to remember who you are without the baggage and bad vibes. Pre Pleasure is all pristine, gently loping arrangements and reminders to stay healthy, stay happy, have some fun. It’s not a live, laugh, love album as much as a reminder to let yourself off the hook every once in a while. As Jacklin whispers on Ignore Tenderness, with more than a tiny wink: “Go on, let it all out.”
Never heard of her - I'm not sure I'm massively excited about "
Hmmm - it's all very understated. It's nice enough, but SO understated that it often felt like it was struggling to impact upon my eardrums. "I Was Neon" had a bit more life to it but every other track just drifted by me - I'm surprised anyone remembered this enough to vote for it. Maybe if you listen to it enough it gets into your brain somehow, but I struggle to see it happening for me - sorry, Julia.
Wow - it charted, spending one week at #56. I totally wasn't expecting that. And Wikipedia tells me that it got to #2 in Australia and "this is Julia's most punchy album so far". Punchy?!? It struck me as punchy as Walter the Softy - I can only assume that the lyrics she's softly warbling are quite hard-hitting (I checked - they're quite poetic, but I didn't feel particularly wounded by any of them). Maybe I'm just made of sterner stuff than most? (spoiler alert - I'm not).
"Customers also listened to" Hurrah For The Riff-Raff, Boy Scouts and Indigo Sparke - I obviously know nothing about any of them, but like their names. I didn't hate Julia, but (as you can possibly) I'm somewhat mystified as to what it has that made it stand out for others.
#43 : Autofiction - Suede
On Suede’s ninth album, Brett Anderson is in a reflective mood, contemplating the loss of his mother and his roles as a father, lover and performer, and how the latter cross paths with the younger versions of himself that populate his memories. It’s a nostalgic nook that many rock stars of his vintage find themselves in once they hit middle age – but unlike many rock stars of his vintage, Anderson bucks the expectation to frame these ruminations as a swan song. Instead he tackles them with all the guts, rage and euphoria of a young man with those evolutions and incarnations still ahead of him.
The first one on the list we've already met (on a bumper week for new releases) - I listened to it through choice, liked it so much that I booked to see them in concert next year and have listened to a couple of times since. So yes, I'm a fan.
And it's our most successful chart-wise so far as well - debuting at #2 and managing a whole one week more before it disappeared from view forever. It did pretty well across most of Europe actually - nice to see the lads doing their thang and getting appreciated for it. It does help that it's a good album!
A game of two halves for me...
#46-45 - Yeah, I liked these (to my surprise)
#42-41 - A contrasting pair of male voices
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