Through the ups and downs, I realized all that I needed was you

     

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

#28 : Classic Objects - Jenny Hval

After spending her whole career interrogating the norms and systems that bind us, the Norwegian songwriter turned her focus inwards to work out whether her own beliefs still served her and where they had come from in the first place. As with so many records released this year, she found a possible future guiding light in remaining open to possibility, a spirit she conveyed in her most plainly beautiful and openhearted music to date: lilting reggae, light-headed euphoria and sparkling choruses.

I'm not aware that I've heard any of Jenny's stuff before - I'm expecting a nice voice over backing tracks which either hit the spot or glide by imperceptibly.

Hmmm - it's somewhere in between.  She has indeed got a nice voice which I wouldn't be surprised if it was backed by wishy-washy nothingness, but here the music manages to balance simplicity and presence well - it's neither "too much" nor "not enough".  I'm getting Scandi Laura Marling or Suzanne Vega vibes - which is a good thing!  I can't say any one track jumped out at me, but it was all a pleasant enough listen.   That's quite the arty album cover though, isn't it?

I'll be amazed if this has charted - nope, no weeks on either the singles or albums charts for our Jen.  She does get a Wikipedia entry though - which informs us that the album exists, it was recorded in Trondheim and it was well regarded by the critics.  "Customers also listened to" Efterklang, Narou, Widowspeak, Gunderlach, Marinelli, Asgeir and Dekker - wow that's quite some "one word weird name" sub-genre.  This was pleasant enough and pleasingly not understated - whether it's enough to drag me back though is uncertain.

#27 : Angels & Queens – Part 1 - Gabriels

In a sea of soul revivalists, Gabriels are the rare group actually pushing the genre forward. Their adventurous arrangements swap feelgood retro stylings for confrontational mosaics of samples, and moments where they pull the rug out from under the listener. Rather than dial up the volume or slather on the horns, as their less imaginative peers might, they use painstaking attention to detail as a way of heightening the drama. Equally shapeshifting is frontman Jacob Lusk, who can do diva, Nina and gut-wrenching balladeer at the light of the touchpaper: just listen to how he tastes the danger and deliciousness in the word “taboo” in a song of the same name.

I don't mind a good bit of soul, but my problem with it is that I find a lot of it quite meh and I'm unable to decide what makes the stuff I like "good".  So I'm looking forward to hearing if Gabriels push the genre forward in the right direction...

Well, it's a nice sound - I'm not entirely sure it pushes the genre forwards, but it's certainly not the same-old-same-old.  It definitely doesn't "dial up the volume or slather on the horns" - it's quite subtle and understated and your man has a nice voice.  I can't say any one track jumped out at me but it all passed by pleasurably - Mrs Reed even commented it was "a nice sound" and you can't get a higher compliment than that (she certainly wasn't as kind to Bjork).

I'm pleasantly surprised to see it charted - a week at #25.  It also manages to have a surprisingly large Wikipedia entry although most of that is about how much the critics loved it (particularly The Guardian) - they all really thought it was genre pushing (and I suspect they probably know more about such things than me).  It also tells us there's going to be a part 2 out in March, so watch out for that if you liked this.

"Customers also listened to" Winston Surfshirt (is he Earl Sweatshirt's cousin?), Drugdealer and Destin Conrad - I can of course tell you nothing about any of them.  If I'm honest, Gabriels are probably destined to be forgotten by me but there's a chance it might become one of those albums that I just shove on when I want a "nice sound" - if you like this sort of thing, then check it out.

#26 : Being Funny In A Foreign Language – The 1975

No thoughts, head empty, only 1975 lyrics: “John’s obsessed with fat ass and he’s 10 years old”; “I know some vaccinista tote bag chic baristas”; “It seems that I was gaslighting you / I didn’t know that it had its own word.” Matty Healy, George Daniel and co get a lot of flak for being smartasses, but nearly every line on Being Funny in a Foreign Language is stupidly funny and devastatingly humane, some lovelorn-but-irony-poisoned phrase that probably should have been a tweet but, instead, is one of the most curiously insightful lyrics of the year. They pair those lyrics with production that’s gleefully wonky but deeply reverential of the canon at the same time – DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ loops, radiant R&B keys, a wall of sound that sounds like Heroes slowed to a crawl. This feels like a calling card record for the 1975 – their most delicate balance between romantic and ridiculous yet.

I'm squeezing this one in because I've met it before (and I'd like to finish the list by the end of the year) - it was a more pleasurable experience than I was expecting but maybe doesn't live up to the ridiculous write-up above.

Some nice enough sounds across the three albums - they're all worth checking out if you like that sort of thing.

#30-29 - Two albums that are just my kinda thang

#25-24 - One yes, one no