Close your eyes - are you listening?

Continuing my trip forward in time through the album charts

05/05/23 : Anxiety Replacement Therapy - The Lottery Winners 

Well, this is quite some week for new entries - but more on that later because we firstly need to consider the highest one from The Lottery Winners.  Who I know have been around for ages but, apart from that, I can tell you nothing about them.  For some reason, I've always thought they're Euro-dance nonsense but I suspect I'm going to be disabused of that notion very quickly.

Well, the introduction doesn't really tell me anything - it's a very quirky spoken piece which really reminded me of Lemon Jelly (and I liked it), but the whole album wasn't going to be like that was it?  No, it wasn't - they're a pretty straightforward indie-pop band.  Which sounds a bit dismissive, but it's something there's so much of out there and a lot of it is pretty rubbish - but this feels to have enough to it to stand out from the crowd.  It also has some positive messages for the kids - I really liked the vibe from "Letter To Myself" and "You're Not Alone".  I also had to look up what "Sertraline" was - it's an anti-depressant, so it's safe to say mental health is very much a theme here.  All in all, I quite liked it - it barrels along and definitely doesn't outstay its welcome.

We're at #1 with a new entry this week - I can't see it hanging around for long but I'm pleased for them nonetheless.  And it's one of SEVEN new entries in the top ten this week - and an interesting bunch they are too!  So much so that I listened to them all (to a varying degree)

#2 : Crop Circle 2 - Nines
Very much not my sort of thing, but not nearly as bad as it might be (Dave would be my closest musical touchpoint) and I'm pleased for the lad.

#3 : That! Feels Good! - Jessie Ware
I like both her and her music - this is as smooth as you'd expect but also more upbeat than I was expecting.  It's quite disco with some old school R&B thrown in - it's a decent album.

#4 : First Two Pages Of Frankenstein - The National
I quite like The National, but never as much as I think I should.  But this sounded hopeful on first listen and took me back to their debut album (from 2001) which, for me, they have yet to beat - it feels like it will need several more listens to fully get into though.

#6 : Heatwave In The Cold North - Reverend & The Makers
I also liked their debut album (from 2007) but don't think I've listened to anything of theirs since - on first listen this was an odd one.  His voice is the same, but the sound is quite odd - for some reason "acoustic disco" came to mind.  And no, I've no idea what that means.

#7 : Blood Orange - Freya Ridings
Her debut album (which we'll hear when we get to 2019) is really good so I was looking forward to this.  And yeah, I really liked this - it's very Florencesque and I'll be coming back to it.  I also suspect she might have had a break-up recently.

#9 : Darkadelic - The Damned
Wow, their debut album was all the way back in 1977!  I actually didn't mind this at all - it feels like exactly the sort of thing they should be doing now in that it harks back to former glories but doesn't feel dated.

Wow - there was a lot of homework this week, wasn't there?  I should also mention The Weeknd STILL hanging in there at #5 and I'm also going to mention the next highest new entry which is a very unexpected Shakin' Stevens (#24) - I like to think this is related to his appearance as a Shakin' Stevens impersonator on The Cleaner recently.

Back to The Lottery Winners, Wikipedia is short and sweet on the matter - but does give us some relevant facts.  It's their fifth album (and it's sold more than all their others combined), it includes collaborations with Shaun Ryder, Boy George and Frank Turner (and they all passed me by).  Yes, mental health is very much a theme of the album and the critics praised them for their openness and honesty.  And the funnest fact was that is was released in 25 different formats (including twelve CD, six vinyl and five cassette versions) - but that's still not as many as The Reytons, who went for 32!

"Customers also listened to" Willie J Healey, swim school, Miles Kane and ARXX - well, I've heard of Miles Kane but that's all I've got for you on that lot.  I didn't think this was a great album, but sometimes fun, diverting and honest is all you need and it certainly delivers that.

See you next week for a review of Ed Sheeran's latest album...

28/04/23 - Yeah, I didn't mind this
12/05/23 - Surprisingly not annoying