I'll crawl toward you unkillably
Continuing my trip up The Guardian's 50 best albums of 2025.
#26 : The Clearing - Wolf Alice
“English bands are so hesitant to ever admit ambition, but I am ambitious with this record,” Wolf Alice’s drummer Joel Amey said as The Clearing was announced – and sure enough, this was a huge step up and out for a band who were already one of British indie’s biggest. There’s something symphonic about the heft of it and not just because of the string sections, thanks to superb production by Greg Kurstin: the bass and toms are heavy yet warm, the piano pounding yet not overbearing. Ellie Rowsell sings about suitably big themes, too, from universe-bending love on Leaning Against the Wall (“it really, really made the room sing, the way you said my name”), invaluable friendship on Just Two Girls, and The Sofa’s uplifting manifesto for being wild and indolent instead of toeing the line.
The seventh album I've previously heard on the list and the fourth one I've already written up - when I met it, I said it didn't help me clear up the mystery that are Wolf Alice and I didn't know how the fans would take their 70s leaning swerve. Well, when I saw them live, I learned that the fans are pretty happy with the state of things - even if I didn't particularly enjoy it.
The album managed a five week run in the chart, debuting at #1 and popped back for a week later in the year when they toured, which feels like a decent effort for an album these days. The Wikipedia entry doesn't add much other than telling us it was nominated for the Mercury Music prize (their fourth nomination) but lost out to Sam Fender. They also get a discogs.com mention because if you want the limited "flower filled" edition then it's going to set you back £110 - wowsers!
#25 : Bleeds - Wednesday
The North Carolina band’s sixth album is littered with endings, some violent – the title of Carolina Murder Suicide tells you all you need to know – some devastatingly mundane, as Karly Hartzman examined the cracks that led to a long relationship’s end. Her unique gaze unites both, noticing the details and dynamics that other songwriters might write off as inconsequential: like the “mounted antlers in the kitchen on a crooked nail” at a wake in Wound Up Here (By Holdin On). Full of screaming noise and riffs that evoke knee-sliding through the mud, as well as moments of unexpected sweetness, Bleeds shows the fullest picture of her band yet.
We met Wednesday back on the '23 best-of list and I liked it, reminding me of early Throwing Muses - but I then obviously pretty immediately forgot about them. Hopes are reasonably high for this though...
Yeah - there's definitely some Muses sounds in there and I was also reminded of some of Juliana Hatfield's solo stuff. From my description of their previous album, it sounds like they've calmed down a bit - "Elderberry Wine" and "Gary's II" were pretty melodic, reminding me of Waxahatchee. And older me appreciates a bit of a tune these days, but it's also got plenty of fuzzy guitar work on it to make me believe I'm still young (and yes, I'm fully aware of how delusional that is). I like the album cover whilst also being a bit creeped out by it.
This album has the dubious distinction of being the closest so far to the actual chart without actually getting there because it got to #77 in the album chart update (which comes out on a Monday to give you some clue as to what might be in the chart on Friday). The Wikipedia entry tells us it's their sixth album and references the romantic break-up of frontwoman Karly Hartzman and guitarist MJ Lenderman - we saw MJ twice on last year's list with his solo offering and appearing on Waxahatchee's album and he's also popped up on this year's list helping out Snocaps, so he's a busy lad and probably just doesn't have time for a relationship.
#24 : Hagen - Titanic
There can be few faster-evolving ensembles than that of Mabe Fratti and Hector Tosta, who in just two albums have leapt from sparkling cabaret jazz to … whatever the uncontainable euphoria of Hagen is. It’s a record that vaults from blast beats to choral beauty, eerie splendour to nervy cacophonies, like nothing else you’ve heard. Despite these bold stylistic clashes, it hangs together beautifully, thanks also to Fratti’s spectacular voice, as capable of cirrus-like delicacy as parched sharpness.
Never heard of this lot - and The Guardian isn't massively helping with its description above.
Well, once again, I have to give credit to The Guardian for at least giving it a go - I think I'd settle for "charmingly bonkers". Mabe does indeed have a spectacular voice and she belts it out, whilst Hector puts whatever the fuck he feels like underneath it - and it's always very dramatic. I was reminded of the Rosalia offerings I've heard, but this feels more chaotic and spontaneous - I can't say I'll be rushing back to it, but it was certainly an interesting listen.
There's been absolutely no chart activity for this and there's no Wikipedia entry for the band or the album, so I'll share Google AI's thoughts on the matter. Apparently when I google "Hagen Titanic" I might be asking about this album or I might be interested in the Norwegian rock group that had a hit with "Sultans Of Swing" in 1980. Which is random enough until you realise that they actually had a hit with "Sultana" in 1971 - why would it just MAKE STUFF UP?!?
Two pretty ambitious albums here, but the winner for me is Wednesday's offering - just because it's the kinda stuff I like the best.
Comments
Post a Comment