Best Releases - February 2024
After a bit of a slow start to the year, and with the biggest artists leaving their releases to later in the calendar year, February helped to pick up the slack. While March is already looking quite promising (ScHoolboy Q and Faye Webster’s new albums both look very appealing), we shouldn’t let some of the highlights go unnoticed. Hand selected by yours truly, these are some of the must-listen albums that may have flown under your radar.
Erika de Casier - Still
Portuguese-Danish singer Erika de Casier gained attention first in 2019 with the release of her debut album Essentials, and has been riding slowly under the radar since her acclaimed follow-up Sensational. She returned this month with Still, a revelation for modern R&B. With a smooth, whispery voice hearkening back to the late ‘90s and early 2000s waves while mixing in some downtempo production, lending to an easy listen of an album that offers more with each listen, peeling back layer by layer. While the production is relatively sparse and simple throughout, it lends itself only to showcase the fantastic melodies and lyrics of de Casier. Highlights such as “Ex-Girlfriend” featuring Shygirl show that she should already be a star, and is ready for whenever she is given her crown as ascending R&B royalty.
RIYL: Aaliyah, Blood Orange, FKA Twigs
Chelsea Wolfe - She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She
American musician Chelsea Wolfe (actually her real name, not a stage name like I thought) has been on my radar since the release of her 2017 album Hiss Spun, and her latest sounds like a culmination of her career to this point. Drawing influences throughout her career from such disparate acts as sludge metal band Neurosis to country legend Townes Van Zandt, she dips into her trip-hop bag on She Reaches Out…, calling to mind releases by Portishead and Tricky, among others. Establishing a dark, mechanical cyberpunk-esque sound to serve as a vehicle for her haunting vocals, the follow-up to 2021’s Bloodmoon: I with Converge drags you deep into her world, a cold and dimly lit place that smothers and suffocates you with every note, taking your breath away song by song. Sign me up for another hour of this.
RIYL: Anna von Hausswolff, Early Lingua Ignota, Portishead
Allie X - Girl With No Face
It was hard to imagine I would find an album catchier than the previously mentioned Still, but my prayers were answered by this synth-pop masterpiece. While eighties revivalism is far from a new thing, most notably being used as the basis for the most two recent projects from The Weeknd, the Canadian singer-songwriter wrings it for every bit of groove and catchiness that she can get her hands on. After spending some time writing for stars such as K-Pop group BTS and singer Troye Sivan, she is proving herself more than ready to re-enter the limelight, with her last charting song being in 2017. Buoyed by highlights such as “Black Eye” and the title track, Allie X’s singing voice fits perfectly on the production here, gliding across tracks and inserting herself straight into the era she is influenced by, instead of just sounding like a by-product of the times. If you showed this to anybody and told them it was released alongside Madonna’s True Blue, you would be hard-pressed to find many arguments.
RIYL: St. Vincent, Slayyyter, Dorian Electra
Willi Carlisle - Critterland
I know, I know, this was released in January. But I missed out on that month, and this album is too good to pass up on. Having only heard it last night, I was initially turned off tremendously by the album cover. But please, do not make the same mistake I did. This is an introspective, heartbreaking piece of progressive country that offers so much more than first impressions may indicate. Equipped with one of the most powerful voices I have heard in country music this decade, a wit to make the mundane seem spectacular, and enough heart for a horse (or four), Willi Carlisle exposes emotions and feelings as ugly as the cover is, leaving nothing up to the imagination and baring all for listeners. Tracks like highlight “Higher Lonesome” and the spoken word closer “The Money Grows on Trees” show he has a particularly strong penchant for storytelling amidst his personal musings, as well. Going back to the basics instrumentally while helping to progress the lyrics far above typical fare for country music, this is the album to check out if you decide that you want to feel something.
RIYL: Orville Peck, Johnny Cash, Noah Kahan
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Shed Theory - Cove (Cloud Rap)
MGMT - Loss of Life (Psychedelic Pop)
Serpentwithfeet - Grip (R&B)
Ducks Ltd. - Harm’s Way (Power Pop)
Kali Malone - All Life Long (Drone)