Release Radar: May 2021
At the end of each month, Afterglow presents a staff-picked list of new albums and singles that left an impression on our ears.
Written by Afterglow Staffers
Photos courtesy of 808 Wave, Bandcamp / Feminazgul, and Facebook / Lords of Acid
Here are our favorite albums and singles released during May 2021. For more reviews of recent releases, check out our album review page.
Shiny Singles We Loved This Month:
“Xcxoplex” by A.G. Cook with Charli XCX
This track is more of the microdosed lunacy Cook and Charli have become known for: autotuned harmonic trills paralleled with harsh, rhythmic noise. As Charli “closes her eyes and elevates,” the caffeinated hyperpop may lift you up with her.
“Woman” by Little Simz ft. Cleo Sol
Following her explosive track “Introvert,” the British hip-hop wordsmith is back with a mellower single from her upcoming album, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert. The track sees Cleo Sol intermingle her trademark soulful string arrangements with funky beats, angelic vocals, and poignant lyrics that celebrate Black women.
“Nobody Knows We Are Fun” by CHAI
In this sparkly bop, CHAI laments its lack of fame in its native Japan over spacey, playful instrumentals reminiscent of Tyler, the Creator’s Flower Boy.
Awenden/Feminazgul Split by Awenden and Feminazgul
Image courtesy of Tridoid Records
Let it be known that Gudrik is a poet. The lone gunslinger behind Awenden contributed 16 minutes of black metal to this release on Texas tape label Tridroid Records, and the lyricism is divine. “The shining gift in your outstretched hand, the struggle to obscure the horrors within / How hollow ring your pleas, for us to take this trade, of cancer for a false communion,” they roar towards the end of the song. But it’s not just pretty words: There’s some moments of lonely, sinister bass, an ominous choir backing many of Gudrik’s harsh leads, and plenty of other lush flourishes between the frenzy of heavy riffage. Feminazgul, on the other side of this split, announces themselves on Tridroid’s Bandcamp page as "a call to war against patriarchy.” The band’s name references Tolkein, and their music is similarly fantastical. Instrumentalist Margaret Killjoy, for instance, is credited as playing “hognose psaltery, bowed psaltery, kantele, goblin box” and “goblin bass” to achieve the sound on their side of the record. Meredith Yayanos’ bells and strings alongside vocalist Laura Beach’s harsh abomination is deeply, gutturally satisfying. Beach growls a warning for the men who rule: “comes the day / every chain is broken / comes the day / every king is slain.” — Felix Kalvesmaki
Support Awenden and Feminazgul on Bandcamp, and buy the split from Tridroid Records.
Black to the Future by Sons of Kemet
Image courtesy of Impulse! Records and UMG Recordings
Led by modern jazz icon Shabaka Hutchings, London-based band Sons of Kemet can do just about anything. With a unique fusion sound that marries Caribbean and African folk with jazz, Sons of Kemet has solidified itself as one of the boldest bands of the U.K. jazz scene. The group’s last record, Your Queen is a Reptile, brazenly crowns Queen Elizabeth II a lizard person and criticizes England for its long-standing racism — and it garnered a Mercury Prize nomination for it. But while Your Queen is a Reptile celebrates Black excellence by paying tribute to iconic Black women, Black to the Future explores Black trauma. In opener “Field N----,” poet Joshua Idehen scathingly criticizes white saviors: “I do not want your equality / It was never yours to give me.” He weaves clever wordplay and pop culture references throughout the track, calling out both celebrities (“Leave Candace Owens by the plantation”) and whitewashing (“Oh, the caucasity of it all!”) that have undermined the Black civil rights movement. But the upbeat, tuba-driven “Hustle” takes on a brighter tone, as British artists Kojey Radical and Lianne La Havas celebrate Black resilience with the mantra “Born from the mud with the hustle inside me.” In the final track, “Black,” Idehen returns to reiterate the album’s themes of Black power and leave an important message for white people: “This Black pain is dance / This Black struggle is dance / And this Black praise is dance / Just leave Black be / You already have the world.” With Black to the Future, Sons of Kemet continue to demonstrate their creative prowess, solidifying their place as major musical voices in the fight for Black liberation. — C.S. Harper
Expand Your Head by Lords of Acid
Image featuring Amanda Lepore courtesy of Metropolis Records
Must you increase your bust? If you don’t, Lords of Acid will! On April 23, the Belgian acid house group released their 11th album Expand Your Head; a diverse and sporadic compilation of 13 remixes and three original tracks. Since the ‘90s, Lords of Acid have maintained notoriety due to their unique style of combining grimy, aggressive synths and sexually provocative lyrics. Expand your Head proves no different, this time allowing several other DJs and producers to put their own spin on many of the group’s iconic tracks. Among these remixers are the likes of electronic superstars Frankie Bones, Plastikman, and the late Critter, who slice and reassemble Lords’ techno-raunch into a wide array of rave genres: Detroit techno, hardcore, breakbeat, drum and bass, you name it. Featuring equally as eclectic song titles that adorn each mix (“I Sit on Acid Mickey Blotter Mix,” “Let’s Get High Reach Out and Touch the Sky Mix,” “P-ssy (P-ssymphony II)”), Lords of Acid continue to shock audiences with provocative lyricism and quirky production — often juxtaposing whimsical cartoon sound FX with loud, vulgar noises and expressions. The layering in each song is masterfully done, pulling you in with campy beats, down-and-dirty remixed samples and industrial guitar sounds. Sadly, many of the mixes take away from the raw, bump-and-grind feeling of the originals, which can be polarizing to much of Lords’ core audience. Despite this, the album continues to solidify Lords of Acid’s reputation as the sexually explicit, ostentatious darlings of the Euro-rave scene. — Micaela Galvez
BOY ANONYMOUS by Paris Texas
Image courtesy of Paris Texas, LLC
It can be typical for an artist to change their sound from one album to the next, but it’s rare to hear a broad span of genres and musical elements expertly expressed on one project — especially a debut LP. Paris Texas did just that. It was obvious from the three-track EP released last month just how unique and capable the duo is. The previously heard songs, “HEAVY METAL,” “SITUATIONS,” and titular “FORCE OF HABIT,” all went super f-cking hard, but they were also a varied introduction into the experimental, avant-garde nature of the music that the duo set out to create. BOY ANONYMOUS opens with “CASINO,” a Playboi Carti-esque, emo-rap ballad that fades into an abrasive, Flatbush Zombies type track titled, “PACK 4 DA LOW.” Comparing them to other rappers, however, doesn’t do them justice; they’re not just another rap group. This is most evident with the guitar strums and laidback vocals of “BETTER DAYS” or the electronic looping of “SITUATIONS,” a single that underwent some production tweaks from the EP to the LP. Tracks “AREA CODE” and “A QUICK DEATH” make up a dual-track continuation of the indie psychedelia that was introduced earlier on. The pair then shocks listeners awake with “HEAVY METAL,” a hardcore, industrial goth banger complete with china symbol crashes and brooding, distorted, and unsettling guitar strums that carry you into the final track, “FORCE OF HABIT.” Ending the LP with lyrics like, “Walk around like I’m the shit … Errybody way too dramatic, I live life in a comedy” after the generically-elusive, titillating contents of the rest of the project says a lot in just a few words. These guys popped up seemingly out of nowhere and dropped one of the most experimental and creative endeavors that 2021 will hear. If this is any clue as to what the duo is capable of, it seems like Paris Texas might be the next big thing to come from both the rock and rap worlds. — Micaela Garza
Support Paris Texas on Spotify.