Release Radar: January 2024
At the end of each month, Afterglow presents a staff-picked list of new albums and singles that left a lasting impression on our ears.
Written by Afterglow Staffers
Photos courtesy of Michael Hili, Cal Mclntyre, Dennis Morton, and Petra Kleis
Here are our favorite albums and singles released during January 2024. For more reviews of recent releases, check out our album review page!
Shiny Singles WE LOVED THIS MONTH:
“hostage” by Maggie Lindemann
Pop’s former starlet solidifies her place in rock with “hostage,” the latest addition to her genre crossover. Describing the song to Revolver as “a plea for solace amidst my own mental chaos,” Lindemann breathes life into aughties nu-metal with melodramatic instrumentals and brooding lyrics in her first single of the year. — C.S. Harper
"Caesar on a TV Screen" by The Last Dinner Party
Industry plant or not, femme indie-rock group The Last Dinner Party pillaged through the male-dominated genre with vigor and vengeance on their latest climactic single "Caesar on a TV Screen." Taking inspiration from ancient history, the rockstars revel in romantic glory with desperate passion, lacing their hubris with vulnerable exclamations that "Everyone will love me!" — Janie Bickerton
“Lucky” by Erika de Casier
Beginning with twinkling bells and blithe laughter, Erika de Casier’s latest single revels in lucky girl syndrome. With upbeat piano keys and lyrics like “you make it real easy to love you right back,” the Danish R&B darling evokes pure joy as she reflects on the ecstasy her relationship brings. — C.S. Harper
“My Golden Years” by The Lemon Twigs
Layering nostalgic, bittersweet lyrics with luxuriant harmonies, The Lemon Twigs’ newest single pays homage to the soft rock bands of the 1960s. The lilting vocals of the D’Addario brothers and sugary, sweet guitar riffs create an upbeat, jaunty feeling that the band says is perfect for anyone who likes to hike or work out. — Kaileen Rooks
“Kiss Me” by Matt Maltese
Matt Maltese hypnotically covered Sixpence None The Richer’s "Kiss Me" in a quieter, more subdued tone filled with delightful twangs of reverberating piano instead of the original's traditional guitar riffs. Maltese's "Kiss Me" plays like a dream as it shifts through cloudy chords, reinventing the 1997 hit for easy-listening playlists rather than festive, sunny drives. — Rachel Joy Thomas
GLOWING ALBUMS & EPS WE LOVED THIS MONTH:
ISSUES by Yaro Mila
Image courtesy of Excited About Music
Amsterdam singer, songwriter, and producer Yaro Mila is starting the year on a strong note with her debut EP, ISSUES. With edgy alternative aesthetics and sonorous instrumentals, Mila carves out a niche place in the pop world. Much of the record feels like a throwback to mid-to-late 2010s electropop, with chopped and screwed vocals and overpowering synths. However, ISSUES feels anything but trite, as its nostalgia-inducing production elevates Mila’s evocative songwriting and powerful vocals. In opener “cry baby,” the singer crowns herself queen of the sad girls as she leaves an aloof lover and indulges herself in “a Marlboro red and a chardonnay.” Mila takes her tears to the dance floor in “talk of the town,” a clubby track about a girl crush who’s “a maniac in a tight white dress.” Despite sticking closely to synthy melodies throughout the EP, Mila briefly explores classical in “his gal,” which begins with dramatic piano chords and ominous violins before exploding into a bouncy bassline and a catchy hook. In the balladic title track, Mila strips back her femme fatale image, admitting that she’s “got issues / ‘Cuz I push you away” over anthemic vocalizations. Closing track “therapy” continues the lyrical dissonance of ISSUES: electric guitar riffs accompany the singer-songwriter as she pleads with her lover to seek therapy. ISSUES is bound to have a chokehold on fans of anti-pop giants like Billie Eilish and Halsey, making Mila fit to become the Netherlands’ next musical superstar. — C.S. Harper
Support Yaro Mila on Spotify and Apple Music.
Letter to Self by SPRINTS
Image courtesy of City Slang
An ode to pounding drum interludes and unbridled emotion, Letter to Self exemplifies the gritty yet meaningful feel of Irish garage punk band SPRINTS’ discography. SPRINTS’ debut album puts a heavier twist on the sound of ‘90s grunge, making prolific use of abrasive, wild instrumentals and riotous wailing cut with a pleasantly surprising undercurrent of vulnerability. Each song follows a pattern of slowly-building tension, bolstered by suspensefully crescendoing guitar riffs and the barely concealed rage of lead vocalist and guitarist Karla Chubb. Finally, the tension explodes into a passionate rampage of howls and crackling drums. Their general musical pattern mirrors the thematic elements of their album, which frustratedly speak to a life of grappling with trauma, shame, religious guilt, and internalized homophobia. Opening with “Ticking,” Chubb builds the aforementioned tension with repetition, chanting “Am I Alive?” in her characteristic gravelly tone. This question is answered in the titular track, “Letter to Self,” as Chubb repeats, “But I am alive.” A song brimming with angst and fury, Chubb’s vocal strength comes to the forefront as she bellows self-affirmations that function like answers to the rest of the album’s lyrical doubts and worries. Exploring the subject of religious trauma and angst, “Cathedral” is defined by wild, unhinged percussion and again makes use of a repeated rhetorical question, “Is anybody happy?” SPRINTS’ debut album solidifies its place in the competitive new wave of Irish music with its striking emotionality, thunderous instrumentation, and sumptuous vocals. — Kaileen Rooks
Support SPRINTS on Spotify and Apple Music.
Hot Air Balloon EP by Pile
Image courtesy of Exploding In Sound Records
In just five songs, Boston-hailing rock band Pile takes listeners on a short but profound journey of feeling hopelessly out of touch with reality on Hot Air Balloon EP. Beginning with a grating guitar and a droning drumbeat, “Scaling Walls” channels the 2000s alt-rock scene, where Pile got their start. Frontman Rick Maguire’s yelling, despairing vocals highlight the EP’s central theme of cognizant disassociation as he sings, “The haul is long, but I left my brain at home.” While comical in its title, “The Birds Attacked My Hot Air Balloon” chillingly covers the heavy burden of existence through the image of the hot air balloon — a symbol of escape — and the real danger they pose to birds. Pile then trades maimed avian creatures for dystopian guitar to cement the EP’s unnerving omnipresence in the ’80s synth-laced “Only for a Reminder,” a sonic standout. Dissonance reigns in the penultimate track, “Exits Blocked,” where disjointed thoughts about feeling trapped and “letting go of what you want” fuse with intense guitar, drums, and keys. In an EP marked by dread, Pile surprisingly ends with hope in “You Get to Decide.” Maguire proclaims, “Take all the time you need / Be prepared to wait patiently / That’s a thing you get to decide,” in one last flourish of rock cacophony. With few and fragmented lyrics in each song, Pile lets their sound do the talking, challenging listeners to dwell on what is and isn’t lyrically present, further nebulizing reality in the process. — Janie Bickerton
Support Pile on Spotify and Apple Music.
Critterland by Willi Carlisle
Image courtesy of Signature Sounds Recording
Willi Carlisle's third studio album Critterland shifts from tones of boisterous play to an older, more melancholic tune. Beyond the title track and its louder-than-life appeal, Critterland deals with abandonment, forgiveness, and love. "Dry Country Dust" sets the tone for the album, with sliding guitar twangs and Carlisle's grumbling warble as he sings, "Thank god forgiveness comes in so many shapes / I've been traveling in anger trying to ditch the shade." "The Arrangements" deals with a father's death and the subsequent arrangements for his funeral. The morose song follows a simple fingerpicking pattern as the Arkansas-based singer laments alcoholism and the mixed feelings death produces, singing, "No medicine for saving him from cigs and booze and salt / It was pretty nice to say, I thought his sadness was my fault." The complexity of emotion juxtaposes simple instrumentals like the strum of an acoustic guitar, featured on almost every song of the album as a winding commonality that ties the album together cohesively. With an American folk ambiance perfect for warm summer nights, Carlisle’s Critterland is an early example of the exciting new prospects coming to the folk scene in 2024. — Rachel Joy Thomas
Support on Spotify and Apple Music.
Howtoliveforever by mirrorr
Image courtesy of Infiel Records
Mirrorr’s sophomore album, Howtoliveforever, is a balanced mix of ethereally warped instrumentals, upbeat melancholia, and angry uncertainty for the future. The album’s opening track, “Itcomesinphases,” sets the tone and the theme for the tracks to come as the song begins on a grainy, hazy backing track and slowly but surely traverses through sadness and anger as mirrorr utters barely-audible lyrics about how “Everything is perfect / Everything is nothing / Everything comes in phases.” “Thefog” continues in a similar vein: its overpowering instrumentals are purposeful in covering the song’s desperate lyrics about depression, though they can’t drown out the hopeful jazz riffs toward the end of the song. Howtoliveforever’s sixth track — the album’s midpoint — is short and sweet, with uncharacteristically gentle, floaty lyrics that promise mirrorr will be “back again.” Songs in the latter half of the album mirror the preceding six with their self-destructive themes, but the earthy, processable sounds in “Dontmakeeyecontact” and “Jesuswontcomeback” are more tangible than their predecessors. The album closes with “Whydidyouandmomgivemesuchabigheart,” a short recording of a young child saying everyone is going bye-bye, with their presumed father asking, “We’re going bye-bye? Where are we going?” With warped instrumental and barely-there vocals, Howtoliveforever is less a collection of songs and more a fluid experience of the depths of the human condition. — Arundhati Ghosh
Support mirrorr on Spotify and Apple Music.