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After showing great potential with her 2017 EP “RINA,” Rina Sawayama has returned with her debut full-length album "SAWAYAMA" — perhaps one of the best pop records of the year so far. The debut tells the 29-year-old Japanese-British songwriter’s story in heartfelt detail, combining musical genres with impeccable vocal deliveries and refreshingly honest lyricism.
Titus Andronicus are no stranger to ambition. After their 2010 release “The Monitor,” a stunning concept album that used the Civil War as a lens for personal growth, and their 2017 rock opera “The Most Lamentable Tragedy,” it’s difficult to imagine a more hefty offering. How could they continue to top themselves?
The first thing you notice about Dan Bejar, lead singer and songwriter of Destroyer, is that he doesn’t look at the crowd very much when performing live. He crouches near the microphone, taking swigs of various alcoholic beverages with his eyes closed and head lowered. When he rises, he alternates between using the microphone stand as a cane and turning his back to the crowd, slapping his tambourine vigorously. The other members of the band are slightly more present, but their focus is on the music. The trumpet player, fully clad in a black suit, looks down and fiddles with his trumpet when he’s not nailing high notes and improvising spectacularly between songs. The two guitarists and the keyboardist look either at each other or at Bejar’s hazy movements. Hilariously enough, all of them have various beverages they consume as the night goes on. The stage is littered with cups, nothing feels normal and the crowd is utterly transfixed. This is the setting of a Destroyer concert, as I found to my delight last Tuesday.
The Duke Chapel is the most important building on campus.
From one Destroyer album to the next, the only real constant is Dan Bejar’s distinct vocals. While Destroyer has grappled with different genres for almost two decades, the lead singer and songwriter’s unique voice has crooned delicately about love, ironically about the state of both personal and world affairs and helped to frame the soundscape in which Destroyer continually produces works that are stunningly aware and intelligent.
I always feel a bit guilty waiting impatiently for new Four Tet material, especially since he’s so prolific. Since his 2015 two-track release “Morning / Evening,” Four Tet (real name Kieran Hebden) has remixed songs by The xx, Rihanna, Jamie xx and Oneohtrix Point Never, released a compilation album titled “Randoms” and worked tirelessly on material for his new album.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is no stranger to build-up. Since releasing their 1997 debut “F# A# ∞,” the group has thrived on swelling crescendos and slow escalation over the course of their often multi-movement songs. After taking an eight-year hiatus, the group released their fourth album “Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!” to critical acclaim and the 2013 Polaris Prize. Now they’ve returned with their first album since 2015’s “Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress,” the ominously titled “Luciferian Towers.”
