May Album Releases
With an abundance of great album releases due throughout the month of May, we look ahead at a few of the album releases that will be soundtracking Postcards From The Underground HQ throughout May.
5th May
7ebra - Bird Hour
PNKSLM
Based in Malmö Sweden, 7erbra (AKA twin sisters Inez and Ella Johansson) deal in sparkling indie-rock full of personality and character with minimal set-ups on debut album Bird Hour with Inez on guitar and vocals and Ella on keys, organ and Mellotron, with Tore Johansson on production duties. Taking a trial and error approach in the studio with Johansson Ella comments. “Tore wanted us to try everything possible, We had moments where things weren’t working. But that was necessary in order to find the good stuff”.
“I think it was important for me that our voices were at the centre of the songs”, says Inez, “that all the little melodies have their place, and don’t get overwhelmed. With lyrics, I sometimes come up with something, and just feel ‘there’s no need to add more to this’. Sometimes a line works by itself. You don’t have to add a bunch of lyrics”.
With themes that will resonate with most people Ella laughs “I guess it’s about trying to understand yourself, in relation to others. Just life. ‘Why am I not good at this, why is this thing happening to me, why is this thing so hard, why am I so stupid?’”.
Pre-Order ‘Bird Hour’ Here.
5th May
Cloth - Secret Measures
Rock Action Records
Glasgow-based twin-sibling duo Cloth (Rachael and Paul Swinton) second album Secret Measure finds the pair expanding on their self titled 2019 debut album this time collaborating with producer Ali Chant, while Paul also steps up as sole lyricist, where previously the siblings had previously collaborated.
‘Secret Measure’ is immediately more forthright. Centred around a desire for personal assurances, the album’s narrative reflects on Paul’s realisation that even as bleak as things get you can always find a flash of hope to hold on to if you look hard enough. Indicative of the musical bond that sits at the core of Cloth, Rachael trusted in the themes that Paul was exploring throughout the album, finding ways to impart her own experiences on the songs throughout the process.
Pre-Order ‘Secret Measure’ Here.
5th May
Saint Street - Motions
Self Release
Boorloo/Perth-based trio comprised of multi-instrumentalists Laura, Amy and Jess, Saint Street take in a multitude of musical influences from bands like MUNA, Soccer Mommy, and Nightly mesh to create a sound fresh yet familiar with the confessional lyricism on debut album Motions with the trio leaning on their own inspirations to create an album full of uniqueness and distinctly their own.
Their album Motions exposes the experience of going through the motions. Emotions and relationships, the devastating and beautiful, all the ups and downs of healing and growing. They approach the content as inevitable, giving the music a conversational transparency that speaks to a collective journey of growing up.
Pre-Order ‘Motions’ Here.
12th May
Amy May Ellis - Over Ling And Bell
Lost Map
Written in a secluded farmhouse mostly alone but occasionally with friends, Amy May Ellis took inspiration from centuries of human habitation on the ancient North York Moors for new album Over Ling and Bell. Crafted in a grand folk tradition, the album captures the beauty and ruggedness the landscape that Amy May Ellis surrounded herself through vivid depictions of nature and nourishment.
“It’s named after two types of heather that grow on the Moors,” writes Amy, of the story behind Over Ling and Bell. “When I started writing for this album I went for walks with my uncle around the dale and unearthed a whole load of history which rooted itself in the songs. I’d always thought of the Moors as wild, but during that time I started to see how they had been tamed by everyone who had lived on them. From the miners, farmers and peat diggers to the Mesolithic hunters who settled on the hilltops.
The history of the Moors led me to think about the taming of the wild things and everything we have done as humans to gain a sense of control over our surroundings and our lives. I wondered what we have lost with this taming. A lot of the songs are about illness, an inevitable product of a world where rest is a privilege and crisis is a constant. During the making and recording of the album, I had periods of feeling very lost and paralysingly scared. I found solace in ideas around navigating rather than taming wildness, and became obsessed with maps. I read Nan Shepherd’s The Living Mountain, Robert Macfarlane’s The Old Ways and dipped a toe into various philosophies. I still feel lost sometimes, but I’ve started finding things to orientate myself with.”
Pre-Order ‘Over Ling And Bell’ Here.
12th May
BC Camplight - The Last Rotation Of Earth
Bella Union
Brian ‘BC Camplight’ Christinzio latest album The Last Rotation Of Earth, follows a break-up amid long-term struggles with addiction and mental health, with the outcome being an extraordinary album, with Christinzio describing it as “more cinematic, sophisticated and nuanced than anything I’ve done before.” He goes on to describe how the separation altered his creative focus and caused him to “scrap 95% of what I’d already recorded”, finishing The Last Rotation Of Earth in two months and making what he believes is his most vital album.
Still, Christinzio doesn’t see any of this as a story of redemption. “This is not a story of victory,” he says. “It is a document created in the shadow of incredible darkness. One from which the creator hadn't planned on escaping, and still doesn't. Hence the title of the album. It is the result of an illness that I've battled my whole life. It isn't something that the world has done to me. It's the world I live in and it's no one's fault.”
Pre-Order ‘The Last Rotation Of Earth’ Here.
12th May
Rahill - Flowers At Your Feet
Big Dada
Iranian-American singer-songwriter Rahill follows Rahill’s nostalgic 2022 covers EP ‘Sun Songs’ with 14 track album Flowers At Your Feet which collaborations with Beck and Jasper Marsalis (Slauson Malone). Moving along a journey of self-acceptance and self-love; reflecting on childhood and family while honouring the people and moments that defined her.
Recorded in phases during lockdown, the album was created in close collaboration between Rahill and producer Alex Epton. Drawing on elements of trip-hop, jazz and alt-rock all underpinned by Rahill’s reverent and thoughtful lyricism, with Epton identifing the strength and potential of Rahill’s pre-existing solo compositions, some of which had been written several years earlier while others had been written spontaneously during the recording process of Flowers At Your Feet.
Pre-Order ‘Flowers At Your Feet’ Here.
19th May
Eleni Drake - Surf the Sun
Modern Sky
I’m a Leo, the sun rules me, and I’ve always had a deep connection with it,” explains Eleni Drake, who references the sun on almost all of the album’s 11 tracks on new album Surf the Sun .
At the album’s core is Drake’s ultimate discovery of freedom and empowerment. “What I hope people understand is that an element of liberation and feeling free runs through the album. Despite some sombre undertones, it was made to inspire,” says Drake.
Throughout the self-produced Surf the Sun, Drake deals in distinctly summery melancholy - hazy, shimmering, golden; reverb guitar murmurs and glints, tightly wound amidst lovely, enticing harmonies - eloquently tracking notions of freedom, healing, painful goodbyes and a future of possibilities.
Pre-Order ‘Surf the Sun’ Here.
19th May
David A. Jaycock - Hold. Star. Return
Craws
Where David A. Jaycock’s albums in the past have seen a fine balance between acoustic and electronic instrumentation, Hold. Star. Return represents his first full immersion in a world of charity shop synthesisers, trashy vintage keyboards, drum machines and tape effects.
Recorded intermittently over the course of many years in ad hoc locations ranging from big halls to an airing cupboard, and additionally featuring playing from drummers Paul Bullock and Sam Kelly, Hold. Star. Return is an immersive sonic journey, fascinated by cinematic, cultural, and political effects on the imagination. Characters glow with violence and intelligence, blood and glass. Subjects visited from a deeply personal ‘dream-stateʼ perspective range from macrobiotics, religious tendencies, gurus, politics, and the effects of Thatcherism to class, community, and the differences in urban and rural nurture. There are stories of hitchhiking, being down and out in Paris, strong and fading friendships, loneliness and the growing realisation of mortality.
Pre-Order ‘Hold. Star. Return’ Here.
26th May
Kieli - From Summer To Spring
Cognitive Shift
Throughout the nine songs that make up debut album From Summer to Spring from Kieli (AKA singer-songwriter and composer Elin Pöllänen) the album blends cinematic indie-folk with neo-classical composition and swirling electronica, creating mystical and surreal soundscapes with non-verbal and verbal vocals sung in Swedish, Finnish, English and the endangered Karelian language.
Exploring the emotions that arise in life-changing transitions; grief, exhaustion and worry, along with hope, gratitude and unconditional love. It is a personal portrait of a daughter and her father during their last years together, as well as the experience of being a caregiver to someone who is disappearing, yet as close to you as they will ever be “From Summer to Spring is a very personal album that I wrote during a life-changing time,” explains Elin. “Amidst the fear, music really became the most attentive and merciful language that I could use to communicate with myself and explore my emotions so that I stayed resilient and open to life”.
Despite its weighty subject matter, From Summer To Spring is an album with hope, and celebrations of life. “I will forever be grateful that I got to walk alongside my father as a daughter and caregiver and that in our home, integrity, love and joy reigned, and routines became sacred rituals” says Pöllänen. “I really hope the album can offer people a place to rest, move, mourn, or even rejoice, like it has done for me.”
Pre-Order ‘From Summer To Spring’ Here.
26th May
Panic Pocket - Mad Half Hour
Skep Wax
London based Panic Pocket (AKA childhood friends Sophie Peacock and Natalie Healey) debut album Mad Half Hour is an album of indie pop gems, filled with an exuberance and sardonic wit catapulted by bold hooks and resolute harmonies across its 10 tracks.
From the album's opening track ‘Get Me’ with its fiery punk-pop aesthetic, Panic Pocket’s lyrics sting with a truthfulness with many looking at being at odds with life's accepted milestones, feeling alienated from the people you thought wanted the same things as you, while trying to forge your own path.
Pre-Order ‘Mad Half Hour’ Here.
More Album Releases On Our Radar
5th May, The Lemon Twigs- Everything Harmony Captured Tracks
5th May, Sad Boys Club - Lullabies From The Lightning Tree Modern Sky
12th May, Christian Balvig - Night Poem Self Release
19th May, Bar Italia - Tracey Denim Matador Records
19th May, Eyes of Others - Eyes of Others Heavenly Recordings
19th May, Salami Rose Joe Louis - Akousmatikous Brainfeeder
26th May, Larkhall - And You Were: Say You’re With Me Reworked Self Release
26th May, Laurent Garnier - 33 Tours Et Puis S'en Vont COD3 QR
26th May, Wye Oak - Every Day Like The Last: Singles Collection 2019-2023 Merge Records
31st May, Siobhan Wilson - Recording Of Myself In A Room Of My Own + Seeing With Music In Nature Suffering Fools Records
