media is back with a musical summary: in this project, we talk about five musical releases by American artists each month that you may have missed.
MOBY
Atmosphere23
One of the first to please fans with a musical release in 2023 was an American electronic veteran. On January 1, Richard Hall (better known as Moby) released one of his most minimalist albums, titled ambient23 .
Minimalism is reflected in everything here: in the cover art, in the track titles (all 16 songs only have one serial number) and, of course, in the sound itself. And it sounds exactly like the title says: it’s a smooth, calm, atmospheric vibe lasting a total of 2.5 hours.
The musician himself linked the release to his personal experiences – and the times we live in. “[Альбом] made to help manage anxiety (mine and hopefully yours too), Moby wrote in his instagram . “May we all feel less anxiety in 2023.”
This is not Moby’s first work in this genre. In 2016 Hall published Long Ambient 1: Calm. Sleep – a large-scale ambient canvas lasting four hours. However, the DJ hasn’t left the genre for good: his previous work, Reprise, is an instrumental revamp of his earlier hits.
IGGI POP
Every loser
Album To free 2019 might scare some Iggy Pop fans. After all, audiences, after hearing this quiet, melancholy record with elements of blues and jazz, might wonder: will the “godfather of punk rock” rest?
Those who thought so were only able to expire calmly three years later. In January, the musician released an album Every loser – a disc much closer to his work. Here and aggressive and tough punk (title track Frenzy or compound Modern day scam ), here and a photo of a dismembered Iggy on the cover morning show here is the gender self-identification in the song neo-punk .
Other musicians on the album also deserve special mention, who came together under the name Losers (that is, “losers” – in honor of the title of the album). However, they can hardly be called losers: Duff McKagan of Guns N’Roses and Red Hot Chilli Peppers musicians Chad Smith and Josh Klinghoffer play side by side with Iggy Pop.
MARGO PRICE
wanderers
If you’re wondering what female country sounds like today, you can safely start by listening to one of the most notable girls of this genre – Margo Price. Probably his biggest success hands of time – has a completely classic sound for modern country music with female vocals (like, indeed, his entire 2016 album Midwest Farmer’s Daughter ).
However, his latest work, the album wanderers . Those who don’t know the album’s creator is a country star might not even recognize the genre in this collection. What is it – country, folk, acoustic ballads, southern rock, pop music, or maybe all of these?
In this regard, Strays reflects an important characteristic of country music: after all, few country singers today have ever crossed the boundaries of this genre (the most striking example is Taylor Swift, whose past country is remembered less and less today). However, music critics positively perceived the sound of the new collection.
The process of creating the album itself could also influence the change in style. Price wrote her new songs during a trip to North Carolina, where she was inspired by the music of Tom Petty and Patti Smith, psilocybin mushrooms and her withdrawal from alcohol.
GUIDED BY VOICES
The Earth
The last time media talked about Guided by Voices — perhaps the most successful indie rock band in history — was in October 2021, when their record was released. It’s not them. It couldn’t be them. They are the ones! . Since then, the group has managed to release four more (!) Studio Albums, the total number of which is approaching 40 by leaps and bounds.
New works include January album The Earth . Although Robert Pollard and his musicians are known for their eclectic sound, the new record remains within the bounds of typical Guided by Voices rock. The sound only changes within the limits of this genre: there is for example a typical punk (track another day to heal ), reminiscent of old school rock Cousin Jackie or flirt with post-punk Instinctive home .
Even if La La Land doesn’t excite the listener, fans will have the opportunity to give Guided by Voices a second chance in 2023: Pollard is known to release another album this year, Wellshpool Frillies.
EYVA-MAX
Diamonds and dance floors
Interestingly, in modern popular music (multicultural as never before), a veritable pantheon of pop divas of Albanian descent occupies a special place – here are Rita Ora and Dua Lipa, Bebe Rexha, Era Istrefi and, of course, Ava Max. The latter became the only one among the aforementioned singers who recently made a major release – we are talking about Ava Max’s disc Diamonds and dance floors .
Although the album is only the second in the singer’s career, she has already firmly taken her place in pop music in recent years: her songs kings and queens , who is laughing now and, first of all, sweet but psycho – absolute hits that managed to climb to the top of the charts.
The singer didn’t make any intrigues about the sound of the January album: throughout 2022, five singles appeared on the network (and that’s more than a third of the album!). This list includes dance-pop tracks Maybe you are the problem , one of us , The dance is over , million dollar baby and disclosed on the Internet weapons . Despite the generally positive reaction from the public, so far it is hardly necessary to say that Max has created hits on the level of Sweet but Psycho or Kings & Queens; however, in the dance-pop genre, with its sudden remixes and summer club hits, such conclusions are often premature.
Also read the previous summaries:
