Chuck Strangers - A Forsaken Lover's Plea - Bottle Green - VINYL LP

A cursory listen to Brooklyn indie act Habibi's self-titled debut album would initially seem to suggest a straightforward punk approach to the classic girl group template. Front-loaded with sweetly catchy upbeat pop tracks like InchI Got the MovesInch and InchDetroit Baby,Inch Habibi's indie shimmy rhythms and reverb-heavy harmonies find the middle ground between the Shangri-Las and the Undertones in the same way the Vivian Girls did on their earliest work. The guitar lines are direct and no-frills, drummer Karen Isabel manages to play in a way that is equally powerful and understated, and the vocals are distant and eerie, whether delivered in a frantic rush solely by lead singer Rahill Jamalifard, as on spiky garage tracks like InchPersepolis,Inch or in a dreamy cloud of harmony by multiple bandmembers. Getting past the first few easily digestible girl group pop hits, it becomes clear that the true strength of Habibi lies in just how strange and haunted the songs can get. There's a spooky desperation in the slinky after-hours club narrative of InchLet Me InInch and a simmering anxiety lurking beneath what first appears to be a carefree tale of summer seduction on InchSiin.Inch Habibi tap into the very specific energy of a young band putting together it's earliest songs, free from the self-consciousness and rules that can creep in and dull groups down once they become more established. Instead, the 11 songs that make up this perfectly brief album feel fresh and spirited even in their moments of occasional awkwardness or disjointedness. Far from naive but also completely lacking any of the jaded calculation of many of their peers, Habibi's debut offers up a set of songs that swim in strangeness, beauty, and discovery and are every bit as infectious as they are refreshing.Far From RightI Got The MovesDetroit BabySunsetsSweetest TalkShe Comes AlongPersepolis Let Me InSii

On InchMalcolm,Inch a track from Chuck Strangers' latest opus, Glory Of The King's Hand, he raps, InchI still rap from the perspective of my government name... Inch The stage name InchChuck StrangersInch is, of course, an alias, but it's not necessarily an alter ego. For the man born Che Jessamy, his rap moniker isn't some over-the-top rock star persona contrived for public consumption; it's just a name. What you hear on his records is really who he is a heavy-tongued griot from East Flatbush, Brooklyn, with a gift for vivid stream-of-consciousness storytelling. His bars are imbued with the wisdom he's gained in his lifetime, especially in the 14 years since he first made his debut with the Pro Era collective in the 2010s. InchWhen I was younger I would always be looking forward to 'next year' or saying to myself, 'When I do this, it's going to be this'... blah blah blah,Inch says Chuck, describing how his definition of success has evolved since then. InchBut then, as I got older, I have just been more grateful for the gift that it is to even make music [professionally].Inch The elaborate title of his new album, Glory Of The King's Hand, speaks to his gratitude for the hand that life's dealt him, which is a pretty good one. At age 34, he does what he loves professionally and does it on his own terms. That's something to be thankful for. Glory Of The King's Hand not only represents Chuck's matured attitude but also his matured sound. After a decade in the game, there's an emphasis on songcraft like never before InchOn this album, I made a lot of conscious [musical] decisions,Inch he says. InchI made choruses, there's melodies, there's instrumentation... I really tried to just make better songs that people might want to hear again - that are more than just a good verse.Inch Key to this refined approach was collaboration. Chuck is a proficient beatmaker in his own righ

A Love for Strangers is a complete reinvention for Nick Murphy. His first record as Chet Faker in four years expands his previously established sound in thrilling new directions, with moonlit saxes recalling legendary acts like Prefab Sprout and the Blue Nile as well as the rich, breakbeat-laden pop of David Gray's classic White Ladder. These 12 songs find Murphy ruminating on heartbreak and uncertainty on a grand, sweeping scale - asking questions about how we relate to each other, examining the ways in which we fail to do so, and extending a necessary sense of hope when it comes to repairing our relationships with the world around us.