Issue 28: August slipped away into a moment in time...
The best albums I listened to in August, featuring Carly Rae Jepsen, Jungle, and more!
Welcome back to Band Practice where—you know the drill—I listen to tons of new music and share my favorite finds with you. I’m sorry that it has been so long since my last issue. This season has inadvertently turned into sad girl summer. I intended to write this issue a few weeks ago but then my sweet dog Merlin passed away. 💔 The weeks leading up to his death were rough and I have been trying to recover and grieve his loss. I have been giving myself some space to do both.
During this stretch, I found it difficult to connect with most of the albums I listened to since we last convened here at Band Practice. I took a lot of sad girl walks™ in the evening—the kind where you’re so overwhelmed with emotion that if a bird so much as tweets in your general direction, it dissolves you. During the walks, I mostly revisited some of my favorite chill albums from earlier this year from Gia Margaret and Fenne Lily, respectively, and my two favorite Taylor Swift albums (Folklore and Evermore)—which always bring me comfort.1
There were, however, four new albums I’d like to say I “bonded” with and kept in rotation. Each of them has been helpful to me over the past month and I’m excited to share them with you here. On deck is The Loveliest Time by criminally underrated pop star Carly Rae Jepsen, Volcano by ingenious British duo Jungle, Fata Morgana by the haunting singer-songwriter DM Stith, and A River Running to Your Heart by Fruit Bats—a long-loved indie band of mine. The first two albums are perfect if you need something to snap you out of your funk, and the latter two will soothe you if you’re in one. More than any other issue, I am confident you’ll enjoy at least one of them.
Before we get to it, a moment for Merlin. Rest in peace, little buddy.
This month’s must-listens
The album that offered an escape…
The Loveliest Time — Carly Rae Jepsen
Pop [Released 7/28/23]
Facts are facts: the powerhouse albums of the year have been coming from female pop stars (see: Caroline Polachek and Jessie Ware), and Carly Rae Jepsen’s The Loveliest Time is the latest to join them. In her seventh studio album the “bubblegum” pop singer/songwriter (most famous for perhaps the catchiest tune of the 2010s, “Call Me Maybe”) lets loose and takes risks, breaking out of her bubblegum…bubble. In the album, she refuses to stay in one lane, creating her most bold, diverse album to date.
The Loveliest Time—a companion album to last year’s The Loneliest Time—documents Jepsen’s current era of being head-over-heels in love—that all-consuming love big enough to fill a stadium. She projects this love through a prismatic mix tape, bringing together genres like disco and psychedelic rock, and delivering it all with a voice spun from cotton candy.
There are so many wonderfully unexpected moments. “Kollage” had me asking, “What in the Tame Impala is this?” with its sinuous psychedelic intro. The fantastic bongo solo on “Put It To Rest,” steals the show in an otherwise dance-pop number; and the wonky, tilting chord progressions in “Aeroplanes” had me delightfully discombobulated. But my favorites are the big hair-down, punch-the-air tracks like synth explosion “Kamikaze” which feels right out of a training montage from a 1980s movie.
This was honestly one of the most fun listening experiences I’ve had this year. Jepsen’s version of bubblegum pop has left me with plenty to chew on.
Tracks on repeat: Anything to Be With You, Kamikaze, Psychedelic Switch
Available on Spotify, Apple Music
The album that got me to let loose…
Volcano — Jungle
Dance [Released 8/11/23]
It was the great Jessi Ramsey in the 1995 movie The Baby-Sitters Club who once said, “Why walk when you can dance?” In Volcano, London-based electronic music producers Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland uphold her mantra and conceive a world where there is no walking or running or tripping over your own goddamn feet again—only carefree dancing. Their songs are made for movement and, if you’ve seen their music videos (I’ve linked some in my favorite tracks below), you understand their commitment to choreography.2
This certifiably swoon-worthy album had me sweating, dizzy, and dancing in the kitchen. The soul, disco, and club beats used on the album may feel like a throwback but the songs are perpetually in style. The duo uses a mixture of samples and studio-recorded instruments and vocals—though the vocals are often sped up to punch up the energy. Transitions are buttery smooth, keeping the party going for a perfect 45 minutes.
“Back on 74” and its Motown-esque retro flare will have you doing the twist, and the hit-the-club “Holding On” will have you shaking what your sweet mama gave you (thanks, mama!). After the impeccable backyard party track “PROBLEMZ” (you may recognize it from my summer playlist), the album cools off with the downtempo “Good At Breaking Hearts” and “Pretty Little Thing.” You can search for a miss on this album but you will not find one. It is a flawless, easy breezy soundtrack for the last weeks of summer.
Tracks on repeat: Candle Flame, I’ve Been In Love, PROBLEMZ
Available on Spotify, Apple Music, bandcamp
The album that embraced me in my sadness…
Fata Morgana — DM Stith
Alternative Folk [Released 4/14/23]
When one of my all-time favorite artists, late singer/songwriter Elliott Smith, left this earth in 2003, it created a big void in the music I loved. I’ve been trying to find something that comes close to filling that void ever since. There have been a few songs here and there, but when I stumbled upon singer/songwriter DM Stith’s Fata Morgana, I found the fond familiarity I had been searching for.
Stith picks up the torch where Smith left off, sharing a knack for haunting melodies and blistering lyrics stretched over squeaky guitar strings. “Time is not an arrow / time is a grenade / and you’re holding it the wrong way,” Stith sings in “The Oracle.” Vocals layered like sheets of gauze provide an atmospheric melancholy. He conveys a sadness so poignant it sparkles. “And sewn in the seams, I can't shake the feeling / the earth is not my home / and I'm running this alone,” he sings in the opening track, “Greyhounds.”
This might sound depressing AF, but sadness has always felt familiar to me. I have learned to not be afraid of it, and artists like Elliott Smith (and plenty of therapy!) have helped me with that. There is something to be said for finding someone who can come alongside you and sing everything you’re feeling. I discovered DM Stith at just the right time, and his beautiful album brought the solace I needed.
Tracks on repeat: Greyhounds, Fidget Spinner, Uranian Love Song
Available on Spotify, Apple Music
The album that brought me back home…
A River Running to Your Heart — Fruit Bats
Rock [Released 2/22/23]
In an unexpected turn of events, my dog and I ended up spending his last days at my parent’s house in Issaquah, Washington. After he passed, my partner and I took the long drive back home to Portland, Oregon a little lonelier. I always play music when I’m driving, but how do you score a drive filled with heartache? Enter A River Running to Your Heart by Chicagoan indie rock band Fruit Bats. It met me in my feelings without bringing me too low or too high—the Goldilocks of albums.
The album seems to, appropriately, document a road trip down the coast, starting somewhere in Washington State and ending in Southern California. Stops are made in Tacoma, WA (“Tacoma”), with its “lingering blanket of cold cloud,” and Los Angeles, CA (“Waking Up in Los Angeles”). “It’s got some kind of glow to it when the light’s just right,” sings the band’s lead singer, songwriter, and only permanent member Eric Johnson.
The particular point in this journey that moved me the most was, “Rushin’ River Valley.” Sprightly guitars and an upbeat tempo knit notes and lyrics together into an expression of love. It could be interpreted as romantic love or the love from a parent to a child—the intention is unclear but the impact is poignant. “Could I be your North Star? / Or maybe a river running to your heart?” Johnson sings in the chorus. It’s a reminder that home is not just a place, but who you’re with. We may have just lost an important member of our family, but I still had my North Star sitting next to me, driving us back home.
Tracks on repeat: Rushin’ River Valley, Tacoma, It All Comes Back
Available on Spotify, Apple Music, bandcamp
Thanks for reading! It might take me some time to get back into a regular schedule with these issues, so I appreciate your patience. We have some major album releases coming up from artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Mitski, Doja Cat, and so many more. I’m highly looking forward to them and I hope to write about at least one soon. Also coming up is my favorite playlist of the year: the fall playlist. I’ve been collecting some true gems for it and I can’t wait for you to listen to the finished product. It may be my best one yet. 😘 Make sure you’re subscribed so that you don’t miss any of it!
The playlist!
Want even more good music?? I’m keeping a running playlist of my favorite songs from every new album I listen to this year. It’s ordered chronologically by date listened and I’ll update it with every issue. It’s long, so you’ll need to scroll to the end to get to the most recent albums. The latest batch starts with the song “BANG BANG!” from Nessa Barrett. Highlights include “Admit It” from Hannah Jadagu, which has some nice layered vocals at the end that give me HAIM vibes, and the breathtakingly delicate “Desert Song” from the female vocal jazz ensemble säje. Enjoy!
Albums of 2023 - Apple Music playlist
Albums of 2023 - Spotify playlist
I love hearing what you have to say! If you have feelings about this issue, questions for me, album recommendations, or any other thoughts, send them my way by hitting that comment button or replying to this email.
But I can see us lost in the memory…
No, I sadly didn’t catch Swift on her Era’s tour but I will be attending the movie version and you bet I’ll be bringing friendship bracelets.
Fun facts about Jungle’s music videos: they’re filmed in a single shot, often feature the same cast, and are directed by Lloyd-Watson himself.
Really enjoying Jepsen’s new album. Your issues are always a treat, whatever frequency they may come, and I hope still serving you during this time, which is most important. <3