treat yourself with these best indie albums!
TRANSCRIPT
Treat yourself with these best indie albums! Daughter or singer-guitarist Elena Tonra with bandmates Igor Haefeli and Remi Aguilella, released one of the best new indie albums of 2016. Not to Disappear, released January 15th, 2016, builds on many of the same themes that dominated 2013’s If You Leave, but with an added layer of universality. Tonra isn’t just speaking from her own perspective this time; instead, there’s an urgent sense that she’s speaking for everyone who has ever encountered the same emotional quagmire.For those that may not have experienced these kinds of life-wrecking events and the subsequent debilitation, the music itself is meticulously orchestrated and compelling, just as appropriate for a cloudy day as it is for the empty afternoon after a funeral.Not to disappear stands as a reminder to the true power of music’s ability to connect on a more personal level, making it one of the best new indie albums.
The best indie album of 2015, Tame Impala’s Currents almost unanimously received near perfect marks from critics. Kevin Parker’s Australian outfit, burst into the indie rock stratosphere with their second LP Lonerism, but Currents took them on to a whole new playing field. Tame Impala takes a conscious risk on Currents. To them, taking that risk is more fate than choice, and when the ambitious Currents pulls you into Parker’s mindset, the switch from guitars to synths makes perfect sense.It’s fitting that “Let It Happen” opens the record. The dance jam is just shy of eight minutes, roping disco-tinged beats around basic guitars fed through crunchy pedals and cracking midway for a dizzying loop of electronic fade. It’s Parker’s most production-heavy piece, alternating between styles, volumes, and focus points, directly addressing change both sonically and lyrically. This was a long time coming. The last two years of Tame Impala’s live shows indicated a push towards electronics and repetition. By beginning with the clearest transition from past to present self, Currents sets itself up as a self-aware saunter into the downtown club.
