If you'd claimed just a few years ago that Shura would make an album exploring "all that love is', few would have been as surprised as Aleksandra Denton herself (nicknamed Shura at a young age). Ever since the 2014 viral hit 'Touch' - and it's stunning video in which Shura, crucially, ended up alone - an impassioned global fanbase have awaited another record of heartbreak anthems. And when Shura started work on 'forevher', she did so at her most tired and homesick, setting up shop in Minneapolis at the close of a two- year tour cycle for her debut album, 'Nothing's Real'. Here, "religion (u can lay your hands on me)' - along with the seeds of the Minneapolis sound - eventually became a lynchpin for the rest of the album. Just as importantly, it was in Minneapolis that Shura began talking to her current girlfriend online. 'forevher,' then, is a record born from a budding romance, covering everything from the initial pull of desire, to the giddy joy of nally being together, to recognising the moment when the connection develops from lust into something scarily meaningful. Here is a classic London-to-NYC love story, but one told through the lter of dating apps and Skype chats. And whilst how to live - and love - as a queer woman has always been integral to Shura, it's remarkable to hear these stories twisted through such a gorgeous amalgam of in uences: Joni Mitchell and Minnie Riperton, Bon Iver and Frank Ocean, Prince and Ariel Pink. Through these inspirations, Shura's own modern, outlier perspective found a newer, more daring approach to sound and song. The luxurious groove of "side effects' shakes off the shackles of past love, chie y saying goodbye "to that more anxious iteration of me. I don't miss her.' "religion (u can lay your hands on me),' meanwhile, is an unabashedly queer sex-jam - free of guilt, long-term future, and faith itself. As the album progresses, so too does the relationship deepen, with the risks and rewards getting greater and greater. 'forevher' is an album that feels the fear and does it anyway: "princess leia' considers the fact real love means having so much more to lose. Elsewhere, "BKLYNLDN' looks at romantic longing through the lens of texts, anxiety-inducing silences, and what presence and absence really means in today's relationships. The record closes on the epic "skyline,' which builds to an explosive crescendo before levelling out to peace in a way that evokes some of the lusher, linear moments on Frank Ocean's 'Blonde'. For Shura, this soundtracks not only her nal relocation to New York but also a much deeper journey as an artist and young woman. 'forevher' feels the same as it's creator: a little sharper, a little wiser.

Tame Impala may have been forged in the familiar fires of guitar-driven psych-rock, but Kevin Parker began expanding that brief almost immediately, shifting from dank, distorted solos to widescreen, synth-swept fantasias. By the time <i>Currents</i> arrived in 2015, the Fremantle home-studio whiz had made his grandest leap yet, offering his particular take on outsized, club-ready pop. That meant mostly sidelining guitars and ramping up the lead role of those synths.<br /> Parker had always made Tame Impala records as a solo endeavor, using a proper band primarily to realize songs in a live setting. Yet this third album saw him applying more painstaking control than ever before, not just playing and writing every single part but recording and mixing the entire thing as well. Even fans who had noticed Parker’s increasing pop sensibilities across 2012’s <i>Lonerism</i> were somewhat taken aback by <i>Currents</i>’ bravura opening statement, “Let It Happen,” an ambitious dance-floor epic that foregrounded glitter-bomb synths and alternately dipping and peaking rhythms. The band’s trajectory changed over the course of a single track, which stretches out over nearly eight minutes and indulges in remix-style record-skipping and lengthy stretches without vocals.<br /> Between the disco grooves, Parker still finds time for Tame Impala’s sonic signatures—floaty vocals, soul-searching lyrics, fleeting interludes. As lush as the production is (which you can hear in the joyous vocal layering and panning on “The Moment”), the increased scope of these songs is matched by the same rich emotional content, making it feel like Parker is sharing his most private moments. From the vulnerability displayed on “Yes I’m Changing,” which muses on growing older against unironic soft-rock motifs, to his interrogations of masculinity and romance on “'Cause I’m a Man,” Parker is still committed to airing intimate, almost diary-like sentiments. Meditative album closer “New Person, Same Old Mistakes” says it all.<br /> Still, Parker doesn’t have to distance himself from formative heroes like Todd Rundgren and The Flaming Lips in the name of artistic growth. Evoking the mirror-ball dazzle of roller rinks and discos, here he continues to cherry-pick from the past in order to imagine a sophisticated musical future that’s appealing across multiple fronts but still strikes directly at the heart. And the risky decision to shelve guitars clearly paid off: <i>Currents</i> took Tame Impala to the big leagues, where he could now collaborate with Lady Gaga, get covered by Rihanna (a version of “New Person, Same Old Mistakes” appeared as “Same Ol’ Mistakes” on 2016’s <i>ANTI</i>), and headline Coachella. It also provided a natural progression to 2020’s <i>The Slow Rush</i>, an even more immersive and personal synth-funk odyssey.

Though Arcade Fire have always been comfortable making grand statements, they’ve also been generous with nuance. After joining forces with LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy on 2013’s Reflektor, the Canadian outfit bring in a similarly impressive crew of co-producers—Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter, Pulp’s Steve Mackey—for Everything Now, an album whose jaunty, disco-indebted art-rock is weighted with haunting takes on information overload (the ABBA-esque title track) and nostalgia (“Signs of Life”). “If you can’t see the forest for the trees, just burn it all down,” frontman Win Butler sings on “We Don’t Deserve Love,” a gorgeous yet disorienting ballad at the album’s conclusion. “And bring the ashes to me.”

◎ 葛萊美獎肯定電氣雙搭檔睽違五年最新大碟 ◎ 電子流行雙人組 Chairlift的Patrick Wimberly(Beyonce、Solange)+葛萊美肯定Dave Fridmann(The Flaming Lips、Weezer)聯合操刀；英國衛報+NME(4/5)皆給予高分推崇 ◎ 美國才子Ariel Pink、法國Sebastien Tellier、紐西蘭鬼才Connan Mockasin前來協助 ◎ 收錄包括打入美國另類數位單曲榜同名主打〈Little Dark Age〉等共10首高度期待新作 由Ben Goldwasser及Andrew VanWyngarden兩位音樂鬼才所組成的MGMT，以噪音搖滾和另類電子為根基，在其創作中融入Psychedelic Folk、Space-Rock、Disco-Funk、Synth-Pop等天馬行空的大膽元素，充滿喜悅的曲調中呈現多變風格，包容時髦與復古趣味並存的特異品味，更成為各大音樂媒體的世代新寵！2006年MGMT簽入Sony/Columbia，隔年發行備受樂壇矚目的首張處女作《Oracular Spectacular》，滾石雜誌大力盛譽「2008年最值得注意藝人」、英國BBC選為「2008年十大票選之聲」。葛萊美獎「最佳新人」和「最佳流行重唱和團體」提名，奠定作為當代另類搖滾全新指標與另人期待的重要地位。經歷《Congratulations》和《MGMT》兩張作品洗禮，一再提供截然不同的驚喜體驗，拿下一座葛萊美獎的喝采！沉寂五年之久，MGMT獻上全新大碟《Little Dark Age》，由電子流行雙人組 Chairlift的Patrick Wimberly(Beyonce、Solange)+葛萊美肯定Dave Fridmann(The Flaming Lips、Weezer)聯合操刀！美國Psyche-Folk才子Ariel Pink在開場的〈She Works Out Too Much〉協助電子合成器運用以及合音，大量的Synthpop增添躍動節奏感，復古中引發起舞情緒；Spin雜誌力薦：「冷酷且趣致」的首波同名主打〈Little Dark Age〉，登上另類數位榜第23名；法國New Wave/Synthpop的才子Sebastien Tellier+紐西蘭籍的Neo-Psychedelia/Dream Pop鬼才Connan Mockasin聯合在〈When You Die Gary〉中合音，宛如Gary Numan遺落的B-Side單曲；只有一句歌詞的演奏曲〈Days That Got Away〉，迷離中飄蕩一股幽異淒美輕煙，令人無比著迷！

《金桔希子》是落日飛車沈寂五年後的新作品，在成員的更迭後，重新探索新的曲風，從以往六零年代的車庫搖滾晃入了七零年代的成人抒情，但仍然不改飛車輕鬆愜意，浪漫中又帶著戲謔的情境氛圍。