BY: JOEY REAMS
On Fridays, the world is blessed with new music from a handful of artists. To help you find your next favorite album, we’ve discovered what new alternative and indie albums have been released. Some notable artists this week include Ben Howard, Death from Above 1979, and Real Estate. Check out the list below:
The Antlers – Green to Gold
Based out of Brooklyn, New York, the Antlers have returned with their fifth studio album, Green to Gold. This is the band’s first new music since 2014’s Familiars, with the band releasing a couple of singles late last year, both included in the new album. This is great news for fans who thought they wouldn’t see The Antlers again after their 2015 hiatus.
“Most of the songs on Green to Gold are culled from conversations with my friends and my partner,” the band’s Peter Silberman said in a statement. “It’s less ambiguous about who’s speaking and who’s listening. I think the shift in tone is the result of getting older. It doesn’t make sense for me to try to tap into the same energy that I did ten or fifteen years ago because I continue to grow as a person, as I’m sure our audience does too. Green to Gold is about this idea of gradual change. People changing over time, struggling to accept change in those they love and struggling to change themselves. And yet, despite all our difficulty with this, nature somehow makes it look easy.”
Ben Howard – Collections from the Whiteout
English singer-songwriter Ben Howard has released his fourth studio album, Collections from the Whiteout. The album was produced by The National and Big Red Machine member Aaron Dessner over a span of 18 months. This is Howard’s first studio album since 2018’s Noonday Dream. The majority of the record was recorded at Dessner’s New York studio Long Pond.
“I was quickly fascinated by what Ben was doing and the state he was in. It was a good collision of openness, not on the clock,” said Dessner. “He’s making some of his most adventurous music and also writing some of his best songs at the same time.”
Citizen – Life in Your Glass World
Citizen, out of Southeast Michigan and Northwest Ohio, have released their fourth studio album, Life in Your Glass House, via Run For Cover Records. This will be their latest release since their 2017 As You Please. On top of that, this album will feature founding member Nick Hamm on rhythm guitar instead of Ryland Oehlers, who is no longer in the band.
“We realized, with a lot of our favorite bands, if the songs are big…they sound big,” volcalist Mat Kerekes told The Alternative. “There’s no trying to be artsy, there’s none of that. The record is fun and feels good.”
Death from Above 1979 – Is 4 Lovers
Canadian rock duo Jesse Keeler and Sebastien Grainger, otherwise known as Death from Above or Death from Above 1979, have released their fourth studio album, Is 4 Lovers. This is the first album since the band announced they are returning to their old name, Death from Above 1979. However they want to be called, fans are relieved they are still together and releasing new music. Here’s what Grainger had to say about their latest single, “One + One”
“My wife, Eva, became pregnant not long after we started working on the song, and after hearing an early version she said, ‘I wish this song was dancier.’ So I went back into the studio and re-worked the drums. As the record was taking shape, every time I would come home from the studio, the baby would start dancing in Eva’s belly. Even before I walked in the room, the party would start. One plus one is three — that’s magic!”
The Juliana Theory – A Dream Away
The Juliana Theory, a rock duo from Pennsylvania, has released their fifth studio album, A Drema Away, their first album in over 15 years. The last time fans heard from this band was when they released 28 B-Sides and Rarities in 2010. Their last studio album was 2005’s Deadbeat Seetheartbeat. The band disbanded in 2006, only to be reunited three times in 2010, 2017, and 2019.
“Every night we were playing these songs that people knew, but they were in a format that we had never done before, and that is what was so interesting to me about it,” Detar said. “It was really cool to watch the expression on people’s faces when we started our set and they weren’t necessarily sure what song it was just yet, and then to see that spark of recognition and excitement when ‘Watch Your Mouth!’ came in. Everyone was singing along by the third word. That tour was the foundation for this record.”
Real Estate – Half a Human
Indie rock band Real Estate has released its sixth studio album, Half a Human. Real Estate was founded in New Jersey in 2009 and has slowly made a name for itself. They released their fifth studio album, The Main Thing, at the beginning of 2020. It’s safe to say the band spent their quarantine making some new music.
“Life keeps changing and additional responsibilities and stresses keep being added, but this
band is still here,” vocalist and guitarist Martin Courtney said in a press release. “When I was writing a lot of these songs, I was feeling a little weird about being in a band. Like, ‘How is this still a thing?’ I was feeling silly about it and then coming around to it at the same time. This is what we’re good at and it’s what we love to do and want to keep doing. I don’t want to do anything else.”
Tune-Yards – Sketchy
Last but not least, we have Tune-Yards, a musical project between Merill Garbus and Nate Brenner, out of Oakland, CA. The duo is releasing their sixth studio album, Sketchy, via 4AD Records. Tune-Yards, stylized as tUnE-yArDs, has been on the scene since 2006, and Sorry to Bother You in 2019. The band released a single, “Hold Yourself,” when the new album was announced.
“This song is about feeling really betrayed, by my parents’ generation, and at the same time, really seeing how we are betraying the future,” Garbus said in a press release.