The world of entertainment has been at a standstill since the coronavirus pandemic made its way across the world. While music has been largely affected by this, with concerts and tours shut down for the foreseeable future, the ease at which music can be created and shared in the internet era has led to some great new indie releases this past month.
One of the biggest indie releases this month has been the new Fleet Foxes’ album, “Shores.” These indie folk legends followed up a string of modern classics including their self-titled debut, “Helplessness Blues” and “Crack-Up” with an album to coincide with the autumnal equinox.
“Shores” is a back-to-basics album for the band, circling back to a rustic, folk-rock sound very reminiscent of Brian Wilson’s work with the Beach Boys. The song “Featherweight” is a stripped-back and somber moment where singer Robin Pecknold examines his own privilege. The gorgeous “Sunblind” is a touching tribute to songwriters who have passed away that influenced Pecknold’s work, including Elliot Smith, John Prine and Bill Withers. Overall, “Shores” is another smash hit from the Washington folk band that should not be ignored.
Another notable indie release to come out this month was Sufjan Stevens’
“The Ascension.” The prominent singer-songwriter follows up 2016’s “Carrie and Lowell,” a crushing reflection on death, as well as an Academy Award nomination for his work on the “Call Me By Your Name” soundtrack.
Stevens shifts his style towards synth-heavy electronic sound reminiscent of his cult classic 2010 album “The Age of Adz.” He pairs this maximalist and experimental sound with his flare for existential lyrics about the human condition. The lead single to this album, “America,” is a symphonic 12-minute opus that captures Stevens’ feelings about the state our country is in. Another standout moment is on the title track, a beautiful song that captures feelings of hopelessness and loss of faith backed with a brooding keyboard-heavy instrumental. Nearly an hour-and-a-half long, “The Ascension” is an intense artistic statement that is bound to both confuse and astound.
Finally, my last big notable September indie release is the newest Everything Everything album, “Re-Animator.” The Manchester art-rock band inventively announced the release of their newest album with a virtual concert where fans could watch the band debut their new music through virtual reality technology.
The album happens to have an underlying sense of dread associated with the current dire state of the world, punctuated by the band’s harsh synths and frontman Jonathan Higgs’ yelpy vocals. The song “Big Climb” kicks off the record with a sense of fear that humanity will have to live with whatever consequences come from worldwide environmental, economic and coronavirus-related disasters. The album’s closing track, “Violent Sun,” is a morbid, yet uplifting moment for the band, an anthemic rager abound the band coming to terms with the end of the world. There is no other album to come out in the last month that more accurately captures the tense state of the world than “Re-Animator.”
If there’s anything quarantine has revealed about the state of the music industry, it’s that the internet has given people an unbelievable wealth of riches in terms of accessibility to new music across all genres.