Tom Burrows: Weyes Blood – Titanic Rising – After the bleakness of winter, I find that April’s usually the time that the great albums start to come out. I’m a sucker for an immersive record – one that really sweeps you off your feet, that SOUNDS so good it feels like your mind’s swimming in it. Titanic Rising is this: all lush instrumentation and Natalie Mering’s beautiful vocals. It makes me swoon.
Lisa Whiteman: As I wait patiently for the new Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes record, and for the dead to arrive at Winterfell, there is only one album for me this month. Nothing screams ‘turning 39 denial’ like your album of the year 1996; The Speed of Cattle by Archers of Loaf.
Matt Paul: Ocean Wisdom – Wizville – I missed this hip hop album when it came out last year, but I finally got round to giving it a go. I’m glad I did. Ocean Wisdom can accelerate to break neck speeds at the drop of the hat, leaving me in awe. It isn’t just novelty speed-rapping though, as Ocean Wisdom has fantastic flow and delivers great hooks at the same time.
Sam Atkins: Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go – A very late March release, but it’s the album and artist I’ve ended up spending most of my April with. Some of the most exciting, current and unexpected pop music I’ve heard in years, even if I do feel like that mature student joining in during Freshers week.
Read James Spearing’s review of When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go.
Kim Fernley: Although not a brand new discovery, I’ve recently given much more time to Idles. They’ve reignited my feelings of frustration and injustice (in a productive way). Their words have helped me to feel empathy and compassion in a way I never thought I could. All alongside fuzzy, raucous riffs.
Read Lisa’s review of IDLES gig in Cardiff.
Fran Slater: A difficult decision for me in a month with new releases from The Tallest Man on Earth and Loyle Carner, but I expected to love those two. I’ve gone with Dogrel by FONTAINES D.C. because it took me completely by surprise. 39 minutes of visceral post punk that has barely left my ears since its release.
Read Fran’s review of Dogrel.
Kathy Halliday: William Fitzsimmons – In the Light: Mission Bell Alternative Versions – I waited 3 years for Mission Bell, which is a gorgeous album in it’s own right. So imagine my delight at the release of these alt versions earlier in the month. Delicate and beautifully reimagined – great for cutting through the noise.
James Spearing: The Rumble – Róisín Murphy – Track one on the last of a series of four EPs released towards the end of last year. I’ve come back round to it again this month. Roisin is always exciting and this devilish slice of two chord disco, made in the way only she knows how, has left me hungry for more. An album this year? Everything crossed.
Kirsten Loach: Jon Hopkins – Immunity -Having been underwhelmed by Cinematic Orchestra’s new album, Spotify came to the rescue by providing Jon Hopkins’ Immunity as a recommendation ‘inspired’ by ‘my recent activity’. Never listened to him before, but I’ve found this album completely mesmerising and have had it on repeat ever since (much to the annoyance of Fran Slater, owner of the Spotify account in question).
Nick Parker: FKA Twigs – Cellophane – Along with a typical display of her power to meld the the beautiful and the macabre, ‘Cellophane’ show something quite new for FKA Twigs: a really impassioned vocal performance that carries this relatively simple melody away from her usual restraint. I’ll be first in line for the new album, as I was for 2015’s M3LL155X EP.
Sarah Moses: Foreignfox’s ‘Birthday Flowers’ hit me in a way that only a few can. An addictive, hook-laden masterpiece from a Scottish band soon destined for greatness, not many tracks will get close to it this year. I await a full-length album with terrible, feverish impatience.
Fat Roland: WH Lung – Incidental Music – I don’t want to create a civil war on Picky Bastards (I totally do), but April 26th’s review of WH Lung’s Incidental Music got it all wrong. Their album has all the naïve energy and joy of a classic debut album, evoking everything from LCD Soundsystem to ‘Storm In Heaven’-era Verve. It brightened up April no end. Anyone who doesn’t like Incidental Music can fight me. Like, proper fisticuff punches and everything. War!
Read James Spearing’s review of Incidental Music.
Picky Bastards 