When "Nuclear Seasons" came to my attention back in mid-2012, it was love at first listen. I was intrigued by Charli's dark, self-coined "angel pop" and craved every new piece of music I could get. At the time I already felt that this chick had loads of potential, and -- quite possibly -- a very bright future ahead of her. Now, almost 3 years later, here we are: Charli rapidly arose to one of pop's most fresh and interesting figures and defined 2014 like no other, being responsible for global hits "Boom Clap" and "Fancy" and eventually putting out a rather great sophomore effort. With Sucker, the cheeky songstress took a turn and headed for a more rockish and punk-influenced sound, ultimately crawling out of her Tumblr-dark-pop-niche. While Sucker didn't quite turn out the album I had initially expected from Charli, it was, at heart, a pure and honest pop album and without a doubt one of the year's best at that.
Standouts: "Boom Clap", "Body of My Own", "Breaking Up", "Break the Rules" (My guilty pleasure #1 currently)
A Sunny Day in Glasgow – Sea When Absent
Inspired by a paper I had to write about Glasgow and its historical development, I decided I'd give this band a listen. (I was working on that crap 24/7, so surely I needed some kind of soundtrack to my numerous all-nighters; this seemed fitting.) I was a fan of the band's cool mix of shoegaze and indie pop right away and found myself returning to the record even after I had handed that damn paper in. If it hadn't been for school, I would have never gotten into this super amazing band, I guess.
Standouts: "In Love With Useless (The Timeless Geometry in the Tradition of Passing)", "Bye Bye, Big Ocean (The End)", "The Body, It Bends (ペルセポネが帰ってきた!)"
Sharon Van Etten – Are We There
I think you could say this is like the calm after the storm. While the preceding album is characterised by its noisy shoegazing elements, this one offers moving and soothing acoustic soundscapes paired with crystalline vocals. Again, I'd never bothered to listen to a Sharon Van Etten record before, so this was pretty much a first for me. It took a few listens for the record to truly click with me, but when it finally did, it hit me hard (and I mean it!). I'd say if you liked Lykke's latest effort, you should definitely check this one out.
Standouts: "Every Time the Sun Comes Up", "Afraid of Nothing", "You Know Me Well"
I didn't expect to like it that much to be honest. Some of the songs we heard pre-release put me off at first and I didn't like the idea of her moving away from her signature electro sound. She did pull it off pretty well in the end, though.
Both would probably have charted on mine if I'd had a longer time to sit with them. I only recently listened to Are We There, not quite sure what took me so long.
I loved SUCKER so much It felt like such a natural progression for her. I also love Are We There, I agree with you its the first Sharon Van Etten album I could get into and its just so beautiful.
Lovely layout! I really like "1000 Forms of Fear" and I should like "Sucker" as well, but I still haven't heard the album but 'Boom Clap' and 'Breaking Up' are really good.
cool list so far, and cute graphics (even though you didn't make them)
Fully agree with what you said about Azealia and Metronomy, The English Riviera is so brilliant but I guess that makes it untoppable.
Sia's album was okay, kinda lost interest over time, We Are Born definitely remains superior
Sucker came out completely different from what I expected so I'm with you there. It needs to grow on me a bit more but generally I would agree that it's a good and interesting take on pop
cool list so far, and cute graphics (even though you didn't make them)
Fully agree with what you said about Azealia and Metronomy, The English Riviera is so brilliant but I guess that makes it untoppable.
Sia's album was okay, kinda lost interest over time, We Are Born definitely remains superior
Sucker came out completely different from what I expected so I'm with you there. It needs to grow on me a bit more but generally I would agree that it's a good and interesting take on pop
Thank you! Are you going to do a year-end countdown as well? I think we'd have quite a few choices in common.
It felt like such a natural progression for her. I also love Are We There, I agree with you its the first Sharon Van Etten album I could get into and its just so beautiful.
Are you going to do a year-end countdown as well? I think we'd have quite a few choices in common.