Björk
Arisen My Senses
Welcome to the Bassey of the multiverse, Björk Guðmundsdóttir, done out like a space bluebottle and performing another majestic sci-fi curio from last year’s Utopia that sounds as if she’s playing all of her previous albums at once while Perfume Genius throws glitter bombs at a nearby harpist. Avant-garde pop’s Twin Peaks: The Return, we’ve all since given up trying to work out Björk’s plot, but we’ll have a wallow for old time’s sake anyway.
Zayn Malik
Entertainer
3AM gossip hounds to amber alert. Zayn’s latest concerns a relationship falling apart amid lies, recriminations and power struggles, and he spends the video gawping gormlessly at strippers. The actual song, mind, is an inconsequential, numb-tongued soul nocturne. More tabloid soap opera-bait than art, it might as well be called Markle Sideboob.
Dirty Projectors
Break-Thru
Dirty Projectors are one of those American indie bands with a long and daunting history of oddball releases: concept albums about Don Henley, covers of entire Black Flag albums they haven’t heard for 15 years, that sort of thing. Break-Thru is the spaghetti junction of entry points: nifty afrobeat riff for the Vampire Weekenders, funky R&B squelches for the Timberlake fans, and random references to Fellini, Archimedes and Julian Casablancas for, well, Alex Kapranos. If you haven’t already got restless leg syndrome, give this three minutes.
Pale Waves
Kiss
The Bastilleification of UK guitar music continues apace. Manchester’s Pale Waves look like teenage brides of Marilyn Manson but sound like Jane Wiedlin practising Dolores O’Riordan-style hiccups. Kiss is perfectly pleasant pop but only “alternative” if you consider Avril Lavigne the GG Allin of her generation. Dressing this up as emo-goth rebellion just makes it sound like the industry sucking the last strands of marrow from the desiccated carcass of rock.
Chvrches
Miracle
There are ball-busting feminist heroes, and then there is Lauren Mayberry in the video for Miracle, eschewing the prudent Uber to punch her way home through a full-on riot. Chvrches’ insistence that EDM might still have a parking space in the leftfield is starting to sound dated, particularly since Coldplay caught on, but there are enough molotov synth flare-ups here to keep us prostrate at their altar.
