The news cycle has been so hectic lately that you may have missed some of these excellent new pop releases. Here are three new albums that we’d highly recommend…

Cornershop – England Is A Garden

Cornershop – England Is A Garden
8/10

Cornershop’s DIY attitude shines as they celebrate Tjinder Singh’s Midlands metal childhood, with St Marie Under Canon opening with a stomping Stonesy Get Off My Cloud beat and No Rock: Save In Roll rekindling rock and roll’s spirit for a tenth of Primal Scream’s budget. Its flutes, though, brightening Highly Amplified and balancing out Singh’s distorted vocal on Slingshot. Everywhere That Wog Army Roam’s, meanwhile, is deliciously catchy, while The Holy Name delivers a joyful, shambling climax.

Caribou – Suddenly

Caribou – Suddenly
8/10

Grammy-nominated Dan Snaith’s come a very long way since his early Manitoba releases, and little less since Swim raised his profile a decade ago. Most obviously, Suddenly starts and ends in tranquillity: Sister and Cloud Son are both lovely, hushed electronic ballads, the latter’s pulse raised just a notch, while on New Jade Snaith’s voice is as soothing as his Syndrums are precise. You And I, meanwhile, switches between classic AOR and contemporary digital skulduggery, and Home samples Gloria Barnes to glorious yet poignant effect. 

Pete Astor – You Made Me

Pete Astor – You Made Me
7/10

For his 10th solo album, one-time Weather Prophet Pete Astor hooks up with assorted indie luminaries for an album of covers – plus one original tune, the witty, rumbling Chained To An Idiot. His casual yet rich vocal pays dividends: Generation X’s Dancing With Myself gets a tender reworking, matched by an intimate reading of Astor’s kindred spirit Loudon Wainwright III’s One Man Guy, and a lo-fi interpretation of Joe Strummer’s Nitcomb is touching, too. John Martyn’s Solid Air, meanwhile, is almost unrecognisable, far less flash yet still oddly hypnotic. 

Wyndham Wallace

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