Fall is (almost!) here and we are ready with our favorite fall music! Here are the upcoming albums our music reviewers loved the most — pick up an issue of BUST on newsstands to see even more.
Photo by Peter Senzamici
Convenience
Pill
(Mexican Summer)
BUST Rating: 5/5
If anyone knows how to articulate in the midst of chaos, it’s the Brooklyn-based quartet Pill. Following an acclaimed EP and single, the noise-driven post-punkers have taken their distinctive sound to a whole new level with their debut full-length album, Convenience. Pill perfectly mixes dissonance and prose, created by saxophonist Ben Jaffe and vocalist Veronica Torres, with help from multi-instrumentalists Andrew Spaulding and Jon Campolo. Torres channels Lydia Lunch, transitioning between melodious chants and jarring cries of emotional and political lyrics, shining on songs such as “My Rights” and “Dead Boys.” From start to finish, Convenience will have your head bobbing and your wheels turning. – Marisa Cagnoli
Princess
ABRA
(True Panther Sounds/Awful)
BUST Rating: 4/5
ABRA’s Princess EP is a six-track journey into the psyche of an emerging R&B siren. The self-proclaimed “darkwave duchess” wrote, produced, and performed every note on this debut, tinkering with electro-pop sounds and sultry vocals. Opener, “Come 4 Me,” is a brief but statement-making entrée into the rest of the project, where ABRA’s haunting vocal vibes coat the beat. Other cuts like “Vegas” and lead single, “Crybaby,” bring to mind Solange Knowles’ True EP. Middle tracks “Big Boi” and “Pull Up” are slower and more experimental, before the collection comes full-circle with closer “Thinking Of You”—leaving us wanting more from ABRA. – Kathy Iandoli
Anything But Words
Banks & Steelz
(True Panther Sounds/Awful)
BUST Rating: 4/5
It’s been a long time since we’ve had a “mash-up” album. Actually, no; it’s been a long time since we’ve had a successful one — until now. With Banks & Steelz, we get the divine pairing of Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA with singer Paul Banks of Interpol. The album is 12 tracks of badassness, as RZA brings all of his Bobby Digital-isms to the forefront, while Banks tempers the intensely diverse production with his haunting vocals. Don’t miss tracks like the turnt up “Giant,” the rhythmic “Love + War,” and the dark “One By One.” Don’t miss any of it, really. – Kathy Iandoli
Charlie Faye & the Fayettes
Charlie Faye & the Fayettes
(Self-Released)
BUST Rating: 4/5
Charlie Faye & the Fayettes create soulful, ’60s-inspired jams that will have you dusting off your mini dress and thigh-high boots. Opener “Green Light” is a charming introduction to the group’s Shirelles-inspired girl gang vocals, while “Heart” could be the closing number to your favorite classic high school movie. These are straight-up love songs, odes to deep emotions we all experience: the yearning for your latest crush, the uncertainty of not knowing where you stand, the devastation of losing love. But Faye and her Fayettes have made such a melody-packed, harmony-soaked delight, you won’t feel an ounce of heartbreak — you’ll be too busy doing the Twist. –Sammy Maine
Lucy Dacus
(Matador)
BUST Rating: 4/5
Richmond, VA’s, Lucy Dacus and her four-piece band so impressed Matador Records’ A&R department, they were signed after one performance. Now, Matador is reissuing Dacus’ debut, No Burden, allowing more people to discover this unique singer/songwriter. It’s a smart move. Dacus is an auteur who calls to mind Heartless Bastards, another rock band whose sound is tinged with country and driven by its frontwoman’s strong musical point of view. Songs, like “I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore” and “Strange Torpedo,” showcase a wit and maturity beyond Dacus’ 20 years. No Burden is a thoughtful introduction to an exciting new talent. – Liz Galvao
The Magic
Deerhoof
(Polyvinyl)
BUST Rating: 4/5
The Magic opens with a bang: Satomi Matsuzaki’s signature vocals hover over twinkly guitar arpeggios on “The Devil and His Anarchist Surrealist Retinue.” From the saccharine sounds of “Criminals of the Dream” to the distorted vocals of “That Ain’t No Life To Me,” this album shows off Deerhoof’s range. The band recorded The Magic in an abandoned office space in the New Mexico desert in just one week. There’s a speediness to the album, where ’80s glam mingles with punk, and vocals and guitar tangle together. Each track sounds like a song you think you’ve heard before, but on overdrive, with the pieces twisted into a new, complex whole. – Mary Kinney
Crayon Soul
Corbu
(Big Picnic)
BUST Rating: 4/5
On their first full-length album, Brooklyn-based band Corbu creates their own brand of dreamy electro-pop. The album’s first single, “Through Emptiness,” features quiet vocals and ambient beats that bring to mind early Postal Service tracks, while the cinematic “Branches” is reminiscent of film soundtracks from decades past. The album picks up the pace on the dynamic, drum-beat-laden “Prism.” Part of the appeal of Corbu’s sound is that each track eschews the standard verse/chorus structure, instead shifting and changing in the course of a single song. Crayon Soul is music inspired by dreams, but grounded fully in the now. – Adriene Urbanski
Haley Bonar
(GNDWIRE)
BUST Rating: 5/5
Impossible Dream is the 13th release from 33-year-old Minnesotan Haley Bonar. At first listen, the album is a deceptively simple collection of country pop-rock songs. However, a closer look reveals a musically complex record that owes as much to New Order and the Cranberries as it does to Neko Case. While tracks like “Better Than Me” are standard alt-country, “Kismet Kill” hints at New Wave, and “Skynz” reveals a heavy shoegaze influence. The result is an album that is as catchy and danceable as it is lush and poignant, the perfect soundtrack for an end-of-summer road trip. – Sarah C. Jones
Over There That Way
Heliotropes
(The End)
BUST Rating: 5/5
With Over There That Way, Brooklyn-based Heliotropes is getting comfortable with its softer side. The band channels some Best Coast vibes with California-mellow vocals and reverb-heavy guitars on every track. On “Normandy,” they maintain “the freedom to be no one,” while “War Isn’t Over” shows that they still have some angst inside them. Heliotropes combines beachy vibes with war imagery, giving the impression that these summer-ready songs have serious and historical undertones. With standout tracks like the romantic, sax-filled “Wherever You Live,” and the haunting duet “Over There That Way,” this album perfectly encapsulates good ol’ summertime sadness. – Meg Zulch
I’m Alone, No You’re Not
Joseph
(ATO)
BUST Rating: 4/5
Don’t let the sweet sounds of Alice Jemima fool you. The singer ingeniously hides emotional gems behind simple, catchy beats on her Liquorice EP. These chill melodies are perfect for a slow day on the porch or a pensive stroll. In the album’s title track, dreamy introspection is punctuated by a pulsating rhythm and whispery vocals. Jemima’s got a subtle but sultry power that is perhaps just a little too reminiscent of many early 2000s indie pop acts (think Feist or Kate Nash). Regardless, Jemima will get you longing for a blanket in the park and an afternoon contemplating an all-girl world takeover. – Holiday Black
Angel Olsen
My Woman
(Jagjaguwar)
BUST Rating: 4/5
Angel Olsen has a voice that feels like electricity. And this latest album, My Woman —her first since 2014’s near-flawless Burn Your Fire For No Witness — surges and flickers through every point of her range. It’s rooted in classic indie-folk, sure, but Olsen bends genres here in a seriously satisfying way. Think dreamy synth landscapes (“Intern”), rough-hewn pop (“Shut Up and Kiss Me”) and slow dance ballads (“Heart Shaped Face”), all anchored by vocals that manage to both croon and caterwaul in a single breath. That’s the kind of sorcery Olsen’s perfected, and on My Woman, she’s showing it off. – Mollie Wells
Amy Klein
(Don Giovanni)
BUST Rating: 4/5
In music, the age of 27 is linked with tragedy. But Amy Klein is changing that with her song “Twenty-Seven,” a spiritual sequel to Janis Ian’s “At Seventeen” that has the ex-Titus Andronicus guitarist/violinist spreading the gospel of becoming a fully realized woman. Throughout Klein’s first solo album, she channels Springsteen and Brownstein, weaving poetic tales that double as lessons in growing up female. She gets location-specific (“Ocean Grove”), gender-specific (“Valerie”), and F.U.-specific, shading those who tried to keep her down (“Yes Men”). Klein is a woman on the verge of a musical breakthrough; better start listening. – Shannon Carlin
Terra Lightfoot
(Sonic Unyon)
BUST Rating: 4/5
Terra Lightfoot’s sophomore album, Every Time My Mind Runs Wild, showcases the roots rocker’s rich, roving alto. Citing such esteemed influences as Nina Simone, Maybelle Carter of the Carter Sisters, and Lead Belly, Lightfoot crafts ballads and barnburners that hearken back to the past, delivered with fresh energy. On the nod to classic rock “No Hurry,” Lightfoot shows off her vocal range with a soaring howl, while tracks like “All Alone” and “Home to You” bear light touches of rockabilly and doo-wop. Though she draws on a foundation of timeless musical inspiration, Terra Lightfoot makes a lasting impression all her own. – Camille Collins
Summer 08
Metronomy
(Because Music)
BUST Rating: 5/5
Metronomy’s fifth studio album, Summer 08, is ambitious. Written, performed, and produced entirely by British singer and multi-instrumentalist Joseph Mount, it’s electronic pop music created with no intention of ever being performed live. (Mount is prioritizing time with his young children over touring.) The results are the most layered, dense, and tightly constructed Metronomy songs yet, a return to form after the Motown detour of Love Letters. Highlights include the clubby “Old Skool,” trippy “Night Owl,” and sulky “Hang Me Out To Dry,” which features vocals from Robyn. Mount’s brilliantly original electronic music proves that technology doesn’t limit creativity — and nothing limits Metronomy. – Liz Galvao
Photo by Sarah Cass
Lisa Prank
(Father/Daughter)
BUST Rating: 4/5
Lisa Prank may not be the artist behind those vibrant ’90s school supplies, but the Seattle pop/punk band has just as much fun with its playful, colorful sophomore LP, Adult Teen. It kicks off with the addictive melody “Starting Again,” a bubblegum pop song with the ferocious attitude of no-holds-barred punk. “Heart 2 Heart” highlights singer Robin Edward’s tender vocals as she gushes over everything she wants to hear from her crush, while “Baby, Let Me Write Yr Lines,” evokes the same jackhammer punk energy of the Ramones. Like the rainbow-hued art that inspired its name, Lisa Prank is pure fun. – Stephanie Nolasco
Roosevelt
(City Slang/Greco-Roman)
BUST Rating: 5/5
Roosevelt’s self-titled debut album is upbeat, hypnotic, and transcendent synth-pop, perfect for an ’80s summer. Singer/songwriter/producer Marius Lauber creates tracks that are easy to listen to, but are not “easy-listening.” They’re like Washed Out, with a disco-y tinge for the dancer on the go. Lauber’s smooth vocals and careful musicianship gives Hot Chip a run for its money, with perfect party tracks like the semi-sinister “Belong,” sun-kissed “Sea,” and deliriously fun “Fever.” The album’s dreamy looping beats run the risk of lulling you into a trance, but by the end of it, you’ll feel wide-awake. – Whitney Dwire
Here
Teenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub
(Merge)
BUST Rating: 4/5
Teenage Fanclub’s newest record, Here, is perfect for bridging the gap between summer and fall. The Scottish pop-rock quartet has packed their latest album with bubbly, jangly tunes about love, and slow jams about sadness and yearning. Here is a welcome addition to the band’s discography, perfectly toeing the line between twee and indie rock. The album starts with the rom-com-ready “I’m in Love,” and gradually shifts to slower jams like “I Have Nothing More to Say,” and the sad but lovely “I Was Beautiful When I Was Alive.” Here is an album that both longtime devotees and new fans will hold dear. – Emilie Von Unwerth
They Moved in Shadow All Together
Emily Jane White
(Talitres)
BUST Rating: 4/5
Alt-folk singer and musician Emily Jane White’s fifth album, They Moved in Shadow All Together, takes its title from a line in a Cormac McCarthy novel, and like McCarthy, White builds stories upon barren landscapes. Thematically, Together is an exploration of trauma and the fragmentation of the self, which plays out beautifully in form — White recorded her own backing vocals in an echo chamber, lending them a haunting plurality. With songs inspired by such heavy subjects as police brutality (“The Black Dove”) and violence against women (“Womankind”), one might expect to feel weighed down, but White’s music is light as air while it uplifts. – Liz Galvao
This article originally appeared in the August/September 2016 print edition of BUST Magazine. Subscribe today!
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