Releases from November–December 2023

Great albums from around the world

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Jump to: 1 & 8 December | 17 November | 10 & 17 November | 3 November

Releases for 1 & 8 December

Here’s our hot six for 1 & 8 December. In 2022, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis returned to their native Australia, and performances from the climactic shows at the Sydney Opera House are captured on the luminous Australian Carnage (1 Dec). Khruangbin also bring us an album recorded Live at Sydney Opera House (1 Dec), the last in a series of five live albums that has traced a slice of the band’s flight plan through the years, igniting both sides of Khruangbin’s magic: the warm, prismatic feeling of their albums and the bewitching energy of their performances. Here’s Tom with the Weather (1 Dec) boasts magical, psychedelic folk songs of the finest Shack vintage: sleepy-eyed, wistful and mystical, yet crafted with a cunning and acute dexterity, toasing the under-recognised songwriting genius of brothers Mick and John Head. Before and After (8 Dec) contains some of Neil Young’s personal favourites from his playbook, which he performs mostly alone on a solo acoustic journey into his music history, from his early Buffalo Springfield contribution ‘Burned’ (1966) to the recent ‘Don’t Forget Love’ (2021). Live from Studio S2 (8 Dec) captures a live set that Hania Rani performed as part of the 2021 Berlinale Film Festival, finding a kind of intimacy by playing solo piano in this huge radio studio, her songs acquiring new layers that change their mood and rhythmic pattern.

Our release of the week is i/o (1 Dec), the first album of new material from Peter Gabriel since 2002’s Up: 12 tracks of grace, gravity and great beauty that provide welcome confirmation not only of Peter’s ongoing ability to write stop-you-in-your-tracks songs but also of that thrilling voice, still perfectly, delightfully intact. There are two different versions: the ‘Bright-Side’ and ‘Dark-Side’ mixes, available together on the double-CD package or separately on the double-LP versions.

- Peter Gabriel i/o
1 December: More than 20 years in the making, i/o is the first album of new material from Peter Gabriel since 2002’s Up. Over the course of this year, Peter has released a new song from the album on the occasion of each full moon. Being revealed roughly every four weeks, each track has been allowed to find its own time and space, to enjoy its own orbit. “It’s a little like getting a Lego piece each month,” Peter explains. Now it’s time to stand back and admire the final, completed creation. And what a creation: 12 tracks of grace, gravity and great beauty that provide welcome confirmation not only of Peter’s ongoing ability to write stop-you-in-your-tracks songs but also of that thrilling voice, still perfectly, delightfully intact. Throughout the album the intelligent and thoughtful – often thought-provoking – songs tackle life and the universe.
The 12 tracks have been mixed in two different versions: the Bright-Side Mix, handled by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent, and the Dark-Side Mix, as reshaped by Tchad Blake. “We have two of the greatest mixers in the world in Tchad and Spike and they definitely bring different characters to the songs. Tchad is very much a sculptor building a journey with sound and drama, Spike loves sound and assembling these pictures, so he’s more of a painter.” Both versions are included on the double-CD package, and are also available separately as double vinyl albums. And that’s not all. A third version – the In-Side Mix, in Dolby Atmos, comes courtesy of Hans-Martin Buff “doing a wonderful job generating these much more three-dimensional mixes” and is included in three-disc set, including Blu-ray.

- Nick Cave & Warren Ellis Australian Carnage
1 December: In 2022, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis returned to their native Australia for 16 shows, taking their acclaimed 2021 album Carnage on the road, along with songs from the Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds catalogue. Three performances at the Sydney Opera House on 16, 17 and 18 December were the climactic shows of an emotional trip, captured on their luminous new live album, Australian Carnage.

- Khruangbin Live at Sydney Opera House
1 December: Khruangbin’s series of live LPs traces just one small slice of the band’s flight plan through the years: it’s a taste of some of their most beloved cities, stages and nights. Across five releases, this series ignites both sides of Khruangbin’s magic: the warm, prismatic feeling of their albums and the bewitching energy of their performances. Closing out this collection, Live at Sydney Opera House is a double LP of front-to-back Khruangbin.

- Shack Here’s Tom with the Weather
1 December: The Shack story is one of music’s greatest legends. It incorporates hardship, bereavement and chaotic misadventure, but above all it tells the tale of beautiful music triumphing over trouble and tragedy. Here’s Tom with the Weather boasts a majestic and fresh form. These are magical songs, psychedelic folk songs of the finest Head vintage: sleepy-eyed, wistful and mystical, yet crafted with a cunning and acute dexterity beyond just about anybody else you can think of. The two profoundly Liverpudlian brothers Mick and John Head have made several brilliant albums together, but Tom showcases John’s slow, shy emergence as a songwriter to challenge his brother (on the sparkling, heartbreaking ‘Miles Apart’ and ‘Carousel’ and the spun-out ‘Kilburn High Road’), toasting Mick’s confirmation as the most unrecognised genius of his or any other generation (the ode to his bro, ‘Byrds Turn to Stone’, the mariachi horns that break open the slow folk fog of ‘Meant To Be’, the two lullaby bookends … and on, and on).

- Neil Young Before and After
8 December: Before and After contains some of Neil Young’s personal favourites from his playbook, which he performs mostly alone on a solo acoustic journey into his music history. The songs blend into each other and morph with mesmerising clarity into a continuous flow of music, creating a pure and intimate 48-minute listening experience. The 13-track album spans Neil’s career, from his early Buffalo Springfield contribution ‘Burned’ (1966) to the recent ‘Don’t Forget Love’ (2021), and includes the previously unreleased song ‘If You Got Love’.

- Hania Rani Live from Studio S2
8 December: At the beginning of February 2021, Hania Rani was invited by the Berlinale Film Festival to record a live set as part of the EFM sessions that is now documented in Live from Studio S2. “I thought that bringing back my piano and equipment to the hall where I first recorded my live session videos for my debut album, Esja, would be a nice idea and the right cinematic choice. This time, I wanted to use not only an upright piano, but also a grand piano and some other keyboards including a Prophet 08 synthesizer and a Roland stage piano.” Studio S2 is one of the recording studios inside the Polish Radio building in Warsaw and used primarily for recording classical and film music. There is a kind of intimacy when playing the piano in this huge venue. Rani has rearranged some of her favourite songs for this set, starting with ‘Hawaii Oslo’, which is built on a piano loop, followed by ‘Glass’ with a new intro and outro and closing with ‘Leaving’ and ‘Buka’ – this time accompanied with new layers which change the mood and rhythmic pattern of both songs.

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Releases for 17 November 2023

The first of 17 November’s peaches is Songs of Silence – incredibly, Vince Clarke’s first ever solo album – which is unlike anything you’ve heard from him before, with a more sober ambient electronic beauty that puts it in a category of its own. Global icon Dolly Parton has joined forces with some of rock music’s most legendary artists along with today’s biggest stars for her first-ever rock album, Rockstar, which includes some covers of classic rock anthems. Alt-folk duo Smoke Fairies return with their sixth studio album, Carried in Sound, which isn’t afraid to discuss darkness but holds a longing for light and displays a sense of inner strength. Acclaimed American singer-songwriter-poet Jewel shot to international stardom 25 years ago with the release of Spirit, which includes the singles ‘Hands’, ‘Down So Long’ and ‘Jupiter’, and which now gets a deluxe reissue for the anniversary. The Polyphonic Spree harness the flames of rebirth on Salvage Enterprise, reverent of their history yet ready for an even brighter tomorrow – this is their ‘rising-from-the ashes’ record.

Our release of the week is Laugh Track, the most freewheeling, all-hands-on-deck album from The National in years, bristling with spontaneity and vintage rock energy that makes a perfect complement to the songs found on its more introspective predecessor, April’s First Two Pages of Frankenstein.

- The National Laugh Track
The surprise companion to The National’s April release First Two Pages of Frankenstein, Laugh Track is the band’s most freewheeling, all-hands-on-deck album in years. If Frankenstein represented a rebuilding of trust between group members after more than 20 years together, the vibrant, exploratory Laugh Track is both the product of that faith and a new statement of intent. Revelling in the licence to radically upend its creative process, The National honed most of this material in live performances on tour, and captured those invigorated versions in impromptu sessions at producer Tucker Martine’s Portland studio. Two nights later in Vancouver, the nearly eight-minute album closer ‘Smoke Detector’ was recorded during soundcheck, completing a body of work bristling with spontaneity and vintage rock energy that makes a perfect complement to the songs found on its more introspective predecessor.

- Vince Clarke Songs of Silence
Songs of Silence is, unbelievably, Vince Clarke’s first ever solo album. As its title suggests, Songs of Silence is a lyric-less instrumental album, and is hugely evocative for that. Unlike anything you’ve previously heard from Clarke as an artisan of dynamic electropop in Erasure, Depeche Mode and Yazoo, Songs of Silence has about it a more sober ambient electronic beauty. Its unique characteristics put it in a category of its own. For the creation of the record Vince set himself two rules: first, that the sounds he himself generated for the album would come solely from Eurorack (a modular synthesizer format introduced in the mid-90s); second, that each track would be based around one note, maintaining a single key throughout.

- Dolly Parton Rockstar
Global icon and recent Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame inductee Dolly Parton has joined forces with some of rock music’s most legendary artists along with today’s biggest stars for her first-ever rock album, Rockstar. The ever-evolving Parton teamed up with an all-star roster of musicians for the 30-song collection, which includes 9 original tracks and 21 covers of classic rock anthems.

- Smoke Fairies Carried in Sound
Following on from the release of their highly praised 2020 LP Darkness Brings Wonders Home, which was applauded by the likes of Mojo, Clash Magazine, Q and many more, alt-folk duo Smoke Fairies return once again with their sixth studio album, Carried in Sound. A sense of inner strength dominates the new record. In keeping with the times that bore it, Carried in Sound isn’t afraid to discuss darkness – but everywhere there is a longing for light. “Although the album has themes of sadness on there, it’s looking at those things from a place of strength,” says Jessica.

- Jewel Spirit (25th Anniversary Edition)
Acclaimed American singer-songwriter-poet Jewel has enjoyed career longevity rare among her generation of artists. Since achieving international stardom 25 years ago, she has emerged as a charismatic live performer and a respected songwriter with 13 studio albums and four Grammy nominations to date. The 25th anniversary deluxe edition of Jewel’s second album, Spirit, includes the singles ‘Hands’, ‘Down So Long’ and ‘Jupiter’. The 2-CD set features eight previously unreleased demos and out-takes, rare live performances, and a collection of singles.

- The Polyphonic Spree Salvage Enterprise
The Polyphonic Spree harness the flames of rebirth on their 2023 full-length offering, Salvage Enterprise. Led by multi-instrumentalist visionary Tim DeLaughter, the group embark on their next season. They’re reverent of their history, yet they’re also ready for an even brighter tomorrow. “Across all of the music I’ve done, lyrically there’s a sense of desperation and a moment of convincing myself I’m going to make it through regardless of how the music dresses up,” notes Tim. “On this one, I struggled with the amount of vulnerability I was experiencing and was willing to share both musically and lyrically, but ultimately decided to let it play out. Now that it’s done, I’m happy with the dance between the two. It’s a ‘rising-from-the ashes’ record.”

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Releases for 10 & 17 November

The first of our six stormers for 10 & 17 November to blow in is Substance (out 10 Nov), which compiles the 12" versions of all of New Order’s classic singles from 1981 to 1987 with many of their respective B-sides. Only 25 years into her recording career does Thea Gilmore feel enough of herself to release a self-titled album (17 Nov) after the very public dissection of her personal life on the stunningly intimate Afterlight, earning her place as one of the most distinctive, strident and bold singer-songwriters of her generation. Another Budokan 1978 (17 Nov) features 16 specially selected unreleased tracks from two shows recorded at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan during Bob Dylan’s landmark 1978 world tour, with a 4-CD box set available for die-hard fans. Live at the Hollywood Bowl: August 18, 1967 (17 Nov) documents The Jimi Hendrix Experience on the cusp of stardom with a collection of 10 never-before-heard performances, including a blistering cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘Killing Floor’. Hadsel (10 Nov) was made while Beirut’s Zach Condon was working in isolation on the Norwegian island of Hadsel, inspired by the beauty of the nature, the northern lights and fearsome storms, and the hours-long twilights that would fill him with subdued excitement.

Our release of the week is Higher (out 10 Nov), the fifth studio album from multi-platinum country hero Chris Stapleton, co-produced by Chris with his wife Morgane and their long-time collaborator Dave Cobb at Nashville’s famed RCA Studio A. Cobb also plays acoustic and electric guitar on the record with Morgane providing backing vocals, tambourine, and synthesizer, and there are further contributions from J.T. Cure, Paul Franklin, Derek Mixon and Lee Pardini.

- Chris Stapleton Higher
10 November: Higher, the fifth studio album from multi-platinum country hero Chris Stapleton, was co-produced by Chris with his wife Morgane and their long-time collaborator Dave Cobb at Nashville’s famed RCA Studio A. Cobb also plays acoustic and electric guitar on the record with Morgane providing backing vocals, tambourine, and synthesizer, and there are further contributions from J.T. Cure, Paul Franklin, Derek Mixon and Lee Pardini.

- New Order Substance 1987
10 November: Originally released on the legendary Factory Records, Substance compiled the 12" versions of all of New Order’s singles from 1981 to 1987 with many of their respective B-sides (on the CD and cassette versions), including specially recorded new versions of ‘Temptation’ and ‘Confusion’. The album also included the biggest-selling 12" single of all time, ‘Blue Monday’, alongside other classic singles such as ‘The Perfect Kiss’, ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ and the band’s debut single, ‘Ceremony’. This expanded 4-CD collection includes the original 2-CD set newly remastered plus two additional CDs: one is packed with alternative versions and extra B-sides while the other features an unreleased live concert from Irvine Meadows, California, on 12 September 1987, where the band uniquely played the entire album in sequence.

- Thea Gilmore Thea Gilmore
17 November: 20 albums and 25 years into her recording career, only now does Thea Gilmore feel enough of herself to make the self-titled album that renews her vows to music – her first love. Thea Gilmore was written, played and produced entirely by Thea, and is absolutely the record she wanted to make – in many ways the record she had to make. Sustained by the very public dissection of her personal life laid bare on her last full-length release, the stunningly intimate Afterlight, Thea’s hard-earned reputation as one of the most distinctive, strident and bold singer-songwriters of her generation propels her to reach for new ground, and this new release feels like a great leap forward into tomorrow. “That’s why this is my first self-titled album,” she explains. “On my last album I changed my name to Afterlight and drew a line under everything I’d done up to that point. Not to invalidate it, but to put an end to the ‘before’. It was a very inward-looking record that was rooted in the darkness of everything that happened to me up to 2019.”

- Bob Dylan The Complete Budokan 1978
17 November: Bob Dylan’s 1978 world tour marked his first international concert dates since 1966 and his first live shows since the Rolling Thunder Revue blasted through North America in 1975–6. A major international musical event, the year-long tour found Dylan performing 114 shows in Asia, Oceania, North America and Europe to a combined audience of two million fans. The Complete Budokan 1978 presents two full shows originally recorded on 24-channel multitrack analogue tapes at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan Hall on 28 February and 1 March 1978 and offers fans 36 previously unreleased Dylan performances among the 58 tracks.
Presented in a luxurious deluxe box, The Complete Budokan 1978 includes: facsimile memorabilia such as concert tickets, pamphlets, posters and flyers; exclusive liner notes; and a 60-page full-colour photo book of previously unpublished photos of Dylan both on stage and behind the scenes. The 2-LP highlight edition, Another Budokan 1978, features 16 specially selected unreleased tracks from the box set.

- The Jimi Hendrix Experience Live at the Hollywood Bowl: August 18, 1967
17 November: Live at the Hollywood Bowl: August 18, 1967 documents The Jimi Hendrix Experience on the cusp of stardom with a collection of 10 never-before-heard performances, including a blistering cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘Killing Floor’.

- Beirut Hadsel
10 November: Hadsel is the first new album from Beirut since 2019’s Gallipoli and the first on Zach Condon’s own label, Pompeii Records. After a physical and mental breakdown forced Condon to cancel his 2019 tour, he was looking for a place to recover after being left in a state of shock and self-doubt. Working in isolation on the Norwegian island of Hadsel, Condon explains, “I was lost in a trance, stumbling blindly through my own mental collapse that I had been pushing aside since I was a teenager. It came and rang me like a bell. I was left agonising many things past and present while the beauty of the nature, the northern lights and fearsome storms played an awesome show around me. The few hours of light would expose the unfathomable beauty of the mountains and the fjords, and the hours-long twilights would fill me with subdued excitement. I’d like to believe that scenery is somehow present in the music.”

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Releases for 3 November 2023

Our soaraway six for 3rd November starts with I DES, the new album from King Creosote, which encompasses vibraphones, accordions, e-bows, samplers, ungulates, scratched records and wine-glass drones alongside Anderson’s singular voice, and his roguish, roving, ever-evolving, gorgeous songs in the key of Fife. Phone Orphans brings to light a number of songs that have been been hiding out on Laura Veirs’ phone: songs about her family, her lovers and herself, recorded alone in her living room into a voice memo app, and they have a wonderful, relaxed feel. Black Grape could only have been made in Manchester – Shaun Ryder from Salford and and Paul ‘Kermit’ Leveridge from Moss Side; the swagger, fun and cryptic humour seem hewn from a city historian AJP Taylor once described as offering an archetypally different way of English urban life from London. Los Angeles is a hard-hitting and compulsively exploratory 55-minute electronic mindscrew, founded on unrivalled rhythmic expertise from The Cure’s Lol Tolhurst and Budgie from Siouxsie & The Banshees and The Creatures, fleshed out with synths, guitars and other instruments, then universally twisted, manipulated and masterfully sculpted by stellar producer Jacknife Lee. On The Twits, the economical yet evocative songcraft of London-based trio bar italia takes raucous, mystic, unkempt, occasionally sinister, and wholly committed turns, incorporating in-the-red riffs and excitable hooks, cathartic four-on-the-floor and festival-tent psychedelia of ‘Hi fiver’ – these are exhilarating rock songs, if wayward and strange.

Our release of the week comes from Van Morrison, who returns to one of his childhood passions on Accentuate the Positive, reimagining some of his personal rock’n’roll favourites by the likes of Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and The Everly Brothers, infusing those timeless songs with an energy that constantly challenges and expands on the traditions of rock’n’roll. Van’s inimitable voice is complemented by superb arrangements.

- Van Morrison Accentuate the Positive
Van Morrison returns to one of his childhood passions on Accentuate the Positive: this time, rock’n’roll. Growing up in Belfast shortly after the Second World War, the young Van was immensely inspired by the heady sounds of mid-century blues and rock’n’roll. Listening to artists such as Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and The Everly Brothers, it wasn’t long until Van was intuitively reinterpreting these sounds with his own band in local venues. Seven decades later, Van Morrison now revisits the genre by reimagining some of his personal favourites for Accentuate the Positive, infusing those timeless songs with an energy that constantly challenges and expands on the traditions of rock’n’roll. Van’s inimitable voice is complemented by superb arrangements.

- King Creosote I DES
They say long live the king and all, but nothing’s ever set in stone. A quarter of a century since his self-inflicted coronation and self-released debut solo album, Kenny Anderson – DIY pop voyager, ancestral seaside home restorer, squeezebox lothario, Fife for lifer, diamond miner, hijacker of hearts, and the man also known as King Creosote – brings us I DES. While the record’s kaleidoscopic musical terrain plots vibraphones, accordions, e-bows, samplers, ungulates, scratched records and wine-glass drones across its landscape, there’s common ground in the wonder of the synthesiser, not to mention Anderson’s singular voice, and his roguish, roving, ever-evolving, gorgeous songs in the key of Fife.

- Laura Veirs Phone Orphans
To celebrate her 50th birthday and 30 years of writing songs, Laura Veirs is bringing into the light a number of songs that have been been hiding out on her phone, some of them for over eight years. These are songs about her family, her lovers and herself, recorded alone in her living room into a voice memo app, and they have a wonderful, relaxed feel. The recordings have been mastered, but not edited, to form Phone Orphans.

- Black Grape Orange Head
Black Grape could only have been made in Manchester. The swagger, fun and cryptic humour seem hewn from a city historian AJP Taylor once described as offering an archetypally different way of English urban life from London. Both Shaun Ryder and Paul Leveridge, known as Kermit, came from edgy-but-cool parts of the city: in Shaun’s case, Salford, with Kermit originating from Moss Side. For those unfamiliar, ‘the Moss’ lay in the shadow of Manchester City’s old stadium at Maine Road, and was one of the first multi-ethnic areas in Manchester.

- Lol Tolhurst x Budgie x Jacknife Lee Los Angeles
The three-way Los Angeles collaboration was born out of a curiosity that just wouldn’t die. Comprising two of the most illustrious and inventive drummers of the post-punk era – The Cure’s Lol Tolhurst and Budgie from Siouxsie & The Banshees and The Creatures – along with stellar producer and multi-instrumentalist Garret ‘Jacknife’ Lee, this unlikely alt-supergroup has spent the last four years spiriting up one of the most extraordinary albums to appear in 2023. It’s a hard-hitting and compulsively exploratory 55-minute electronic mindscrew, founded on unrivalled rhythmic expertise, fleshed out with an armoury of synths, guitars (Jacknife’s forté) and supplementary percussion, often overlaid with elite-class strings and brass, then universally twisted, manipulated and quite masterfully sculpted by Lee, with his super-producer’s hat on.

- bar italia The Twits
The Twits was recorded by London-based trio bar italia over the course of eight weeks in a makeshift home studio in Mallorca. On the album, their economical yet evocative songcraft takes raucous, mystic, unkempt, occasionally sinister, and wholly committed turns. Songs like ‘my little tony’, with its in-the-red riff and excitable hooks, the cathartic four-on-the-floor of ‘world’s greatest emoter’ and the festival-tent psychedelia of ‘Hi fiver’ need little in the way of exposition – these are exhilarating rock songs, if wayward and strange. At other moments the band’s increasingly signature three-act mini-dramas move into previously uncharted territory. Nina Cristante, Jezmi Tarik Fehmi and Sam Fenton can each manifest a different melody, mood, and cadence – at times overlapping and linear, at others unexpectedly divergent – often within the space of thirty seconds, a tag team rooted in shared language and kinship.

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Other releases for 2023

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