mvm.

Another Friday sees an ample attitude to new music, with new Caroline Polachek at her best, Inhaler solidifying themselves as a go-to with their sophomore and lo and behold… Skrillex releasing a surprise return album..

This week, sees the return of Caroline Polachek. A space-pop odyssey of unchecked mirages and a pining for those we lost. An ethereal beckoning onto her oasis, comes with the yearning Welcome to my Island. Despite the operatic introduction dredging up comparisons to EDM-country song Big Enough with an upscaled Jimmy Barnes singing in the mountains, it’s an electro-pop effusion of passion, love and you guessed it… desire. That feeling you can’t just shake off. Welcome to my island, hope you like me, you ain’t leaving. A transitional phase from 2019’s Pang – an album in upward flux – Desire, I Want to Turn Into You… is Polachek at her best. <<You can read our full album review here.>>

Inhaler are laying the foundation for themselves to be that next arena band with their sophomore follow-up, Cuts & Bruises. Released two years after their shattering debut, It Won’t Always Be Like This – which saw the Dublin band take an explosion to ’90s alternative sounds and noughts’ indies – Cuts & Bruises offers more of the same dirty bass lines, infectious melodies toppled with psychedelic soundscapes, all inspired from the back grooves of their parents’ vinyl collection. As comparisons were drawn to Interpol, The Charlatans and The Coral – all indie pioneers in their own right – people were beginning to take notice.

The album offers a more darkened fate on the same conversations uttered in the first – this is represented best on both songs and artwork cover, portraying the pouting four-piece through a moody black fish-eye. If You’re Gonna Break My Heart, a stalwart ballad, shows the band at their most hard-wired when it comes to writing songs with a maturity. These are the Days and Love Will Get You There are priceless fallbacks, heartfelt indie bangers that are just destined to be belted on an arena tour. Elsewhere, The Things I Do brings together a more instrumental complexity to the band, as they begin to unfurl their tendons to reach that unquarreled fret or chord. It’s allowed them to show off their sound that little bit more, all the while sticking to the formula of “indie-bangers”.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard the name of Sonny Moore. Better known as his producer prolific-portfolio, Skrillex, he has been shifting the landscape of electronic music for the better part of 14 years. Now, we see him formulate not just a new look but with an explosive fire in his belly to get back doing what he does best. Producing beats. Shortly after his guttural shot of Rumble, sees the surprise beckoning of double-parter Quest For Fire / Don’t Get Too Close, a collective of harnessed electronic burns, cathartic collaborations and magnetic pop-filtration that sees a spike for Sonny. Kid Cudi, Chief Keef, Don Touliver and Bibi Bourelly all share their celebrations with a helping of their own. Summertime, Way Back and Ceremony all see a real shift in new, rifled sounds all the while keeping it a universally Skrillex album. A step-off from the ripples of Scary Monsters dubstep in ’09, to the airy pop-electronica of feel-good Ibiza strokes.

Pile: 2023 sees the return of “your favourite band’s favourite band” as they tip the scales in the traditional study of rock-ism with All Fiction. An all-seeing ornate study of anxiety and death, as they traverse through one of their most texturally-complex projects to date. A filtering of disquiet post-rock modernism sets this as an album to listen to this week.

Your best robotic-electronic dance troupe are back – Men I Trust. First 2023 single, Ring of Past is another tale into the story of this subtly eloquent band. A smooth demeanour to a collective at their most funkiest, sees the band embrace new ways into smooth-groove indie electronica and feel-good bedroom pop. It’s set to be a good Summer.

Snapback-skateboard pop-punk outfit Neck Deep have also announced their return in 2023 with Heartbreak of the Century. After the departure of drummer Dani Washington last year – and a stifling of sexual misconduct from previous members – the band saw a crossroad emerging. The band took one giant step forward with their longly-awaited comeback single, STFU, which safe to say, blew the roof off. We ain’t going anywhere. Now, we hear the spillage into 2023 with Heartbreak of the Century. Universally Neck Deep – fast, frantic and unadulterally post-punk. Love it. Is there a new album on the horizon?