My Week In Music: 7-11 April
Kiwi artists Marlon Williams and Velveteen drop two of the weeks best, alongside great new records from Black Country New Road and Jane Remover
FOREVER HOWLONG (released: 4/04/2025)
Black Country, New Road
A relatively young band, Black Country New Road formed in Cambridge, England, in 2018, and broke through - inasmuch as you can break through the chamber pop scene - with the single “Sunglasses” in 2019.
They seem to have exceeded expectations at every turn, putting out work that is complicated but entertaining, appears to be serving a niche at surface level but engrossing nonetheless. That trend continues with Forever Howlong.
It should be said that this might be their most accessible record to date; opener “Besties” is a piece of indie pop harking back to the Beatles, harpsichords and flutes and clarinets seeming right at home with the big drums and cute vocal.
The album builds from there; “The Big Spin” is almost jazz in its composition, while “Salem Sisters” plays with vocal dynamic to great effect. Unorthodox dynamic is a running theme here, songs running from cold to hot and back again. Single “Happy Birthday” is maybe the best track here, a rock track for the ages and a sign that Black Country New Road are ready for the big time.
TE WHARE TĪWEKAWEKA (released: 4/04/2025)
Marlon Williams
The coverage around the release of Marlon Williams’ latest has been pretty clear on what to expect - the album was recorded entirely in Te Reo Māori as a continuation of his personal journey into his culture and in collaboration with Kommi Tamati-Elliffe; speaking of the beauty of the language, Williams’ says “I just leaned on that as a guiding light - the rōreka, the sweetness of the phonetics and the constructions - that helped me get through, I think”, admitting that he wants to Whakaaro Māori, or think and dream in the language.
And even knowing all of that, the acapella opening track “E Mawehe Ana Au” is a shock to the system. I found myself listening with excitement, eager to absorb the rest of the album. Te Whare Tīwekaweka ranges from Williams’ retro-soul (“Aua Atu Rā”) to traditionally inspired folk rock (“Me Uaua Kē”) to gorgeous balladry (“Ko Tēna Ua” is probably my favourite song here).
It is rare that such a personal record comes along; it feels almost invasive to review it any critical way. I’m glad its as good as it is so that I don’t need to.
LIFE, DEATH AND DENNIS HOPPER (released: 4/04/2025)
The Waterboys
Like most people, I guess, I hadn’t thought about The Waterboys in years - in most cases, probably the late 1980s as they started to fade after the success of single “The Whole Of The Moon”. For me, it was at work back in the early 2010s: I worked as a music programmer on an automated music video system for bars and restaurants, and we had a complaint that “The Whole Of The Moon” was in too many playlists, so I had to go through and decide where to pull it from.
And then a video dropped featuring The Waterboys and Fiona Apple, and I got curious about their next album: a 25 track biographical album about the life and death of actor Dennis Hopper with guest appearances from Apple, Steve Earle (opener “Kansas”), Bruce Springsteen (highlight “Ten Years Gone”), and more.
Honestly, I don’t know if I can honestly call it a good album. But as an alternative to an audiobook, this is a fascinating way to learn about someone; while the album played, I found myself googling Hopper and reading about his life.
Fascinating guy. Fascinating - if not musically exceptional - album.
REVENGESEEKERZ (released: 4/04/2025)
Jane Remover
The multi-talented Jane Remover is back with their second album in as many months; you may recall me pouring on the compliments for their album Ghostholding, a shoegazey rock album released under the name Venturing.
Revengeseekerz finds Remover back in their comfort zone, making this grimy, filthy electronic music, layered to all hell, and yet somehow making perfect sense - not just as a song, but as a moment in this insane year. Opener “TWICE REMOVED” is kind of a mess at times, yet it seems the perfect soundtrack for the early months of the Trump presidency.
Danny Brown collabs on second track “Psychoboost”, a super fun dance track, before Remover’s experience as Venturing helps out on “Star people”, a dash of guitar elevating the back half into the stratosphere.
Revengeseekerz isn’t as creative as Ghostholding, but it acts as part of a set - the duality of Jane, if you will. And if you’re a fan of electronic music in any of its forms, you’ll probably find something to like here. I know I did.
HEAVY MACHINERY (released: 4/04/2025)
Velveteen
This one arrived out of nowhere to be honest: I can’t even remember where I heard about it, but I am fucking glad I did. Heavy Machinery is the debut album from Christchurch rockers Velveteen, self-described as for fans ‘of The Smashing Pumpkins, Jimmy Eat World, Shihad and The Garden’.
I don’t know if the influences are that straight-forward - Heavy Machinery is of a piece with those bands, but it sounds like an amalgamation of so much more, the kind of album you could only write if you’d lived through those groups.
Opener “Black Hole Above Cincinnati” rocks hard straight out of the gate and shows off the tightness in the rhythm section and the vocal, which sits an octave higher than it feels it should. Title track “Heavy Machinery” shows the bands song-writing chops, slowing things down in the verse and getting chonky in the chorus. The vocal excels again; it all sounds very zeitgeisty.
“Saturday Night In Vegas” is another highlight, the bass taking centre stage momentarily, while late album ballad “See You Bruise” is gorgeous. I thoroughly enjoyed this record. Looking forward to hearing more from Velveteen.
STAR (released: 4/04/2025)
2hollis
I’ll start by saying that I’m not overly familiar with 2hollis, other than hearing his song “Poster Boy” on the soundtrack for EA Sports FC 24 during my (many hours of) play of that game. (Colchester United forever.)
Listening through Star, I found myself reminded of the Jane Remover album I had reviewed earlier in the week, and while it might be a little more polished thanks to the input of Playboy Carti collaborator Jonah Abraham, its hard not to feel like both albums are targeting the same audiences, trying to pull down the same walls/ceilings, attempting to rejuvenate the same sounds.
“Cope” is the first sign here that its working as intended, lots of little musical pops and vocal tricks that excite, while “Destroy Me” and “Burn” are a 1-2 punch in the middle of the album. 2hollis pops up frequently between tracks, telling us something about the destructive nature of fame. Its hard to take seriously when some of his most popular work is about chasing that fame to begin with.
Solid album though; I enjoyed it well enough though maybe not as much as Revengeseekerz. Lots to like here though.
BUNKY BECKY BIRTHDAY BOY (released: 4/04/2025)
Sleigh Bells
It’s been interesting listening to Sleigh Bells as they move further and further away from pop-rock and toward some cursed mashup of heavy metal and electronic music, while still holding on to some of the fluorescent tendencies they’ve had since day one. Nowhere is it more obvious than on opener “Bunky Pop”, a song which jumps from pop music to metal guitars with nothing but the words ‘bunky beck birthday boy’ and a synth to connect the two.
And yet, that said, this is an incredibly fun album to listen to. Its never less than interesting as it blasts its way through its half hour run time, using its sparse minutes to entertain but not outstaying its welcome.
“Wanna Start A Band?” is an early highlight, while mid-album highlight “Can I Scream” sounds like the theme song from one of the Final Fantasy games. It would also sound right at home on 1995’s Mortal Kombat movie soundtrack alongside KMFDM and Orbital and Gravity Kills. (Remember them?!)
A ball of fun but we’re almost in diminishing returns territory with Sleigh Bells.
Also released this week:
I found Dirty Projectors and Stargaze’s Song of the Earth a little hard to get through with all the orchestrations and what not.
I know we’re supposed to love this because he plays Steve on Stranger Things, but I though Djo’s The Crux was just okay.
I reckon MĀ’s Blame It On The Weather is the best album I didn’t review at length this week. Crazy good week for Kiwi artists.
Nemzzz’ Rent's Due. Thanks, but no.
I love their song “Gravity” but The Superjesus’ The Superjesus isn’t on the same level. It isn’t bad though.
Elton John & Brandi Carlile’s Who Believes In Angels? is the winner of this week’s Didn’t Deserve So Much Coverage award.
Punk rockers Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs’ Death Hilarious is a blast but its a hollow blast, if that makes sense.
It’s okay, Miki Berenyi Trio’s Tripla sounds perfectly ready to travel back to 1988 and warn them about [gestures to everything] through pop music.
Happy Birthday:
THE INFAMOUS (1995)
Mobb Deep
It’s been thirty years since the release of The Infamous, the album which put rappers Havoc and Prodigy on the map - it was their US breakthrough, peaking at #18 on the US Billboard 200 album chart.
Mobb Deep were tied in with big names from the jump: their debut featured production from DJ Premier but didn’t achieve commercial success - but then the group were picked up by Loud Records during a ‘find the next Wu Tang’ gold rush on the New York rap scene.
The Infamous landed in April 1995 with production by Q-Tip and guest spots from the likes of Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Big Noyd and Nas, grabbing critical acclaim on both coasts. They managed to avoid the East-West feud despite being called out by Tupac Shakur (‘I was like damn, did you hear that? 2Pac dissing us. We about to sell some records.’ Havoc said later.)
By the 2010s the group were an on again-off again proposition - occasionally dropping something incredible, but rarely hitting the highs of The Infamous and its highlight track “Shook Ones Pt II”. Prodigy passed away in 2017.
FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET (1990)
Public Enemy
I’ve always thought the goofy looking cover to Fear Of A Black Planet undermined - or belied - the very good, very serious, very very good content within. I think it’s now properly regarded as a work of genius.
Following up their breakthrough It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back was never going to be an easy feat, but rappers Chuck D and Flava Flav, as well as producers The Bomb Squad, make it look easy: double down on the sampling and layering that they were known for, and have D spit some of the most controversial and forthright rhymes ever made to that point.
In some ways, the feuds of the 1990s undid some of the work Public Enemy did with this album, and its predecessor, to frame rap and hip-hop music as a sociopolitical force and as art in itself. In that way, it feels like maybe Public Enemy don’t get the credit they deserve, despite their standing as legends.
Fear Of A Black Planet turned 35 years old on April 10.
Thanks for reading this week everyone.
Chris xo