Search Results for:
DIRTY HIT
Recorded piecemeal over a period of years following the release of her celebrated 2022 debut, 'Quiet the Room', 'And Your Song Is Like a Circle' does not capture experience – it gestures toward the imprint of an experience that is uncapturable. Swaying between vaporous folk and crystalline electronics, landing somewhere in the snowfields shared by Grouper and Julia Holter, '...Circle' probes the ways that grief turns itself inside out. Loss itself becomes as real and substantial as what's been lost.
TRACK LISTING
1. March
2. Dragon
3. Living
4. Maelstrom
5. Changes
6. Periphery
7. Red Car
8. Exhale
9. Vessel
10. The Emptying
Like their name suggests, Model/Actriz seek to channel raw emotions into striking new forms. Consisting of Cole Haden (Vocals), Aaron Shapiro (Bass), Jack Wetmore (Guitar), and Ruben Radlauer (Drums), there’s an expectation that Model/Actriz aim first and foremost to be shitstarters. Their debut record 'Dogsbody' was sexy, dark, and humid, full of eerie passages and veiled menace; their unique sound quickly found fans that included the likes of Pitchfork and Anthony Fantano.
After much critical acclaim and an exhausting tour to support the record, the band sought to reinvigorate their visceral live shows that invite that audience into a shared room of carnal ritual. Model/Actriz’s sophomore album Pirouette, which was co-produced and mixed by Seth Manchester and mastered by Matt Colton, their collaborators on 'Dogsbody', swerves out of the maze and directly into the spotlight. 'Pirouette' is both a natural progression and a calculated reset, a move toward reasserting their command as artists by peeling away the smoke and mirrors to become brighter, heavier, and more direct. The pop thread running throughout the album allows the crowd to witness thumping club music in the spirit of cabaret and manifest the catharsis that comes with hitting the dancefloor.
After much critical acclaim and an exhausting tour to support the record, the band sought to reinvigorate their visceral live shows that invite that audience into a shared room of carnal ritual. Model/Actriz’s sophomore album Pirouette, which was co-produced and mixed by Seth Manchester and mastered by Matt Colton, their collaborators on 'Dogsbody', swerves out of the maze and directly into the spotlight. 'Pirouette' is both a natural progression and a calculated reset, a move toward reasserting their command as artists by peeling away the smoke and mirrors to become brighter, heavier, and more direct. The pop thread running throughout the album allows the crowd to witness thumping club music in the spirit of cabaret and manifest the catharsis that comes with hitting the dancefloor.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Visceral, thumping kick drums and stabbing guitars work beneath soaring synth arps and snappy 808's before breaking down into tender electronic indie and brittle ambient washes. Beautifully produced and endlessly inventive, never straying too far from melody, but evolving constantly.TRACK LISTING
1. Vespers
2. Cinderella
3. Poppy
4. Diva
5. Headlights
6. Acid Rain
7. Departures
8. Audience
9. Ring Road
10. Doves
11. Baton
Acclaimed Manchester-based pop-rock outfit Pale Waves burst onto the scene back in 2018 with the runaway success of their debut album My Mind Makes Noises. Two top five albums later and an outpouring of support from the likes of BBC Radio 1, Apple Music, Spotify, NME, and more, the band are back with a newfound maturity to accompany their fourth studio album Smitten.
While Pale Waves’ first three albums focussed on the band’s immediate present, Smitten is a lot more preoccupied with past lives – some more recent than others. Written two years after Unwanted, and after the tour that followed, Heather found herself in a headspace where she could finally breathe, and reflect, like peeling through the pages of a long-forgotten teenage diary and being surprised by what she found. “I found myself writing about not just a certain time period, but my whole life, from years ago,” she says. “When I fall in love, I fall deep, and it’s interesting to me that you can feel so fascinated and smitten with someone and then they can become a total stranger. So I feel like Smitten really summarised perfectly what I felt for others at a certain point.”
While Pale Waves’ first three albums focussed on the band’s immediate present, Smitten is a lot more preoccupied with past lives – some more recent than others. Written two years after Unwanted, and after the tour that followed, Heather found herself in a headspace where she could finally breathe, and reflect, like peeling through the pages of a long-forgotten teenage diary and being surprised by what she found. “I found myself writing about not just a certain time period, but my whole life, from years ago,” she says. “When I fall in love, I fall deep, and it’s interesting to me that you can feel so fascinated and smitten with someone and then they can become a total stranger. So I feel like Smitten really summarised perfectly what I felt for others at a certain point.”
TRACK LISTING
1. Glasgow
2. Not A Love Song
3. Gravity
4. Thinking About You
5. Perfume
6. Last Train Home
7. Kiss Me Again
8. Miss America
9. Hate To Hurt You
10. Seeing Stars
11. Imagination
12. Slow
This Is How Tomorrow Moves finds Beabadoobee stepping up to a new level in her abilities as a songwriter, crafting arresting melodies and pushing herself to develop and explore new frontiers of vulnerability, both in her storytelling and her relationship with herself.
Produced by legendary producer Rick Rubin and long term collaborator and bandmate Jacob Bugden, Beabadoobee swaps her bedroom for his infamous Shangri-La studio in Malibu to create a deeply self-assured record with a vast sonic scope of rock and pop.
Produced by legendary producer Rick Rubin and long term collaborator and bandmate Jacob Bugden, Beabadoobee swaps her bedroom for his infamous Shangri-La studio in Malibu to create a deeply self-assured record with a vast sonic scope of rock and pop.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Another selection of blistering pop-punk missives, airy synthy melodies and Beabadoobee's distinctive, soaring vocals. It's reminiscent of her earlier work, but with a clear sign of musical and emotional growth.
Scream from New York, NY, the first album by Been Stellar captures an image of ‘20s New York that’s unrelenting and harsh, where tenderness is a finite resource burned up by the machinery of the city and human connection is a luxury product. Released via Dirty Hit, their debut album embodies the spirit of a city that makes and breaks its inhabitants on a daily basis.
TRACK LISTING
1. Start Again
2. Passing Judgment
3.Pumpkin
4. Scream From New York, NY
5. Sweet
6. Can’t Look Away
7. Shimmer
8. Takedown
9. All In One
10. I Have The Answer
Acclaimed singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich returns with his 5th studio album ‘Some Things Break’ which sees a subtle reinvention in Benjamin Francis Leftwich’s sound and some of his most daring lyrics to date. The album consists of ten brand new tracks, all written and performed by Leftwich and follows his previous album ‘To Carry A Whale’, released in 2021.
‘Some Things Break’ was written over the course of the past two years at locations across the globe including London, Nashville, Washington and Stockholm. It was produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Jimmy Hogarth (Amy Winehouse, Sia, Anohni & The Johnsons) and features collaborations with fellow songwriters including Mikky Ekko, The 1975’s Jamie Squire, Jon Green and more.
‘Some Things Break’ was written over the course of the past two years at locations across the globe including London, Nashville, Washington and Stockholm. It was produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Jimmy Hogarth (Amy Winehouse, Sia, Anohni & The Johnsons) and features collaborations with fellow songwriters including Mikky Ekko, The 1975’s Jamie Squire, Jon Green and more.
TRACK LISTING
I'm Always Saying Sorry
Moon Landing Hoax
Break In The Weather
New York
Some Things Break
Spokane Washington
God's Best
A Love Like That
Only You
Don't Give Up On Light
Second album from West London, singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist, Oscar Lang. A split from his childhood sweetheart sent Lang spiralling, dramatically changing the course of the follow-up to the psychedelic-tinged fuzzy-rock of his 2021 debut Chew The Scenery at the same time as driving Lang into the most creatively fruitful period of his short career. The diversion has resulted in Look Now, an astounding record that makes Lang’s previous output sound like he was just testing the waters. Chew The Scenery and three melodically-breezy EPs that preceded it introduced Lang as a songwriter of rare talents but here is where he really lays down a marker, emerging with an album that takes in playful hooks, poignant lyricism, orchestral swells, ba-roque-pop instrumentation, a record that’s expansive but never overblown, intimate at the same time as being epic. It is his definitive artistic statement.
TRACK LISTING
A Song About Me
Everything Unspoken
Crawl
Leave Me Alone
Blow Ur Cash
Circle Line
Take Me Apart
On God
One Foot First
When You Were A Child (feat. Molly Payton)
The Japanese House has announced details of her second studio album In the End It Always Does. Featuring recent single ‘Boyhood’, much of the album lives in the contradictory: beginnings and endings, obsession and mundanity, falling in love and falling apart.
With the announcement comes new track ‘Sad to Breathe’, an upbeat sounding heartbreaker co-produced by TJH’s Amber Bain with The 1975’s George Daniel and Chloe Kraemer accompanied by a beautiful live alternate version of the track directed by Sheila Johansson which sees Amber and her extended live band strip the track back to its bare bones.
“I wrote Sad To Breathe some time ago, it’s one of the oldest songs on the record.” tells Amber. “It was very different back then; it’s gone from being solely electronic to what it is now, mostly live/ acoustic instrumentation. It’s about that desperate feeling when someone leaves you and the disbelief that they could. It’s funny you could have those kind of insane dramatic thoughts, that feel so real at the time, but can by some miracle look back in fondness to your entire life being ruined. It all circles back around.”
Four years after her widely celebrated debut Good at Falling, this album sees Bain lean even further into the pop realm–with help from Matty Healy and George Daniel from The 1975, Katie Gavin from MUNA and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon among others. Bain credits Gavin especially with injecting her with creative energy and inspiration throughout.
The album also sees Bain work alongside producer and engineer Chloe Kraemer (Rex Orange County, Lava La Rue, Glass Animals), an experience she describes as “life changing” due to the unspoken, shared understanding between marginalised genders in a creative space.
“I’d never worked with a woman or queer person [in that way] before,” Bain says. “It’s nice to have someone who completely understands your standpoint and shared experience. Also, I say ‘she’ in every song... so it’s important that someone understands that.”
With the announcement comes new track ‘Sad to Breathe’, an upbeat sounding heartbreaker co-produced by TJH’s Amber Bain with The 1975’s George Daniel and Chloe Kraemer accompanied by a beautiful live alternate version of the track directed by Sheila Johansson which sees Amber and her extended live band strip the track back to its bare bones.
“I wrote Sad To Breathe some time ago, it’s one of the oldest songs on the record.” tells Amber. “It was very different back then; it’s gone from being solely electronic to what it is now, mostly live/ acoustic instrumentation. It’s about that desperate feeling when someone leaves you and the disbelief that they could. It’s funny you could have those kind of insane dramatic thoughts, that feel so real at the time, but can by some miracle look back in fondness to your entire life being ruined. It all circles back around.”
Four years after her widely celebrated debut Good at Falling, this album sees Bain lean even further into the pop realm–with help from Matty Healy and George Daniel from The 1975, Katie Gavin from MUNA and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon among others. Bain credits Gavin especially with injecting her with creative energy and inspiration throughout.
The album also sees Bain work alongside producer and engineer Chloe Kraemer (Rex Orange County, Lava La Rue, Glass Animals), an experience she describes as “life changing” due to the unspoken, shared understanding between marginalised genders in a creative space.
“I’d never worked with a woman or queer person [in that way] before,” Bain says. “It’s nice to have someone who completely understands your standpoint and shared experience. Also, I say ‘she’ in every song... so it’s important that someone understands that.”
TRACK LISTING
SIDE A:
1. Spot Dog
2. Touching Yourself
3. Sad To Breathe
4. Over There
5. Morning Pages
6. Boyhood
SIDE B:
1. Indexical Reminder Of A Morning Well Spent
2. Friends
3. Sunshine Baby
4. Baby Goes Again
5. You Always Get What You Want
6. One For Sorrow, Two For Joni Jones
The 1975 return new album, ‘Being Funny In A Foreign Language’, via Dirty Hit.
The band’s fifth studio album was written by Matthew Healy & George Daniel and recorded at Real World Studios in Wiltshire, United Kingdom and Electric Lady Studios in New York.
Formed in Manchester in 2002, The 1975 have established themselves as one of the defining bands of their generation with their distinctive aesthetic, ardent fanbase and unique sonic approach.
The band’s previous album, 2020’s ‘Notes On A Conditional Form’, became their fourth consecutive No. 1 album in the UK. The band were named NME’s ‘Band of the Decade’ in 2020 after being crowned ‘Best Group’ at the BRIT Awards in both 2017 & 2019. Their third studio album, ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’, also won ‘Mastercard British Album of the Year’ at the 2019 ceremony.
The band’s fifth studio album was written by Matthew Healy & George Daniel and recorded at Real World Studios in Wiltshire, United Kingdom and Electric Lady Studios in New York.
Formed in Manchester in 2002, The 1975 have established themselves as one of the defining bands of their generation with their distinctive aesthetic, ardent fanbase and unique sonic approach.
The band’s previous album, 2020’s ‘Notes On A Conditional Form’, became their fourth consecutive No. 1 album in the UK. The band were named NME’s ‘Band of the Decade’ in 2020 after being crowned ‘Best Group’ at the BRIT Awards in both 2017 & 2019. Their third studio album, ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’, also won ‘Mastercard British Album of the Year’ at the 2019 ceremony.
TRACK LISTING
1. The 1975
2. Happiness
3. Looking For Somebody (To Love)
4. Part Of The Band
5. Oh Caroline
6. I’m In Love With You
7. All I Need To Hear
8. Wintering
9. Human Too
10. About You
11. When We Are Together
Following on from her critically acclaimed debut “SAWAYAMA”, Rina Sawayama’s highly anticipated new record “Hold The Girl” sees Rina once again juxtapose intimate storytelling with arena-sized songs, creating another ambitious and original album to excite fans and critics alike.
Written and recorded over the last year and a half, Rina once again teamed up with longterm collaborators Clarence Clarity and Lauren Aquilina as well as enlisting help from the likes of the legendary Paul Epworth (Adele, Florence & the Machine), Stuart Price (Dua Lipa, The Killers, Madonna) and Marcus Andersson (Demi Lovato, Ashnikko) for their magic touch.
The product of Rina and these collective minds coming together is an album which melds influences from across the pop spectrum and is a bold and honest statement of Rina’s personal evolution; coming to terms with her own past and the jubilation of turning to the future.
Written and recorded over the last year and a half, Rina once again teamed up with longterm collaborators Clarence Clarity and Lauren Aquilina as well as enlisting help from the likes of the legendary Paul Epworth (Adele, Florence & the Machine), Stuart Price (Dua Lipa, The Killers, Madonna) and Marcus Andersson (Demi Lovato, Ashnikko) for their magic touch.
The product of Rina and these collective minds coming together is an album which melds influences from across the pop spectrum and is a bold and honest statement of Rina’s personal evolution; coming to terms with her own past and the jubilation of turning to the future.
A fiery, confident kick-back against convention, Pale Waves’ third record Unwanted sees the group building on the promise of last year’s UK Top 3 album Who Am I?, and staking their claim as British rock’s most dynamic young group.
“It’s bold and unapologetic, and that’s what the Pale Waves community is about,” says frontwoman Heather Baron-Gracie herself. “We don’t need to fit a perfect mould, we don’t need to apologise for being ourselves, and we won’t change for anyone. That acceptance is what connects us.”
Led by riotous lead single “Lies”, Unwanted is a record that reaches out to the passionate community of misfits and LGBTQI+ fans around the band, tapping into darker emotions than ever before while also striking a fresh tone of defiance.
“It’s bold and unapologetic, and that’s what the Pale Waves community is about,” says frontwoman Heather Baron-Gracie herself. “We don’t need to fit a perfect mould, we don’t need to apologise for being ourselves, and we won’t change for anyone. That acceptance is what connects us.”
Led by riotous lead single “Lies”, Unwanted is a record that reaches out to the passionate community of misfits and LGBTQI+ fans around the band, tapping into darker emotions than ever before while also striking a fresh tone of defiance.
Critically acclaimed, award winning icon for her generation, beabadoobee returns today to announce her forthcoming second studio album Beatopia (pronounced Bay-A-Toe-Pee-Uh). Due for release on Friday 15th July via Dirty Hit, Beatopia is a fantastical yet deeply personal world that was formed in the imagination of a 7 year old beabadoobee and has been carried with her ever since.
Housing Bea's most impressive work to date, Beatopia marks a huge progression, in 14 songs she traverses fuzzy rock, classic singer-songwriter, psychedelia, midwest emo and outright pop whilst remaining undeniably herself throughout.
Housing Bea's most impressive work to date, Beatopia marks a huge progression, in 14 songs she traverses fuzzy rock, classic singer-songwriter, psychedelia, midwest emo and outright pop whilst remaining undeniably herself throughout.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Undeniably melodic and warmly produced throughout, Beabadooobee crafts beautiful pop songs imbued with a lightness and orchestral sway rarely seen in modern pop. It's gorgeously evocative and a great listen.TRACK LISTING
1. Beatopia Cultsong
2. 10:36
3. Sunny Day
4. See You Soon
5. Ripples
6. The Perfect Pair
7. Broken Cd
8. Talk
9. Lovesong
10. Pictures Of Us
11. Fairy Song
12. Don’t Get The Deal
13. Tinkerbell Is Overrated
14. You’re Here That’s The Thing
‘It’s All Smiles' is the highly anticipated debut album from No Rome, produced by Rome alongside BJ Burton BJ Burton (Kanye West, Bon Iver, Charli XCX) and George Daniel (The 1975). Guendoline Rome Viray Gomez hadn’t planned on moving back to Manila, where he’d been born and raised, but the pandemic changed things. A festival appearance evolved into an extended stay with his parents, and then Rome, 24, rented a two-bedroom apartment of his own when it became clear he wouldn’t be returning to London, where he’d been living for the last three years, anytime soon. In the extra room he put his drum machines, synthesisers, monitors, and laptop to create the improvised home studio where he recorded his debut album It’s All Smiles, under his moniker No Rome. It’s an album for quality headphones, where each detail and decision can glisten. It’s the album Rome’s life has been leading to, a crystallized expression of a style that could only have come from his particular set of enthusiasms and influences. It’s major.
TRACK LISTING
1. Space-Cowboy
2. How Are You Feeling?
3. I Want U
4. ITS *N0T* L0V33 (Winter In London)
5. When She Comes Around
6. Secret Beach
7. Issues (After Dark)
8. Remember November / Bitcrush*Yr*Life
9. A Place Where Nobody Knows
10. Everything
THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2021 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY JUNE 12TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.
IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 6PM ON THE SAME DAY (SATURDAY JUNE 12TH).
Marika's first 2 EPs pressed on vinyl for the first time
IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 6PM ON THE SAME DAY (SATURDAY JUNE 12TH).
Marika's first 2 EPs pressed on vinyl for the first time
‘Who Am I?’ is the second album from indie-pop icons Pale Waves, due for release on February 12th 2021. Recorded in L.A. over early 2020 with Rich Costey (Muse, Biffy Clyro, Sigur Ros), and led by the unabashedly huge lead single ‘Change’, it finds the Manchester band stepping up once more, fulfilling the promise of that widely-lauded debut album and striding towards pop megastardom.
TRACK LISTING
1. Change
2. Fall To Pieces
3. She’s My Religion
4. Easy
5. Wish U Were Here
6. Tomorrow
7. You Don’t Own Me
8. I Just Needed You
9. Odd Ones Out
10. Run To
11. Who Am I?
The 1975 deliver the follow up to BRIT Award Album of the Year winner ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’ on 21st February 2020. The band’s 4th album ‘Notes On A Conditional Form’ is set to be already the most anticipated album of 2020 and features the lead single ‘People’ and the Greta Thunberg call to arms album opener, ‘The 1975.’
With a debut album, timing is everything. Too quick, and it can fall on deaf ears, too much unknown in its significant running length. Too long, and any initial buzz has long worn off, an opportunity missed. The Japanese House, however, arrives at ‘Good At Falling’ with steady momentum, carved out over four EPs that saw her graduate from introverted, hushed bedroom pop to fleshed-out, soaring pop. On her debut album, all this progression and promise comes fantastically good.
Amber Bain’s music has always been personal, but meanings have often been shrouded under swathes of production. A world of personal upheaval during the writing and the recording of ‘Good At Falling’ meant her subject matter was unlikely to get more obtuse, but the real power of her long-awaited debut lies in the way these struggles are laid out. Throughout the record, she puts herself in the firing line and lays herself bare.
Despite the album singing of psychological torment (‘You Seemed So Happy’), dissatisfaction with the status quo (‘Follow My Girl’) and moving on from a defining relationship (‘Worms’) across the record, they’re transmitted via the poppiest music Amber has written to date. After reflecting on “Sharing a house, sharing a life, sharing a home” and how there’s “so much pressure not to be alone” in the verse of highlight ‘Worms’, when she preaches to “invest yourself in something worth investing in” in its big, bright chorus, it sounds like a message strong enough to tattoo across your chest in times when being alone feels just a bit too much to bear. -DIYmag
Amber Bain’s music has always been personal, but meanings have often been shrouded under swathes of production. A world of personal upheaval during the writing and the recording of ‘Good At Falling’ meant her subject matter was unlikely to get more obtuse, but the real power of her long-awaited debut lies in the way these struggles are laid out. Throughout the record, she puts herself in the firing line and lays herself bare.
Despite the album singing of psychological torment (‘You Seemed So Happy’), dissatisfaction with the status quo (‘Follow My Girl’) and moving on from a defining relationship (‘Worms’) across the record, they’re transmitted via the poppiest music Amber has written to date. After reflecting on “Sharing a house, sharing a life, sharing a home” and how there’s “so much pressure not to be alone” in the verse of highlight ‘Worms’, when she preaches to “invest yourself in something worth investing in” in its big, bright chorus, it sounds like a message strong enough to tattoo across your chest in times when being alone feels just a bit too much to bear. -DIYmag
Visions Of A Life is the follow up to Wolf Alice’s 2015 Gold-selling debut album My Love Is Cool. It is fundamentally a personal album, and one of great growth for Wolf Alice. The album is incredibly broad in range, refusing to be defined by one idea. From the uncompromising 'Yuk Foo' to the infectious ‘Beautifully Unconventional' and 'Don’t Delete The Kisses’, a dizzyingly romantic track which shows their progression and maturity as songwriters. Visions Of A Life is not an album of cliches. It is packed with surprises for those who think they know Wolf Alice. A darker, bolder, more diverse release from the biggest breakthrough independent band of recent years.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Haunting vocal melodies, swirling shoe-gazing guitar flourishes and aching, melodic breakdowns. It's rare that an album flows so well yet manages to encompass all of the elements Wolf Alice are so renowned for. An absolute belter.TRACK LISTING
1. "Heavenward" 4:55
2. "Yuk Foo" 2:13
3. "Beautifully Unconventional" 2:13
4. "Don't Delete The Kisses" 4:35
5. "Planet Hunter" 3:52
6. "Sky Musings" 2:58
7. "Formidable Cool" 3:33
8. "Space & Time" 2:27
9. "Sadboy" 4:11
10. "St. Purple & Green" 4:21
11. "After The Zero Hour" 3:24
12. "Visions Of A Life" 7:57
