Music
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12 albums to listen to this April
Including new records from Metallica, Angel Olsen, The National and Daughter
The month of Fools is also the last bit of the year before festival season starts – with next month ringing in an early summer at The Great Escape and Creamfields South. It’s also Easter, which means a nice long four-day weekend to binge April’s new releases. Up this month is a big one from Metallica, a little one from Angel Olsen and a long overdue one from Daughter.
Here’s our pick of the bunch from the April album releases.
5 April
Hayden – Are We Good
“Few songwriters out there can rival Toronto’s Hayden for subtle, considered indie folk. Are We Good is his first full album since 2015 and finds him collaborating with Feist on the sublime ‘On A Beach’ and duetting and co-writing with The National’s Matt Berninger. The National loom large throughout, with the band’s guitarist and producer-to-the-stars Aaron Dessner behind the desk.” Mark
7 April
Blondshell – Blondshell
“Singer-songwriter Sabrina Teitelbaum was tapped as one to watch even before the release of her debut single, ‘Olympus’, a raw look at addiction and need. Since then she’s met the industry’s gaze with a series of equally confident follow-ups. From indie-rock romance ‘Kiss City’ to the gorgeous pop-tinged ‘Joiner’, Blondshell has the makings of a spectacular debut record.” Caitlin
Yaeji – With A Hammer
“It feels like a lifetime ago that we were dancing in clubs to ‘Raingurl’, Yaeji’s deep and delicious sassy banger that made listeners feel like they were showering in dollars bills. Six years on, the Brooklyn-based DJ and producer is finally ready to release her debut, and though there will no doubt be more late-night dance-floor belters, first singles ‘Done (Let’s Get It)’ and ‘For Granted’ hints that With A Hammer will be anything than a straight-up dance record.” John
Daughter – Stereo Mind Game
“It’s been six years since Music From Before The Storm, but Daughter have finally returned to deliver us a new dose of gloriously existential indie rock. The three singles that we have so far suggest that the band are continuing to refine their ever-successful formula: restrained vocals and instrumentals delivering fierce, confronting honesty. We’ll prepare to be devastated.” Caitlin
NF – HOPE
“NF’s conversational style of rap makes the listener feel as if they are reading his diary, so frank and effortless it’s possible to forget the skill it takes to be this accessible. The album’s titular lead single hits like a train, as the rapper races through the last 30 years of his life and argues with his worst instincts. HOPE promises to take us deeper into Nate’s psyche than ever before.” Caitlin
14 April
Metallica – 72 Seasons
“Ever since their debut, Kill ‘Em All, Metallica have been helping teenagers break from the shackles of their youth to grow into the adults they want to become. Forty years on, Lars Ulrich and co. nod to this feat with their 11th album, 72 Seasons (i.e., the first 18 years of our life), which will no doubt inspire another generation in thrashy, head-nodding style.” John
Angel Olsen – Forever Means
“Angel Olsen knows how to get the most out of her albums. 2019’s All Mirrors fed two whole records, and now last year’s Big Time is getting its own EP of offcuts. There’s only four tracks here, but it includes the last-orders perfection of the recently released title track, which is already reason enough for a pre-order. It also has a track called ‘Time Bandits’ which I’m really hoping has guest vocals from John Cleese.” Paul
The Tallest Man On Earth – Henry St.
“The Tallest Man on Earth’s Kristian Matsson is supposedly at his best while on the move. ‘When I’m in motion, I can focus on my instinct, have my daydreams again’, he said recently on writing new LP Henry St. While ‘Every Little Heart’ may capture his own kinetic shuffle, expect much of the Swedish songwriter’s new album to stop you in your tracks.” John
Lachlan Denton – Furnishings
“The Melbourne songwriter has many guises, mostly as a member of The Ocean Party and collaborator with Emma Russack (their song ‘Authenticity’ is a grade-A stunner). Furnishings is his first record on his tod since 2018 but carries on the laid-back indie pop of Russack and Denton’s 2021 album Something is Going to Change Tomorrow, Today. What Will You Do? What Will You Say? Effortlessly charming and sneakily catchy.” Mark
21 April
Floodlights – Painting Of My Time
“The Melbourne quartet are very much children of Antipodean music history, weaving in elements of Flying Nun jangle, post punk tension and the kind of indie rock you blast out the windows of a Ute rattling along a dusty road. You could just as easily see sitting comfortably next to Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever as The Drones or The Saints. Their last outing, From A View, was a 2020 highlight (God knows we needed them) but advance singles suggest Painting Of My Time might be even better.” Mark
28 April
The National – The First Two Pages Of Frankenstein
“‘You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings. I arrived here yesterday, and my first task is to assure my dear sister of my welfare and increasing confidence in the success of my undertaking…’ The first two lines of Frankenstein are, frankly, clunky as Hell. The First Two Pages…, though, is off to a better start, with five great tracks already trickled out. All ears will be on the collaborations with Phoebe Bridgers, Sufjan Stevens and Taylor Swift, but with The National now constantly talking about different directions and new eras, the whole album already feels like a milestone.” Paul
JOSEPH – The Sun
“The trio give us the irresistibly warm indie-pop promised in titular single ‘The Sun’, and the perfect pop-song-with-a-message in ‘Nervous System’. The Sun will be heading our way just as temperatures begin to rise and it’s looking like it’s going to be a true summer soundtrack. The Closner sisters haven’t missed yet.” Caitlin
Tickets are on sale now or soon for many of the names on this month’s list at ticketmaster.co.uk, with a lot of major tours and dates still to be announced this year.
