Four Records We're Buzzed About
Pre-order season is doing something interesting right now — Bonobo, Westside Cowboy, Ezra Collective and Charli XCX all have new records worth knowing about before they land.
Pre-order season is doing something interesting right now. Here's what's landed on our radar.
Bonobo — Distance in Static
Simon Green's eighth record, and by his own suggestion possibly his last under that name in the traditional sense — which makes it worth paying attention to. Recorded across LA, Tokyo, London and Neil Young's ranch, it's got Joy Crookes, Nilüfer Yanya and Arooj Aftab on it, lyrics in three languages, and the kind of meticulous, layered production Bonobo's always been known for. If you liked Four Tet or Floating Points recently, start here. Pressed on pastel blue vinyl.
Pre-order Distance in Static →
Westside Cowboy — It Goes On
Three years ago this was four people in Manchester starting a band for the fun of it. Now they've won Glastonbury's Emerging Talent Competition and toured with Black Country, New Road and Geese. It Goes On is eleven songs of loose, cathartic guitar music that sounds like it was made by people who still can't quite believe their luck — in the best way. For anyone into Wunderhorse or Fontaines D.C.
Ezra Collective — Here Because of Hope
The Mercury Prize winners' most ambitious record yet, built around a genuinely good question: why does so much Black music born out of pain sound so joyful? Three movements tracing that sound from Africa and the Caribbean to the youth centres of London where the band first found each other. Pa Salieu, Lila Iké and Leona Lewis all feature. This is a record with something to say.
Pre-order Here Because of Hope →
Charli XCX — Music, Fashion, Film
The follow-up to Brat swaps confrontation-through-immediacy for confrontation-through-restraint. Produced largely with A.G. Cook, the early singles lean into post-punk and new wave rather than the club. The cover — Charli alongside John Cale, Marc Jacobs and Martin Scorsese — tells you exactly what she's going for. Comes with a poster and a die-cut dress sleeve on this pressing.
Pre-order Music, Fashion, Film →
All four are up for pre-order now.