Recommendations: August 2013

"Home" - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes
This was released back in 2009 but it was still the song of the summer for me this year, partly due to the fact that my French family (who are always a couple of years behind in popular culture which is sort of lovely) have been playing it frequently. It's just incredibly happy and full of love, and a song I know I'll be listening to for a long time.


Princess Century
I had the joy of watching Austra drummer Maya Postepski's UK solo debut this month in Manchester, and whilst I'm not normally massively into electro stuff her live show is beautiful, she incorporates film into her set really nicely, and new album "Lossless" is really special.

"The Wire" - Haim
Haven't stopped going on about these three sisters from LA for weeks, and their new single is just stellar - -dirty- moans of guitar in the introduction, the -slow/anticipation- rhythm of it all and a . The video is hilarious, smart and brilliantly showcases all of the sass and style of Alana, Danielle and Este.

"The Civil Wars" - The Civil Wars
The Civil Wars latest album is a very personal and open admission and venture into the turmoil between members John Paul White and Joy Williams (they recorded it at a time they were barely speaking to each other, think "Rumours"), and possibly in there is an explanation for the hiatus they've just taken because of "irreconcilable differences". But a lot of the songs actually seem to come from a place of joy and not hate, specifically "Eavesdrop" and "From This Valley", though I love every song on this record. I'm really hoping these two will make music together some day.

"Bonfire Heart" - James Blunt
I've said this before and I'll probably say it again (albeit always a little sheepishly), I genuinely think that James Blunt is really good - some of the better mawkish ballads in his discography are really nice, and there's definitely some great cheesy feel-good singles that are fun to sing along with when you've had about six glasses of wine (ahem) . His new single "Bonfire Heart" is tiny bit folky, definitely catchy and the video is one you'll call out for being tacky and secretly it warms your heart a little bit.

"Dancing in the Dark" (cover) - Eddie Berman and Laura Marling
Not much to say about this Springsteen cover except it's very simple, and very beautiful. I'm not sure what makes it so captivating - the -word about guitar pattern-, or how heartbreakingly vulnerable Marling's falsetto sounds singing the words "I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face."