5 new releases we love: Wolf Parade soundtracks our tech anxiety, Hayley Williams goes solo, more
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Wolf Parade with dog parade Photo: Pamela Evelyn & Joseph Yarmush
Mick Jenkins, The Circus
[Cinematic Music Group, January 10]
Hip-hop, maybe more than any genre, is always openly reflecting on its own industry, whether it’s young rappers wanting to make it, made rappers flaunting their success, or others still critiquing the hypocrisies of the game. Mick Jenkins is largely in the latter camp on his latest EP, The Circus, a moody and meandering set of tracks that hint at the direction of the Chicago MC’s next full-length. Jenkins’ flow is sharp but inviting throughout The Circus, and dense with skillful rhymes, as he outlines his own place in what can be a hostile business (“Same Ol”) and country (“Carefree”) for young Black men. “They just want the hooks, got me out here fighting sickle cell,” he raps on “Different Scales,” while trying to find freedom from police profiling, phony people, and negativity on other songs. Even with Jenkins in looser form than on his ambitious previous LPs, The Circus is worth the whirl. [Kelsey J. Waite]
Nicolas Godin, Concrete And Glass
[Because Music, January 24]
A new Air album isn’t in the works, but the French duo’s members continually replenish the sonic supplies. Nicolas Godin’s second solo album, Concrete And Glass, shares DNA with the synthpop of Air and uses architecture as its jumping-off point. The record’s origins trace back to when Godin was commissioned by artist Xavier Veilhan to create music in response to four noted homes designed by modernist architects in which Veilhan was staging exhibits. Those minimalist compositions are finely shaped into an atmosphere-based album, partially by having featured vocalists including Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor on the soft-focus “Catch Yourself Falling” and Cola Boyy on the floating “The Foundation.” Godin himself gets on the vocoder—a signature sound for Air on the title track that evokes a familiar spacey feeling that sets the stylish retro-ambient tone for Concrete And Glass. A quarter century of practice, and Godin has perfected the art of drawing a warm digital sound bath. [Lily Moayeri]
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