NEW RELEASE OF

THE WEEK:

Lana Del Rey

Chemtrails Over the

Country Club

Delayed for six months because of pandemic-induced production delays, Lana Del Rey releases her seventh studio album this week.

In a thematic continuation of the critically-adored Norman F***ing Rockwell, basslines recede as Chemtrails Over the Country Club leans into a softer, hazier take on Del Rey’s signature California folk.

After working with Taylor Swift on Folklore (awarded Album of the Year at the Grammys earlier this week), Jack Antonoff returns as Del Rey’s main collaborator on songwriting and production.

Joni Mitchell influences mount through the album to an explicit crescendo: the singer tells us she’ll cover Joni in the lyrics to penultimate track Dance Till We Die, and then finishes the album doing just that.

As she floats her vocals over a gorgeous cover of 1970 classic ’For Free’ (featuring indie-pop artists Zella Day and Weyes Blood), we can’t help but see the comparison.

SOUND PICK:

Anderson .Paak

Malibu

.Paak’s second album from 2016 has been given another re-print, and we are delighted to have this back on vinyl.

This is one heartfelt hip hop album, which brings with it a very breezy, cool and funky feel all the way through.

He has really demonstrated his brilliance in songwriting on this album, an improvement from his debut; straight from the opening track ’The Bird’ he lets us into his emotional upbringing, all in a groovy, head-bopping manner.

If you’ve ever caught Anderson .Paak’s NPR Sessions on YouTube, you’ll understand, and this is the album that carries the stand-out track from that session, ’Come Down’ with that funky baseline and jazzy drum beat you can’t help but love.

Malibu is an excellent double album that showcases all the great elements of R&B, funk, hip hop and soul that really propelled .Paak at the time.