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- Music Review: Top 10 Albums of 2022 – Part 1 - 17 December, 2022
John Preston picks his 5 essential tracks from the last 7 days
Blondie – Long Time
Dev Hynes of Blood Orange fame continues his major love-in with Deborah Harry et al. His co-write on ‘Long Time’ with the band has resulted in a glorious union and of the 3 teased songs from forthcoming album Pollinator so far, this is the one that most resembles gorgeous, classic Blondie.
Saint Etienne – Heather
A new Saint Etienne album is always a major pop event and the typically, and brilliantly, named Home Counties, their 9th official studio release, will be out in June. ‘Heather’ has an experimental vibe, a challenging and lurching time signature and is a tale of demonic possession in a haunted home.
Perfume Genius – Slip Away
This is how to do it. A blustering blast of psychedelic pop which marks the return of Perfume Genius and sees him taking a large stride towards becoming more than just a divine acquired taste for some. Appreciate this Queen and ignore him at your peril, he’s probably more than any of you deserve.
Aimee Mann – Patient Zero
Aimee Mann is a singer-songwriter who has a writing style that is so clearly and obviously hers that it would be difficult not to recognise one of her compositions even if she was not the singer. Her new material is also a welcome return to her quintessential soundscape of pianos, strings and those wonderfully melancholic melodies.
Actress – X22RME
Darren Cunningham returns (it’s a week of em!) with new music and surprises with a profound shift in sound. The last Actress release was dry and repetitive, full of loops and tics but ‘X22RME’ is an infectious, minimal house track which ends with a muddle of sampled voices extolling the personal value of seemingly worthless objects
