Good new releases seemed a bit thin on the ground for the first few weeks of 2021, but now a bunch of them have come along all at once so I thought I’d throw them all into one post. It never rains but it pours.
Private Life – Virginia Wing. Post-punky, avant-garde pop. Like something John Peel would’ve played in 1980 but shiny enough you don’t need to be an angsty teenager to enjoy it.
An Overview on Phenomenal Nature – Cassandra Jenkins. Quiet, intimate, and impressionistic dream folk. “Hard Drive” might be the best track I’ve heard so far this year.
Magic Mirror – Pearl Charles. The Carpenters meet ABBA in a Country bar.
Collapsed in Sunbeams – Arlo Parks. Warm and soulful singer-songwriter from London with chill grooves and Robert Smith references in the lyrics.
cryingallthewaytothechipshop.wordpress.com 
I rationed myself to one a day: on this evidence Arlo Parks is the front-runner but I liked the Biddu/ Noosha Fox stylings of the Pearl Charles one. I thought I’d like Virginia Wing’s one more when it started but it got a bit ‘Future Sailors’ as it went on.
Thanks for these: stay safe.
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Thanks for these (heard Arlo Parks on the Beeb – and yes, it makes me pay attention every time I hear it). I’m liking the lazy sax in “Hard Drive”. First impression was definitely it’s similarity to Paddy Mcaloon’s “I Trawl the Megahertz” (muted trumpet in that) – although a bit more will-o-the-wisp (and not quite so melancholy). I like it. Wing one was okay. Still waiting to listen to Pearl Charles (although the above mention of Noosha Fox gives me hope).
If you’re unfamiliar with Trawl, I highly recommend giving it a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-P7yVqJ9Wk
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its similarity (damnit!).
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