By Happy New Year! Us at ICM have got a new server for Christmas. It now gives us the ability to expand and compete with the best indie music blogs around. So it’s slightly late, but these three albums below are just some of our writers favourite albums of 2015!
The future is bright!
Harry Curtis picks: Wolf Alice – My Love Is Cool
My Love Is Cool is the debut studio album from Wolf Alice and is tinged with the grimy sound they have become synonymous with. A fusion of alternative rock and post-grunge inevitably brings a unique sound, but Ellie Roswell’s stunning vocals amplify their originality. Being able to switch from the gentle and innocent singer in Soapy Water to an utter rock Goddess midway through You’re a Germ enables Wolf Alice to feel fresh and innovative throughout the entire album.
The variety in My Love Is Cool is as much a statement as it is an album, with the hard hitting lyrics being entwined with the romanticised guitar vibes. You’re a Germ talk of the ‘dodgy fucker’ taking advantage whilst Giant Peach confronts the suffocation of boredom with ‘what the hell keeps me here? In this dark old town that I’ve adored’.
Listening to My Love is Cool becomes an experience and a journey, and although the mix can provide easy listening its enjoyed most when they lyrics are deconstructed, the drums and guitars are pulled apart and the album isn’t just listened to but appreciated for the art it is. Not many bands take as many risks as Wolf Alice, and the flitting between genres in songs and the eclectic mix that congregates to become My Love is Cool may alienate some older fans – its undeniable the album comes together to cement its place as one of the best albums of 2015.
Adam Hamza picks: Chvrches – Every Open Eye
The most popular songs from Chvrches’ album are ‘Leave a Trace’ and ‘Clearest Blue’, and I can see why. Leave a trace was the first song to be released from the album, and gave fans a hunger for their second album. ‘Clearest Blue’ starts out as a relatively sedate song that works up to a beat drop that is simply addictive.
In my view a good album must include more than one song that I really like, otherwise it would be a good single – not a good album.
In the case of chvrches, I adore every single song on ‘Every Open Eye’. It is rare that I can play through an album without skipping songs that feel like they were created as an afterthought to fill the album. Yet while listening to Every Open eye, I will happily listen to and enjoy every single track. And for me, that is what makes it a truly great Album.
Alex Pearson picks: Circa Waves – Young Chasers
Circa Waves have had a pretty awesome year. The Indie-rock quartet has released their first album Young Chasers, which has pretty much set the indie scene alight. There’s not a flawed song in this album, that is why I love listening to the album all day, everyday – and well deserve a spot as one of the best albums of 2015. The catchy three-minute songs describe what you get from Circa Waves: Blatant Strokes of electrifying guitars and drums that will make your head explode in excitement. So watch out for so-called toxic levels of sun and t-shirt weather!
The band have been touring the album across Europe before having a sopt on the BBC Radio1/NME stage at Reading Festival this year, highlighting their great achievement. Circa Waves haven’t been just sitting around after a active and sweaty summer, the band have released a new single caled ‘Something Like You’, tuning the siong down slow bringing out more acoustics. It’s a soothing touch compared to every song in Young Chasers.
While the album represents a clear and well-formed sound (not bad for a band who’ve only been together since 2013), a little sonic variation from the guitars and four to the floor 3-minute wonders wouldn’t go amiss. But Circa Waves will be huge because even the most po-faced generation needs light relief and, this last half-decade, all we have really seen the last couple of years is the hollow faux-indie of Bastille. We need more band like these! That’s why I picked them for our best albums of 2015.
