In this time of global uncertainty, the troubadours of BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD are here to address one of our society's most pressing questions: is twee back? Can we finally take our Oxford shirts & owl-print sweater vests back to the dry cleaners? Well... sort of. With the departure of frontman Isaac Wood, BC,NR certainly moves away from the nervous energy of a record like "Ants From Up There" towards a sunnier sound that has a kinship with BELLE & SEBASTIAN or CAMERA OBSCURA while titling their songs things like "Besties" and "Socks". But that undersells just how prog-ish this record is, particularly evoking Canterbury scene acts like CARAVAN and SOFT MACHINE with knotty composition and jazz-folk arrangement. Another zag from this band, but to the right ear this comes RECOMMENDED.

Recording over three nights in London in December of 2022, "Live at Bush Hall" presents as a soundtrack to a YouTube concert documentary but really functions as another entry into the (un)official BC,NR catalog. In the wake of Isaac Wood's voluntary departure, singing has been taken up by committee, giving the experiments an invitingly twee atmosphere. Yet though this band is constantly shifting, BC,NR still retains the intrepid spirit of their previous albums, at once playful and imposing. On Ninja Tune and RECOMMENDED.

In this time of global uncertainty, the troubadours of BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD are here to address one of our society's most pressing questions: is twee back? Can we finally take our Oxford shirts & owl-print sweater vests back to the dry cleaners? Well... sort of. With the departure of frontman Isaac Wood, BC,NR certainly moves away from the nervous energy of a record like "Ants From Up There" towards a sunnier sound that has a kinship with BELLE & SEBASTIAN or CAMERA OBSCURA while titling their songs things like "Besties" and "Socks". But that undersells just how prog-ish this record is, particularly evoking Canterbury scene acts like CARAVAN and SOFT MACHINE with knotty composition and jazz-folk arrangement. Another zag from this band, but to the right ear this comes RECOMMENDED.

The ridiculously talented multi-instrumentalist Dev Hynes returns with his 4th album as BLOOD ORANGE. The lo-fi bedroom pop sound of the early albums is still there but Hyne's has blended this with sounds of 80's/ 90's soul & R&B ala Marvin Gaye, Prince & D'Angelo. In interviews Hynes states that the album is inspired by his struggles with depression & those in the black & queer community that are battling their own demons. Totally futurist & forward-thinking music that we need right now. RECOMMENDED.

Freetown, Sierra Leone. It's where Dev Hynes' father is from, & one of the many inspirations for this new record. It's also a statement in some ways. This is a record with many of the same social expressions that have been very prominent in the past few years, & textured with R&B, Funk, & Electro sounds, to make what Hynes calls a "clapback," for anyone who's been told they're not enough.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW OF DIRECTOR PETER BOGDANOVICH BY WES ANDERSON

To me, that's preposterous. Beyond Rangoon, things of that nature.