Paradise Found is Open with Music to Cure Your Quarantine Blues!
Welcome to the latest edition of the Paradise Found Blog, actually revisiting a Bart’s Blog post from a year ago. Pandemic or not, one thing is for sure: music’s therapeutic value is important now more than ever. And Paradise Found is here to keep your music needs satiated. While we all await the return of live concerts, there is no shortage of great new releases from 2020.
Fiona Apple–Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Apple’s first release in eight (!) years dropped digitally in April and will be released on vinyl and CD in mid-July. The best-reviewed album of her career, Fetch the Bolt Cutters is more percussion-based and minimally produced than her first four records but maintains her sharp edges and penchant for squeezing syllables into songs. My personal favorite here is “Under The Table,” where she rails against a partner for making her attend a dinner party with people she’s repelled by (the chorus is “Kick me under the table all you want, I won’t shut up”). As sparse as it may sound next to her first few records, Fetch the Bolt Cutters still reveals new things musically and lyrically with each spin.Car Seat Headrest–Making a Door Less Open
This is Will Toledo’s first album of all-new material since 2016’s Teens of Denial (2018’s great Twin Fantasy was a new-and-improved version of a 2011 LP). Making a Door Less Open finds Toledo consciously stripping down his guitar-based songs and then rebuilding them with a techno, synth-centric sensibility. It might sound strange at first, but the strong material ultimately prevails to make this record an irresistible departure for the Seattle-based band. They may already be indie low-fi alt-rock Gods, but Car Seat Headrest deserves credit for successfully navigating a radically different direction on their twelfth record.
Tame Impala–The Slow Rush
Kevin Parker’s first LP in five years may not reach the stunning heights of Currents, but it gets surprisingly close. Parker continues his evolution towards synth-pop with impressive effect. Lyrically the LP is more confessional and reflective than his first three releases. The notable highlight here is “Posthumous Forgiveness,” where he longs for his late father, who abandoned him as a youth and passed away before he had a chance to see his son achieve worldwide fame. Whether he’s channeling Supertramp, Prince, or Daft Punk, the sonic soundscapes on this album make for superlative headphone listening and prove that Parker is still at the top of his game.
Waxahatchee–Saint Cloud
Katie Crutchfield has been making records since 2010 under the moniker Waxahatchee, a reference to a creek near where she grew up in Alabama. Saint Cloud, her fifth release, is her best, most accessible music to date. The Americana-rooted album practically leaps off the turntable and is full of catchy melodies that are bound to implant themselves in your frontal lobe. Saint Cloud is sure to be on a lot of best-of lists at the end of 2020.
