Here is a round up of our top five albums that have been released today.
1. Amy Shark releases new album ‘Cry’
8 x ARIA award winner, indie-pop singer-songwriter Amy Shark has today released her highly anticipated sophomore album, CRY FOREVER via RCA UK.
Written and recorded between the US, UK, New Zealand and Shark’s home studio on the Gold Coast, her exceptional song writing is on full display here, co-producing with A-List producers: Dann Hume (ARIA 2018 & 2019 Producer Of The year), M-Phazes (Ruel, Eminem), Joel Little (Lorde, Taylor Swift), Jamie Hartman (Lewis Capaldi, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man), Dan Wilson (Adele, Leon Bridges) and Sammy Witte (Harry Styles, King Princess).CRY FOREVER also sees Shark team up with blink 182’s Travis Barker on ‘C’MON’ and global superstar Ed Sheeran to co-write single ‘Love Song’s Ain’t For Us’ featuring Grammy award winning artist Keith Urban.
“I’m so excited to finally share this album with you all,” says Shark. “It’s honest and sometimes dark but with sprinkles of happiness, loneliness, confusion and most of all passion.”
Through her unvarnished, emotional song writing and flair for storytelling, Amy traverses topics as universal and confounding as love and heartbreak, triumph and disappointment, beauty and ugliness in an effort to better understand herself, other people, and the world. “Everyone has been through these things at some www. Even if they’re not relating to it exactly, there are so many lyrics you can pull from and turn into your own story,” she says.
Exploring unrequited love on the pizzicato laced ‘Everybody Rise’ and serving as the first offering from the 13-track album, the now platinum accredited single clearly struck a chord with audiences, clocking up 27 million streams globally, spending 12 weeks in the top 10 Australian airplay chart, and earning Amy an ARIA award for ‘Best Pop Release’ in 2020, her third win in the category. The second single, ‘C’MON’, arrived in the form of a slow-burning pop track showcasing Amy’s hopeful, resilient and far-reaching voice alongside live percussion by blink 182’s Travis Barker. Her pursuit continued with the fan release of ‘All The Lies About Me’ , a powerful acoustic number in which Amy reckons with feelings of betrayal and the complexities of life in the public eye.
Amy Shark will perform a YouTube Global Livestream tomorrow, May 1 HERE.
2. Royal Blood release ‘Typhoons’
Royal Blood have today released their long awaited third album ‘Typhoons’, which looks set to become the defining rock album of 2021. Its four singles (‘Trouble’s Coming’, ‘Typhoons’, ‘Limbo’ and ‘Boilermaker’) have made a phenomenal global impact, landing three consecutive Hottest Records courtesy of Annie Mac at Radio 1, another 50 million streams and the biggest North American airplay of their career. Meanwhile, early critical acclaim for the album has seen it heralded as the duo’s best record to date.
When Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher sat down to talk about making a new album, they knew what they wanted to achieve. It involved a conscious return to their roots, back when they had made music that was influenced by Daft Punk, Justice, and Philippe Zdar of Cassius. It also called for a similar back-to-basics approach to what had made their self-titled debut album so thrilling, visceral and original.
3. Sofia shares debut EP ‘Control’
The powerful offering is a bold and impressive addition to her two previous releases ‘Here Again’ & ‘State of Flux.’
The six-track body of work is a coming of age moment for the rising artist. Written as she was finding her feet in adulthood, the EP is a significant moment for Sofia both as a woman and an artist. Sharing more, Sofia explained: “ I wrote these songs while I was developing my artist sound and I was also beginning my first ‘adult’ relationship. Both these things made me a lot more self-aware of the ways our own insecurities and fears come out when we are in a vulnerable position. In my career and my personal life, I’m learning to let go of the illusion that I can control things. It’s not real and I’ve learned that when you are so focused on fulfilling a set expectation you’ll often miss out the most wonderfully unexpected moments. “
Stand out previous single ‘State of Flux’ also touches on relaxing into the uncertainties of life and accepting that the only way forward is to jump into the unknown. It’s a gorgeous and reassuring track. Whilst Debut single Here Again is a darker, cinematic offering boasting heart-pounding vocals and dramatic production.
The newly unveiled ‘Cut Deep’ is a commanding and beautiful take on being emotionally driven and mastering the art of being vulnerable. Explaining further, Sofia shares: “‘Cut Deep’ is probably the most tongue-in-cheek song on the EP. It was written as somewhat of a warning to anyone who wants to be with me. I think women, in particular, can sometimes feel like they’re ‘too much’ emotionally and with this song I wanted to be unapologetic about that and embrace the fact that ultimately it’s something that we should celebrate. Getting depth from a relationship is a wonderful thing, but I can have a sense of humor about it. “
Working as a songwriter for a number of years Sofia has cultivated much esteem from fellow artists and writers. Only embarking on her solo career this year, she’s already received a wealth of praise from task maker press and playlisting.
4. Fences releases EP ‘Wide Eyed Elk Ensemble’
Singer-songwriter Christopher Mansfield (aka FENCES) has just released a new 5-track EP titled ‘Wide Eyed Elk Ensemble.’
The EP builds on the sounds of his previous effort, the critically acclaimed LP ‘Failure Sculptures,’ which was released as an expanded deluxe edition earlier this year.
Mansfield says “It’s actually the favourite record that I’ve done. Just because I feel like I’m the strongest I’ve been lyrically, I just put a lot of care into the poetry of it and the music is a good mix of all my records. This feels like where I should be.”
Over the years, the musician has caught the attention of and collaborated with a diverse group of fellow artists including Tegan & Sara, Macklemore, Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla, Jacquire King (Of Monsters and Men), Nile Marr (son of Johnny Marr), Cedric Bixler-Zavala (The Mars Volta, At The Drive-In) and Ryan Lewis, while touring with the likes of Against Me! and Hellogoodbye.
5. Hymns release their new EP ‘Reset’
Unable to avert their eyes from the unravelling world around them, London alternative rock band, HYMNS return with their new Reset EP.
Plucking from a wealth of genres and pop culture references, for the past four years, HYMNS have been making epic and ethereal rock songs that exist to enlighten and energise all who bear witness. With thick Baritone vocals and rousing choral hooks, their music is appropriately bittersweet. Whereas the infectious guitars and driving bass lines of their debut London EP documented the inherent solitude of inner city living, the band have since been looking outwards, obliged to think bigger about the sinister direction of today’s global politics. Woven from stories of personal experience, the band’s unapologetic honesty supports the weight of their music’s sturdy foundations.
Announcing the details for their brand-new Reset EP, the band’s incoming lead single and title track picks up from where they left off by reinforcing their well-aimed social commentary with foreboding moments of theatrical guitar hero pageantry, all the while satisfying a convincing mission statement.
Frontman, Oliver Hooper: “Written in a time of great political and social unrest, people continue to celebrate and prioritise capital gain and empty technological breakthroughs (colonizing Mars, etc) at the expense of humanity and our ‘own’ planet earth. The song is a call to arms for change before it’s too late.”
