The seven best albums released in February

Gorillaz - Cracker Island, Caroline Polachek - Desire I Want to Turn Into You, and Inhaler - Cuts & Bruises

John Meagher Twitter Email

February 28 2023 11:44 AM

Irish Independent music critic John Meagher has all the records you need to hear this month.

Robert Forster - The Candle and the Flame

Tapete Records

The Australian is revered by discerning music fans. With his Go-Betweens co-writer, the late Grant McLennan, he fashioned marvellous music that endures. This is his eighth solo album and much of it is inspired by his wife and musical companion, Karin Bäumler. These aren’t mawkish love songs — Forster’s elegance as a songsmith ensures as much — but ones borne out of unity and kinship. One of the most affecting songs, She’s a Fighter, was written in the wake of Karin’s ovarian cancer diagnosis. Others, written before, seem to foreshadow impending pain. Quietly powerful and life-affirming.

Caroline Polachek - Desire I Want to Turn Into You

Perpetual Novice

Having cut her teeth in US indie pop band Chairlift as well as co-writing songs for the likes of Beyoncé, the Connecticut singer knows her way around a good tune and there are several of them on this, her second album under her own name. Love is the pervading theme of slow burn tracks that, largely, avoid cliché. The listener is asked to do some of the work — and they will be rewarded. Blood and Butter is typical: an intriguing mix of acoustic instruments, New Age influences and Polachek’s expressive, effortless vocals.

Meg Baird - Furling

Drag City

The San Francisco-based purveyor of timeless folk and Americana may be best known as a member of the now defunct Espers, but her solo career is well worth investigation. This fourth album is a gentle triumph — a study in contemplative, atmospheric songcraft that unfurls gracefully. The music is more expansive than the bare stylings of previous albums, although acoustic guitar and piano remain anchors. Twelve Saints is a touching paean to “friends that we’ve lost” while Ashes Ashes, featuring wordless vocals and homespun arrangements, is utterly beguiling.

Gorillaz - Cracker Island

Parlophone

What once seemed like a side project is now very much Damon Albarn’s primary artistic vehicle, notwithstanding big-venue Blur shows this summer. Gorillaz gleefully hopscotch from genre to genre and there’s little of the contemporary pop landscape that doesn’t feature. With the exception of the Tame Impala and Bootie Brown-assisted New Gold, there are few bangers, but Cracker Island shines in slower moments, such as Silent Running, which features Adeleye Omotayo— a veteran of live Gorillaz — and Possession Island, a wistful ballad, with backing vocals from Beck.

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Lisa O’Neill - All of This is Chance

Rough Trade

Already a national treasure, the Cavan folkie’s starkly beautiful songs are finding appreciative audiences overseas. This fifth album puts her voice front and centre, and her meticulously honed words are as evocative as the music is enthralling. Silver Seed germinates slowly and is built around O’Neill’s trademark banjo, with delicate strings providing texture. The sparse, piano-led Goodnight World is a haunting lullaby urging a loved one to “Settle your head, pet/Send your bones to sleep.” A lovely sentiment for an always-on world.

New Pagans - Making Circles of Our Own

Big Scary Monsters

The Belfast band, built around a husband-and-wife duo from across the religious divide, do a fine line in alt-rock. Their first album was a bold statement of intent and this second is even more potent. Self-produced and retaining much of the DIY aesthetic that has captivated admirers to date, it will refuel those Pixies and PJ Harvey comparisons. At its core is the marvellous There We Are John, a tribute to the late film-maker Derek Jarman. It’s a powerhouse of frenetic percussion, intoxicating guitars and Lyndsey McDougall’s impassioned vocals.

Inhaler - Cuts & Bruises

Polydor

The Dublin quartet scored a UK number one with an uneven debut album. This follow-up is a much more expansive, consistently strong affair that will ensure their upwards trajectory continues. Their pop sensibilities have been ramped up and, although the final part of the album drags, there are plenty of robust, hugely likeable and catchy songs begging for airplay. Elijah Hewson may not (yet) be the most remarkable lyricist, but he delivers the songs like he means them. The sound is honed for big venues and These are the Days is likely to be immense when they support Harry Styles at Slane.