A Week in Records: Mac DeMarco, Chelsea Wolfe, HEALTH

ALBUM OF THE WEEK: Mac DeMarco – Another One [Captured Tracks]

It’s not just summery vibes with a hint of melancholia in the Mac DeMarco camp; should you be looking for the playful intuitions that underpin his sound, then look no further than the epilogue of latest release Another One, when the Canadian singer-songwriter – now based out of Far Rockaway, NYC – drawls what’s presumably his beachfront address, then invites us round for a cup of coffee. <<read more>>

Chelsea Wolfe – Abyss [Sargent House]

Density, weight and punishing intensity threaten to entirely submerge Chelsea Wolfe’s fourth album in a cloak of gothic camouflage. But peer behind the veneer and what do you encounter? Rather than the banshee figure one might expect, Abyss portrays a skilled songwriter at the peak of her game, capable of composing wonderfully harmonious, country-tinged laments – albeit drowning them in outlandish studio trickery and effects. <<read more>>

The Telescopes – Hidden Fields [Tapete]

Behold thy glorious racket. In their various guises, psych veterans The Telescopes have constantly forged routes between the tropes of melodic shoegaze and abrasive, full-on dissonance; it’s almost as if Stephen Lawrie can’t quite fathom where allegiance should lay. Which is no bad thing, as eighth album Hidden Fields suggests. Slow burning rather than outright incendiary, yet each of the five tracks pulse in sly patterns, the dense, fuzzy contours are a riptide, licking its lips at unwary swimmers. <<read more>>

Titus Andronicus – The Most Lamentable Tragedy [Merge]

In 2009, Titus Andronicus released The Monitor, a record which took the concept of the American Civil War and used it as an allegory for modern life as an underdog. TMLT takes that same ambition and repurposes it as a blistering rock opera dealing with alienation, manic depression, body doubles and transformative soul-searching. <<read more>>

HEALTH – Death Magic [Loma Vista]

If brooding, primal opener Victim is anything to go by, you'd be forgiven for thinking HEALTH are going back to their confrontational roots with their first proper record in six years, but it's not long before they begin to push their pop sensibilities to the forefront, as they did with their two DISCO LPs. Lead single Stonefist boasts the LA quartet's otherworldly style of aggressive, sexy electronica, whereas the ethereal Life soundtracks heartache on the dancefloor. <<read more>>