A snapshot review of the best new music from September 2022 featuring The 1975, Red Rum Club, Jockstrap, Yungblud and more.
For something a little different, I thought I’d share a few of my current favourite things in new music this month.
Welcome to September’s snap thoughts where I take you through my favourite new songs, discoveries and albums.
Favourite new songs
The 1975 – I’m In Love With You
My love for this band is well documented, most eloquently in my recent rise of The 1975 piece. Their third single for their forthcoming album Being funny in a foreign language was released on September 1st, so it’s an apt place to start for this piece. It is a catchy, fun pop song about being in love with someone and struggling to just tell them this.
The music video is any ’75 fan’s dream, as it’s a spiritual continuation of the storyline from the music video for second album single ‘A Change of Heart’. They played this song before its official release during their Reading and Leeds Festival sets as well, and boy did it sound sweet live.
Red Rum Club – Vanilla
A new single from Liverpool’s Red Rum Club is always welcome. They’re a feel-good band and are so enjoyable to watch live. ‘Vanilla’ sees them talk about bland personalities lyrically (“You're living for Monday, your living is mundane, Your presence is a killer, your flavour, vanilla”) but it still has the trademark trumpet smoothness to make it reside in your head for days on end. You’ll even hear Alex Turner-style vocal delivery in the opening verse on this one too. Press play.
Addictive new albums
Jockstrap – I Love You Jennifer B
Shoutout to NME on this one. I only heard about this new duo through their gushing and their debut album does match its hype to an extent. The group are a little experimental, with electronic sounds swelling around teasing vocals from Georgia Ellery, a member of Black Country, New Road. Whether the members view it as a side project or a new priority, the result is the same: An impressive first offering.
Yungblud - Yungblud
The third record from Dominic Harrison (aka Yungblud) is a true coming-of-age moment for him. It still has the hard-hitting lyricism touching on darker topics and mental health, but it feels much more channelled and less chaotic than his first two albums. His previous album weird! was made during the beginning of the pandemic, and was a good one, but this follow-up has benefitted from further self-reflection and time.
The quieter moments on this LP feel more soft, and intimate; the harsher moments swapped out for punchy-ness; the hooks catchier and each track snappier. It feels like one that will tour very well and surely impress at festivals (he dropped a few new ones into his Glastonbury set which did whet the appetite, to be fair). His recent Radio 1 Live Lounge is worth a watch too, which includes his single ‘Don’t Feel Like Feeling Sad Today’ and his latest ambitious song mashup.
Exciting discovery
Joe Unknown – Ride
I went to the Friday of Leeds Festival and seeing Joe Unknown was likely my first ever venture to the Radio 1 XTRA tent. They opened up the stage and despite not many being in attendance, it was enjoyable to see such a new, and yes, unknown, act exude so much confidence.
This is the sole one of theirs I listened to the night before when doing a “festival cram” – you know, when you’re hurriedly injecting songs from anyone on the bill into your ears to make sure you don’t miss a gem. Honestly, I’ve fallen a little bit in love with this track. It reminds me of Mura Masa & slowthai’s 2020 collaboration ‘Deal Wiv It’ and has obvious Blur influence too. Watch out for the vocal sigh after pretending to misspeak a few lyrics, a genius touch sprinkled in two verses.
What else?
Over the past month, we have published reviews of the new Suede album Autofiction, Death Cab For Cutie's tenth studio album Asphalt Meadows and Two Door Cinema Club's bright new indie pop album Keep On Smiling. (words by Matthew McLister)
There you have it. I’ve touched on a few of the new releases that have really excited me during this month.
At the time of writing, I’m looking forward to listening to Rina Sawayama’s new record Hold the Girl too, which includes the brilliant single ‘This Hell’.
Let us know your favourite current tracks or albums on Twitter: @BFloodlights.