Lorna Irvine reveals her top picks of the year.
1. Ezra Furman- Perpetual Motion People (Bella Union)
There could be only one. With a formidable energy and incendiary live sets, Ezra Furman has created an accessible, but still left field third solo album, which is everything that's wonderful about modern pop. As likely to be discussing intersectionality as lipstick shades, the stylish Chicago singer, backed by The
Boyfriends, has stolen hearts and minds with his wry intelligent lyrics about sexuality, mental health issues and modern-day paranoia. His wildly inventive videos show what you can do with the medium. Fusing doo-wop with garage, punk and glam stompers, he is unique-at present, the ultimate pop icon for this generation. Possibly the heir to Morrissey's (now somewhat tarnished) crown, with songs like Can I Sleep in Your Brain and Haunted Head he makes music that matters. Restless Year brought him to a whole new audience, and Lousy Connection sealed the deal. Furman is living proof that pop isn't merely a vacuous, throwaway medium: beautiful music for troubled times. ''I want the universe, God knows I've been patient'', he sings. It's his.
2. Ibeyi- Ibeyi (XL Recordings)
A gorgeous debut album. Featuring the haunting vocals of French-Cuban twin sisters Naomi and Lisa-Kainde Diaz, it's best enjoyed on an overcast, slightly melancholy Sunday afternoon. Singing in English and Yoruba, an ancient Nigerian language, they also play piano, Cajon and Bata drum. River, Mama Says and Oya are jazz/world music-inflected pop, gently underpinned by samples and electro percussion. It may not vary stylistically over the whole album, but with such beautiful sounds, that is but a small quibble.
3. Ghostpoet- Shedding Skin (PIAS Records)
Obaro Ejimiwe, the incredibly loveable artist from Coventry who records under the name of Ghostpoet, is a twice Mercury-nominated MC, artist and producer. Indeed, this third album is self-produced. His moody, low-key approach is getting further away from hip-hop; but then, he was never purely one to be categorised. Tackling issues of homelessness, soured love affairs and human frailty, he writes songs from various characters' viewpoints. This is an unflinching, raw sound, veering into alt-rock at times, underpinned by his defiant drawl. He teams up with Melanie De Biasio on the title track, and Nadine Shah provides a sultry counterpoint on X Marks The Spot. Be Right Back, Moving House with its ominous strings builds in layers with the intensity of a stalker.
4. Stealing Sheep- Not Real (Heavenly Recordings)
The cheeky trio Becky Hawley, Lucy Mercer and Emily Lansley eschew their original traditional folky sound for Not Real - haunting keyboards, choppy percussion and woozy harmonies. They can often be found on stage with the nine piece choir called Deep Throat, which kind of speaks volumes, really. The innocence of 80s bubblegum pop is teamed with something more troubling in this second album, to often startling effect. This Time and Apparition showcase their off-kilter songwriting skills. Lyrics paint a twilight world where nothing is as it seems. A Day-Glo aesthetic with strange undercurrents of pagan wicker men—and women.
5. A Winged Victory for the Sullen-Atomos (Kranky)
Bit of a cheat, this one. It came out late 2014, but they toured in Scotland early this year. The Brussels-based duo comprising Dustin O' Halloran and Adam Wiltzie play meditative, post-ambient music which invites superlatives. Their 6Music Prom, curated by Maryanne Hobbs, saw them play alongside the also wonderful Nils Frahm. Grown men have been known to weep at such exquisitely layered soundscapes- as well they should.
6. Landshapes- Heyoon (Bella Union)
Experimental indie riffage from Luisa Gerstein, Dan Blackett, Heloise Tunstall-Behrens and Jemma Freeman. Heyoon goes places others simply couldn't. Stay crashes like My Bloody Valentine, Red Kite is drenched in psych reverb and Moongee tracks the migratory path of space geese. Poetic, imaginative and pile-driving, this is an album to wake you up and get the blood pumping. Luisa's voice is gorgeous, and the guitars downright nasty at times.
7. Unknown Mortal Orchestra- Multi-Love (Jagjaguwar)
The real life story of an uncomfortable love triangle is behind this brilliant album. Both Ruben Nielsen and his wife fell in love with the same woman, to bewilderment and confusion. Can't Keep Checking My Phone typifies UMO's sound, which falls somewhere between indie, psych and soul. Stunning yet unnerving, Ruben Neilsen's music proves that unimaginable pain can sometimes produce pleasure.
8. Drinks- Hermits on Holiday (Heavenly Recordings)
Welsh indie queen Cate Le Bon and American musician from White Fence Tim Presley joined forces to create an album which is full of playful psychedelic influences and off-kilter sounds straight from the library music archives. So it's kinda retro, but swathed in modern production too. Cannon Mouth and Tim, Do I Like That Dog? are pretty nutty and deadpan—like nothing else around.
9. Wolf Alice- My Love Is Cool (Dirty Hit)
Ellie Rowsell is an indie goddess, snarling or cooing, with her hair flying. Wolf Alice may not have done anything amazingly new here, but what they do, they do brilliantly. Turn To Dust and Giant Peach feel like gnarly 90s indie anthems. They have been hailed as the new wave of grunge, but it's just pure pop with an edge and shitloads of guitars. What's not to like?
10. Roots Manuva- Bleeds (Big Dada Sound)
Rodney Smith, aka Roots Manuva, has long been walking his own strange path, but this album feels like a culmination of all his efforts thus far. It's restless, shape-shifting hip-hop. There aren't many rappers who cite ''snakeskin bikinis,'' ''the geezer called Jesus" and ''Walkers crisps'' as themes ripe for lyrics, but Manuva goes where even Kanye wouldn't dare, sometimes bringing in Jamaican Patois and cheeky slang. Crying is dubby and mysterious, while Facety 2:1 has utterly bonkers glitchy production. A true British eccentric.
Bubbling Under: Courtney Barnett, Panda Bear, Grimes, Shopping, Benjamin Clementine, Gengahr, PINS, Roisin Murphy and Julia Holter all made sublime albums too. Diversity was the key word for 2015, with no one single genre dominating. Which is, of course, exactly as it should be.
Ezra Furman - Lousy Connection (Official Video): http://youtu.be/fvfI6Q5WFT0
Ezra Furman Channel 4 News 2015: http://youtu.be/xh-qGgEfScA
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