After an especially traumatic breakup, Islands frontman Nick Thorburn moved from New York to Los Angeles, looking to find solace in a new environment. On Valentine’s Day of last year, Thorburn sat down at a piano and began to play what would become A Sleep & A Forgetting (out now on Anti-), an album in which Thorburn exorcises the demons of his heartbreak, showing both despair and forward-looking optimism. Recorded in just two ... Read More

The solitary struggles and internal vacillation that helped Erika Wennerstrom build The Mountain have led her to a grounded place of reflection on the Heartless Bastards' new album Arrow (out now on Partisan). This 10-song LP is a travelogue from the open road that rambles through the rust-colored dirt and expansive landscape of the Southwest. “Marathon,” a meditative prologue, is the warm-up stretch that kicks the journey into ... Read More

Gotye’s highly-anticipated third release Making Mirrors (out now on Samples'n'Seconds/Fairfax/Universal Republic) is filled with percussion-driven songs in a wide range of compositional styles. Recorded in a barn down under in remote Australia, Belgian multi-instrumentalist Wouter "Wally" De Backer creates an intricate, expansive sound on what's sure to be a breakout album (FYI: Gotye is pronounced "Gauthier," from the French ... Read More

Let January 31, 2012 be known as the day that it happened: the day that Born to Die (out now on Interscope) finally dropped. After months of furious Internet opining, illegal downloads of leaked tracks, tons of grainy live footage, and one questionable Saturday Night Live performance, we now have an entire record of moody, lilting pop songs with which to rightfully judge Lana Del Rey. So what is the verdict?  It is—wait for ... Read More

Korallreven doesn’t sound like anybody else, but if I had to try, I'd say they're like a lover’s caress on a sunny afternoon with just a little bit of Enya and a touch of Ace of Base. On their full-length debut An Album by Korallreven (out now on Acéphale), the Swedish duo’s unique sound incorporates ominous undertones with optimistic, uplifting soundscapes of epic proportions. Lead vocals are steady and robotic, ... Read More