Speaker 1: I'm Daniel James and you're listening to seven Ams.
Speaker 2: Look.
Speaker 1: I love making this show. Interviewing fascinating people for a
Speaker 1: living never gets old. But it's also been a very
Speaker 1: heavy year for many of us. And when you work
Speaker 1: in the news, there's no shining away from that. It's
Speaker 1: just part of the job. So for me, music is
Speaker 1: a respite, something that helps me process to heaveness and
Speaker 1: something that brings escape and relief. Claire Collins is head
Speaker 1: of music at south By Southwest. We asked her to
Speaker 1: pick her five favorite albums of the year, and from
Speaker 1: her list, it's clear that music does the same for her.
Speaker 1: There are songs about heartache, grief and loss, and there's
Speaker 1: also a fair whacker draw in there as well. Today,
Speaker 1: Claire Collins with their top five albums of twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1: It's Wednesday, December twenty four, so Claire, let's kick things off.
Speaker 1: What's first on your list?
Speaker 3: Okay, I've chosen an album by an American indie rock artist,
Speaker 3: but Alex g and his latest album hit Flights. This
Speaker 3: is easily my most played album of the year. It's
Speaker 3: one for all the dad rock fans out there. It's
Speaker 3: got lots of warm guitars. There's a beautiful emotional undercurrent.
Speaker 3: It's a bit scruffy, and it's great songwriting. Villain Jack
Speaker 3: like Afterlife as the lead single from the album, and
Speaker 3: it just has this beautiful nostalgia. There's great mandolins. The
Speaker 3: melody is a real eworm. Who really stands out.
Speaker 1: You described this as dad rock, but Alex g was
Speaker 1: born in the nineties. Is that where we're at right.
Speaker 4: Now, sadly, Daniel, Yes, it is.
Speaker 3: He actually just have a child himself, so that's one
Speaker 3: to age us all.
Speaker 1: And for someone who was in his early thirties, he's
Speaker 1: recorded a lot of albums. I counted ten studio albums.
Speaker 1: The Beatles only recorded twelve. Talk to me about his
Speaker 1: history as an Indian musician before he signed to a
Speaker 1: major label for his last record.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so Alex has been releasing albums for about fifteen
Speaker 3: years now.
Speaker 4: He's a real demi artist.
Speaker 3: Obviously, very prolific and a lot of his early albums
Speaker 3: were just made in his bedroom. He started attracting critical
Speaker 3: acclaim around twenty nineteen with an album Portouse of Sugar,
Speaker 3: but he had a real breakout with his last album, God.
Speaker 4: Safety animals in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 3: He's also written a lot for movies and the soundtracks,
Speaker 3: and he even contributed guitar for Frank Oceanslong, which is
Speaker 3: a fun faction I only found out about recently.
Speaker 1: Do you think signing to a major has changed his approach?
Speaker 3: Well, this album sounds a lot more expensive as you
Speaker 3: would expect.
Speaker 4: It's yeah, it's gorgeous.
Speaker 3: There's a high fidelity in the recordings, and it's just
Speaker 3: more polished overall.
Speaker 4: But really the DNA and ME sum writing is still there.
Speaker 1: That song so freely I felt my gravity. He's been
Speaker 1: compared to Elliott Smith, who is an influence of his.
Speaker 1: Would you say that that's a fair comparison. What else
Speaker 1: would you put in his wheelhouse?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Well, I think they both share like a wistfulness and
Speaker 3: a melancholy and the lyrics and the vocal delivery. I'd
Speaker 3: also include him in a company of Wilco Irim, Modest Mouse,
Speaker 3: all those indie classics and some more contemporary roughens.
Speaker 4: He does not be Phoebe Bridges. We aren't drugs. So
Speaker 4: it's a really great company he's in there.
Speaker 1: That's good gear. All of that is very good gear. Okay,
Speaker 1: so let's move on to your second pick.
Speaker 4: Okay. The second p is kind of a more recent release.
Speaker 4: It's Billy Allen's West End Girl.
Speaker 1: And it's the talk of the town.
Speaker 4: Is it not launched? A million? Means? Daniel, don't come home.
Speaker 4: I don't want you in my bed.
Speaker 2: Go to the apartment in the West Village instead, pop
Speaker 2: draw for your Close Your Mountain Medication.
Speaker 4: I'm already on my way heading to the station.
Speaker 3: It's a full on revenge album and in fairly gruesome detail,
Speaker 3: it outlines the breakdown of her marriage to Stranger Things
Speaker 3: actor David Harbour and his alleged affairs.
Speaker 1: Can you tell me about your favorite song from the album,
Speaker 1: Pussy Palace? Why do you love it?
Speaker 3: The imagery on this song is so vivid and it
Speaker 3: just really contrasts with this very ethereal, very cooky production,
Speaker 3: and it's just so sad.
Speaker 4: Oh doja dolchaja.
Speaker 3: And I just love the idea of half the city
Speaker 3: walking around tying a song called Pussy Palace as well
Speaker 3: really gives me a joy.
Speaker 1: This song is about her husband's infidelities, with lines like
Speaker 1: hundreds of trojans, You're so fucking broken. She sings, am
Speaker 1: I looking at a sex addict, but she does it
Speaker 1: all in such a light way. If you weren't listening
Speaker 1: to the words, you probably wouldn't register the rage that's
Speaker 1: under the surface here. How brutal is the album I was.
Speaker 3: A bit of ten on the brutality scale. It's the
Speaker 3: lyrics are impossible to ignore. She's actually had a really
Speaker 3: beautiful voice, and that just adds.
Speaker 4: To the impact.
Speaker 3: She doesn't leave anything off the table lyrically, and we
Speaker 3: really get a sense of the narrative arc of what
Speaker 3: is unfolded as well.
Speaker 1: Lily's been leaving in the public eye for such a
Speaker 1: long time. She was only twenty one when her breakout
Speaker 1: His Smile came out, and yet she still wears her
Speaker 1: heart on her sleeve, writing very openly about her own
Speaker 1: pain and humiliation. Is that what you think people love
Speaker 1: Lilian so much?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: I mean she has said this really refreshing honesty. But
Speaker 3: she's also very funny, and I think you know, you
Speaker 3: can't have one without the other.
Speaker 4: So she's always been a great writer.
Speaker 3: I'm really glad she's getting another go at it in
Speaker 3: her forty years.
Speaker 4: Though he forward made me feel a bit awkward made
Speaker 4: me feel a bit awkward.
Speaker 1: Oh well, Cuplistead, I was struck listening to this about
Speaker 1: what a big year it's been for divorce in popular culture.
Speaker 1: I mean, Missy Higgins was inducted into the area all
Speaker 1: of fame after herself writing about divorce.
Speaker 5: Being a forty two year old woman and singing about
Speaker 5: divorce and single parenting isn't like the sexiest thing you
Speaker 5: can do in this industry.
Speaker 4: But the response to.
Speaker 5: This album has been so incredible that it's made me
Speaker 5: realize that women my age don't give a fuck about
Speaker 5: We just want to feel heard, we want to feel seen.
Speaker 1: So what do you think divorce is resonating as a
Speaker 1: theme at the moment?
Speaker 4: Yeah, look, I love it.
Speaker 3: I'm actually going to talk about another divorce album a
Speaker 3: bit later.
Speaker 4: But look, it's just such a common experience and there's
Speaker 4: a natural in build audience there that's not a small one.
Speaker 3: But the thing that interests me is that each artist
Speaker 3: has gotten what they need to out of the making
Speaker 3: of the album, and the audiences are getting something out
Speaker 3: of it in the same way.
Speaker 4: It's really interesting to me.
Speaker 3: Was Chloes.
Speaker 1: Coming up another British icon? Now I love this. Next
Speaker 1: pick of yours clear tell us about Essex Honey by
Speaker 1: Blood Orange.
Speaker 3: Okay, so Blood Orange is the mon A cur of
Speaker 3: UK artist Steve Hines. He's been around for a little
Speaker 3: while as well. And you wrote this album while brieving
Speaker 3: the loss of his mom and you can really hear
Speaker 3: that tenderness in every part of the album and it's
Speaker 3: just a really moving record.
Speaker 1: He's collaborators on this album makes for a pretty impressive list.
Speaker 1: What can you tell me about him?
Speaker 3: Oh well, I've bought in some quite high profile names
Speaker 3: actually that you might be familiar with, Caroline Policheck Lord
Speaker 3: and even the writers Ady Smith.
Speaker 4: But these names kind of compliment his writing.
Speaker 3: They don't really steal the show, which I think is
Speaker 3: really classy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a classy album because it's a real strong
Speaker 1: sense of place with this record. I mean, how do
Speaker 1: we hear dev connect to Essex in both a physical
Speaker 1: and emotional way.
Speaker 3: Yeah, It's something that he tends to do on each album.
Speaker 3: He has a different sense of place and album and
Speaker 3: this is fine. He obviously takes us back to his
Speaker 3: hometown of Essex. I don't know, I think of it
Speaker 3: like the memory Palace. You can hear references to specific
Speaker 3: streets and childhood moments and sounds he.
Speaker 4: Grew up with, and you really get a sense of.
Speaker 3: Him returning home to grieve, even if it's not completely over.
Speaker 4: There's a real softness to the production.
Speaker 3: There's the tapes and strings and it's kind of slightly hazy,
Speaker 3: but then there's this sense of distance as well, and
Speaker 3: that comes out lyrically like it's kind of like he's
Speaker 3: observing himself, and I don't know, just thinks there's something
Speaker 3: a really interesting listening experience, which I recommend in headphones.
Speaker 1: By the way, what's the moment or track that has
Speaker 1: stayed with you most on this album?
Speaker 3: The track that really got me into this album was
Speaker 3: one called Mine Loaded, and that's the one that features
Speaker 3: Poula Check and Lord as well as.
Speaker 4: I was sort of staffer.
Speaker 2: Speaking of Elliott s fifth Lord actually interpolates an Elliott
Speaker 2: Smith's line into the album, and it moves around a
Speaker 2: lot that I just find whole, every single part so compelling.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's something you can listen to from beginning to
Speaker 1: end quite easily. What's your fourth pick?
Speaker 3: All right, coming back home, We've got Nina Giacci's out
Speaker 3: of my computer.
Speaker 4: Nina's had an absolutely massive year.
Speaker 3: She's just won the JA Award for Australian Album of
Speaker 3: the Years, she won three Arias and just having a
Speaker 3: real breakthrough a moment. She grew up on the Central
Speaker 3: Coast and has been making music as a teenager, but
Speaker 3: has really been grinding away for the past ten years leading.
Speaker 4: Up to this dabul album.
Speaker 3: There's a huge amount of goodwill for her in the
Speaker 3: electronic community, and yeah, I'm really glad she's kind of
Speaker 3: having this favor.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: Full disclosure, I have to admit I'd never heard of
Speaker 1: her until you sent me this list. But it is
Speaker 1: a huge album. It's high energy and very reminiscent of
Speaker 1: the early naughts. But Nina is only in her twenties.
Speaker 1: What are her influences on this album.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a very Internet album, and I think that
Speaker 3: just reflects her experience growing up as.
Speaker 4: An Internet native.
Speaker 3: She pulls really heavily from like late two thousands, early
Speaker 3: twenty tens, you know, my Space era pop in his
Speaker 3: of early Scrillex and the Presepts even in it, but
Speaker 3: it's like she's experienced it through the Internet and not
Speaker 3: in real life.
Speaker 1: Of course, I noticed that even though there's a very
Speaker 1: sort of glitchy computer music to the album. With the
Speaker 1: album even I Love My Computer, there's also an organic
Speaker 1: element to her sound as well. How does she achieve that?
Speaker 3: She's a real expert at using found sound so recording
Speaker 3: sounds around her, whether it's like the click of a
Speaker 3: laptop or a mouse. She did this really cool TikTok
Speaker 3: video where she showed how she builds rhythms out of
Speaker 3: everyday noises, including birds of water, dripping, blaring sounds from
Speaker 3: the outside world.
Speaker 5: Makes my drums less predictable and it helps me to
Speaker 5: gloom my arrangements together, and.
Speaker 3: It gives those songs a bit of a softness against
Speaker 3: the kind of intensity of the production.
Speaker 1: She absolutely cleaned up at the Arias this year. She's
Speaker 1: obviously hugely respected, as you said, and celebrated in Australia.
Speaker 1: Has she broken through overseas yet.
Speaker 3: Look, it's early days, but she's picked up US management
Speaker 3: and she's definitely on the radar.
Speaker 4: She's got lots of taste anchors following her.
Speaker 3: I'm sure she's gonna have a very busy touring schedule next.
Speaker 4: Year overseas, so yeah, come to see it.
Speaker 1: Coming up best friends making music together. Okay, so let's
Speaker 1: finish strong. What's your final pick?
Speaker 3: Okay, I've got to give an honorable mention to Flume
Speaker 3: and Emma Looise. Full disclosure, I've worked on this album
Speaker 3: and I've just been obsessed with it all year. It's
Speaker 3: actually another divorce album, but really not as overt as Lily's.
Speaker 3: It's just a beautiful collaboration, very introspective. It has Flumes
Speaker 3: kind of trademark glitchy production, it's very emotional, and yeah,
Speaker 3: I just think it's one of these is quiet gems
Speaker 3: really beautiful, has this beautiful and jelling voice, and she's
Speaker 3: thinking about the breakdown of her marriage, and it's just
Speaker 3: very restrained and gorgeous.
Speaker 1: And so this is not the first time that these
Speaker 1: two have collaborated. What do you think it is about
Speaker 1: each of them that compliments the other one?
Speaker 3: So? Well, Look, they're just as friends and I think
Speaker 3: they just have a very nice, easy relationship and they're
Speaker 3: very comfortable with each other, and they're both introverts, so
Speaker 3: I think they're the happiest when they're just making stuff
Speaker 3: in a room by themselves.
Speaker 1: Well, Clare, you've given us plenty to go on with
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for outlining those albums and recommending
Speaker 1: them to us.
Speaker 4: OH A pleasure.
Speaker 3: I hope you enjoy listening and Merry Christmas.