Life could be a cloud: this week at South
MEMORIALS’ All Clouds Bring Not Rain is a beautiful, unusual record written and recorded solely by Verity Susman (Electrelane) and Matthew Simms (Wire), the pair retreating to a secluded studio and emerging with something melodic yet unconventional, drawing on folk, dub, post punk and experimental tape music, with Susman’s unadorned voice at its centre. Initial copies come with a signed print. Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection 3 closes the trilogy with a kaleidoscopic mix of folk, jazz and Canterbury prog-pop, built from field recordings and home recordings, rooted in English folklore and midnight rites. Robyn’s Sexistential is her most ecstatic record, deeply playful pop that ties back to Body Talk, punchy, defiant and sensual. Courtney Barnett’s Creature of Habit marks a bold new chapter, emotionally direct and shaped by change, while Snail Mail’s Ricochet pairs incisive writing with expansive melodies, grappling with time and mortality.
There’s a welcome reissue of Connie Converse’s How Sad, How Lovely, 20 songs that remain as poignant and ahead of their time as ever, now including a bonus 7” of previously unreleased material. The Charlatans’ Some Friendly returns as a remastered 2LP expanded edition with bonus tracks curated by Tim Burgess, a landmark debut built on groove and melody. The Twilight Sad’s IT’S THE LONG GOODBYE is a cogent story of loss and personal crisis, set to urgent, guitar-rich arrangements and raw, impassioned vocals, featuring Robert Smith.
