August has been another month of fantastic musical output. With an array of outstanding records from artists both new and returning, we’ve had the tough task of narrowing it down to five.

Wednesday – Twin Plagues

Secret Meeting says –

The difficult second album isn’t so much swerved as leapt over by Wednesday: Twin Plagues is everything that was great about I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone, but with the dial turned up to eleven. Passionate, emotional music – plugged directly into the heart

Steve Gunn – Other You

Secret Meeting says –

Gunn has been plying his trade as songwriter, guitar slinger and ‘go to’ collaborator for close to 15 years, and, with each step, he has been scattering the seeds that have ultimately led to his latest record, Other You. For here we find him the closest he has come to stitching together the disparate ends of his many talents. Straightforward rock and loose psych jams hold equal measure, and, more than ever, Gunn’s voice and ear for melody allow the record to drift away from you and return like a welcome friend.

Evan Wright – Sound From Out The Window

Secret Meeting says –

On a passing listen, it may sound like an odd mix, but Sound From Out The Window displays a concentrated delirium as psychedelia and plaintive folk twist and chase like the hazy recollections of a preschool playground. At times echoing Monomania-era Deerhunter, and the glitchy yet relatable work of (Sandy) Alex G, Wright has a sound that is hard to pin down. On Just A Sign, heavily plucked guitars are swamped by ethereal swirls as he laments how unfilling the relentless passage of time can be. Turn The Other Way – the record’s boldest track – feels like unearthing a cult 80s college rock hit with the nostalgia only being compounded by the subject matter. The song finds Wright at a loss to explain how our friends become strangers, but defiant to move forward regardless.

Villagers – Fever Dreams

Secret Meeting says –

Inspiration for Fever Dreams was said, in part, to have come from night swimming, and it shows on the weightlessness of the title track. Somewhat akin to Eels’ Daisies of the Galaxy, it’s a six minute experimental suite, and O’Brien’s counter vocal lines sway gently in and out of focus, as panoramic synths, a tape machine that sounds like it is eating itself, and drums that push against his playful strokes. Before Deep In My Heart concludes the LP with its most heartfelt, straightforward, but no less special cut – leaving a gentle reminder that despite what’s come before it, the Dubliner’s use of studio trickery on the collection is in no way because of a reliance.

Madi Diaz – History of a Feeling

Secret Meeting says –

One assumes (and hopes) that making History of a Feeling was a helpful process for Madi Diaz. What her experiences have helped her to create is a record that’s more than just a collection of songs – but a document of a time in her life that will not only have made her stronger, but, in managing to navigate and balance all the complexities involved, shows her to be a stunning songwriter.

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