October has been another month of fantastic musical output – with an array of outstanding records from artists both new and returning – making this month’s choices more difficult than ever. We trust you will enjoy the selections. Check out our Album of the Month playlist on Spotify here.

Adrianne Lenker – Songs & Instrumentals

Secret Meeting says:

songs and instrumentals are deeply beautiful works that were created immediately after lockdown began in a remote, wilderness cabin. Consider songs the central piece, while instrumentals is a sort of epilogue, consisting of the instrumental improvisations with which Lenker would warm up and down at with the beginning and end of each recording day. Lenker was in the midst of a breakup, and this heartsickness is at the core of her creation here. It often shows itself directly in the lyrics, but it almost feels infused at a deeper level than that, as if the songs are tethered to her in some way. Lenker is really good at making songwriting seem like something mystical – while, somehow, simultaneously very much tied to the body and earth.

Helena Deland – Someone New

Secret Meeting says:

Despite the initial hesitation to put her music into a long player, we’re finally getting one in the form of the immaculate and beguiling, Someone New. Centred on the tumultuous highs and lows associated with romantic opportunity and railing against the belief of a female expiry date for such opportunities, Deland has crafted a breathtaking record. Combining the signature fragility of her early folk tracks with delicately placed pop arrangements, and an evocatively haunting lyrical refrain throughout. The intertwining styles create meandering path on the voyage into the world of Deland, with each fork in the road as captivating as the last.

Mina Tindle – SISTER

Secret Meeting says:

SISTER is the result of many years of writing and recording with producer, Thomas Bartlett, but melds together to create a tender tribute to the simple beauty that surrounds us if we stop long enough to appreciate it. The intensity of adulthood, the pressures of parenthood, and the weight of the world at large seep away into a hazy fog – leaving only what really matters left to focus on. Events both good and bad have happened, and will happen again, but all that matters right now is the present. That’s what lies at the heart of this record, and it helps us remember this simple truth.

Alexia Avina – Unearth

Secret Meeting says:

As a whole, Unearth serves as an inner sanctum. The first time I listened, the rain was pelting the window beside me, and it felt like the album – not the walls – was protecting me from the rain outside. Avina casts her spell and for nigh-on forty minutes, it does not break. According to the Oxford Dictionary, Unearth means ‘to find something by digging’. This is a treasure well worth cherishing

Matt Berninger – Serpentine Prison

Secret Meeting says:

While The National frontman has struck out on his own in the past, mussing with new wave under 2015’s EL VY project and collaborating with Phoebe Bridgers for standalone hit, Walking on a String, last year, Serpentine Prison is his first real solo outing. Production from soul legend Booker T. Jones puts Berninger’s unmatchable voice at lonely front and centre – embellished by traditionalistic country arrangements.

October has been so packed with outstanding music that it feels wrong to limit ourselves to five recommendations. Once you have made your way through the albums above, we would point you towards Kevin Morby’s latest slice of soul searching Americana, Sundowner, and Moveys – the debut gem from Chicago’s Slow Pulp.

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