Other outings | Some musical releases of the week

Among all the new albums released recently, here are a few that caught our attention.

Simon Leoza

Quebec composer Simon Leoza joined the vast movement of instrumental music with his previous album, Albatrosslaunched in 2021. In Act III, he resolutely places himself on the side of sumptuous arrangements rather than minimalism. Surrounded by nearly 20 musicians, supported by the brilliant director Blaise Borboën-Léonard (Lydia Képinski), the multi-instrumentalist offers a fusion between neo-classical, ambient pop and electronic music. A work with multiple ramifications, a kind of interstellar journey as dense and nourishing as it is soaring and light.

Instrumental music

Act III

Simon Leoza

Rosemarie Records

Waxahatchee

Waxahatchee, a group led by Katie Crutchfield, takes its name from a stream in Alabama where the singer grew up. Although musicians accompany her, it is above all the work of the American, who wrote each of the six albums, including the highly regarded Saint Cloudlaunched in 2020, and the new one, Tigers Blood. The artist beautifully fuses folk, country and indie rock to create soothing music despite the heaviness of certain subjects covered, such as difficulties in love and friendship, which she expresses with grace. Waxahatchee will be in Toronto on April 23, but no show in Quebec is planned.

Country-folk

Tigers Blood

Waxahatchee

Anti Records

Future and Metro Boomin

First part of a diptych – the sequel will be released on April 12 – We Don’t Trust You is the result of a collaboration between rapper Future and producer Metro Boomin. The latter is the author of beats of some of the Atlanta MC’s biggest hits, such Mask Off, Wicked And Superhero. Distinguished guests grace some of the 17 pieces: The Weeknd, Young Thug, Travis Scott, Playboi Carti and Rick Ross and Kendrick Lamar. The latter even shoots a few arrows at Drake and J. Cole. Additionally, interview clips with the late Prodigy, of Mobb Deep, are scattered throughout the album, while Seen It All propose a new version of Quiet Stormclassic from the Queensbridge duo.

Rap

We Don’t Trust You

Future and Metro Boomin

epic

Julia Holter

Motherhood – and the Beatles, for the title – inspired Something in the Room She Moves, sixth album by American Julia Holter. While new mother fatigue and pandemic stress were a damper on her inspiration for a while, the words and notes came out effortlessly while recording. The result is not quite a series of lullabies, but the enveloping atmosphere and the texts which deal philosophically with the cycle of life reassure and warm the heart. The singer-songwriter will present her songs at the Belmont in Montreal on May 14.

Pop art

Something in the Room She Moves

Julia Holter

Domino Recording Company