2023: New Music From Old Faithfuls

There are certain artists whose work I will buy sight unseen. Or do I mean "hear unheard"? They've got a new record out? I must have it now. I know there will be enough in there to tick the boxes on my musical appreciation scale whether the cognoscenti or the reviewers or the zeitgeist agrees with me or not. Of course, they won't all be winners (I point you towards Bruce's soul covers album of last year), but I still want them on the shelf.

Here are the Must Have records I bought Hear Unheard this year...

Lloyd Cole - On Pain

I wrote about Lloyd's new album after seeing him play live for the umpteenth time at the end of October. I don't have much to add to that review. It is still on rotation and most of the songs have wormed their way into my good graces, but I'd still prefer it if he got over this 80s electronica phase and went back to making nice safe guitar music. Lyrically though, he's still got it. As the album's opening lines ably demonstrate...

I can't be trusted with your money
Look what I did
Every time that you gave it to me
I can't be trusted with your secrets
Look what I did
Every time that you gave them to me

Lloyd Cole - On Pain

The Handsome Family - Hollow

Brett and Rennie Sparks returned with their first album of Gothic Americana in seven years. It's not as immediate as their earlier stuff - age brings a kind of contemplative wisdom to their songwriting, I guess - but it rewards the effort if you're willing to give it time. 

The Handsome Family - Skunks

The Hold Steady - The Price Of Progress

Another band I've been following faithfully since the early noughties is Craig Finn's The Hold Steady. Finn has a pretty steady work ethic at the moment, alternating Hold Steady releases with his solo albums... although I have to confess, I'm starting to prefer the latter. The Price Of Progress is the band's ninth album, and it's a good listen, but not quite as good as A Legacy of Rentals, last year's Top 3 offering from Finn on his own.

The Hold Steady - Sideways Skull

Lukas Nelson & The Promise Of The Real - Sticks & Stones

One artist who's only entered my Reliable Purchase list over the last couple of years is Willie's boy, Lukas Nelson. He's incredibly prolific - this is his 8th album in 13 years - and pretty much sticks to a formula of hard luck, heartbroken country with much time spent drowning his sorrows in booze, but if you like that kind of thing, he rarely puts a foot wrong.

Lukas Nelson & The Promise Of The Real - Wrong House

Juliana Hatfield - Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO

A late entry, but one I've no doubt I'll be listening to well into the New Year. Following on from her excellent Olivia Newton John covers record of 2018, Juliana picks another top 70s/80s artist to reinvent. (We'll skip over her Police covers record, for reasons to do with the manufacturing of silk purses from bovine ears.) Actually, "reinvent" is probably taking it a bit far, as these are pretty faithful to the originals, but she doesn't choose the obvious tracks (apart from Don't Bring Me Down) and the result is the best kind of aural comfort food.

Juliana Hatfield - From The End Of The World

Hamish Hawk - Angel Numbers

It takes quite an effort to become an Old Faithful after only one album, but Hamish Hawk went to the top of the class following his 2021 LP Heavy Elevator. I've been salivating with expectation for the follow-up, and it may well be that I set my expectations too high (something I'll discuss again in this year's Top Ten). Angel Numbers is a great album despite my unrealistic hopes of stadium-conquering crossover glory... but there's still time, Hamish.

Wherе's my limelight?
If I'm to nurse the fеver I carry inside
I'll starve, I will not stifle my appetite

It's nigh-on high time
I can barely make out the mountain no-one taught me to climb
And frightened allies take swipes at my sides