Yard Act made an unlikely breakaway from the British crop of talky post-punks with 2022’s The Overload, collaborating with Elton John (on the “100% Endurance” rework) and crossing the Atlantic for late-night TV spots. That set the scene for their dancier second LP, Where’s My Utopia? The record harnesses the bigger budget to sprawl outwards in every direction, mashing James Smith’s acerbic bar-stool raconteurism into grooves that might evoke Fela Kuti or Beastie Boys, with guests including Gorillaz producer Remi Kabaka Jr., and Rose Matafeo. Read more in Jenessa Williams’ Rising feature “Yard Act Are Seriously Kidding.”
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Amaro Freitas: Y’Y [Psychic Hotline]
Amaro Freitas pays homage to “the forest, especially the Amazon Forest, and the rivers of Northern Brazil,” on Y’Y, which features a crack band of Jeff Parker, Shabaka Hutchings, Brandee Younger, Hamid Drake, and Aniel Someillan. With an eye on the climate crisis, the Brazilian pianist spent time in the Amazon basin to inspire an album of grand, quiet ambition: “a call to live, feel, respect, and care for nature, recognizing it as our ancestor,” as he put it in press materials.
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Staś Czekalski: Przygody [Mondoj]
