"Moooom, feeling lost in my twenties is hitting again."
Two albums and an EP that have been guiding me through that everpresent state from 20 to 29 (I imagine the moment you turn 30, you gain some sort of clarity).
Fine, I’ll confess: I started this newsletter with the intention of updating it weekly but, as it happens, the full time job got in the way and forced me to keep my mouth shut last week. As I try to find my footing after this external intervention, I will also confess that I have been bumping Chappell Roan’s streams so much that, if Spotify decides to remove the personal message from this year’s Wrapped, they might have to personally contact her to send me a video - The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess has been my bedside companion for days now, a spot previously occupied by Taylor’s drowsy voice on Midnights (see: “Glitch”, “Sweet Nothing”, “Midnight Rain”).
Pop divas aside, these are some of what I’ve been visiting this week (and part of the previous, newsletter-missed one):
Okay Kaya’s Oh My God - That’s So Me
On her 6th record, Okay Kaya brings out a languid self that wants to be intimate with the listener, acting as a soothing force that demands the same for herself (in “Check Your Face”: “Common sense I want you to soothe me.”) That doesn’t stop her from being the astute songwriter she is, though, a craft threaded in an almost provocative type of lyricism: “not all good things are named after saints”, she tells us in “Oh Minutiae”. Hidden almost at the end, “The Groke” is an album highlight inspired by the Moomin character who freezes everything in her way, and who Kaya deems as “dark ecology.” I believe Tove Jansson, the Moomin creator, would have loved the analogy.
Coco & Clair Clair’s Girl
“I’m a bad bitch I’ll kill the both of us / Vodka Diet Coke, I’m not doing any drugs / Write a hit song then I read a big book / I’m all about the lovin’, you can call me Bel Hooks.” Coco & Clair Clair are unhibited in this album, almost unhinged, and we thank them for that. A cheeky and hedonistic perspective on love, a lesson about dangerous men (“We try to warn girls about men like you / All you do is bite”, in the hypnotic “Everyone But You”), or a callback to Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” on the diss track “Bitches Pt. 2” create Coco & Clair Clair’s new girl universe, where having fun is imperative.
Kiss Facility’s Esoteric
I came across Kiss Facility as a recommendation for those who like Caroline Polachek. Without knowing who was involved in the project, I saved it, and now I understand why it was recommended like that: the Sega Bodega brand is unmistakeable, who in this case collaborates with Mayah Alkhateri (and his real name) to create longing melodies that echo of Salvador’s LP Romeo. Maya’s voice and the Arabic lyrics blend seamlessly with a production that besides the synth use, favors live instrumentation - the guitar tugs at your heartstrings especially in “Black Stone” and “z”.
I have also been revisiting HAIM’s Days Are Gone, the 10th anniversary edition, almost every time I hit the public transport. And for the last confession: I’ve been secretly waiting for H4 now that four years have passed since their last record, which is their usual time between releases. I would also settle for Lorde’s L4. Ah, the delusion!