STACK #183 Jan 2020

MUSIC FEATURE

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over in Seattle... For me, when I listen to it now, it reminds me of – you know those old cartoons where the skeletons are dancing? It reminds me of that. The bones going, ‘clink, clink, clonk, clonk.’” ( Smooth Big Cat – Warner) Lana Del Rey Norman F-cking Rockwell! (Universal) IN NUMBERS 10: Number of international music publications which ranked NFR! as the #1 album of 2019 2: Number of Grammys for which NFR! is nominated (Album of the Year, and Song of the Year for the title track) 9: Number of co-writers listed for Del Rey’s cover of Sublime’s Doin’ Time ; in addition to the Sublime bandmembers, the song credits Ad-Rock and the late MCA from Beastie

Let's make like a boomerang and circle back to the biggest and best records of 2019, by way of impressive stats, STACK reviews, and from STACK 's conversations with the artists themselves. Words Zoë Radas

Boys, producer Rick Rubin, and the composer George Gershwin, who wrote the jazz

standard on which Sublime’s song was based, Summertime .

Avril Lavigne Head Above Water (BMG) “Having cycled through several reinventions since 2002’s ubiquitous Complicated , Head Above Water might be Avril Lavigne’s most confident statement yet. Heavily influenced by her struggles with Lyme Disease, Head Above Water reflects a far more mature Lavigne than the anachronistic pop-punk of her last record. This album is crushing: mostly shaped by ballads, every moment feels considered... It was a long road to get here, but

The Teskey Brothers Run Home Slow (Ivy League) “If you’ve previously eschewed The Teskey Brothers because you don’t like folk, you need to pull the bluegrass from your eyes and immerse yourself in Run Home Slow. Its sweet ‘60s syncopation, dreamy rock ‘n’ roll, romantic Van Morrison-esque rhythm and blues, and tender neo-soul compositions elevate the boys’ former folk leanings into absolutely gorgeous new territory. At its conclusion you will not be upset you spent 45 divine minutes letting these Melbourne lads cast their spell over you.” – ZKR

Dope Lemon's Angus Stone on his second album

under the Dope Lemon moniker, Smooth Big Cat :

“What I really like with this record, and just feels really special to

me, is that we did it all in one stream of consciousness – in one sitting. We didn’t walk away from the session and come back two weeks later. Sometimes when you do that, you can hear inconsistencies in the flow. A big part of the string that pulls it all together was that little wooden block. A friend, he got it from

Head Above Water is Lavigne’s best album to date.” – Jake Cleland

46 JANUARY 2020

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