Hannah Gadd

Girlfriend – The Driver Era

Girlfriend came out in October 2021 and ever since I have associated the album with the winter season. This album marks the second from American music duo ‘The Driver Era’ and saw them continuing to develop their captivating sound from their debut album X. Girlfriend feels like a moment of warmth in cold weather and I am always gravitating towards it. The record is a cohesive showcase of funky basslines, soaring guitars and groovy melodies. Ross and Rocky Lynch’s vocals and lyricism are a real treat for listeners and drips with confidence. The duo seamlessly combines elements of pop, rock and R&B into a wonderful mismatch of musical delight. Tracks like the mellow, soulful ‘cray z babe e’ contrast heavily from those like the fast-paced, pop-rock anthem ‘A Kiss’ and provide listeners with an enjoyable experience when listening to the record in full. Ultimately, Girlfriend is an engaging and unique record that I will always return to, particularly in the colder months.

Isabelle Porter 

Everything I Know About Love – Laufey

Inspired by the greats in jazz music, Icelandic singer-songwriter Laufey crafts a wistful and carefully observed work in her debut album. Hearing her voice makes you feel as if you have stepped back in time, a feeling juxtaposed by her contemporary lyrics and production elements. The resulting effect lends a sense of timelessness and precedence to musings on modern life and love. Laufey’s attention to detail creates a filmic soundscape: ‘Beautiful Stranger’ and ‘Above the Chinese Restaurant’ are stunning examples of this. ‘Just Like Chet’, a favourite track of mine, nods to the legendary Chet Baker’s rendition of Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn’s ‘I Fall In Love Too Easily’. It is exciting to see a Gen-Z artist adapt the stylings of jazz and adult contemporary for a young audience and create a new crossover appeal.

Oliver Scoggins

Heaven or Las Vegas – Cocteau Twins

To me, it is almost impossible not to hear the opening guitar chimes of the titular ‘Heaven or Las Vegas’ and not think of walking through a forest in the depth of winter, surrounded by falling snow. The whole album manages to achieve a very similar effect – every instrument is reverberated a million miles away, but they all manage to sound so present and remain so warm around you. Elizabeth Fraser’s singing voice complements these lush instrumentals perfectly. Any other album would fall down due to the semi-gibberish and unintelligible words she is singing, but Heaven or Las Vegas hinges on it – the vocals just become another instrument in the ethereal sea. ‘Cherry-coloured Funk’, ‘Iceblink Luck’, ‘Fotzepolitic’, ‘Frou-frou Foxes in  Midsummer Fires’ – all manage to create such a unique soundscape and such a lovely, warming album experience that I think it is impossible for me not to tie it to winter. 

Devin Birse

Desire – Tuxedomoon

Desire is an ice-cold album, across its medley of synth punk cabarets there’s a sheen of tension frozen across both sides of the LP. The album sounds like a retro futurist vision of San Francisco in ruins, the icy veneer freezing it in time. The music is an amalgam of gothic jazz and early synths carried by entrancing vocals of Blaine Reninger, Steve Brown and Winston Tong the three of them creating a ghostly Greek chorus whose poetic lyrics paint a portrait of distinctly American doom. More than being an album of songs Desire is an album of mood and atmosphere, the sounds of cybernetic jazz ricocheting across the ambience of dark city streets, the two bleeding together to create a perfect portrait of the early eighties’ San Fran bleak.

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Editor’s Picks – November 2023