Best Albums of 2012 - As Chosen By Bearded Writers

Feed the Rhino - The Burning Sons (In At the Deep End)
Chosen by Eleanor Carter

Feed the Rhino are one of the best UK hardcore bands to watch live. Their newest album, The Burning Sons is one of the best UK hardcore albums to listen to. This is because it’s so heavy, so brutal, so magnificently composed, that the album echoes all of the chaos that makes Feed the Rhino such a pleasure to watch.

‘Flood the System’ kicks the album off with a colossal bang and Lee Tobin’s vocals ensure you’re well aware that the Kent boys are not here to mess around. The album continues with force as the title track lets simple lyrics reign over a perfectly executed backdrop of riffs and breakdowns. This mix peaks at the chorus which is just the right amount of grit and melodic sound to encourage a scream-along.

The distorted and raucous guitars in ‘Kings of Grand Delusion’ make an impressive sound which really shows off Feed the Rhino’s skill. The rise and the fall of the melody is equally as moving, proving that not only have the boys grown since their first album, Mr Red Eye - they’ve exceeded themselves.

‘Razor’ sees the band drop the pace and bask in their own genius. Their talent is really shown off as Tobin’s voice is allowed to sing harmoniously to exploring and euphoric guitars.

The rough, punk sound of this entire album is mesmerising. Chris Kybert’s drumming is faultless, which allows the rest of the band to wreak complete havoc and mayhem, whilst simultaneously creating a refined, slick sound.

Every track on The Burning Sons emits energy and destruction and will guarantee to please anyone who enjoyed their first album. Think flawless, think ear splitting destruction, think to the likes of Gallows and then prepare to have your expectations blasted away.

Efterklang - Piramida (4AD)
Chosen by Adam Bunn

Efterklang's fourth — and best — album to date has all the hallmarks of a band making definitive leaps forward. The Danish quartet's sound has always been difficult to categorise, moving from the wintry, glitchy electronics of early release Tripper, through to embracing more immediate pop songs on third album to Magic Chairs, to this: a concept album (in the loosest sense of the word) influenced by a trip the band made to the settlement of Piramida, the ghost town remains of a Russian mining colony in the Arctic Circle. Fascinated with the town's history, the band spent nine days there gathering samples and influences for the album — capturing the sounds of everything from birds and bottles to the world's northernmost grand piano. The remoteness and emptiness of Piramida (the town was completely abandoned in 1998) echoes throughout the album, delivering ten mostly sombre, melancholy songs which share an over-riding sense of loss and desolation.

The warmth which has characterised the band's sound to date may take a little while to permeate, but Piramida is far from gloomy listening despite the downbeat subject matter: the brassy orchestration which fleshes out many of the tracks make for a rich, enveloping sound (‘Apples’ uses this to full effect and is simply astounding), whilst the band's trademark twinkly percussion which has been present on all of their work remains intact. Whilst perhaps a little too poised and immaculate at times, there's no faulting the ambition here, and fewer more elegant albums have been released this year. Give time for this album's glacial facade to melt a little, and the rewards are spectacular.

Wild Nothing – Nocturne (Bella Union)
Chosen By Novak Hunter

In a year with acts like How To Dress Well and Swans doing amazing things, perhaps my choice is a little sentimental. Then again, that doesn’t change the fact that Wild Nothing are pretty much the sound of my older brother’s bedroom in the early 90’s.

Fuzzy memories of that era have left me with a profound love of shoegaze and dreampop, and like their previous album Gemini, Nocturne has a great combination of simple melodies and warm, dreamy production that cuts straight to those styles. I was recently listening to this album at work when a colleague mistook it for the Jesus and Mary Chain. I was surprised at first but quickly understood the comparison; they’re both heavy on pop melodies buried deep in a warm, fuzzy mix of effects. It’s just that Wild Nothing don’t make you want to shoot heroin.

It’s not just an exercise in nostalgia. They take their cues from the past but the effect is good enough that it never feels contrived, because despite the multi-layered depth of the production, it always ends up sounding refreshingly straightforward. Tracks like 'This Chain Won’t Break' and 'Nocturne' are breathlessly optimistic and swoony, while opener 'Shadow' is a bouncy pop anthem and 'Through the Grass' and 'Disappear Always' are yearning and wistful. Listening to Nocturne is like a going on a mini emotional voyage, albeit one that’s not in the least taxing.

It’s a little lazy to make such direct comparisons, but their sound invites it. They made a splash early in their career with a cover of Kate Bush’s ‘Cloudbusting’, but Chapterhouse, The Church, My Bloody Valentine and Ride are all here in spirit too. That alone should either sell you on Nocturne or move you along, but for fans of the sound it’s a rare treat.

Daphni – Jialong (Dan Snaith)
Chosen by Adam Corner

Make one genre-defining album and it will set tongues wagging. Make two, and you have to expect people to start getting pretty excited. And so it should be no surprise, with the release of his second absolutely scorching album in the space of three years – this time under the name of Daphni, previously under his Caribou moniker – that everyone is buzzing about Dan Snaith. A prolific and fiercely original artist, Snaith has a maths PhD and a midas touch for beats that seems to be in no danger of drying up. This year’s sonic adventure, Jialong, takes the epic, melancholy but somehow deeply danceable blueprint of his last album, Swim, and goes on a jolly through Latin American samples, stopping occasionally to drop whirl-pools of rhythm and melody that transcend easy genre-fiction. There are too many highlights to mention, but the almost shamanic ‘Light’ is a stuttering, menacing joy that wouldn’t sound out of place in a juke set, ‘Long’ recaptures the mournful/ecstatic nostalgia of previous album Swim, while the irresistible ‘Yes I Know’ is the mean older brother of Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy’ – and in a just world would be receiving the same amount of attention. But it is perhaps the spooky shuffle of ‘Ye Ye’ that takes the prize for my favourite track on my favourite album of the year – 6 minutes of demonic electronic organ, breathless vocal samples, and jittery percussion anchored by the dull thud of a kick drum tapping out a techno beat. Pretty damn near perfect.

The 2 Bears - Be Strong (Southern Fried)
Chosen by Ben Wood

Hot Chip-affiliated duo play a blinder with an eclectic album that combines the best house you've heard for years, with pop hooks aplenty

Hot Chip have been creeping ever closer to the dancefloor in recent years. With his 2 Bears project, the band's Joe Goddard teams up with Raf Rundell to create a cracker of a debut. Steeped in house but throwing in influences from dancehall to Ian Dury, this is a warm-hearted gem with hooks galore and oodles of heart.

The gorgeous warm guitar chords and Latin brass of Balaeric opener 'The Birds & the Bees' sound like the music you'd hear at a barbecue party in Heaven. The acid house flashback title track pays tribute to the boys' musical heroes over a beat and vocal that would have sounded great at the Hacienda; while 'Bear Hug' would rather cuddle you than look up your skirt!

You can get lost in many of these grooves - minimal but musical choons like 'Take a Look Around' are Shroom-tastic - but there's not a trace of self-indulgence, even on ten minutes-plus closer 'Shakedown'. No tune outstays its welcome.

This is no empty hedonism either: the lyrics hymn decent human values like love, tolerance and hard work, but seem inspiring rather than merely worthy. There are stacks of ideas here: 'Church' gets all gospelly while 'Time In Mind' takes a break from the funk as a geezer regrets his dodgy past in London tones reminiscent of Ian Dury, Alabama 3 and Madness. 'Heart of the Congos' is a heartfelt testament from true music-lovers, as it pays tribute to the roots reggae heroes.

Vocals are shared around between guest vocalists and a slowed-down Rundell in deep-voiced 'bear' mode. Groove-tastic yet packed with detail and melody, this works equally as home listening or club fodder - and feels like a proper artists' album rather than a collection of club tracks.

You thought they didn't make 'em like this any more - luckily they do... Proper house music' is alive and well. Let 'em give you a 'Bear Hug'...

The Chromatics - Kill For Love (Italians Do It Better)
Chosen by Matthew Bayfield

2007's Night Drive by was something of a revelation for me. Atmospheric, somehow a delicate balance of both bleak and inviting and a completely immersive experience.

Between the release of that album and Kill For Love, its full length follow up of 2012, Night Drive inspired the existentialist neo-noir style of Nicolas Winding Refn's ‘Drive’, which became the darling of arthouse film fans and pretentious students the world over, a track appeared on the ninth volume of the achingly hip, much sought after Colette mix series and the band threw out an EP containing a bewitching Bruce Springsteen cover just for good measure. All whilst signed to Italians Do It Better. A label well respected for its sublime curation of, primarily, new wave & "italo-disco".

At over 90 minutes in length this LP isn't necessarily designed for the casual listener; there are numerous extended pieces that move on murky sonics, glacial synths and Spartan drum programming locked in 4/4 rhythms that feel like they are moving through set honey, but by the same token it does feature a solid half dozen of some of the most perfectly realised pop songs of the year.

Opening with their cover of Neil Young & Crazy Horse's 'Into The Black', the band proceed to strip Young's original of its raucous guitar feedback and aggression to expose the lust for life nihilism of the central lyric. When the sultry vocal of Ruth Radelet intones "it's better to burn out, than it is to rust" it's hard to tell if she is singing the praises of the joyous ride or merely looking forward to its ultimately bleak conclusion. This bizarre juxtaposition of tragically hopeful lyricism runs through the album whole; from the title track's refrain of "everybody's got a secret to hide / everybody's just slipping backwards" to the brutally naked honesty of 'At Your Door' there is a constant sense of that the narrator is on the verge of completely falling apart. Radelet's aching, velvet soft, yet dead eyed delivery only serves to further stir the confusing blend of emotions in the music.

The instrumentation on the album is again, perfectly balanced. Whereas on Night Drive most tracks were more concerned with the insular, cold murk one might associated with late night journeys KFL opts to bring in a more colourful pallete, with neon synth work, numerous endlessly hummable melodies such as the title track's shimmering guitars alongside a much more prominent bass groove befitting of a group whose original sound was very much in debt to Joy Division's post punk leanings. Whilst not dance music per sé the overall template of the piece has parallels to the slow house and italo-disco styles, both of which saw something of an upswing in underground scenes across the globe in 2012. It also draws stylistically from the same pool of glacial dance configurations that can be occasionally be seen in acts such as The Knife and Trentmoller. The title track itself is a prime example of the ghost of house music: Almost peak-time club ready in itself, in the hands of a nuanced house or disco producer it could quite easily become a sad eyed anthem for washed up ravers at 5am as the buzz is coming down and the lights are fading up. It's not often you get to say it but this is probably the perfect album for anyone whose ever dropped mood enhancing drugs in a club for their self destructive benefits and will no doubt be the soundtrack to a hundred doomed romances and clichéd teen indie films about the same subject.

It seems perfectly fitting for a band who could have quite easily gone for either pop gold or art house darling status have eschewed the obvious answers and instead left us again in the middle, with a resoundingly strong argument for both.

Tall Ships – Everything Touching (Big Scary Monsters)
Chosen by Dave Reynolds

The wait for Tall Ships’ first LP, Everything Touching, seemed to last for an eternity. A couple of brilliant EPs in the past couple of years whetted the appetite and led to this heightened sense of anticipation. The monumental ‘T=0’ was the first track to be teased from the album, perfectly encapsulating the spirit of the band: Looping guitar riffs, crashing drums, churning bass and a sparse and impactful burst of vocals. The first time I heard the record in full was on a sweltering August night in a German hotel room. The first listen raced past in moments, showing glimpses of what was on offer. Over repeated listens the record kept revealing extra depth and nuance. Tracks such as the aforementioned ‘T=0’ and ‘Gallop’ are instantly impactful and glorious, but it was the slower burning tracks, such as ‘Murmurations’ and ‘Ode To Ancestors’ that really made this record one of the best of the year. Lyrically, it focused on issues that we all think about - life and death, the passage of time - but the way they are talked about has been done so artfully. A lyric from an old Tall Ships b-side, ‘Safe as Houses’, perfectly encapsulates their attitude to song structure effortlessly: “You use your words like bricks, your pauses like mortar.” With this logic, Everything Touching is a grand palace.

Before ‘Ode To Ancestors’ fires itself off towards its hurtling finale, Ric Phethean dangles the line: “A million year masterpiece” out there like a strand of DNA. He’s describing the beauty of evolution and how we all ended up being here, but it fits perfectly in describing this record. Granted, it’s not been a million years in the making, but it’s such a pleasing feeling to see a band take so much time, care and love over a full length debut, and for it to all come together so majestically.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis - The Heist (Macklemore)
Chosen by Stuart Knapman

Picking a favourite album from twelve fantastic months of music is always a challenge. A special mention must go to The Menzingers’ On The Impossible Past, however they’ve been pipped one of the most exciting and innovative hip-hop albums to come out in a long time. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ debut collaborative effort The Heist is quite simply a masterpiece, blending eloquent, touching, thought provoking lyrics with an understated production style which invariably complements the lyrical content perfectly. When Macklemore raps “Change the game, don’t let the game change you” on ‘Make the Money’ it’s as good an appraisal of the album as you’re likely to hear. The Heist completely tears up the hip-hop rulebook, with Mack tackling issues such as gay rights, drug addiction, and rap culture head on, unafraid of saying something that could be seen as unfashionable. ‘Same Love’ is an incredibly relevant observation of the issues surrounding gay rights in the United States. As a straight artist Macklemore runs the risk here of coming across as being pious for the sake of it, attempting to jump on the counter-culture bandwagon, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Instead he makes you think, and gets his point across without screaming or shouting. But The Heist isn’t all heavy lyrical content and low key production, there are also some brilliantly upbeat tracks. Perhaps the best of these is ‘Can’t Hold Us’ which really gets the blood pumping with its pounding drums and sparkling hooks. Ryan Lewis’ contribution to the album shouldn’t be overlooked either, while it’s Macklemore’s lyrics that grab the attention the production is always appropriate, always contributing to what’s being said rather than running the risk of overshadowing it. Put simply, The Heist is a stunning achievement which really shows what can be achieved when you think a little bit outside the box.

Chelsea Wolfe – Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs (Sargent House)
Chosen by Cloudrunner

I am always on the lookout for understated records with such sustained clarity of tone and voice so as they become embedded in one’s own mind forevermore. I had a good feeling about Chelsea Wolfe’s Unknown Rooms from the off; I believed if I gave it enough room it would grow into something special for me. Now I wake with it on my lips, repeated playback from the ghostly residual imprint, laying down in the lap-lapping of its tide.

Based around the loose concept of collecting and updating some old material left out in the cold, Unknown Rooms is only just album length, but is no mere compilation or ‘stepping-stone’. This is a record of exquisite balance which draws the listener ever deeper in with seductive singing, masterful musicianship and production values to die for – a lot of credit must go to first-mate Ben Chisholm. Every note sounds just about as good as it could do, whereas every lyric is economic and efficient, and yet charged with emotion – the same sets of words delivered by another could mean nothing, rather than everything.

This is the best thing Wolfe has delivered to date. It’s a low key departure, a subtle experiment, and a foundation block for a long and healthy career. A record reminiscent of many things, these always feel like ‘inspired by’ moments, and are never unoriginal, such is the cinematic omnipresence of the tone of the piece, its sense of self, if you like . . . we’re talking bass-heavy dark folk, soulful slow-core Americana, and equilibrium – stark versus rich – organic, natural, but with audible technology – microphones in the woods, landscape photography – all shot through with personal messages and decisive use of imagery, in a voice that can both freeze and thaw, and always keeps me coming back for more.

Internet Forever – Internet Forever (Self-release)
Chosen by Larry Day

Internet Forever may not have been the biggest success story of 2012, but after five years of rough-hewn bedroom demos and lo-fi grumbles, we finally had their debut LP. It crept under the radar in a year filled with guitar 'comebacks' and dubstep wobbles, but the biting twee-rock (think Architecture In Helsinki or Los Campesinos!) is the kind of first-rate nectar that is not only immensely fun, but also owns a lyrical depth, which serves as a gratifying aftertaste long after the saccharine blips and synth buzzes have faded.

They originally wooed us with sugary bonbons of bubblegum-indie, but their first full-length effort trundles down the roads of psych-rock, noise-pop and synthtronica. They keep true to their roots though, glazing their sonic forays in a glitzy hue of carefree youthfulness. Tracks like '3D' and 'Break Bones' are home to some of the catchiest melodies of anything this year, and despite being awash with harsh words, the music never once slips into a moody, brooding darkness.

The record is rampant, flippantly ricocheting through each track, barely halting long enough for you to gather your wits and comprehend the facetious optimism. It's a welcome barrage of faux-happiness, juxtaposed against quirky instrumentation, impish handclaps and a debonair smirk. It may be rough around the edges – sometimes the sounds is so thick, it's like your ears are wading through treacle – but this callow offering is pumped up with the pomp of three ambitious LDNers venting their irritations with tongues planted firmly in their cheeks. In a year so full of doom and gloom (heck, the world could still end), Internet Forever alleviate the burden of reality and suspend us in a Candyland of their own design.

Whores – Ruiner (Stressed Sumo)
Chosen by Pete Clark

This is technically cheating we guess, as Ruiner may be the debut release from sonic noise purveyors Whores, it is also a five track EP, but the noise reigning from the ‘orange blaze’ vinyl record spinning around the deck voids the differences between a full length and an extended player, and focuses purely on the music. Ruiner is simply devastating! Since being released at the beginning of 2012, the rest of the year has been heard under a black gloomy sky of Whores’ riffs, and it’s been an astonishing storm.

The monolithic destruction that persists amongst the melee of the EP is like having your guts ripped out and shown to you by some sort of boogie behemoth, from opener ‘Fake Life’ to the frankly orgasmic eruption of ‘Tell Me Something Scientific’. ‘Straight Down’ changes the pace of the Atlanta three-piece, as the slower sludge fest is a relentless wade through down tuned riffs and wails of anguish as Christian Lembach yells “I don’t care where we go, as long as it’s straight down” to a bittered effect.

The massive fuzz effects and visceral bombardment strike similarities with The Melvins, Harvey Milk, and The Jesus Lizard, but Whores’ pissed-off, laid-back attitude enables an almost groove-laden approach to their songs which stands the band out of an often alienating scene. It would be a shame if this record were to become consigned to time as a spark of masterful brilliance that never received the recognition or wide spread acclaim that it deserved, but the band probably couldn’t give a shit about any of that.

In a little under 20 minutes, that’s it all done, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, and we’re left picking apart what’s just happened, when all we want to do is flip the record and start it all over again. Devastating, brutal, and magnificent!

Django Django - Django Django (Because)
Chosen by Nicole Ryan

Working away on their debut album for three years after first gaining popularity on MySpace has paid dividends for art-pop-rockers Django Django. The result is an eclectic record that dabbles in a vast (and at times confusing) range of genres but still feels cohesive.

Calling on the familiar pop sounds of Hot Chip and Metronomy but creating a sound that is undeniably theirs, Django Django is bursting at the seams with ideas but the quartet show enough restraint to never risk losing control.
The groove-laden ‘Hail Bop’ provides a fitting introduction to the album, peppered with cosmic effects and ending with the type of electronica that wouldn’t be out of place on a Cut Copy record.

The mesmerising ‘Default’ showcases the bands knack for rhythm, with the distorted vocals and jaunty guitar riff only enhancing its hypnotic effect. There are plenty more cadence-driven tracks to follow, with ‘WOR’ and ‘Waveforms’ particular highlights.

From cowbells to insect sounds, it’s clear the Edinburgh-via-London gents are unafraid of experimentation and it is this inhibition that makes the album feel so fresh. Tribal beats are rife in ‘Love’s Dart’ and the sound of rattlesnakes reminds you that you’re not in typical pop territory anymore. ‘Life’s a Beach’ and ‘Firewater’ channel surf-rock while the mellow yet melodic ‘Hand of Man’ proves the band are not solely reliant on chopping up beats to create a hook. Whilst the accompanying lyrics hold their own, they only really ever play second fiddle to the enigmatic Django Django sound landscape.

Somehow managing to feel minimalist while piling layer upon layer of sound, Django Django is ambitious but has the goods to back it up. And then some.

Pond – Beard, Wives Denim (Modular)
Chosen by Henry Bainbridge

The past couple of years have got me worried that Bill and Ted were wrong; the world of the future may not be ordered upon the ideals of righteous rock ‘n’ roll and audacious guitar wielding. Pond are getting things back on track. “Be excellent to each other” Indeed.

Recorded in 2010 but only seeing the light of day in March this year Beard, Wives, Denim is a sprawling rock and roll album recorded on a farm in Western Australia and packaged replete with washed out filtered images from the sessions where the band look impossibly nifty in plaid and moustaches. It’s enough to put you off, but that would be silly.

Like a cross-section of 60 years of rock and roll guitar music hacked open by a band of enthusiastic junior surgeons after a whiskey breakfast this Australian psych-gem offers up greasy slabs of grunt, warmth, weirdness and epic fuzz. While the influences are multiple and madcap, they are rarely jarring. The only real disappointment is the irritating opener ‘Fantastic Explosions of Time’, sit through it and the listener is rewarded with a trip into whistful mentalist pop – heavier than The Flaming Lips, lighter than Royal Bangs, badder than Nicolas Cage in that film about a lieutenant.

Some of these guys are also in Tame Impala, I’m not really interested in that. What’s better is that the sound is face-meltingly exciting and way fresher than the sepia tones it comes packaged in.

What has recently been worryingly considered the tattered corpse of guitar music, to be forgotten as a brief footnote in music history, has taken a Berocca and started taking care of itself. Guitars never went away but they are coming back.

The Twilight Sad - No One Can Ever Know (FatCat)
Chosen by Mikey Reynolds

They might have opened their first album with the track ‘Cold Days from the Birdhouse’, but with January’s No One Can Ever Know it looks like the ‘Cold Days’ are finally here for The Twilight Sad. Shedding the 'wall of sound' employed on their previous two releases for a stark, stripped down electronic sound, the Scots produced one of the most exciting albums of this year, a haunting, intriguing work.

‘Sick’, the first single released from the album was a statement of intent – don’t mistake it for a simple album hyping single release, ‘Sick’ was a signpost of The Twilight Sad’s new bleak sound. Not since Arab Strap has a band put onto record such a distinct feeling of malaise – the line “So sick to death of the sight of you, safe to say, never wanted you more” from opener ‘Alphabet’ sets the scene perfectly for what’s to follow.

Working with producer Andrew Weatherall – most famous for his work with Primal Scream – for the first time, Weatherall has overseen the band’s move into brave new territory. The new sound is directed largely by Andy MacFarlane’s synthesiser, and by stripping back the sound to their new cold, electronic direction, James Graham’s vocals stand out more than they ever have. Previously obscured by plentiful guitar noise, his words now ring true, cutting through the background and placing themselves firmly at the forefront of The Twilight Sad’s sound.

A band undergoing a metamorphosis such as this will usually see a bit of a backlash, but that hasn’t been the case for The Twilight Sad. 2012 has, quite clearly, been the band’s biggest year yet – culminating in a headline show at Glasgow’s historic Barrowlands and plentiful spots on End of Year lists. Nobody saw this coming after the previous two albums, but this feels like the album The Twilight Sad always wanted to produce.

How to Dress Well – Total Loss (Domino)
Chosen by Lewie Peckham

This September saw the release of Total Loss, the newest offering from Tom Krell AKA How to Dress Well. While still keeping the haunting falsetto and gorgeous R’n’B inspired vocals that permeated through the darker undertones of his earlier output, sonically Krell has branched out for this album incorporating chamber pop and glorious string sections that wrap around the eleven songs that make up Total Loss.

At its heart Total Loss is just about that. Following the death of his uncle and best friend, the ending of a relationship due to the inevitable obstacle of distance and a bout of depression, there is a sense that this album contains a part of Krell’s soul and every emotional scar and bruise from the last two years is engraved in these songs.

From the opening song ‘Cold Nites’ right through to the stunning ‘Talking to You’ that layers of quavering falsetto over ‘Purple Rain’ crescendos Total Loss is the best kind of headphone music, perfect for late nights and isolation or to soundtrack walking the streets after the noise of the daytime has died away and only the shadows of the city are left.

There have been other albums released this year that have hit hard emotionally. Perfume Genius’s beautiful ‘Put Your Back In2 it’ and Daughn Gibson’s Introverted ‘All Hell’ to name two but the honesty and the naked confessional of Total Loss just stuns the listener with every press of the play button.

Like The Weekend, Frank Ocean and The XX have also done this year this album moves R’n’B away from its connotations to sex crazed slow jams. Replacing the sleaze with lyrical honesty and introspection combined with the clicks and snaps of sparse programmed beats it further opens a genre up to a new path.

Tom Krell turned a tough 18 months into something compelling, something that still blooms with innovation on every repeated listen and new lyrics and hooks uncovered. How to Dress Well is the warmth of a glowing red heart buried under the glacial layers of lush instrumentation.

Listen to some choice tracks from these albums below: