With any new year comes new music. Here are three new albums to check out this week.
Running With Scissors by Cavetown
English singer-songwriter Robin Skinner — known professionally as Cavetown — released his new record Running With Scissors on Jan. 16.
Skinner has been writing music for over a decade, with his fame beginning to bloom in the mid-2010’s when his YouTube channel cavetown began to grow in popularity. Although he had been active on his channel since 2013, releasing both original works and covers, his track “Hug All Ur Friends” was the first of these pieces to go semi-viral in 2015. Since then, Skinner has only grown in popularity.
Lyrically, Running With Scissors reflects on Skinner’s personal journey. In an “Album Story” released by Rock Sound, writer Maddy Howell comments on this.
“[Through] love, loss, identity and family — [Skinner] has documented every facet of his story in song, but never quite so starkly as he has on Running With Scissors. Looking himself squarely in the eye, trusting in his feelings and learning to love the person he has become.”
Sonically both fans of Skinner’s early music and those new to Cavetown as a whole are bound to enjoy his newest work.
“Lately, I’ve been appreciating hyper-pop production, and I’ve also had a renaissance with my emo phase,” Skinner said. “I’ve been listening to a lot of Pierce The Veil and I wanted to be back in my little emo phase. I wanted to make loud music. I wanted to make music that made people run around in circles and go crazy. Now, I have the tools to know how to make that sound work. I wanted to push myself to the edge of harshness but also retain the warmth of the music I’ve been making over the years.”
The record’s track list is below:
- “Skip”
- “Cryptid”
- “Rainbow Gal”
- “Baby Spoon”
- “NPC”
- “Reaper”
- “Straight Through My Head”
- “Tarmac”
- “No Bark No Bite”
- “Micah”
- “Sailboat (feat. chloe moriondo)”
- “First Time”
- “Running With Scissors”
If You Go There, I Hope You Find It by The Paper Kites
The well-known Australian alternative folk band, The Paper Kites, will be releasing their seventh studio album, If You Go There, I Hope You Find It, on Jan. 23.
Gifted with the ability to create tender and emotionally rich songs, The Paper Kites began their career in 2010 as five friends who loved music. From there, things took off. With the release of their hit single “Bloom,” which remains their most streamed track on Apple Music, The Paper Kites found their footing in the turbulent and sometimes volatile music industry. No matter how much the framework they were creating within changed, the five members of The Paper Kites stuck closely to their beloved sound.
Now with the release of their newest album, If You Go There, I Hope You Find It, the band is still exploring themes of nature, healing and hope, with their work now “guided by a longing for connection, simplicity and emotional clarity.”
The record’s track list is below:
- “Morning Gum”
- “Change Of The Wind”
- “When The Lavender Blooms”
- “Stormwall”
- “A Word I Needed More”
- “Shake Off The Rain”
- “Every Town”
- “Strongly In Your Arms”
- “Deep (In The Plans We Made)”
- “Borne By You”
Death in the Business of Whaling by Searows
American singer-songwriter Alec Duckart, known professionally as Searows, has released their newest record, Death in the Business of Whaling, on Jan. 23.
Just 25, Duckart only began to make waves in the music industry recently. Starting his career in 2022, Duckart started posting his music to SoundCloud, but it wasn’t until finding acclaim on TikTok that the young artist grew in popularity.
Death in the Business of Whaling will be Duckart’s second studio album, having recorded his debut record Guard Dog in his bedroom in 2022.
“Most of these songs are about the different ways we all bump up against the human condition,” Duckart said. “Our spirit, the shadow self, our egos, trauma, love and fate. How we cope with our experiences and how we connect and take care of one another in an exceedingly dark and violent world.”
“This record is still deeply personal to me. But it is an attempt to reveal my cards in a more coded, symbolic manner.”
The record’s track list is below:
- “Belly of the Whale”
- “Kill What You Eat”
- “Photograph of a Cyclone”
- “Hunter”
- “Dirt”
- “Dearly Missed”
- “Junie”
- “In Violet”
- “Geese”