Dig These Discs :: Marina And The Diamonds, James Bay, Sufjan Stevens, Madeon, Death Cab For Cutie

Death Cab for Cutie drops their eighth studio album, the last with founder member Chris Walla, who's leaving the band after 17 years. British singer/songwriter James Bay drops his first full-length LP after three EPs, with a dozen rock hits. Electronic music sensation Madeon drops his upcoming debut album "Adventure." Brooklyn-based indie artist Sufjan Stevens continues to plunder through musical genres with the release of his new album, "Carrie & Lowell." Marina Diamandis drops her first album since the cathartic "Electra Heart" in 2013 that dealt with female identity, love, youth and society.

"Kintsugi" (Death Cab for Cutie)

Death Cab for Cutie drops their eighth studio album, the last with founder member Chris Walla, who's leaving the band after 17 years. The album is an homage to him, named after the Japanese ceramic repair technique that fills cracks and flaws with gold and silver, turning them into a thing of beauty. The band's use of synth and electronica serves as the gold and silver here. The anthemic "El Dorado" is among the album's best tracks. And the driving cut "The Ghosts of Beverly Drive" rocks, with the excellent, evocative first line, "If only you had known me before the accident." Also rocking is "Good Help (Is So Hard To Find)," with its kicky undercurrent and irreverent message about paying people to be your friends. Many of the songs deal with frontman Ben Gibbard's divorce from the queen of quirk, Zooey Deschanel. It makes for great music, with lean instrumentals and subtle vocals, as in "No Room in Frame" and the excruciatingly soul-baring "Hold No Guns." She's jet-setting while he's a lighthouse, at home making music in "Little Wanderer," with Gibbard painting the scene of kissing her at the airport baggage claim. In "Black Sun," he sings darkly, "how can something so fair be so cruel," segueing into a raggedy guitar riff. In "Everything's a Ceiling," he calls out to his love, but she's miles away with someone new. "You've Haunted Me All My Life" is truly sad, as he sings, "you're the mistress I can't make a wife." He lashes out at the young actress in "Ingenue," but repents at the end with "Binary Sea," a slow piano dirge of a goodbye. Sorry to hear about the divorce, dude. But heartbreak always makes the most excellent albums.
(Atlantic)

"FROOT" (Marina and the Diamonds)

Marina Diamandis drops her first album since the cathartic "Electra Heart" in 2013 that dealt with female identity, love, youth and society. For her third album, she looks back with confidence, melding disco, dreamy vocals and a sassy attitude. She released the album in the UK on her 29th birthday, October 10, 2014, and looked to make it a fresh start. "I wanted to write the entire record alone," said Diamandis. "I think one of the biggest challenges was saying what I wanted to do for once. Whoever you are as an artist, you have to know who you are so that you can do what you want to do... so that no one's going to tell you what your identity is." The result is an intimate and retrospective record that has Diamandis discovering new elements of herself and developing a passion for the unknown. She eases into things with her whisper-thin "Happy," singing, "I found what I've been looking for inside myself." Her title track, "Froot" sounds like a '90s-era electronica track. She literally sings, "This isn't my first time at the rodeo." In "I'm a Ruin," she gently croons to her lover that she will be the ruin of them, as well. In "Blue" she sings, "we've broken up and I regret it." This theme of regret permeates "Forget" as well. In the upbeat "Gold," Diamandis sings of not needing or wanting what she used to. You don't know her as well as you thought in "Can't Pin Me Down" and she shows she can take care of herself in "Solitaire." And in "Better Than That," she says, "You're just another in a long line of men she knew." Ouch! In "Weeds," she admits that she misses all of her exes, and that sex is something that helps it feel less lonely. It's a beautiful song, among the best on the album. She keeps things moving fast on "Savages," and finishes strong with "Immortal." Diamandis doesn't raise her voice much on this album, but still finds plenty to say.
(Neon Gold/Elektra)

"Carrie & Lowell" (Sufjan Stevens)

Brooklyn-based indie artist Sufjan Stevens continues to plunder through musical genres with the release of his new album, "Carrie & Lowell." The album was recorded by Stevens alongside Casey Foubert, Laura Veirs, Nedelle Torrisi, Sean Carey, Ben Lester and Thomas Bartlett and mixed by Stevens, Bartlett and Pat Dillet. Thematically the 11 songs address life and death, love and loss, and the artist's struggle to make sense of the beauty and ugliness of love. The album is named for Stevens' mother and stepfather and is a return to Stevens' folk roots. Stevens seduces the listener with delicate acoustic stylings, luring them with his soft, seemingly benign voice, until it's too late to back away. His "Death With Dignity" ripples the wind through your hair until you don't see you've been lured into the woods. In "Should Have Known Better" he sings of his relationship with his mother, hiding his feelings in his black shroud. "You checked your text while I masturbated," he whisper-sings in "All Of Me Wants All Of You." He wonders to the "God of Elijah" how it all happened in "Drawn to the Blood" and sings about being taught to swim by "Eugene." The track "Fourth of July" starts slowly but builds in intensity as he sings about his little firefly, singing, "Did you get enough love my little dove, why do you cry/ and I'm sorry I left, though it was for the best but it never felt right." The fretwork on "The Only Thing" is excellent, with is maudlin lyrics, "Should I tear my eyes out now, before I see too much?" His title track "Carrie & Lowell" is slow but with hyper-fast acoustic fingering. "John My Beloved" relies on slow drums to move it forward. "No Shade in the Shadow" is a macabre picture with a pretty beat. He finishes the album off with "Blue Bucket of Gold," another sweeping soundscapes. If you're a fan of introspective acoustic artists, Stevens is just the sound you'll love. Stevens kicks off a North American tour in April, featuring stops at New York's Beacon Theatre and Washington, D.C.'s DAR Constitution Hall.
(Asthmatic Kitty Records)

"Chaos and the Calm" (James Bay)

British singer/songwriter James Bay drops his first full-length LP after three EPs, with a dozen rock hits. He kicks things off with "Craving," a snare-drums fueled rocker that has him "craving something I can feel." It showcases the wide range and emotion in his voice. His second track, "Hold Back the River" is from his recently released EP of the same name. This handsome rocker has received the BRIT Critics Choice Award for his soulful delivery of solid rock tunes. "Why don't you be you and I'll be me," he advises in "Let It Go." He shows the breadth of his vocal range and passion in "If You Ever Want To Be In Love" and has fun rocking out in the fast-moving "Best Fake Smile." The urgency is ramped up in the excellent "When We Were On Fire." He slows things down in "Move Together," with excellent wordplay and soulful singing, and follows it up with "Scars," another slow-moving confessional tune. "Collide" has an excellent country meets rock vibe, like Bruce Springsteen, with fast-moving percussives adding urgency. It dovetails nicely with "Get Out While You Can," singing in scattershot-quick delivery about packing up his suitcase and leaving, singing, "I don't need your happy hours, I don't need your lonely bars, I'm ejecting like a bullet from a gun." He blends the fast with the slow in "Need The Sun To Break." He closes the album with the painfully touching love song, "Incomplete." It's a misnomer, if you ask me -- with looks, talent and soul for days, James Bay is the whole package.
(Republic Records)

"Adventure" (Madeon)

Electronic music sensation Madeon drops his upcoming debut album "Adventure." The French artist drops his single, "Home," the first he has released that features his own vocals. He launches the 12-track album with the instrumental "Isometric," which segues into the trippy "You're On," featuring Kyan. This modern dance track blends electro and dance music. Dan Smith from Bastille adds his curt British accent to the swooning instrumentals in "La Lune," and Passion Pit adds their bouncy sound to the excellent "Pay No Mind." Madeon layers trippy synthesizers to "Beings" and "Imperium." Mark Foster adds his boyish voice to the poppy "Nonsense" and Aquilo mellows out "Innocence" with his mellifluous voice. The cut "Pixel Empire" is a trippy soundscape, and Madeon wraps things up with "Home," with his own vocal stylings. If you're interested in catching Madeon live, head to the Sasquatch! Music Festival at The Gorge in Washington, or on his first-ever North American headlining tour, which kicks off on April 10 in San Francisco, before hitting Mexico, Canada and then the East Coast.
(Sony Music)