Laura Snapes
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As a kid discovering music, you assemble a hodgepodge of other people's opinions. But there's a lot of joy to be found when the urge to agree with the critics melts away, writes critic Laura Snapes.
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Perfume Genius' Mike Hadreas invited the reclusive Canadian auteur to perform at Le Guess Who? last year. The pair met for the first time backstage and shared insights on creating and performing. -
M.C. Taylor has a rueful, weary reediness that makes the tensions in his songs pull that much harder. In a beautiful outtake from Heart Like A Levee, dreaming and reality are at odds. -
The 16-minute track manages to be concise and lean, almost speeding on an empty tank through a tireless groove that solders dusty Ohio punk to krautrock's soothing repetitions. -
Ever since Boxer, the band's pledged to release a record channeling the cataclysmic energy of its concerts. With the first single from Sleep Well Beast, it's finally come through. -
Inspired by its time at an experimental Berlin festival, this single offers a cool, cryptic introduction to the Bristol-Paris folk band's kaleidoscopic new phase. -
Defiance is exhausting. Mike Hadreas' cosmically expansive, baroque declaration of love also acts as a protest song, depicting his lover as a godlike being who sustains his spirit. -
In the lead single from her new, self-titled album, the folk singer addresses another person while turning inward. "If I had my way, every song would eventually lead to empathy," she says. -
For the singer, introspection became a lens that nearly ended his career. Focusing on the lives of others changed that. "In a world of mouths," Lekman sings on his new album, "I want to be an ear." -
The Melbourne artist's Susan persona, whom she calls "a manifestation of social media metadata," gets a taste of freedom in a Butoh-inspired video.
