This Month's Top Albums: June

Words: John Balfe

Every month we like to cherry-pick a selection of the upcoming month's music releases to highlight a few which we think are worthy of note, for whatever reason. This month will see the release of the latest album from Icelandic art-rockers Sigur Ros, a new album from the current incarnation of Smashing Pumpkins, as well as releases from Fiona Apple, Paloma Faith and *shriek* Justin Bieber. Plenty to get your teeth into this month, check out our previews below.

Sigur Ros - Valtar - 28th May

It's been a long four years since the release of Sigur Ros's last album Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (easy for you to say…) and it will be interesting to see what effect, if any, the hiatus will have on the band's already unique sound. Band members have already spoken as to its more electronic core compared to previous releases, but maintain that it's not a "dance album". Either way Sigur Ros have never been a band to pander to musical fads, so we're pretty sure you can expect the unexpected with this one.

Paloma Faith - Fall To Grace - 28th May

Paloma Faith's debut album Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful? signposted the singers as one to keep an eye on and now, three years later, the Brit is set to release its follow-up Fall To Grace, an album which Faith describes as "very cinematic". Producer Nellee Hooper, a former collaborator of Bjork and Gwen Stefani, has said Fall To Grace references everything from Chinese romantic cinema to Hip Hop.

Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel - 18th June

Remember when Fiona Apple was huge? It's been a long seven years since Apple's Extraordinary Machine and an equally long time since she was viewed as one of the most promising musicians on the scene. An on-stage meltdown in New York saw her spend the majority of the next ten years in the musical wilderness but now, still only 34, she's back. It remains unclear why Apple has chosen now to make her return but we have a sneaking suspicion that The Idler Wheel will be worth the wait and emphasise the talent which we've been deprived of for so long.

Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania - 18th June

There was a time when the Smashing Pumpkins were on the forefront of a brave new musical revolution, seen as the voice of a generation and continually making some of the most incisive rock music around. But, alas, we're not in the 90's anymore and now the Smashing Pumpkins more resemble a manifestation of Billy Corgan's ego than the creative force they used to be. Corgan has said that Oceania is their best work since Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and, while we'd love that, we just think that Corgan's best days are behind him.

Justin Bieber - Believe - 19th June

The Canadian tyke releases his third album towards the end of June and the teenager's ascent to the top of the charts is somewhat inevitable, if his army of pre-teen fans have anything to do with it. What's curious is that some genuine names in the hip-hop scene have aligned themselves with the Biebster - namely Timbaland and Lil' Wayne. Are you a Belieber? It doesn't matter, there's no escaping him now.
 

Story by EI Team | 09:00 | Tuesday 15th May 2012 | Music

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