June Wrap-Up: Music I was introduced to this month

For those who follow me over at Metal Riot you know that this year I’ve been doing a monthly wrap-up of my favorite albums that came out that month. I’ve decided to do something similar on this platform.

This wrap-up won’t be limited to metal, and it won’t be limited to music that was released in June, just music that I first came across in June. I’m keeping track of this using my Google Play account, where I add new music to a playlist each month.

The playlist starts with “Graves” and “Forever” by CHVRCHES off of their album Love Is Dead which came out at the end of May 2018.

I’m not always the biggest fan of synth-pop, but if nothing else has done it for me with CHVRCHES, their lyrics stand out for me, and it’s there lyrics that have kept me coming back to tracks off of Love Is Dead.

If you like synth-pop, this album, I think, has to be an obvious choice for you. If you’re not into synth-pop, or have never given the genre a chance before, I would encourage you to give Love Is Dead a chance as an entry point into the genre.

From CHVRCHES let me take you to West Thebarton, a punk rock band from South Australia. From their May 18, 2018 release Different Beings Being Different I dug the songs “Bible Camp,” “Reasons,” and “Do You Believe.” West Thebarton reminds me of the way TAT makes me feel when I listen to them. I call it punk rock, but it gives me a feeling of pure rock ’n’ roll.

This song ends with probably a minute or more of “Yeah I’m spent, yeah I’m spent, yeah I’m better off dead” that has made me embarrassed to listen to it in front of my friends more than a few times this month.

With Modern Maps “Something Different” we get to an album released this month, and we reach a Rise Records album. If you’ve been following my writing over at Metal Riot, you know I’ve been digging a lot of what Rise Records has been putting out this year.

serpentwithfeet released soil on June 8. This song caught me off-guard when it first came on the Google Play Music auto-generated new music radio, but I love it.

This brings us to the only heavy metal song on the playlist, “The Breeding Process” by Aversions Crown, off the album of the same name, released on June 8.

With MILCK’s Oh My My (What A Life), there’s a pattern of June 8 releases, but you don’t want to miss the title track. It’s introspective in a singer-songwriter kind of way, with plenty of pop bop.

Moose Blood’s acoustic version of “Talk In Your Sleep” off of You’re All I Need is a beautiful offering of emo in the year of our lord 2018.

I couldn’t find a video for the acoustic version, so here’s the original:

I promise, you’re going to want to check out the acoustic version.

Zayde Wolf, on his song “Won’t Ever Let You Go,” offers a bombastic sound indicative of 2010’s radio alternative/indie music.

Now we get to a few country songs. First is Brown & Gray’s “Top Down” off of their album Salt in the Coffee. If you’re still looking to round-out your playlist of summer riding-down-the-highway music, you’re going to want to put this one on there.

Dierks Bentley’s The Mountain is my favorite new country album since I’m not sure when. His duet with Brandi Carlile, “Travelin’ Light,” is, simply a beautiful song.

Then there’s “Burning Man” featuring the Brothers Osborne, which, I don’t love the music video for, but I’ve always had a weak spot for those country songs about perseverance.

I couldn’t not add to the playlist/talk about/write about Mike Shinoda’s Post Traumatic. There were three songs that stuck out to me off of the album, two from the original EP, released in January, “Place To Start,” “Over Again,” and “Nothing Makes Sense Anymore.”

I would say that this album should be given a chance, regardless. If you’re a Linkin Park fan, listen to it. If you’re a fan of Fort Minor, if you’re a fan of hip hop or rap, if you’ve ever lost someone in your life, if you’re still grieving and reeling from having lost someone in your life, then you should listen to this album, at least once.

Mayday Parade’s Sunnyland came out of nowhere and hit me hard with “It’s Hard to Be Religious When Certain People Are Never Incinerated by Bolts of Lightning.”

The pop-punk/emo stylings of this album are refreshing as hell. If every Mayday Parade album is this good, then I’ve been missing out (and it’s another Rise Records release!).

“Take My Breath Away” offers a slower, acoustic-y alternative to “It’s Hard to Be Religious When Certain People Are Never Incinerated by Bolts of Lightning”’s rockier bitterness.

We’re almost to the end now, only four songs and four artists left to go.

Snail Mail’s Lush came out this month, and my favorite track off of it is “Golden Dream,” I can’t find a video for it, so I offer instead the lead single, “Pristine.”

Pop-punkers State Champs’ “Frozen” is a catchy tune off their album Living Proof.

The Frights album Hypochondriac actually won’t be available until August 24, but the single “Me and We and I,” is a powerfully introspective song with a bit of a surf punk tinge.

That brings us to Australian singer-songwriter Ruel and his EP Ready. His song “Say,” is an honest contribution to 10’s pop music.

This concludes my list! Twenty-four songs is a hell of a task, if you’ve read this far, I hope you’ve enjoyed it! You can tweet me at @JessieRaeFisher and let me know what new music you discovered this month! Check back in next month to see what new music I’ll be sharing with you. Til then, happy listenin’, folks!

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