Yeasayer - Amen & Goodbye (2016)

[alan nagsworth]

Four years after their previous album Fragrant World, the colourful psych-pop band are back in April with this, their fourth LP. To be honest, I found FW to be quite underwhelming in the wake of the wild, soaring tropical feast of 2010's Odd Blood - quite easily their best album to date, admittedly petering out in the second half after a string of fantastic singles, but nonetheless I find it hard to pick out a duffer from the lot - but the new single I Am Chemistry is bloody great. Again, they've definitely reined in the bonkers electronic tribal percussion and seem to have "matured" their sound, I guess, but it's infectious as hell, and honestly the music video is one of the best I've seen in a good while. They've always been known for their wacko vidz, but this is a real thing of beauty. I'm excited!

CHECK IT OUT

[Johnny Textface]

Looking forward to this. Remember when I first heard ONE on the radio and it's still one of my favourite pop songs ever.

[buttgammon]

I'm still obsessed with Odd Blood so this should be interesting!

[alan nagsworth]

Bumping to say that this has leaked.

I'm very much enjoying it on first listen, although it does seem to fall into the same habit of dribbling off a bit in the second half. However, they seem to have such a diverse approach to sound in their music that it's not as if the music is bad, I'm just not always sure that their albums work as whole pieces. The beat-heavy singles that are succeeded by more relatively melancholy or wistful sounding songs always feels like playing their best hand first when they could easily mix it up a bit more with some more thought.

Anyway, one thing's for sure: it sounds fucking lush. There's a distinct baroque infuence to a lot of it, and I can never really get enough of yer man's vocals. I'm sure a lot of this will grow on me and in time and I'll end up really liking it all. Either way it's heaps better than Fragrant World!

[Squink]

Oof no, nags. I'm with you on Parquet Courts, but the stench of patchouli is too strong with this one. Horrible band. I still recall being at some fest, standing next to an awful swaying hippy woman, who was swirling her hair around while Yeasayer bleated something about being grateful for all the people they care for in their lives or some such ballacks.

[hewantstolurkatad]

2080 and Sunrise showed some promise to the point that I went to them over Vampire Weekend (who've gone on to make a bloody great album) at a music festival way back, O.N.E. is, imo, a classic of its era, but absolutely nothing else on that album even came close. Really surprised it only has 300k views on Youtube over three years to be honest.
The last album was meant to be a dud wasn't it? Bit surprised they're still together to be honest.