From extraterrestrial R&B and ambitious vocal exercises to one of the greatest records ever released, here's our pick of the three albums celebrating a major anniversary this month.
ADVERTISEMENTEvery month of 2024, Euronews Culture takes a trip down memory lane and handpicks a trio of albums celebrating a major milestone.
These are the three records you should choose to (re)discover as they respectively turn 10, 20, and 30 this August.
Turning 10 in 2024: FKA Twigs – LP1
(Release date: 6 August 2014)
For her debut album, English singer-songwriter FKA Twigs - real name Tahliah Barnett - burst onto the scene with 10 tracks that sounded completely ethereal, with an aura of mystique permeating from the melodies, the production and the FKA Twigs persona.
The album artwork did little to temper the excitement, with the eye-catching main image of a transfixingly weird doll face, designed by Jesse Kanda. The hyper-real artwork felt like it was depicting someone shifting from human form into something altogether more dream-like. Before you even heard a single note, FKA Twigs seemed to announce that she was the worthy heir of Björk. (More on her in a bit.)
The comparison stuck once you listened to the music. While operating in different genres, it was clear from the get-go that FKA Twigs, much like the celebrated Icelandic performer, possessed the same spirit of innovation - inducing the sense that you were listening to something that no other artist could have released. Her sultry and feminist R&B, fused with futuristic beats, was gently menacing and surreally disjointed in all the right ways. Nothing about it was immediately obvious, yet through the strange song structures emerged anthems that were both layered and strangely catchy. Even the lead single ‘Two Weeks’ possessed that rare quality of being radio-friendly yet disturbing, especially when she threatens to “pull out the incisor” while promising that in “two weeks you won’t recognize her.”
Ten years down the line, her distinctive hybridization of abstract pop, twisty arrangements and arrhythmic percussion continues to make for beautifully troubling (and very sexy) listens. Her innovative drive has not dwindled since 2014, with her 2015 EP ‘M3LL155X’, 2019’s ‘Magdalene’ and 2022’s mixtape ‘Caprisongs’ all impressing and asserting her uniqueness. However, nothing replaces that first time you hear an artist: those sounds linger, and 'LP1' remains the sensual, extraterrestrial and daring sonic slap that resonates the most.
Her next record, due to drop this year, is apparently inspired by rave culture and Mozart. We’re dying to hear what that sounds like – and we have no doubt that like a lot of her work, it’ll take a while to kick in... But you can bet it’ll be magnetic when it does.
Also turning 10 in August: British rock duo Royal Blood’s eponymous debut album, which is the strongest LP in their discography so far.
Turning 20 in 2024: Björk - Medúlla
(Release date: 30 August 2004)
In many ways, 'Medúlla' was the album that signalled Björk was well and truly distancing herself from contemporary pop to go down more boundary-pushing avenues.
Enlightening for some; bloody hard work for others. And this one feels like it was the tipping point.
Rarely talked about as one of her best albums, Björk’s fifth LP is without a doubt the gem in her discography that necessitates reappraisal. Granted, compared to what preceded it, 'Medúlla' was one hell of a departure – and a far less immediately satisfying album after the first couple of listens. Following the release of what is arguably her greatest album to date, 2001’s 'Vespertine', Björk intended to make an album almost entirely constructed of human voices. Essentially, an acapella album featuring sighs, grunts and beatboxing in lieu of instrumentation.
Sound like an exhausting experiment that would make Yoko Ono shriek with delight?
In many ways, it is. But while challenging – especially when some tracks consist of hook-less moans and cacophonous groans - there’s still something profoundly awe-inspiring about this ambitious album. Employing the help of Inuit throat singers, the Icelandic and London Choirs, as well as the beatboxing talents of Rahzel, Dokaka and “human trombone” Gregory Purnhagen, Björk creates a tapestry that sounds like a 45-minute-long pagan incantation.
ADVERTISEMENT‘Who Is It (Carry My Joy on the Left, Carry My Pain on the Right)’ is one of the catchier moments on 'Medúlla', alongside ‘The Pleasure Is All Mine’. The rest of the album is one that confounds expectations and, if you get on its wavelength, completely bewitches the listener.
Whether or not you’re convinced by Björk’s experimentations, 'Medúlla' is an album only she could have made. It may not have that immediate re-listenability factor to it, but there’s no denying that without 'Medúlla', the likes of SOPHIE, FKA Twigs and countless other artists would have been deprived of the liberating cue that signalled they could get inspired and blaze their own paths.
Also turning 20 in August: American singer-songwriter Regina Spektor’s 'Soviet Kitsch', featuring the wonderful track ‘Us’; the second eponymous studio album by The Libertines, which would be their final until the band’s reformation ten years later and the release of 2015’s 'Anthems for Doomed Youth'.
Turning 30 in 2024: Jeff Buckley – Grace
(Release date: 23 August 1994)
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Are you familiar with 'Grace', the only studio album by Jeff Buckley, one of the most talented songwriters and musicians of his generation?
No?
Then please, for your own sake, read on.
'Grace' is without a doubt one of the greatest albums of all time, a breathtakingly intimate and passionate collection of songs from a singular talent gone too soon. Buckley tragically drowned three years after its release, and his debut LP became his legacy. Even David Bowie considered it to be the best album ever made, having listed it as one of his ten “Desert Island Records”.
ADVERTISEMENTIf you do own a copy and are intimately familiar with 'Grace', there’s nothing you can read here that will convince you any more that rare are “forever albums” like this one.
Whether it’s the mystic aura of 'Mojo Pin'; the blues textures of 'So Real'; the raw emotion deeply woven into 'Last Goodbye' and 'Lover, You Should’ve Come Over'; and of course, the sound of two of the greatest covers ever recorded – Buckley's versions of Leonard Cohen’s 'Hallelujah' and Nina Simone’s 'Lilac Wine' – 'Grace' is the sound of an old soul trapped in a young man’s body, communicating emotions brimming with raw melancholy and romantic wisdom.
Attempting to describe this album further is difficult as listening to 'Grace' is akin to a transcendental experience, one which leaves you with few words to explain what you felt by the end of the runtime. We’d simply recommend you listen to this sensuous record again - preferably with a glass of wine and a willingness to transcend.
Also turning 30 in August: Portishead’s debut album 'Dummy', featuring the gems ‘Sour Times’, ‘Glory Box’ and ‘Numb’; Oasis’ debut 'Definitely Maybe', which regularly features on most Greatest Albums of All Time lists.
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