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While COVID-19 has thrown nearly every aspect of our lives into upheaval, few sectors have been affected by the pandemic quite like the music industry. With packed concert venues all but a wistful memory, artists who would normally be on the road promoting their latest album – and making a living from that vital touring – are facing new challenges.
22 January, 2021 01:00
Kiwi Jr s album Cooler Returns
ZAYN – NOBODY IS LISTENING
WHEN he departed One Direction in 2015, Zayn Malik made it clear he was not doing a Robbie Williams or a Justin Timberlake. Instead, he was hoping to pursue music that was less poppy, more soulful.
However, since releasing a promising debut solo album, his path has been one of sluggish descent. Six years down the line, Malik remains best known for his romance with supermodel Gigi Hadid, now the mother of his child.
On the ironically titled Nobody Is Listening, he strains painfully towards maturity with navel-gazing lyrics about fame and sex – lots of sex. On quality alone, this record seems unlikely to right the ship. It s all a bit lightweight and leaves him in the last chance saloon.
Reviews / / 21 · 01 · 2021
Kiwi Jr.âs self-released debut album âFootball Moneyâ arrived just last year. In our 8/10 review, we described it as
âone of those rare albums that gets better the more you play it.â Now, in keeping with the financially titled narrative of their debut, the band have coolly returned to disseminate this year s annual report to the shareholders, burying the incriminating numbers in the endless appendices of their sophomore longform record âCooler Returns.â
Having recently signed to Sub Pop (Fleet Foxes, Marika Hackman, Constantines, Nirvana), the Canadian four-piece recorded their latest work through the first stretch of quarantine last year in what they describe in a press release as a âsanitised singer shuffling to sanitised studio by streetcar flow state.â This sanitisation, thankfully, doesnât permeate through their new album; itâs crammed full of wry, observational
Features / / 19 · 01 · 2021
Melding together renowned musical influences such as The Kinks with more modern contemporaries like Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Canada-hailing
Kiwi Jr. have garnered praise for their jangly sound, left-field observations and their firm grasp of humour they exhibit in their work. Their self-released debut album arrived just last year, but the four-piece have been hot on their heels to produce a quick follow-up.
Now signed to Sub Pop (Nirvana, Fleet Foxes, Beach House), Kiwi Jr.âs sophomore album âCooler Returnsâ will be unveiled to the world on the 22nd January. Itâs an album that allows storytelling to take centre stage as the band considers the complexity of their motivations through songs inspired from true stories as well as wider political observations. Like their debut, humour is also rife throughout and this makes for a listening experience thatâs both brisk and acutely engaging.