Album of the Week – 31/05/26

Willie Nelson continues to put the rest of humanity to shame by releasing a new album ‘The Border’ at age 91! I guess he just likes making them…

It’s a great week for new music with albums by Buffalo Tom (Jump Rope) and Richard Hawley (In This City They Call You Love). Crowded House return with Gravity Stairs, their first album in 3 years. The band now contains Neil’s two sons; Liam and Elroy Finn so they’re keeping it in the family.

Two great bands/artists release new albums with Bat For Lashes (The Dream of Delphi) and Idaho (Lapse, their first album in 9 years). But… we went for someone else entirely.

Despite what you might think, our album of the week is not a compilation of Nirvana covers! Irish singer-songwriter Niamh Regan returns with her second album ‘Come As You Are’.

Album of the Week – Niamh Regan – Come As You Are

In between her performances, Niamh began to write her second record in Attica Studios with producer Tommy McLaughlin. She says, ‘I arrived in Donegal to meet Tommy for the first time with a bunch of demos, half-baked ideas and feeling not ready, it was scary. But I’m so glad that I did it that way. Trusted the process and came into the studio with the intention of capturing exactly where I was with it all and Tommy helped me build from there.’

And here we are, with the release of that second album, titled ‘Come As You Are’. It’s an album full of acutely observed vulnerabilities and introspection. Its themes are the issues that many of us find loom large in the small hours: questions of self-doubt, uncertainty about your life’s direction, whether relationships are flourishing in the way you’d hoped and determining priorities.

“A lot of it is about being in your late twenties and kind of realising we’re all running out of time,” she ponders. “I’d have bouts of massive self-belief in the studio, and then in the next breath I would be like, ‘This is the worst piece of music I could have even imagined.’ It was a rollercoaster. But through that I found self-acceptance; this is where I’m at and making peace with that. That’s what the album essentially is, just making peace with where I’m at and being realistic with myself.”

Albums of Note:

— +/- {Plus/Minus} – Further Afield

— Bat For Lashes – The Dream of Delphi

— Buffalo Tom – Jump Rope

— Bernard Butler – Good Grief

— Can – Can Live in Aston 1977

— Crowded House – Gravity Stairs

— Idaho – Lapse

— Richard Hawley – In This City They Call You Love

Albums Released May 31st:

— +/- {Plus/Minus} – Further Afield

— Akira Kosemura & Lawrence English – Selene

— Alan Vega – Insurrection

— Anastasia Coope – Darning Woman

— Anna Tivel – Living Thing

— Another Michael – Pick Me Up, Turn Me Upside Down

— Arooj Aftab – Night Reign

— ARTMS – <Dall>

— Ayra Starr – The Year I Turned 21

— Babe Report – Did You Get Better

— Bad Nerves – Still Nervous

— Bat For Lashes – The Dream of Delphi

— Becky Hill – Believe Me Now?

— Bed Maker – Bed Maker

— Bernard Butler – Good Grief

— Big Head Todd and the Monsters – Her Way Out

— The Bird Calls – Old Faithful

— Black Sabbath – ANNO DOMINI 1989-1995

— The Bogmen – In My Kingdom

— Broken Head – The Morning Ends

— Buffalo Tom – Jump Rope

— Can – Can Live in Aston 1977

— Crowded House – Gravity Stairs

— Dave East & Mike & Keys – Apt 6E

— Duff McKagan – Tenderness Live in Los Angeles

— Dusk – Industrie

— Exodus – British Disaster: The Battle of ’89 (Live At The Astoria)

— Habibi – Dreamachine

— Half Waif – Ephemeral Being EP

— Hannah Bahng – The Abysmal EP

— Hollow Ship – Animated Music EP

— The Hope Conspiracy – Tools of Oppression / Rule By Deception

— Idaho – Lapse

— Imogen Clark – The Art of Getting Through

— Jessie Baylin – Strawberry Wind (Deluxe Edition)

— Jon Foreman (of Switchfoot) – In Bloom

— Jon Muq – Flying Away

— King Hannah – Big Swimmer

— Kurupi – No Esperes

— Le Destroy – Trashumanism

— Lisa Ann Schoenberg – Old Growth Playback

— Lowlives – Freaking Out

— Lucius – Wildewoman (The New Recordings)

— The Marías – Submarine

— Maya Hawke – Chaos Angel

— The Menzingers – Some Of It Was True (Deluxe)

— Mo3 – Legend

— My Diligence – Death.Horses.Black

— Myaap – YOP! EP

— Nestor – Teenage Rebel

— Neutrals – New Town Dream

— Odesza – The Last Goodbye Tour Live

— The Other Two (feat. New Order’s Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert) – The Other Two & You (Reissue)

— Peter Bibby – Drama King

— Richard Hawley – In This City They Call You Love

— Richard Thompson – Ship to Shore

— RXKNephew – Till I’m Dead 2

— Shrapnel – In Gravity

— Swamp Dogg – Blackgrass: From West Virginia to 125th St

— Thou – Umbilical

— Tim Atlas – Enchanté

— Tom Walker – I Am

— Unessential Oils – Unessential Oils

— Various Artists – Illinoise: A New Musical (Original Cast Recording)

— Willie Nelson – The Border

— Winnetka Bowling League – Sha La La

— The Woggles – Time Has Come

— Wormwood – The Star

— Zolita – Queen of Hearts