Album of the Week – 31/07/26

This week is fairly vintage for new releases, with the likes of The Durutti Column (Renascent) and Buffalo Traffic Jam (Pictures of You).

Shearwater have a right to feel aggrieved, as their new album The New World is a bit of a gem. On any other week, they’d have been a worthy winner. But it proved impossible to resist the harmonies and dreamy pop of the Trashcan Sinatras, and their new album Ever the Optimist. Hopefully a tour to support the album is on the way?

Album of the Week — Trashcan Sinatras – Ever the Optimist

Having surprise-announced their return after four years away with a standalone February single, legendary Scottish five-piece Trashcan Sinatras follow up to announce their first album in ten years.

Espousing the “less careerist and more careering” definition of a life inside Trashcan Sinatras over the last forty years, the unchanged line-up of Reader, Paul Livingston (guitars), John Douglas (guitars), Stephen Douglas (drums) and Davy Hughes (bass) has slowly shaped eleven new songs via writing sessions scattered between mountain cabins, late-night poker sessions and quiet everyday routines. Prior to this year’s announcements, the last release from Trashcan Sinatras was the accomplished Lay Of The Land EP in 2022.

Celebrating a four-decade journey as a band this year, Trashcan Sinatras’ story began in 1986, signing to Go! Discs two years later. Their formation in Irvine on Scotland’s west coast. blew a fresh breeze into observational, literary and frequently romantic British guitar music. Initially supercharged by their 1990 debut album Cake and the standout single Obscurity Knocks, a further five albums followed, including 1993’s I’ve Seen Everything, featuring hit track, Hayfever, and their third record, A Happy Pocket, originally released in 1996 and rediscovered by a new generation in 2023 when its reissue returned the band to the UK Official Albums Chart.

Albums of Note:

— Buffalo Traffic Jam – Pictures of You

— The Durutti Column – Renascent

— The Family (feat. Dylan LeBlanc) – Delusions of Grandeur

— Shearwater – The New World

July 31st:

— Absolute Lit – Criostal EP

— Alice Cooper – The Studio Albums 1975-1978

— Arca – XXXXX

— Ariana Grande – petal

— Bear McCreary – The Singularity: Ekleipsis

— The Body – Master, We Perish (Expanded)

— Buffalo Traffic Jam – Pictures of You

— Cautious Clay – The Hours: High Noon

— Cindy Blackman Santana – Coherence

— Davido – ORIADÉ

— Dead Meadow – Foundlings

— Diane Warren – Songs in the Key of Diane: A Reggae Compilation of Diane Warren Songs

— DICE – I Thought The Altitude Would Make It Worth The View

— Domi Louna and JD Beck – WHO ASKED?

— The Durutti Column – Renascent

— Ed Askew – The Final Painting

— Elijah Wolf – track star

— Evening Elephants – Wholeheartedly, Terribly Sweet

— The Family (feat. Dylan LeBlanc) – Delusions of Grandeur

— Family Stereo – The Thread

— Five Finger Death Punch – Legacy

— Framing Hanley – Do you feel guilty being okay?

— ggwendolyn – Superstar Syndrome

— Green Day and Various Artists – NIMRODS – The Soundtrack

— HIGHSIGH (feat. members of Skeletons, Deerhoof, and JOBS) – Once Bend

— Iconic – II

— Isaiah Collier – Joy EP

— Jacquees – Mood 2

— Joyeria – Decay Decay Decay

— Mallory Hawk – Chinook

— Opus Kink – The Sweet Goodbye

— PANU – AHHCade

— Prison – Big Rigs on the BQE

— Shaboozey – The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales

— Shadow Child – DNA EP

— Shearwater – The New World

— Spike – Spike

— talker – Runaway Jane

— Terri Lyne Carringnton + Social Science – Trip the Night Fantastic

— Tim Montana – Entire State of Tim Montana

— Trashcan Sinatras – Ever the Optimist

— Tucker Wetmore – Sunburn Mixtape

— Various Artists – Moana: Voices Across The Ocean

— Wang Chung – To Live and Die in L.A. (40th Anniversary Edition)

— Ween – 12 Golden Country Greats (Deluxe Edition)

— Wyatt Flores – Scared of Heights