L&Q Weekly
Jeremy Earl goes solo, London's DIY scene makes it to the Oscars, new L&Q podcast, ABBA Voyage in trouble
Supported by Chumps Comedy
Album News
Albums for your diary announced this week:
AJ Tracey – Don’t Die Before You’re Dead (13 June, Revenge): The west London rapper who can do it over any style of beat you throw at him is finally back with a followup to 2021’s excellent Flu Game.
Car Seat Headrest – The Scholars (2 May, Matador): After any extended period of illness led Will Toledo to a series of spirital practices, his band got to making their first album in 5 years, which is – naturally – a rock opera set in the fictional college of Parnassus University. Here’s hoping we don’t have a Lemon Twigs on our hands.
Lucy Gooch – Desert Window (6 June, Fire): We’ve waited patiently for a debut album from Lucy Gooch since her 2021 EP Rain’s Break showcased her unique use of layered vocals, ambient electronics and folk songwriting.
M(h)aol – Something Soft (16 May, Merge): Now operating as a trio – down from a 5-piece – the Irish punk band appear to be no less resolute on their debut for king of US indies, Merge.
Yeule – Evangelic Girl is a Gun (30 May, Ninja Tune): Nat Ćmiel’s forth album has her turning her back on the glitch-pop trope of auto-tune as she takes on trip-hop and 90s goth with untreated vocals for the first time.
Track of the Week
What constitutes a Jeremy Earl solo song versus as Woods song, I don’t know. But I also don’t care. As the architect of that bloggiest of US psych-folk bands – who did such an incredible job as the late David Berman’s band on his Purple Mountains album – Earl is a writer who both embodies pre-fire-sale Pitchfork imperialism and a timelessness shared by the Neil Young he’s often compared to. Earl just writes gut punches that never feel insipid – a little woozy, a little back-porchy, a little merrily stones – and his debut solo track delivers once again.
Podcast
As part of this new L&Q Substack, we’re going to be bringing our readers (or listeners) a new podcast, which I’ve explained a little in a short trailer you can hear now. The show is going to be a mix of artist interviews, reviews, discussions with writers, and any other audio delights we fancy dropping into the feed. Rather than backing ourselves into a corner with a mad new name we’ll later regret (imagine calling something Dogword), the show is simply called The Loud And Quiet Podcast, and you can find it wherever you get your podcasts now. Free subscribers will receive shorter versions of future episodes, while paid subscribers will have access to full episodes. Here’s me trying to explain it with my voice. The first new episode will be with you next week.
Column
Groove historian and Loud And Quiet resident experimental nut
has delivered to us our first regular column here on Substack. The Drift will see Cal roundup the month’s best in avant-garde music from around the world, with this first instalment bringing 2025 so far up to date. Read nowThe Oscars
The 97th Academy Awards offered very little in the way of excitement last weekend, until indie musician Daniel Blumberg won Best Original Score for his work on The Brutalist, a film so long it’s been playing with an interval, something that lead actor Adrien Brody felt inspired by when he delivered the longest (and most boring) acceptance speech in Oscars history (genuinely) after he won his own award. But back to Blumberg… Formally of late 2000s indie pop band Cajun Dance Party, and then, more notably, a member of slacker rock band Yuck, Blumberg ended his acceptance speech with a shout out to London DIY and arts venue Cafe Oto. Adrien Brody didn’t mention the words ‘Cafe’ and ‘Oto’, in that order, once. Naturally, the British indie world was buzzed to see one of their own at the silliest night out of them all.
Rumour of the Week
After 3 years but what feels like a lot more, the smash hit VR show ABBA Voyage could be in real trouble, as reports resurface that the band’s avatars are no longer on speaking terms. Humans who work at the purpose-built ABBA Arena in Stratford, London, have confirmed that the virtual versions of Agnetha, Anni-Frid, Benny and Björn now insist on separate dressing rooms and “haven’t shared a drink after the show since at least October 2024.” At a recent, pricey meet-and-greet with fans, an intoxicated Björn was overheard telling a mother of 3 that he could get the other avatars replaced “like that”, clicking his fingers on the word “that”, but not making any sound. It came just days after Benny reportedly yelled at a tired Agnetha, who has taken to calling one of the group’s biggest hits ‘Waterpoo’, “it’s not like we have to do this forever,” after he completely forgot that they do. It is believed that encouraging the avatars to complete an escape room together might help heal old wounds, although the real life members of ABBA are yet to decide who will arrange the team building exercise as they too are not currently on speaking terms.