From Charli XCX to Motta: the guide to the albums of the week
The “Brat summer”, as the social movement linked to the exploits of Charli XCX and her latest album has been renamed, is not over yet.
Not satisfied with the goals achieved this summer, even influencing the US presidential election campaign with that endorsement of Kamala Harris that went viral (“Kamala is brat”, she wrote), the British pop star consolidates her hegemony on the scene by sending in stores and on platforms a repackaging of the album originally released in June. “Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat”, this is the title, is the main release of a New Music Friday, next Friday, full of records worth mentioning. From Motta to Night Skinny, passing through Naska and the golden uvula Samara Joy: here is our guide. .
Charli XCX – “Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat”
“With a little help from her friends”, one might say. In “Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat” Charli XCX revisits the songs contained in the original edition together with friends and colleagues. We could already sense that something was cooking when, immediately after the release of “Brat”, he began to release various duets. From the one with Billie Eilish on “Guess” to the one with Lorde on “Girl, so confusing”. The featurings will be collected precisely with this repackaging. Among the guests also Ariana Grande, Troye Sivan, Julian Casablancas and Bon Iver. All true.
Samara Joy – “Portrait”
Originally from the Bronx, Samara Joy – fascinated by the most classic R&B since she was a child – cut her teeth as a singer in her church’s gospel choir. And while her family history has deep musical roots – her grandparents led the Philadelphia gospel group The Savettes, and her father, the musician and singer-songwriter Antonio McLendon, produced, composed and arranged her astonishing debut – she had not of jazz until his college years. During her studies she won (in 2019) the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, which immediately projected her onto the international jazz scene as a rising star to watch. And after? In 2022 the album “Linger awhile” allowed her to win a Grammy Award for “Best Jazz Vocal Album” and another Grammy for “Best New Artist”. Now the golden uvula returns with “Portait”, to confirm itself as
a masterful interpreter of jazz standards and a legitimate heir to the sound, technique and charisma that distinguished heroines such as Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter, Abbey Lincoln and Carmen McRae.
Night Skinny – “Containers”
With 14 platinum albums, 17 gold albums and over 1.5 billion streams on all platforms, after releasing the trilogy of albums “Pezzi” (2017), “Mattoni” (2019, double disc certified (Platinum) “Botox” (2022 certified double Platinum) and the collaborative EP with Kid Yugi “Quarto di Bue” (2023, certified Gold) which have consecrated him among the most important producers on the scene, thanks to definition of a sound that has left a mark on the Italian urban panorama, the artist has announced the release of “Containers”, the new project, a producer album in which, once again, he will bring together the heavyweights of rap.
Motta – “Play! Vol.1”
Out October 11 “Play! Vol. 1”, Motta’s new album, a record in which the Tuscan singer-songwriter wants to undermine the verticality of some published songs that have been part of his career from the beginning, modifying arrangements and harmonies. Inside there will be only one unpublished work which, taking up the title of the project, becomes its manifesto. On the album he called with him: Roberta Sammarelli, Cesare Petulicchio, Giorgio Maria Condemi, Kazu Makino, Teho Teardo and Maria Chiara Argirò.
Naska – “The freak show”
A bit Joker, a bit Frank-N-Furter from “Rocky Horror Picture Show”: this is how Naska (re)presents herself on the cover of “The freak show”, her new album. Unpredictable, cynical, irreverent, what has been defined as “the prince of Italian punk” returns just a year after the release of “La mia stanza” with that mix of pop and punk that made him a protagonist of the revival of the genre in these years. The album was preceded by the single “Berlino”, created with Gemitaiz and Greg Willen.
The Offspring – “Supercharged”
Californian band The Offspring will release their eleventh album “Supercharged” on October 11th via Concord Records. Their latest preview single was “Come To Brazil”. Speaking about the new record, frontman Bryan “Dexter” Holland explained: “We wanted this record to have pure energy, from start to finish. That’s why we called it ‘Supercharged’. From the height of our aspirations to the depths of our struggles, we talk about it all… in a way that celebrates life. The album was recorded in three different locations this time: Maui, Vancouver and our home studio in Huntington Beach, and together with our producer Bob Rock everything came together beautifully.”
