In February we introduced you to All Things Loud’s Weekly Pick, a brand new column which highlights the best album releases of the last week. Today (18 April), Sébastien Gamez and Jack Parker introduce you to another set of hot new records as part of Weekly Pick’s sixth instalment. Drugdealer, Cage the Elephant and Fat White Family all feature.

DRUGDEALER – RAW HONEY

Sometimes, there’s nothing better than wasting your days away by basking in the sweet Los Angeles sun. This is something which Michael Collins’ Drugdealer channels on fantastic sophomore album Raw Honey, a nine song collection of beautiful indie folk and 70s pop. It takes its cues from the greats of the that decade, with Steely Dan, Crosby, Stills & Nash and the Electric Light Orchestra’s imprints littered all over the record. That’s not to say it sounds like a direct tribute to said greats, though; on the contrary, Raw Honey takes these influences and brings them right up to speed in 2019. There’s sonic serenity abound, from twinkling Weyes Blood collaboration Honey and the soaring, brassed-up Lost In My Dream to Fools‘ slinky grooves and the perky London Nightmare. Raw Honey is one of 2019’s strongest albums so far, finding power in the simplicity of life and happiness. JP

For fans of: Steely Dan, Electric Light Orchestra, wasting your days away in the LA sun
Key song: Lost In My Dream

DEAD TO A DYING WORLD –  ELEGY

Dead To A Dying World, a band formed in 2010, create incredible fusions of black, post- and doom metal soundscapes. They are the latest to join the grandiose roster of similarly sounding artists on Profound Lore Records, a label known for releasing abrasive, avant-garde metal. This new record, entitled Elegy, keeps on giving. Clocking in at a mere 49 minutes, it’s a somewhat shorter record yet it gives the listener a taste of what Dead To A Dying World are all about – doom at its finest. SG

For fans of: Downfall of Gaia, Inter Arma, Anopheli
Key song: Vernal Equinox

CAGE THE ELEPHANT – SOCIAL CUES

Every band goes through a period of feeling the urge to think well outside of the box, and from the off it’s evident that Cage the Elephant have satisfied this itch on the glitzy Social Cues. Matt Shultz and co.’s fifth studio album – the follow-up to 2015’s Tell Me I’m Pretty – is an exercise in throwing everything you once knew out of the window and starting fresh. Over the course of thirteen slick, pompous tracks, the Nashville rockers explore a cacophony of new (to them) sounds. Broken Boy‘s warped, buzzsaw synths set the scene here, underpinning uptempo garage rock which sounds like it’s been fed through an overproduction filter. Shultz is at his most emphatic throughout, filled with energy and with way more to say for himself than ever before. Lead single Ready To Let Go is the closest we get to a traditional Cage the Elephant sound on Social Cues, and its for the better: the new album is a breath of fresh air. House of Glass is dark and gritty, Love’s the Only Way is grandiose film noir, and Beck collaboration Night Running showcases a hint of smooth reggae pop. Not something you’d expect, but still something which sounds right at home alongside the rest of Cage the Elephant’s discography. JP

For fans of: Beck, Interpol, Foster the People
Key song: Ready To Let Go

FAT WHITE FAMILY – SERF’S UP

Leading into the release of new album Serf’s Up, Fat White Family frontman Lias Saoudi told All Things Loud that “the big idea was to do something more rooted in pop.” Upon a first listen of the album, you can safely say that he is not wrong in the slightest. Although it still finds its influence in the same morbid historical events and squalid lifestyle situations which have plagued band members over the last few years, Serf’s Up feels like a magical reinvention. It’s an album which opts for a slick, polished approach as opposed to the raucous, hard drug-fuelled ferocity of their first two albums. Lead single Feet is a prime example of this, injecting smooth disco strings into the mix, with Vagina Dentata‘s sedated sounds blending in amongst I Believe in Something Better‘s programmed drums and When I Leave‘s modular synths. Serf’s Up is the quintessential Fat White Family record. JP

For fans of: There is nothing quite like the Fat White Family
Key song: It Tastes Good With the Money