Hello friends! And a very Happy New Year to you all. I hope your Christmas was as lovely and joyful as ours was. And, perhaps, that your New Year’s Eve was a little more exciting than mine - we rang in the New Year at 7pm, ate dinner and went to bed. Not very glamorous, but needs must when you have two small children…
Anyway, I wasn’t going to write a newsletter today, as it’s officially a holiday and I’d planned to ease back into the working week after the Christmas break. But here I am, at my desk, all the same.
One of the luxuries of the dead week between Christmas and New Year, is the chance it gives us to have a bit of an idle think, without the pressures of work or every day life getting too much in the way. During one such think, I had the idea of resurrecting the Album Club we started a year or so ago, which, like many ideas we’ve had on Substack, petered out a little after a promising start.
But in the spirit of the New Year, and lit by a fire of fresh new enthusiasm and the decision to not let old knock-backs knock me back, I thought we’d get it going again.
If you missed it the first time around, here’s how it works. Every Monday in our regular newsletter, we’ll announce a new album to be our Album of the Week. It could be a brand new release from a hot new artist; it could be a classic LP from a genuine musical legend; or it could be an undiscovered gem from a future favourite. We’ll shake it up each week - and we’ll shake up the genre too, and try out as varied a selection of music as we possibly can.
The idea is that, together, we’ll have a proper, in-depth listen to that album over the course of the week. Last time we tried this, we suggested listening to it all the way through, every day of the week, but perhaps that proved to be a little too much for some of us. So this time, I propose we try and listen to the album at least three times. Ideally, all the way through, in one sitting.
You can listen however you’d like to - on your commute to work, first thing in the morning, last thing at night, in the bath, when you’re reading, when you’re running, whenever really. The thing is to try and really focus on the music as much as possible. And then, to record your thoughts after each listen.
We’ll be using Substack’s Notes and Threads platforms as a way of sharing our thoughts. And, like all the best things, we’ll figure out what works and what doesn’t as we go along.
To get things started, we’re going to kick off the year with one of the best-reviewed albums of last year, Sufjan Stevens’s Javelin.
Listen here on Apple Music, and here on Spotify, and here on Bandcamp.
Now, I’m going to start off by admitting that I’m not the biggest fan of Sufjan Stevens. I’ve found his music to be a little irritating - his voice slightly too wan, his demeanour slightly too earnest, his songs unmemorable. But, I will also be the first to admit that I’ve never really given him the focus that he deserves. I’ve heard so many good things about Javelin, and some very strong recommendations from people whose taste I trust (hi Jed!), so we’re going to strap in and give Javelin a proper listen. I’m very much hoping that this changes my mind, and I finally unlock my understanding of his particular genius.
Of course, I hope the same happens for you all too. Do let us know what you think over on the Notes page, and in the comments section below.
And of course, we’d greatly welcome your nominations for future Albums of the Week, as well as your thoughts on how this is all going to go down. It should be a lot of fun!
Before I let you go, a quick reminder that we’re only 18 days away from our first shows of the year at Wilton’s Music Hall. We’ve got two full lineups of brilliant storytellers, including Charlie Gilmour, Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, Johnny Cochrane and Rob Deering, and we can’t wait. Tickets and the full lineup are available here.
We’ll be back next week with a proper regular newsletter. Until then, Happy New Year and enjoy listening to Sufjan…
KB.
Never heard of Sufjan before never mind heard his music but I am grateful for the introduction.
On first listen I liked it , I found it quite soothing for the soul. Another listen pencilled in later in the week on a train journey.
I like the idea of doing this with fellow members of the OTM community. Ian