SOUND BITES

Sophomore albums are always intriguing; when an artist releases their first album, there's often a hint of what's to come, in that there's sure to be artistic growth and sonic exploration on future releases no matter how great that debut is. Sometimes that bright future leads to great strides and acclaim, and sometimes there's a fizzle out; when that first record is successful and/or acclaimed, the stakes are far greater for the follow up, and there's much more pressure to build on what that debut provided. In Courtney Barnett's case, her debut was both acclaimed and successful; 2015's Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit set the critics' hearts aflame and introduced her to a much wider audience than perhaps she or anyone else had planned on. As for me, I named Sometimes my Album of the Year in 2015, praising its witty observations and '90s slacker rock throwback vibe. Tell Me How You Really Feel is a darker, louder, more perso...

Typically a chance to take a breather from the year that had just passed and resolve to get through the winter while looking forward to some great albums in the spring, 2015 bucked that trend in grand fashion. From established artists releasing highly anticipated albums that met or exceeded expectations to hungry new artists looking to make their mark, the first quarter of 2015 provided an abnormally high amount of quality songs and albums. The tone was also set early with female-fronted projects that hit with force and built momentum for women in rock that carried through the rest of the year (I wrote about that here in April). The first batch of Song of the Year nominees are:

Wherein the author cops to being kind of a music sexist (but don't worry, rehab is going great).

On the lead single from her official debut album (following a pair of EPs and an album-length combo release), Courtney Barnett is keenly aware of her own hype and advises against heaping it on too heavily. "Put me on a pedestal and I'll only disappoint you", she warns, echoing a sentiment Alex Turner conveyed on Arctic Monkeys' debut nearly a decade ago ("anticipation has a habit of setting you up for disappointment"). Tellingly, the single is titled Pedestrian at Best , which acts as a metaphoric electric fence designed to keep naysayers in check; as if to say, "no one's more critical of me than I am". No one gets this defensive without pressure, and Barnett has it; after collecting high praise in her native Australia, she's been steadily picking up momentum worldwide. Like it or not, she's been pegged in many circles as the blessed/cursed "next big thing", something shiny and new to be adored for six months while critics a...