February’s Best New Vinyl of the Month

Frank, by Amy Winehouse
Named as much for the late Amy Winehouse’s straightforward personality as it was for Frank Sinatra’s influence on her music, Frank is one of the strongest debut records in recent memory. More influenced by jazz than her later work, which emphasized funk and blue-eyed soul, Frank opens with an honest-to-God scat vocal that leads into “Stronger Than Me,” a smoky, neon-lit track that shows off Winehouse’s sultry, purposely slurred voice. The jazz influence is most potently felt in songs like “You Send Me Flying,” and the lyrics shift from morose and heartbroken to flirty for songs like “Amy Amy Amy,” more playful than her usual fare. Winehouse herself may not have been fully satisfied with how this album turned out, but it’s still a modern classic that hinted at her eventual stardom.

Saint Cecilia, by Foo Fighters
Originally released as a free download for the band’s fans, and dedicated to the victims of the November 2015 Paris attacks, Saint Cecilia is being pressed on vinyl as a proper EP. Stylistically, it’s reminiscent of the first two Foo Fighters albums, especially the songs “Sean” and “Savior Breath,” which will be a welcome throwback for fans who liked the punky energy of the band’s earlier incarnations. The same could be said of “The Neverending Sigh,” which would have fit right in on The Colour and the Shape. As is often the case with EPs, Saint Cecilia is a short record—the five tracks breeze by in about 18 minutes—but every song is so good it demands repeat listens.

I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It, by The 1975
Named after a marginal scribble from one of Jack Kerouac’s poetry books, and influenced by Talking Heads, My Bloody Valentine, and Phil Collins, the 1975 are an ethereal and interesting presence in pop music. I Like It When You Sleep… will be their second studio album, which they spent most of 2015 recording, going so far as to suspend their social media presence during the process. Whether that was to help them concentrate on the matter at hand or just drum up publicity is uncertain, but this record promises to be even better than their strong debut. Vocalist Matthew Healy’s vocals really shine on “UGH!,” and “Love Me” has an early Peter Gabriel vibe that is sorely underrepresented in modern pop.

Wonderful Crazy Night, by Elton John
Not only is this Elton John’s 32nd studio album, but it’s the first one to feature his band since 2006. Anyone who thinks that all those years writing Disney songs has dulled John’s passion for music needs to listen to this album pronto, because there’s still plenty of zing on the Rocket Man’s fastball. The title track starts the album off with a lot of energy, and “Looking Up” is one of the catchiest songs he’s written yet, with an effortless swinging rhythm and plenty of opportunities to sing along. Amazingly, this album still has the same exuberance that made him a hit in the first place, and his band is in fine form here as well. Hopefully they’ll stick around for good this time.

Wiped Out!, by The Neighbourhood
The Neighbourhood is determined to make “goth R&B” a thing, and this album—their second, released in October—might just do it. The moody, atmospheric, beachy vibes established in their previous work are continued here, most notably on “Beach” and “Greetings From California,” which uses a tribal drumbeat to gather momentum. While the album’s production is slick, it doesn’t lose any of the band’s trademark gloom; “Daddy Issues” features a particularly good vocal performance from singer Jesse Rutherford, and “RIP 2 My Youth,” which has around 4 million views on Youtube as of this writing, is a stomping, anthemic end to the album.

Dig in Deep, by Bonnie Raitt
How do you follow up an album that won a Grammy? That’s the question Bonnie Raitt answers with her latest album, Dig In Deep, which is as good as (if not better than) her previous one. Raitt produced the album herself, and it has more original songs than most of her previous albums, which she attributes to falling in love with music again in 2012. Her band still plays lean and gritty, best heard in tracks like “Gypsy in Me,” and she covers “Need You Tonight” by INXS and “Shakin’ Shakin’ Shakes” by Los Lobos. As expected, she totally nails them both with her uncompromising style.