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From cynicism intertwined with genuine declarations of love to trip hop’s crown gem, via a concept album that’s both enthralling and headache-inducing, here’s our pick of the three albums celebrating a major anniversary this month.
ADVERTISEMENTEvery month of 2025, Euronews Culture takes a trip down memory lane and handpicks a trio of albums celebrating a major milestone.
These are the three records you should choose to (re)discover as they respectively turn 10, 20, and 30 this February.
Turning 10 in 2025: Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear
Release date: 9 February 2015
In a nutshell: The second studio album by Josh Tillman under the pseudonym Father John Misty saw him take his indie-folk / baroque rock to a new level, with lyrics that showed the soulful satirist dealing with his personal life – specifically his relationship with his wife Emma. It’s raw, humorous and moving; and while ‘Fear Fun’ (2012) and ‘Pure Comedy’ (2017) are terrific records, if there’s one Father John Misty album that’s a must-own, it’s this one. It’s also the perfect place to start if you’re not familiar with the ex-Fleet Fox.
Why it’s our pick: Why wouldn’t it be? It was one of 2015’s best records and it just keeps getting better with age. ‘I Love You, Honeybear’ is arguably Tillman at his greatest, meshing his trademark wit and snarky cynicism with genuine declarations of love. These elements harmonize beautifully in this concept album of sorts which tells the tale of someone falling so hard he is forced to re-evaluate everything he knows (and smirks about). It’s nettlesome in its lyricism; it’s sweet in its sentiment; it’s critical in its self-deprecation; and it’s wickedly funny. As for the melodies, they’re as lush as lush gets. From the mariachi horns on early standout ‘Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)’ – a gorgeous serenade about exploring LA with his now wife – to the gentle guitar plucks on closer ‘I Went to the Store One Day’ – which chronicles a lifetime of love – this is a gorgeous listen. Other highlights include the sarcastic missile aimed at the so-called American Dream that is ‘Bored In The USA’, as well as ‘Holy Shit’, a four-minute, crescendoing listicle about how mankind is fucked. But it goes deeper. You can anxiously catalogue loaded phrases like “satirical news”, “planet cancer” and “online friends”, but the downfall of our species somehow feels fine when genuine feelings of love override fear. It’s easy to be cynical – but when your narcissism and doom leanings are made secondary to something bigger, that’s real love baby.
Key tracks: ‘Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)’, ‘Bored in the USA’, ‘Holy Shit’, ‘I Went to the Store One Day’.
Standout lyric: “Oh, and love is just an institution based on human frailty / What’s your paradise gotta do with Adam and Eve? / Maybe love is just an economy based on resource scarcity / But what I fail to see is what that’s gotta do with you and me.” (‘Holy Shit’)
Also turning 10 in February 2025: Mount Eerie’s fascinating album ‘Sauna’; Norwegian singer-songwriter Susanne Sundfør’s ‘Ten Love Songs’, featuring standouts like ‘Fade Away’ and ‘Kamikaze’; Public Service Broadcasting’s best album to date ‘The Race For Space’; the debut (and eponymous) album from Ibeyi, which talks love, death and rivers.
Turning 20 in 2025: The Mars Volta – Frances The Mute
Release date: 11 February 2005
In a nutshell: After the implosion of the influential punk-rock outfit At The Drive In, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López splintered off to explore their experimental yearnings. And they did not disappoint. Their 2003 debut ‘De-Loused in the Comatorium’ was a knotty concept album that fused prog-rock, heavy metal and Latin rhythms to create something utterly mesmerizing. And abrasive. Imagine if the Nazgûl had a house party and decided to start a jam session with King Crimson. If you’re not intrigued by that description, look away now because their second album cranked it up to 11.
Why it’s our pick: Like the band’s debut, there’s so much to absorb that it takes several listens to appreciate the demented genius of ‘Frances The Mute’. But once you do, it hits hard. The Mars Volta took what made their debut so addictive (cryptic lyrics, layered instrumentations, Latin influences and a visceral approach to jazz) and dialed up the prog-rock and improvisational jams – all to tell a story inspired by finding a diary in a repossessed car that belonged to someone searching for their birth parents. Told in five songs – three of which are in multiple movements and last anywhere from 13 to 32 minutes long. Yes, it’s as pretentious as it sounds, and while many listeners will acknowledge the band’s imagination and talent, the sane option is moving on from their rampant psychedelia after one listen. Nobody would judge, as ‘Frances The Mute’ is the furthest thing from a casual or radio-friendly listen. Well, apart from maybe ‘The Widow’, their most immediately accessible and pop-structured track on the album. However, if you decide to stick around, this record’s unwieldy nature somehow starts to make some sort of sense, its sprawling nature gradually rewarding the adventurous listener. It may not be as balanced as its predecessor, but ‘Frances The Mute’ is a feverish trip worth taking.
Key tracks: ‘The Widow’, ‘L’Via L’Viaquez’, Cassandra Gemini’.
Standout lyric: “He’s got fasting black lungs / Made of clove-splintered shards / They’re the kind that will talk / Through a wheezing of coughs / And I hear him every night / In every pore / And every time he just makes me waaaaaaaarm…” (‘The Widow’)
Also turning 20 in February 2025: All of these could have been contenders for the Album Anniversary pick – Antony and the Johnsons’ engrossing ‘I Am A Bird Now’; Bloc Party’s never-bettered debut ‘Silent Alarm’; Doves’ underrated ‘Some Cities’; Andrew Bird’s delightful ‘Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production Of Eggs’… February 2005 was a damn fine month for indie music.
Turning 30 in 2025: Tricky – Maxinquaye
Release date: 20 February 1995
ADVERTISEMENTIn a nutshell: In the early 90s, British rapper Andrian Thaws – aka Tricky – was fast becoming a major figure in the Bristol underground scene. He made a name for himself as a member of Massive Attack, lending his talents to their 1991 debut ‘Blue Lines’, an album which paved the way for the age of trip hop. In 1995, he went solo and released one of the genre’s defining gems: ‘Maxinquaye’. It marked the beginning of a lengthy collaborative partnership with vocalist Martina Topley-Bird and his breakthrough ranks alongside ‘Blue Lines’, UNKLE’s ‘Psyence Fiction’, Portishead’s ‘Dummy’ and DJ Shadow’s ‘Endtroducing’ as one of trip hop’s finest hours.
Why it’s our pick: Talk about a memorable solo debut… It’s no hyperbole to state that ‘Maxinquaye’ is one of the most accomplished and evocative breakthrough albums in the last three decades. It was a gutsy one too, as it came out when all anyone in the UK could talk about was Brit Pop. But while Blur were settling down in their country house, Oasis busy casting no shadow and Pulp sorted for E’s & Wizz, Tricky was busy crafting a chill-inducing and harmonically dissonant fusion of hip-hop, blues, rock and electro, which sounded like nothing else around. His collaboration with the great Martina Topley-Bird, who performed on all tracks except ‘Pumpkin’ (Alison Goldfrapp lent her vocals to that one), was a big part of the groundbreaking sound; her melancholic delivery clashed with his smokey delivery in the most gorgeous of ways. Thirty years on, their partnership still sounds as haunting and suffocatingly sexy as ever. Whether it’s evil lullaby ‘Ponderosa’, the stoned apocalyptic sounds of ‘Aftermath’ or the Portishead-sampling ‘Hell Is Round The Corner’, none of these anomalous songs have registered a wrinkle. While Tricky’s subsequent albums ‘Angels With Dirty Faces’ and ‘Pre-Millennium Tension’ – as well as the criminally underappreciated ‘Blowback’ and ‘Vulnerable’ – failed to grab listeners in quite the same way, they’re also well worth seeking out. However, if you’re looking for one of the best records of the 90s, choose to (re)discover this bracing British classic.
Key tracks: ‘Overcome’, ‘Black Steel’, ‘Hell Is Round The Corner’, ‘Aftermath’, ‘Pumpkin’.
Standout lyric: “Hell is round the corner where I shelter / Ism’s and schisms / We’re living helter skelter…” (‘Hell Is Round The Corner’)
ADVERTISEMENTAlso turning 30 in February 2025: Massive Attack and Mad Professor’s dub remix album No Protection; PJ Harvey’s stunning and sultry ‘To Bring You My Love’; Blink 182’s debut studio album ‘Cheshire Cat’, featuring their first hits ‘Carousel’ and ‘Wasting Time’.
Happy listening and catch you next month!
