October 2020 Favourites: The Struts, Beabadoobee and iDKHOW give us nostalgia when we need it most

October 30, 2020
Entertainment

All in all, it’s been an excellent month for music. In October alone we’ve seen numerous releases that we’re strongly considering for our top 10 albums of the year list, and it seems like 2020 has really made artists want to take us back to a better time. We are more than grateful for that.

The Struts – Strange Days

These glam-rock revivalists have been entertaining us four seven years, but their third album Strange Days is truly something special. They’ve teamed up with everyone from Robbie Williams to Def Leppard on this charismatic retro album, that may be have a nostalgic sound, but lyrically fits very much into 2020.

The Struts - Strange Days The Struts – Strange Days

Beabadoobee – Fake It Flowers

For her debut album, London singer-songwriter Beabadoobee has developed her bedroom pop sound do something more akin to 90s alternative rock. Fake It Flowers has a shoegaze-y, grunge feel that we can’t get enough of, but it’s never afraid to stray into more acoustic-pop territory and even punk. It never takes itself seriously and it’s definitely an album of the year contender.

Beabadoobee - Fake It Flowers Beabadoobee – Fake It Flowers

I Don’t Know How But They Found Me – Razzmatazz

Dallon Weekes and Ryan Seaman introduced their sound quite succinctly with 2018’s 1981 Extended Play, but their debut album Razzmatazz definitely takes that 80s-inspired sound to new heights with a lick of mid-2000s indie rock and Panic! At The Disco-esque baroque pop. It’s fun, it’s flamboyant, and it truly stands out against everything else in the charts this year.

I Don't Know How But They Found Me - Razzmatazz I Don’t Know How But They Found Me – Razzmatazz

Róisín Murphy – Róisín Machine

We’ve had to wait four years, but Irish trip-hop aficionado Róisín Murphy has returned with a new epic solo album, entitled Róisín Machine. With a new label under her, the record has been quite the tour de force. She’s opted for a nu-disco vibe which never quite leaves the trippy realm of which she’s associated; it’s merely heightened and intensified with her most ambitious production yet.

Róisín Murphy - Róisín Machine Róisín Murphy – Róisín Machine

Dorian Electra – My Agenda

The first thing you’re going to notice from this queer legend’s second studio album is the out-there collabs. You’ve got Rebecca Black on Edgelord (yes, THAT Rebecca Black), and the weirdest combo of The Village People and P***y Riot on the titular My Agenda. Perhaps the strangest thing of all, however, is the fact that it all really works – in the only way hyperpop can work, of course. It’s over-the-top, but you can’t fault the conceptual thrill.

Dorian Electra - My Agenda Dorian Electra – My Agenda

Bruce Springsteen – Letter to You

Musicians like Bruce Springsteen never really go out of fashion, that’s true enough, but there is something special aside from the over-arching musical talent in Letter to You. Instead of trying to reclaim his glory days, The Boss stares age and mortality directly in the face with his latest release, and it’s the most honest and celebratory album we’ve heard from a more senior megastar in a long while.

Bruce Springsteen - Letter to You Bruce Springsteen – Letter to You

Nothing But Thieves – Moral Panic

It might not be for everyone, but frankly the kind of unconventional indie-rock we get from Moral Panic is just what the world needs right now. It sees Nothing But Thieves at their most anthemic, and it’s also their most musically cohesive album to date.

Nothing But Thieves - Moral Panic Nothing But Thieves – Moral Panic