Music Observer Friday highlights - 25.02.22

The below (and lots of others) all feature on my February 2022 playlist - it's been a great musical month

Sarah Johnsone - Don't Wanna Be Your Girl

Sarah Johnsone is an artist from northeast England who I only recently discovered, thanks to a timely tweet from her manager. With this release she explores her feelings about "falling for someone who you know is no good".

It's a joyous listen, despite the theme, starting mellow and sultry but later entering euphoric territory at times, without ever becoming overblown.

Apparently this is the first recording Sarah has made with her band, and you can feel the enriching influence of that full backing. You can also sense the impact of the eclectic range of influences Sarah cites.

Sarah plays live at The Georgian Theatre, Stockton, tonight, with She Drew The Gun & Annabel Allum, and then has bookings on 9th April (Bobiks, Newcastle), 16th April (Stockton Calling Festival), and 21st May (Butterfly Effect Festival). 

(Photo: Sophie Robson)

Dutch Mustard - An Interpretation of Depersonalisation [EP]  Today, we're treated to a 5-tracker from this hugely promising alt-rock band, which is fronted by Sarah Jayne-Riedel. The record is firm, slightly dark and really engaging - I highly recommend you take 16 minutes out of your day to listen to it.

The EP starts on a high with 'A Song For Dreamers' - a soaring, punchy, dreampop-esque song - and proceeds in a similarly energetic vein throughout. The central track 'Don't You Worry' is gorgeous and (unlike some songs in this genre) has a very catchy and melodic theme. It's full and rich, with no wasted space in the sound. The sub-3-minute closing offering 'Magnifique' is a real standout and definitely lives up to its title: it's a gorgeous masterpiece of brooding and slightly ominous power, perfectly rounding off the whole record.

The EP launch gig is at The Lexington in London on Wednesday 3rd March, with Lemondaze and Alex Jayne supporting - tickets here (I'm going!)

The Covasettes - Big Dreamer  I love the hit of energy you get from the first moment of this track, and the upliftingly warm feeling infused through the rest of it. That comes from the spot-on production as much as from the construct of the song itself, and in the passionate delivery, too. 

"You've got the world at your feet, and your heart on your sleeve" is one of the key refrains - how can that not fail to spark joy?

Megan Wyn - Better Of You  Only the second release from Megan (very hard to believe), but boy it's a strong one. It's very listenable, and gets you on-side straight away. Megan has captured so much emotion and feeling here, following on nicely from her debut 'Polaroid' with an added level of confidence.

It's a catchy song, from melody, through jangly underlays, to guitar solo. Her voice sounds better than ever, too, as she sings out her frustrations at portrayals of male love interests on the big screen. She hits the higher notes firmly, and there's a slightly smoky element to the lower end.