Our picks of this month’s new collections, also including The Cindys, Louis O’Hara and Kasper Hauser.

Sorry – ‘COSPLAY’

Sorry combine indie rock songwriting with hypermodern production in a manner few bands come close to achieving, consistently putting out work that challenges the very limits of composition within a pop context. Their third album, ‘Cosplay’, has all the worry and tension of the band’s earlier releases, and more than ever foregrounds the sonic and emotional rawness of home demos against the ambitious production tricks that have always been a signature of the project. Exposed guitars echo the vulnerability of the songwriting, which contrasts against bold compositional decisions that compellingly filter electronic and hyperpop influences through the band format. This juxtaposition comes particularly into focus on ‘Jetplane’ but runs on throughout this absorbing new collection.

Black Fondu ­– ‘BLACKFONDUISM’

The debut EP from Black Fondu has all the thrilling unpredictability and chaos that makes his live shows among the most compelling around right now. From the opening rework ‘holla back girl’, the tone is set for a sonic world that refuses to limit itself to our paradigms for how songs should be arranged and executed. Visceral cuts, inexplicable and searing sounds and vital snatches of lyrics emerge from this sonic bricolage. The result is a pulsing and innovative collection, which we might best understand in the artist’s own characterisation: “A bit fucked. But alive”.

Vogues – ‘Tender Mercies’

Vogues’ debut album is defined by intricate detail and a propulsive instinct for rhythm, making for nine powerfully drawn compositions. A broad pool of reference points adds up to a unique whole, bursts of pop and electronic vividity tempered by the soaring, mournful quality of their vocals. The powerful musical storytelling across this record is testament to careful arrangements and compositional ingenuity, and this narrativization runs into the arrangement of the whole album into a dynamic and direct first side set against the more oblique tracks of side two. Narrative arcs play out at different scales across the record, and the highlight in this regard is the shapeshifting ‘And Then Nothing’. Every track, however, is a world to get lost in.

The Cindys – The Cindys

Fronted by Bingo Fury’s Jack Ogborne and featuring members of Belishas as well as Naima Bock, you could think of Bristol newcomers The Cindys as something of an underground supergroup. Their debut record certainly delivers on those credentials, packing a bunch of widely-sourced ambition into a short collection bursting with melodic charm. ‘Dry TV’ is perhaps the standout track of the album, a bright and earnest love song that brings the best out of Ogborne and Bock’s intertwined vocals. It’s really exhilarating to hear two songwriters who have released some fairly attention-demanding stuff in recent years front songs as immediate as this. It is almost as if the band started with this collection of clean and infectious power pop structures and spent the time between writing and releasing them trying to blow them apart. Vocal melodies tail off into deadpan spoken word before they become too comfortable, blasts of distortion interrupt before the jangle of the guitars could begin to tire and the much folkier ‘Marble Lobby’ even momentarily comes to a complete stop halfway through. Whilst it’s much more direct stuff than perhaps any of the band’s members have been involved in before, there’s a clear acknowledgement that great pop songs cannot be perfect. It’s an outstanding way to introduce The Cindys into the world. (Marty Hill) [Adapted from full review here]

Louis O’Hara – ‘A Peaceful Kind of Fun’

Louis O’Hara joins forces with Libertino Records for the release of an outstanding debut album full of subtle, sparkling detail. Formalistic shifts in emphasis and arrangement create revelation at each turn, framing tender lyrics that build a unique poetry formed out of the deeply personal. ‘Just Grand’ is an incredibly stirring moment, building from a raw and intimate opening into something transcendentally hymnal. Appealing in a different manner, ‘Twin Peaks’ ode ‘Audrey’ shows an ability to compress detail into a tight composition with a mix of irreverence and mystery that recalls some of the best work of indie songwriters like Stephin Merritt and Euros Childs. ‘A Peaceful Kind of Fun’ is a beautiful self-portrait, woven together between vivid vignettes.

Kasper Hauser – ‘The Pink Parade’

On ‘The Pink Parade’, South London group Kasper Hauser bottle the best of their intimate homemade indie sound across an ambitious but instinctively accessible hour. Soft keyboards and singalong vocals set the tone on ‘Capturing the Meaning’, and clarinet contributions like those on ‘No Way’ deepen the warmth of the record. ‘Oh, Carousel!’ is a standout track, a distinct Belle and Sebastian flair streaked through a deceptively intricate exchange of lead vocal melodies, which double and alternate in a constantly changing fashion. Part of the burgeoning constellation of London-based artists working entirely on their own terms, Kaspar Hauser manage a perfect balance between experimentation and indie perfection.