10 Debuts of Note: 2019
Debuts of Note’s fourth annual look at our 10 favorite debut albums of the year.
10. The Great Abismo
by Family Time
Sounds Like: If the Arctic Monkey’s Tranquility Base Hotel And Casino was re-imagined by a combined effort featuring Spoon and Parquet Courts.
Favorite Tracks: “Magic Abyss Hotel”, “Jet Lag”, “The Grand Collide”
Homebase: London & Berlin via Spain
Listen to The Great Abismo: Spotify / Apple / Pandora / Bandcamp
9. Heard It In A Past Life
Sounds Like: The effervescence of Carly Rae Jepsen meets the vocal lushness of Florence + The Machine meets the electro-experimentation of Sylvan Esso.
Favorite Tracks: “Give A Little”, “Say It”, “Back In My Body”
Homebase: New York City, NY via Maryland
Listen to Heard It In A Past Life: Spotify / Apple / Pandora
8. Apollo XXI
by Steve Lacy
Sounds Like: If Frank Ocean took over lead vocals for TV on the Radio.
Favorite Tracks: “Playground”, “Lay Me Down”, “Love 2 Fast”
Homebase: Compton, CA
7. First Body
by Two People
Sounds Like: Softcore The xx with haunting vocals a la Weyes Blood.
Favorite Tracks: “In The Garden”, “Phone Call”, “Fading”
Homebase: Melbourne, Australia
5. Saints and Sebastian Stories
by Konradsen
Sounds Like: A delicately crafted, multi-instrumental soundscape with interstitial snippets a la Frank Ocean’s Blonde fronted by an ethereal Scandinavian singer whose delicate vocals penetrate to surreal effect.
Favorite Tracks: “Never Say A”, “Television Land”, “Red to Rhyme”
Homebase: Oslo, Norway
Listen to Saints And Sebastian Stories: Spotify / Apple / Pandora / Bandcamp
4. Athena
Sounds Like: A lil’ Lauryn Hill, a lil’ Solange, sprinkle in some r&b/soul back beats and add extra bits of violin for good measure.
Favorite Tracks: “Confessions”, “Green Eyes”, “Limitless”
Homebase: Los Angeles, CA via Cincinnati, OH
2. Jules
by Julien Chang
Sounds Like: A mish-mash of every popular genre elegantly jumbled together with a vocalist who can coo close to as well as Andrew Bird.
Favorite Tracks: “Of The Past”, “Two Voices”, “Memory Loss”, “Butterflies From Monaco”
Homebase: Baltimore, MD
1. SASAMI
by SASAMI
Sounds Like: The love child of Mitski, St. Vincent and The Radio Dept.
Favorite Tracks: “I Was A Window” / “Morning Comes” / “Free” / “Turned Out I Was Everyone”
Homebase: Los Angeles, CA
Sasami Ashworth (who goes by SASAMI as a recording artist) has been a part of the Los Angeles music scene for quite some time. She was a member of Cherry Glazerr for 2+ years and has helped behind the scenes on albums for artists such as Vagabon, Hand Habits, Jenny Lewis (deep breath!), Conor Oberst, First Aid Kit and Wild Nothing. But while on the road with Cherry Glazerr in 2016, Sasami wrote a handful of songs; enough to finally break out on her own. The resulting album — SASAMI — is sublime.
Originally a french horn player, Sasami retreated from the world of classical music as she grew into her late teens and early twenties. “‘I was really inspired by my dad playing the Beatles growing up,’” Sasami told LA Record earlier this year, “‘I’ve always been into rock kind of stuff, rather than studying classical music. The music I’m making now is kind of a mix of those two worlds.’”
Sasami quickly was able to sell her debut to Domino after posting the lead single “Callous” on her SoundCloud. According to Fader, “Sasami and her brother JooJoo, who played much of the guitar on the album, carved out ample space to experiment. All 10 songs were recorded completely analog, and feature different distortions and vocal effects.” The result is a smattering of experimental lo-fi shoegaze that holds everything together with irresistibly vague and intriguing lyrics. “The process was inspired by the power of limitations,” Sasami told Stereogum, “The nice thing about analog is that you’re very empowered by the restrictions. You really have to condense your songs to fewer parts and you can’t record it 20 times. You only have once and then you can choose whether you’re going to play over it or keep it.”
As for what’s in the future for Sasami? “I guess the goal is to write a happy song next…” But if she never gets around to it, that’s fine too. As the final track of her debut concludes, “Turned Out I Was Everyone” is neither sad nor happy; it’s existential, calm and demure. If zero happy tracks can bring about something as flawless as her debut’s final track — happiness can wait a bit.
Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order by artist/musician):
Barrie / Happy To Be Here
Clairo / Immunity
Cuco / Para Mi
Dave / PSYCHODRAMA
FEET / What’s Inside Is More Than Just Ham
Jade Bird / Jade Bird
Jai Paul / Leak 04–13 (Bait Ones)
The Japanese House / Good At Falling
Kevin Garrett / Hoax
King Princess / Cheap Queen
Low Hum / Room To Breathe
Nilüfer Yanya / Miss Universe
Orville Peck / Pony
SAULT / 5
Sigrid / Sucker Punch
