Now that I’ve gotten my head around the many albums that came out this year (and, I admit, having forgotten that some of these dropped as I’d been too distracted by adjusting to the New Day Job and other things), I can confirm that yes, there are indeed quite a few great records that I’m glad I got to check out!

Here’s a sample of some of March’s great releases!

Letting Up Despite Great Faults, IV, released 4 March. This band explores the lighter side of dreampop with what feels like a nod to The Church with its chiming guitars and reverb-drenched melodies. Their first album in quite some time has been a welcome return.

Steve Kilbey, Of Skins and Heart (The Acoustic Sessions Vol 1), released 4 March. Speaking of the Church, its front man dropped an acoustic reworking of the band’s debut album from 1981, proving these songs have definitely lasted the test of time.

Stereophonics, Oochya! released 4 March. Originally planned as a compilation of hits and rarities, singer Kelly Jones found himself inspired by some of those unreleased songs, retooled them and wrote new tracks to fill out the rest of the album instead. A band that never quite gets its due here in the States but continues to impress.

Nilüfer Yanya, Painless, released 4 March. Yanya’s second album is a study of less-is-more, with several of its songs so sparse they’re almost delicate, yet never losing any of their power. “Stabilise” is definitely on my top ten favorite songs of the year. Highly recommended.

Bob Moses, The Silence in Between, released 4 March. Yet another band on my ‘I will download anything from them’ list, their latest comes on darker and harder than previous releases yet never obscures the lighter touch of their melodies.

(G)I-DLE, I NEVER DIE, released 14 March. This K-Pop band gets punkier and poppier with this release, going full-on P!nk with lyrics and moves that are sassy, brassy and fun.

Stabbing Westward, Chasing Ghosts, released 18 March. A welcome full-album return to this band, coming back hard with their classic wall of sound style.

PLOSIVS, PLOSIVS, released 18 March. Quite possibly my favorite band name of the year — it perfectly fits their fast, gut-punching post-punk sound. “Broken Eyes” got the same reaction out of me that Interpol’s “PDA” did back in the day (…what the hell is this, and were can I find it??) and it’s high up there on my favorite albums of the year list.

Bauhaus, “Drink the New Wine” single, released 23 March. Just when you thought this band was going to implode once more, the four guys revisited the exquisite corpse style of writing (last heard with the “1-2-3-4” b-side) during the Covid lockdown by recording their own segment separately over a slow beat. It’s a weird yet surprisingly cohesive experiment.

Placebo, Never Let Me Go, released 25 March. This band has definitely mellowed with age, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, considering Brian Molko writes such great songs that are both quirky and extremely heartfelt.

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Stay tuned tomorrow for April tunage!