Label: Warner Records
Producers: Jacknife Lee and Tim Pagnotta
With great vulnerability, strength, and care, The Regrettes have turned tangled topics into something sweet in their third studio album, Further Joy. While Further Joy mostly unpacks the acknowledgement and slow overcoming of insecurities and petrifying fears with “Anxieties (Out of Time),” “Monday,” “Subtleties (Never Giving Up On You),” and “La Di Da,” it also journeys through finding oneself and self-worth, aching queer confessions, and the messiness of love. Laying the groundwork with a feminist punch and the best alt-rock has to offer, The Regrettes have begun evolving into a more fusion-forward, “dance-at-whatever-cost” kind of sound. Sure, it’s more pop, but it’s more everything else, too somehow, sampling sounds and drawing obvious inspiration from Kate Nash, Paramore, TV Girl, and Tegan and Sara. This album has set a new tone for the scene, pushing genre-bending work that is sure of itself and not asking you twice to come along for the ride.
(9/10)
