LOTW 09: Mitch Rowland, The Internet
Happy October, friends. Today we’re looking at two albums, ten years apart, that left an impact for very different reasons. Here’s what’s been sounding good…
“Bluebells,” “Goes With Everything,” Come June, Mitch Rowland (2023)
Released literally yesterday, Harry Styles’ touring guitarist and collaborator Mitch Rowland shares the deeper expanses of his songwriting and production capabilities on his debut solo album Come June. With early demos going back as far as 2019, Come June has been a long time coming for Rowland, who eventually picked up recording during the pandemic with wife (and Styles drummer) Sarah Jones after Love On Tour came to a halt. While some tracks remind listeners of Rowland’s earliest HS contributions — “Bluebells” offers the same opening track effect that “Meet Me in the Hallway” does on Styles’ Self-Titled—Rowland also shows his genrebending prowess with the uberfolk “See The Way You Roll,” and the country Americana twang of “Here Comes The Comeback.”
Rowland also never lets us forget his roots as a session guitarist, with unique acoustic patterns and heavy and emotive slide passes, sometimes in the same track (see “All The Way Back,” a track that brings in Ben Harper for even more lap steel textures). These guitar skills give Come June the effect of a release a la Neil Young meets Simon & Garfunkel as opposed to anything on the Styles spectrum of recorded music. Across the record, Rowland delivers emotive gut punches and contemplative reflections, with most of the album being written in the right before and right after of Rowland and Jones having their first child. On an internet talking nonstop about the new Sufjan Stevens record (undeniably beautiful in its own right), I dare you to put this October 6th release higher on your To Listen queue.
Listen if you like: “Canyon Moon,” the month of October, wool scarves, Sundays, Fleet Foxes and other millennial indie folk (not derogatory)
“Matt’s Apartment,” “Wanders of the Mind” (feat. Mac Miller), Feel Good, The Internet (2013)
An album that just celebrated its 10-year anniversary, The Internet’s sophomore record Feel Good showed listeners the first inklings of the groovy bass and guitar patterns that the group became known for on Ego Death and Hive Mind. With contributions from a revolving door of artists (Yuna Zarai, Mac Miller, Tay Walker), Feel Good sees The Internet’s Syd and Matt Martian toying with the boundaries of where they wanted their rendition of neosoul R&B to go. Tracks like “Dontcha” deliver to the point pop funk, while more strewn out jams on “Pupil | The Patience” and “Matt’s Apartment” exist on a roundabout of psychedelia, with predominantly instrumental spinning patterns that flex the duo’s production skills and boundary-less approach to song structure. Syd’s hypnotic voice floating above every track adds to the transporting qualities of the record from top to bottom. If nothing else, The Internet delivers on their promise of a journey of good feelings when listening to this album.
Listen if you like: Thundercat, being underwater, loops, guitar interludes, anything on Coastal Grooves
That’s all for this week — check out my review of Movulango’s new track “Differently” for The Line of Best Fit here, and see other song highlights on the daily playlist.
