WLUW Album Reviews Week of 12/4

As Loyola’s independent, student-led radio station, WLUW 88.7 takes pride in showcasing independent music from Chicago and beyond. Below are three new releases from some of WLUW’s favorite indie sensations.

Ally Evenson – “BLUE SUPER LOVE”

Detroit-raised, Los Angeles-based artist Ally Evenson released her debut album “BLUE SUPER LOVE” Nov. 21. The album is packed with hard-hitting lyrics and her familiar angsty pop sound.

“You know me like a prophet / You read me like a scroll / But you treat me like a classic modern girl / There’s nothing I could want when you’re the one I want most / I’m scared of love / You put the fear of God in me,” Evenson sings in “Fear of God.” 

Evenson’s gut-wrenching lyricism is masterfully accompanied by droning synth and guitar melodies, giving “BLUE SUPER LOVE” a much-needed edge.

Red Hot Org – “TRANƧA”

Sam Smith, Jeff Tweedy, Faye Webster, Julien Baker, Moses Sumney, André 3000, Adrianne Lenker, Fleet Foxes and more than 100 other artists have come together on Red Hot Organization’s galvanizing compilation “TRANƧA,” released Nov. 22.

Co-founder Dust Reid set out to create an album that honored transgender and non-binary artists after the death of trans music icon SOPHIE in 2022. 

“That loss was very visceral for me — when Sophie was lost, I was really acutely thinking about all the gifts trans people give to the world,” Reid said in an interview with The Guardian. 

The album includes original songs, covers and poetry contributed by Eileen Myles and read by Hunter Schafer.

Father John Misty “Mahashmashana”

Joshua Tillman — aka Father John Misty — stays true to his eclectic sonic identity on “Mahashmashana.” The Nov. 22 album contains Tillman’s signature offbeat lyricism fans know and love.

“After the jump, I’m not even sure who’s left / Maybe the stunt guy was my true self / Under the skin, we’re not much on the eyes / A real mess where soul must reside,” he sings in “Being You.” 

“Mahashmashana” means “great cremation ground” in Sanskrit, according to the album’s description.

These themes of death permeate the album on tracks like “Mahashmashana” and “Screamland.”

“And in the next universal dawn / We won’t have to do the corpse dance,” Tillman sings on the album’s title track. 
“Just visually, it has all these sha-na-nas and ha-ha-has in it,” Tillman said in an interview with Mojo. “With the record, there’s a lot in there about the self and about identity, and I think just the micro and the macro scale of endings.”