8.

Rosie Tucker

UTOPIA NOW!

UTOPIA NOW! is Rosie Tucker’s fifth record, but I’d not come across their work before, so it was something of a revelation for me. It calls to mind various artists I’ve really enjoyed in recent years: records by the likes of Blondshell, Stella Donnelly, Courtney Barnett et al have similarities to this album, both musically and lyrically. That said, Tucker brings their own unique approach. Musically, UTOPIA NOW! delivers catchy, light-touch pop/indie, but with occasional emo sharpness (it even, once in a while, borders on math rock). For the most part the songs aren’t too musically complex, but there are exceptions and even the simpler tracks are often unpredictable (take the odd opening to the album’s final song, ‘Eternal Life’). Tucker is an excellent songwriter, and wrings so much from their guitar refrains, in particular. But I think it’s lyrically where the record really excels. UTOPIA NOW! explores themes like the inequity of the music business, the power and amorality of the capitalist machine, apathy, and intolerance. As such, it could have felt very preachy, but Tucker never lets that happen. Their muscular ideas are approached with wit (sometimes acerbic, sometimes whimsical), and a great turn of phrase: e.g., ‘I hope no one had to piss in a bottle at work to get me the thing I ordered on the internet, but I am no responsible party, I’m just a middle-sized fish in a pile of plastic wider than Texas'. Now, that’s the stuff. A beautiful and deeply meaningful, but also quite gentle, record.