Album: The Young Republic – Balletesque

End Of The Road Records’ flagship band, The Young Republic, have returned with their second album. Stuffed full with virtuoso performances and the kind of epic orchestral arrangements not seen since The Arcade Fire’s debut. Balletesque has all of the hard-hitting edge of their debut 12 Tales From Winter City but is even more glorious for its complexity and softness.

Album: Boo Hewerdine – God Bless the Pretty Things

Firmly grounded in folk and country, with harmonies that would be perfectly at home on a porch swing in the deep south, Boo Hewerdine’s latest album is a sweet stroll through life, love and the like. That said, this dude doesn’t sit comfortably in a musical box. He’s a wanderer when it comes to musical styles, and that makes for an album of kaleidoscopic shade and tone.