- Released: 2020
- Origin: Ridgewood, New Jersey, USA
- Label: Domino
- Best Track: You
Friday didn’t seem like the strongest of days for new albums, so I’m catching up with some new releases from the week before and saying hello to the fifth album from Real Estate.
It’s my first experience of the New Jersey indie-rockers, and it’s a favourable one. I really like Martin Courtney’s voice for a start, particular the way it comes in on opener ‘Friday’ – soothing and controlled.
Paper Cup, featuring electronic pop pairing Sylvan Esso, is a nice song and very much the earworm of the album. Nonetheless, I find myself preferring the more understated ‘You’, with its jangly, twee-pop chorus reminding me of Teenage Fanclub at their best.
It’s followed by another highlight in the post-punk, new wave leanings of ‘November’. I really like ‘Procession’ as well, carried by a swaying, pendulum-like beat.
I’m discovering a lot about myself in doing this blog. The Main Thing is one of those albums where I know it’s high-quality and the songwriting is really slick, yet I can’t really see it as anything more than a likeable soundtrack to a lazy Sunday afternoon. Perhaps that’s all it needs to be?
