RVW // Owen / L’AMI DU PEUPLE

Mike Kinsella is a seasoned music survivor. After making it through the break-ups and make-ups of a variety of seminal Illinois emo and folk bands (namely Cap N’ Jazz and American Football) since 1987, he’s now been releasing records under the solo moniker Owen for twelve years. Perhaps the key to his longevity is within the particular brand of raw, often agonizingly intimate nature of his output, in that it’s clear this survival is largely ensured through the music itself, and its cycles of crisis, confession and catharsis.

RVW: AlunaGeorge – Body Music

Having entered 2013 on a surging tide of momentum and ever-growing hype, AlunaGeorge – the London-based R&B sandwich surnamed Francis and Reid respectively – are now finally coming to ground with their full-length debut Body Music.

They’ve timed their descent into festival season perfectly, characteristic of a carefully orchestrated gestation period. Dropping singles and EPs on an almost quarterly-basis for the last two years, they’ve given themselves time for their self-consciously 90s influenced – but distinctively forward-thinking – fusion of pop, garage and R&B to coalesce, suggesting a band with a clear sense of their identity and a desire to get things right. Armed with their music and lessons learned from having their fingers burned in their past, the hype is earned. Now all the pressure is on the final delivery.