Susan Bear - Alter (2022)

Susan Bear’s Alter is one of the most perfect bedroom pop albums ever created. This is a bold claim, but Bear’s elegant songs and beautiful (there’s no other word for it) top-line melodies have created an album of simple majesty. Alter is a masterclass in how to pack emotion into small-scale music. In the same way that Nick Drake could create bottomless desolation and almost cosmic introspection with just his voice and a guitar, Bear achieves similar results with few wonky synthesizers; Auto-Tune; hints of piano and guitar; and austere drum machines.

“M6” exists in a fugue of melancholy; the repetition of the line “the world’s been altering and shifting but I’m just stayin’ dead still” is quietly devastating. “Mario Golf 2” combines a slinky groove with some totally addictive melodies—actually, that’s the best word for this album: it’s addictive. There are so many excellent things put out by Lost Map, but Alter has my heart.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Susan Bear - Alter (3:01)
1.02 - Susan Bear - M6 (2:59)
1.03 - Susan Bear - Mario Golf 2 (3:42)
1.04 - Susan Bear - Challenge (3:59)
1.05 - Susan Bear - Slack (2:54)
1.06 - Susan Bear - Projection (3:22)
1.07 - Susan Bear - Sorry (4:43)
1.08 - Susan Bear - Swimming Lessons (3:31)
1.09 - Susan Bear - Alexandra (2:00)
1.10 - Susan Bear - New Ghost (4:17)