The Lead Sheet ~ 12/2/25

The Lead Sheet is your guide to this week’s new music - taking a look at newly released albums, who made them, and how listeners are responding. 

Jerkcurb, a solo musical project of London based artist Jacob Read, released its second album this week, titled Night Fishing on a Calm Lake. The album is mainly dream-pop in sound, with some melancholy shoegaze and R&B. The self produced Calm Lake serves as an homage to Read’s father, who died in the interim between Jerkcurb’s first solo album, Air Con Eden. Calm Lake also takes an intimate, minimalist approach, with every instrument and sound carefully curated. The album also takes its time and is almost meandering, asking more of the listener’s attention based on its somewhat slower pace. Still, critical reception for the new work is generally positive. Jacob Read is also a regular member of the band Horsey, in which he both plays guitar and provides vocals. 

Long March Through the Jazz Age is the final curtain for rock group The Saints. Best known for their 1976 debut hit “(I’m) Stranded”. The album will be ending the band’s professional run as their founding member and lead singer Chris Bailey tragically passed away in 2022. The album serves as a farewell to Bailey and the group’s formation, featuring a somewhat more reverent folk-rock sound opposed to the band’s early days of punk. Jazz Age’s twelve tracks cover topics of loss and aging, and reflect on The Saints’ career with poignancy. Critical consensus is positive and the album is a fitting farewell that avoids heavy handedness and regardless of the circumstances, stands firmly as its own record. 

This week Electronic producer Ikonika drops a bold new project- SAD, which has been receiving generally positive reviews. The musician had previously been reclusive, but for the first time contributes her own vocals extensively; critics are quick to point out her broad range and emotional honesty, and it’s surprising that such a voice is only now being featured so heavily. SAD is a narrative, and Ikonika takes the listener on a journey that starts on a train and ends on a stolen Lime bike. Thematically, the album focuses on self-care and introspection, and the artist cites a recent autism diagnosis as a major inspiration for the project. Ikonika has a couple one-off concerts, December 2nd and 6th, in London, UK, but no major upcoming tours.

The Seattle-based folk-pop group Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter returns this week from a fourteen year hiatus, releasing their fifth studio album, Forever, I’ve Been Being Born. Reviews are outstanding, critics and listeners rate the album highly, calling it a triumphant return. Being Born is profound and emotional; Sykes left music to become a fulltime caretaker for her mother in hospice, and the album was developed around her passing. Examining the cyclical nature of life and death, Being Born is, according to Sykes, “best listened to in the dark.”

An interesting phenomenon is happening this week, independent comedy rapper Yuno Miles, A.K.A. Miles Wahlberg, known for intentionally bad rap, released an album titled ALBUM, that seems to be the subject of positive review bombing; fans of the rapper are ironically leaving positive reviews for the album in droves, often paired with exaggerated comments praising the album, and about how other artists imitate Miles. Miles is perhaps best categorized as a comedy rapper, and is more of a performance artist than legitimate musician. Miles’ flow is arrhythmic, pitchy, and grating, but his commitment to the bit is commendable, and his audience has captured the week in the form of collaborated meme power. 

Jerkcurb - Night Fishing on a Calm Lake

Nov 28, 2025

Handsome Dad Records

The Saints - Long March Through the Jazz Age

Nov 28, 2025

Fire Records

Ikonika - SAD

Nov 28, 2025

Hyperdub Records

Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter - Forever, I’ve Been Being Born

Nov 28, 2025

Ideologic Organ Records

Yuno Miles - ALBUM

Nov 29, 2025

Hallwood Records