New releases that help us find beauty in the ordinary
This week’s blog post is an ode to everyday life. There’s something for everyone here: old favorites reinventing themselves, funk we never expected, local tracks that give us goosebumps. Get nostalgic.
Local
Cookie, I Was Like
This has so many things we want in a new track. We’ve got saxophone, we’ve got mellow vocals, we’ve got something that we can sway to. This is the song that would be playing when we see the pretty girl standing across from us, shining through the haze of a house party.
New Old Future, Showers
New Old Future defines queer-punk. “Showers” sounds waspy and angsty, but like, we’re definitely not mad about it. Fast guitars, solid bass lines and shouty-harmonies increase the excitement of this new release.
Linus Yatz, Weeping Daisies
Here’s something to groove to. We didn’t think this would make us sway, but here we are. Linus Yatz merges effects that are just funky enough to be unique with a far-out voice to deliver a song that feels truly magical.
Cory Fay, Days of Ash
Dirt-wave. Barn-core. Story-wave. Those are some of the ways Cory Fay describes his latest single “Days of Ash.” If we were to describe it, we’d probably throw those qualifiers in too, mixed in with grunge, trumpets and head-bobbing.
New Albums
Lucinda Williams, Good Souls Better Angels
Lucinda Williams shows what rock and roll can, and should, be. To its core, “Good Souls Better Angels” is a blues record. It dives deep into Williams figuring out her own personal issues while taking a harsh look at political turmoil (“Man Without A Soul”).
Sister Species, Light Exchanges
Think about the beauty of everyday life in Studio Ghibli movies. Like, how cutting an onion or tending a garden is suddenly a spiritual experience. “Light Exchanges” is like that. Add three-part trumpet lines and accordions and you’ve got a neat tribute to the familiar.
Over The River, Trash Cat Fever
You’ve heard country. You’ve heard blues. It’s time you heard Midwest rock. Over The River combines the fundamentals of rock, blues and country to make a gritty sound that is entirely their own. Gravelly vocals sing over dive-bar twang.
Cassowary, Cassowary
Cassowary is jazzy and funky, switching between genres and tones effortlessly. The artist combines weird synth with horns, placing it delicately below melodic vocals. This might be one of the weirdest records we’ve heard this week, but it’s also one of our favorites.
New Singles
The 1975, If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)
It feels like we’ve been waiting for this single forever, but this is more than we could have ever expected. The 1975 creates songs we can dance to, but they’ve never released a song that made us drop what we were doing to groove. Until now.
Aoife O’Donovan, Loretta
Aoife O’Donovan and Taylor Ashton join forces to sing a track that sounds gentle enough for the dreamiest Sunday morning cup of tea or an isolated drive through the mountains. Gracefully placed harmonies flutter over banjo picking and melodious strumming.
Bad Suns, I’m Not Having Fun
Despite the title, this is fun. Synth mixes with original guitar and reliable voices to make a track that sounds far-out. This feels like those summers where we do nothing but drive around in our friend’s car and chase the sunsets.
Laura Hickli, Listen
This emotional track will pull at every emotion you have and sound angelic while doing it. Gentle strumming floats on the surface that lies just underneath Laura Hickli’s even voice. Piano comes in to bring a weight to the music as Hickli’s voice grows in strength until it fades into an ethereal nothingness.
Assembled by music director Meghan Jonas.