Night Moves do crimes, Sarah Potenza talks to herself, Tacocat play a joke, Kevin Morby goes glam, Fat White Family get pagan and more in today’s Roundup. Is it too late in the day for iced coffee?
1 There is no honour among thieves. At least, not for the thieves at the centre of Minneapolis trio Night Moves’ cinematic heist video for Strands Align. The shimmery, Tom Pettyesque nugget of heartland pop comes from their just-announced June 28 album Can You Really Find Me. You can. And you should. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Accompanying the news of the album comes new track Strands Align and its Cameron Dutra-directed video, starring John Pelant and Micky Alfano from the band as well as actor Chris Mulkey (Twin Peaks, Whiplash, Boardwalk Empire). The video follows Pelant, Alfano and Mulkey across the highs of a spur-of-the-moment crime spree that is ultimately brought to a tragic revenge-fueled end.” Take a test drive:
2 We’d all like to go back and talk to our younger selves — if only to reassure them that it’s all going to be OK. So that’s exactly what soul powerhouse Sarah Potenza does in the single for Diamond, the latest treat fro her superb recent album Road to Rome — accompanied by a vibrant video featuring dance troupe Pretty Big Movement. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Diamond is an open letter to a fourteen year old Sarah. I want to tell her not to cry over those boys. I want to reach all the little Sarah’s out there and tell them, “Girl, just wait. Your turn is coming. You’re a diamond.”” Damn straight:
3 Wonderfully named Seattle indie-popsters Tacocat have plenty of laughs in the playful video for their jangly garage-rock gem The Joke of Life, the latest advance peek at their May 3 album This Mess is a Place. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Lead singer Emily Nokes says, “I love how this song turned out. This is also one of my favorite concepts on the album — the joke is that the joke is already a joke. You know when something is so unbelievable, in a bad way, that it can’t even be satirized because irony falls short of the real thing? Like we’ve entered a twilight zone of perpetual horror and now we’re just… adapting to it. Because what else are you going to do?” Yuk it up:
4 Kevin Morby gets his glam on — and shows off his (or someone else’s) record collection — in the colourful video for the T. Rexstatic OMG Rock n Roll, the sorta-kinda title cut from his upcoming Oh My God album out April 26. Bang a gong. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Fans of Kevin Morby may hear familiar words throughout the new song, as it borrows from Morby’s 2016 single Beautiful Strangers, the song that initially planted the seed for what would become Oh My God. According to Morby, “It’s meant to be playful, despite the morbid subject matter, and sing sonic praise to rock n roll as a religious experience.” Get it on:
5 Fat White Family’s new album Serfs Up! arrives Friday. So naturally, there’s no better time for the British agent-provocateurs to dish up their twangy new single When I Leave — along with another compellingly weird video that melds pagan imagery with fascist iconography. Hey, it’s what they do. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “A massive thank you to Ben Edge for his art direction/pagan wisdom and to everyone else that made it down to the woods and froze their arses off all day in order to make this masterpiece possible, the ones who looked like they’d been snorting cue chalk all weekend especially…deep method.” Anyone for more pork?
6 Nebraska singer-songwriter Orion Walsh — formerly the frontman of Slow Coming Day — knows what you are. And he minces no words while calling it out in the video for his bouncy, pointed new ditty Slaves to Our Screens, from his upcoming EP The Foreigner. Chiding people for their online addiction via online video seems like kind of a weird way to get his point across. But oh well. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “The Foreigner EP takes listeners on a journey, period. Whether that may be cross country, a journey that leads one internationally, or maybe just a trip in one’s own backyard. Simply put, this is a collection of songs that will move you and get you moving. Relevant songs for the world we live in and a hopeful reminder of the happiness that comes from contentment.” Watch it here (but not too much):
7 Jazz up your midweek with a little Bohemian romanticism. Or work on your tango steps. It’s your choice — you can do either to the sultry strains and Francophone vocals of Un Amour Boheme, the latest single and video from Toronto vocalist Tia Brazda’s most recent disc Daydream. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Having studied French since middle school and having spent time in both Québec and France, Brazda decided to write a song in French – which led to a collaboration on the tango-infused chanson Un amour bohème, with Québec-based songwriter Matt Lipscombe.” Step right up:
8 A body in motion tends to stay in motion. Just look at Dressy Bessy. After eons away from the studio, the Denver power-pop trio returned to action with the acclaimed 2016 album Kingsized. And now, just a couple of years later, they’re putting the finishing touches on Fast Faster Disaster, their seventh studio set due June 14. Here’s another sneak peek: The video for the pop-rock strummer Tiny Lil Robots. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Of the track, band member Tammy Eaolm shares, “Inspired my first woman to woman rift with my grown daughter written from first and second person at the same time. Me to her, her to me.” Do the robot:
9 Gospel legend Mavis Staples has answered fans’ prayers by releasing the funky, southern soul-tinged blues number Anytime, another preview of her Ben Harper-produced album We Get By, due May 10. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “I’m the messenger,” Staples says on the eve of her 80th birthday. “That’s my job—it has been for my whole life—and I can’t just give up while the struggle’s still alive. We’ve got more work to do, so I’m going to keep on getting stronger and keep on delivering my message every single day.” Get it:
10 She’s not The Girl From Ipanema. But L.A. singer-songwriter Claude Fontaine certainly conjures up images of South American sun, sand, surf and sounds when she does the bossa nova in I’ll Play the Fool, the new single from her self-titled April 26 debut full-length. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Fontaine is pleased to share I’ll Play The Fool, a Bossa Nova-inflected preview of the album’s Brazilian-inspired B-side.” Ahhhhhhh:
11 Reno McCarthy has nothing to fear but fear itself. Luckily for him, that’s more than enough to fuel his upcoming album Counterglow — and its latest single, the funky pop-rocker Still. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “McCarthy says of Counterglow: “The main theme of the album is fear. Fear of growing up, fear of responsibility, fear of love, fear of time, fear of dumb trivial stuff like my stomach rumbling in a silent classroom. It explores anxiety, as well as a coming of age story. It’s not a concept album. There is no all-encompassing underlying lyrical intention. Each song is just a simple representation of what I was feeling when I wrote it. Some are rooted in fleeting and undefined dreams, some in harsh truth and dull realism.” Fear not:
12 Soundgarden and Audioslave singer Chris Cornell’s tragic 2017 death impacted countless musicians — including Sullivan singer-guitarist Brooks Paschal, who used the story to fuel his anthemic new emo-fuelled single Tell the World, from his May 31 Natural Disaster album. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “I think the irony of Tell The World was that it marked the beginning of making this record, but it was written as a suicide note. Chris Cornell had just killed himself and it was a really dark time for me. I didn’t know Chris personally, and I hadn’t achieved what he had, but I felt like I could empathize with why he did what he did. The amount of pressure we put on ourselves is often times untenable, especially in this business. The highs are beyond our wildest dreams and the lows leave a void that is literally irreplaceable. I have never been suicidal, but I have felt the weight of what it means to try your fucking hardest while the world expects more.” That’s telling it like it is:
