Most days, there’s one important/cool/exciting/weird/etc. album to write about in this space. Today it’s a four-way tie. So instead of trying to wrap them all together into some pithily contrived entry, I’m just gonna let them speak for themselves. Don’t forget to scroll down to see the rest of today’s additions, and then slide into the Upcoming Releases page to see the full, absurdly long list.
Glenn Danzig
Danzig Sings Elvis
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The long awaited Danzig sings Elvis album will be released on April 17. Two live performances in late April will be announced next week for Los Angeles & San Francisco.These will be small Intimate seated performances as Danzig wants to try to capture an old Vegas night club atmosphere for these 2 special shows.”
Deep Purple
Whoosh!
THE PRESS RELEASE: “After the suspense and speculations among the fan community created by cryptic messages and interviews by singer Ian Gillan during last December, the band finally confirms the release of their 21st studio album on June 12. For the third time, Deep Purple join forces with producer Bob Ezrin, who invited the band to Nashville to write and record new songs. Together they created the most versatile album in their collaboration. Deep Purple “stretched out in all directions” without any limitation, letting their creativity go. “Deep Purple is putting the Deep back into Purple” was the half-joking motto in the studio after the first songs made it clear that Ezrin and Purple were on their path to creating an album pushing the boundaries of time, while voicing their resentment about the current situation of the world and addressing all generations.”
Steve Earle & The Dukes
Ghosts of West Virginia
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Steve Earle & The Dukes will release Ghosts of West Virginia on May 22. The album was produced by Steve Earle and engineered by Ray Kennedy at Jimi Hendrix’s legendary Electric Lady Studios in New York City. The 10-song set is Earle’s 20th studio album and was mixed entirely in mono, lending a sonic cohesion and punch. In recent years, Earle has experienced partial hearing loss in one ear and can no longer discern the separation that stereo is designed to produce. The recording features his latest incarnation of his backing band The Dukes; Chris Masterson on guitar, Eleanor Whitmore on fiddle & vocals, Ricky Ray Jackson on pedal steel, guitar & dobro, Brad Pemberton on drums & percussion, and Jeff Hill on acoustic & electric bass.
Ghosts of West Virginia centers on the Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion that killed twenty-nine men in that state in 2010, making it one of the worst mining disasters in American history. Investigations revealed hundreds of safety violations, as well as attempts to cover them up, and the mine’s owners were forced to pay more than $200 million in criminal liabilities.”
Rufus Wainwright
Unfollow the Rules
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Rufus Wainwright’s ninth studio LP and first new pop album since 2012, Unfollow the Rules finds the artist at the peak of his powers, entering artistic maturity with passion, honesty, and a new-found fearlessness while remaining as creative, bold, and mischievous as ever. Produced by Mitchell Froom at a variety of legendary Los Angeles studios, the album serves as both bookend to Act I of an extraordinary career which, like Unfollow The Rules, began in the studios of Los Angeles, but also now as the first lines of a remarkable new chapter. Inspired by middle age, married life, fatherhood, friends, loss, London, and Laurel Canyon, songs like Only The People That Love and the spirited, symphonic Hatred find the gifted singer-songwriter ready to tackle new challenges, yet compelled to confront his past by making sense of how he has grown both as a musician and the contended family man he has become. “What I would like this album to symbolize is a coming together of all the aspects of my life which have made me a seasoned artist,” says Wainwright. “My aim is to emulate the greats of yore whose second acts produced their finest work – Leonard Cohen when he made The Future, when Frank Sinatra became Sinatra in his 40s, when Paul Simon put out Graceland. Pop music isn’t always about your waistline. Many songwriters improve with age. I’m flying the flag for staying alive!”
March 6
Riz Ahmed | The Long Goodbye
Small Town Artillery | Bright Side Bandits EP
March 13
The Garden | Kiss My Superbowl Ring
March 27
Depeche Mode | Spirits In The Forest
Sheena Ko | Nowhere in Time
Daniel Romano & The Outfit | Okay Wow
San Fermin | The Cormorant I & II
April 3
Errant | Errant EP
Snotty Noze Rez Kids | Born Deadly
April 10
Kabells | Mother Time
April 17
Gord Bamford | Rednek
Glenn Danzig | Danzig Sings Elvis
April 24
Loony | Joyride EP
Trivium | What The Dead Men Say
Rufus Wainwright | Unfollow the Rules
May 1
Megan Thee Stallion | Suga
May 15
Sleaford Mods | All That Glue
May 22
Steve Earle & The Dukes | Ghosts of West Virginia
May 29
Buzzcocks | Sell You Everything 1991-2014
June 5
Jessie Ware | What’s Your Pleasure
June 12
Deep Purple | Whoosh!
