If you’re in the market for big-time rock ’n’ roll next week, the choice is simple: Kings Of Leon and their eighth album When You See Yourself are the only game in town. On the other hand, if you’re looking for some interesting indie artists — or maybe a veteran artist who’s changing their tune — you have plenty of options. Here are a half-dozen in alphabetical order:
Arab Strap
As Days Get Dark
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “They’re back from the grave and ready to rave. Some 15 years after calling it quits, Scottish indie-gloom duo Arab Strap — Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton — are returning (and back up to their old tricks) with the comeback album As Days Get Dark. “It’s about hopelessness and darkness,” says Moffat. “But in a fun way.” The band’s seventh studio album is their first since 2005’s The Last Romance. The new album will appeal to longtime fans and pick up new ones who weren’t ready for Arab Strap first time round!”
Andrew Bird & Jimbo Mathus
These 13
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “For the first time in decades, Jimbo Mathus and Andrew Bird have come together to record a new album. These 13 is about the special type of human connection that can survive any distance of time or geography. As former collaborators in Squirrel Nut Zippers, Mathus and Bird’s friendship dates back 25 years, but at the turn of the century their career paths diverged. Both became highly accomplished, acclaimed and prolific solo artists, and though they remained close friends, they did not return to musical collaboration until 2018, when they started exchanging the fragments that grew into this set of 13 songs. Mathus and Bird co-wrote all of These 13, sharing voice memos, finishing each other’s musical thoughts. Across the album they reveal themselves to one another again, and the conversation that unfolds is personal and profound.”
Har Mar Superstar
Roseville
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Welcome to Roseville, the seventh studio album by Har Mar Superstar. Sean Tillmann’s latest collection of songs is a career-defining culmination of life and musical experiences that were heavily influenced by ’70s AM gold artists, including Todd Rundgren, Elton John, Carole King, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Genesis, Hall & Oates, Meat Loaf, Dory Previn and ELO. The album came together in the late months of 2020 and is the first true collaborative effort of the whole touring band. It was distance recorded by all of the members in their home studios and the band’s home base, Mid City Studio in Minneapolis. It has been described as an “existential homecoming” that chronicles Tillmann’s return to life as a Minnesotan over the last five years. The whole album is a cohesive journey designed to be listened to front-to-back, but each track is strong enough to stand on its own.”
Kings of Leon
When You See Yourself
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “When You See Yourself is the eighth album from Grammy-winning, multi-platinum selling rock band Kings of Leon. Recorded at Nashville’s famed Blackbird Studios and produced by Grammy winner Markus Dravs (Arcade Fire, Coldplay, Florence + the Machine) the album propels Kings of Leon into 2021 with a modern evolution of their sound.”
Paul Stanley’s Soul Station
Now And Then
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Kiss co-founder & frontman, best-selling author and Rock And Roll Hall of Famer Paul Stanley has spent the last few years developing a project close to his heart. Soul Station is a band gathering some of today’s leading musicians to pay tribute to the greatest artists and songs from the R&B and soul catalog to keep this vital music current. While a surprise to many, Stanley’s early pivotal roots in this music has quietly turned this passion into a celebrated touring and recording band. Says Stanley: “Long before I ever heard the great British bands, I grew up listening to Philly soul, Motown and so much more. I was lucky to see Otis Redding and Solomon Burke among others. That music and its storytelling gave me strength and hope even in some tough days. The great classics of that era are magical medicine for most and I felt myself drawn back to that era for some sorcery I think we could all use.”
Teenage Fanclub
Endless Arcade
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Even if we weren’t living through extraordinarily troubling times, there is nothing quite like a Teenage Fanclub album to assuage the mind, body and soul, and to reaffirm that all is not lost in this world. Endless Arcade follows the band’s ninth album Here, released in 2016 to universal acclaim and notably their first Top 10 album since 1997; a mark of how much they’re treasured. The new record is quintessential TFC: melodies are equal parts heartwarming and heart-aching; guitars chime and distort; keyboard lines mesh and spiral; harmony-coated choruses burst out like sun on a stormy day. As the title track suggests, “Don’t be afraid of this endless arcade that is life.”
