Did you forget about Mother’s Day? Uh-oh. Well, you’re probably too late to score flowers, chocolate or a brunch reservation. But you still have plenty of time to pre-order Mom some new albums from Graham Nash, Paul Simon, Marty Stuart, Dave Matthews, The Murlocs, Thee Oh Sees, Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton — or some of the other artists with new albums on the way. And before you balk at buying music for Ma, I have just one thing to say: Beggars and choosers, man. Beggars and choosers. Now get shopping. And say hi to your mother:
Califone
Villagers
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Part experimental indie and part ’70s soft rock, Califone‘s first record in three years finds creative force Tim Rutili reaching new levels of harmony, fragility, and confidence. Whether detailing aging goths retaining their identity through year-long spooky decorations, an imagined conversation with an inbred monarch, or the conflicts between identity and technology, Villagers‘ nine tracks spread out and luxuriates in the messy darkness of modern life. Like sitting in awe on the porch swing at the end of the world, Califone‘s latest marvels at the edge of the universe spreading into the darkness of infinity. With 25 years of Califone in his catalog (not to mention a variety of other projects, including alt-rock heroes Red Red Meat), the Chicago-born, Los Angeles-based Rutili knows well how to find that moment of awe and bliss even as things are falling apart.”
Samantha Fish & Jesse Dayton
Death Wish Blues
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The first collaborative album from Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton, Death Wish Blues is a body of work born from a shared passion for pushing the limits of blues music. As one of the most dynamic forces in the blues world today, Fish has made her name as a multi-award-winning festival headliner who captivates crowds with her explosive yet elegant guitar work, delivering an unbridled form of blues-rock that defies all genre boundaries. Dayton, meanwhile, boasts an extraordinary background that includes recording with the likes of Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings, touring as a guitarist for seminal punk band X, working with Rob Zombie on the soundtracks for his iconic horror films, and releasing a series of acclaimed solo albums. Produced by the legendary Jon Spencer of the Blues Explosion, Death Wish Blues ultimately melds their eclectic sensibilities into a batch of songs both emotionally potent and wildly combustible.”
Galen & Paul
Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day?
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day?’ is the debut project from Paul Simonon (The Clash, Gorillaz, The Good, The Bad and The Queen); and Galen Ayers (singer-songwriter). The roots of the album began in lockdown as Simonon relocated to a remote Mallorcan fishing village, where he spent his time, painting, and writing songs. Over an 18-month period he worked with local musicians, playing and busking in the streets of Palma with his friend Ayers. What emerged is a collection of 10 uplifting songs which collectively present a snapshot of pan-European music culture — and an album that journeys across the continent, influenced by French chansons, Spanish pop and English sea shanties; evoking scenes stretching from Edgware Road to Hydra Island; and painting pictures of everything from elegant Parisian cafes to drunken tourists in Magaluf to the ghosttown chill of an out-of-season holiday destination.”
Ghost
Phantomime EP
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ghost follows last year’s international chart-topping opus Impera as intended from the start with Phantomime, a diverse and spellbinding sampling of the Grammy Award-winning band’s musical DNA. Featuring covers of classics by Television, Genesis, The Stranglers, Iron Maiden and Tina Turner, Phantomime pays tribute to these unlikely bedfellow influences while stamping them all with Ghost’s undeniable sonic signature.”
Lambrini Girls
You’re Welcome EP
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Imagine your nan is in the boot of your car with a croissant in her mouth and hears Bikini Kill for the first time. That could be you. It will never be us, as we are not Bikini Kill, and we are not your nan. We are Lambrini Girls. Bon appétit.” Phoebe Lunny (vocals/guitar), Lilly Macieira (bass) and Catt Jack (drums) first joined forces amongst the anarchic waves of the Brighton underground music scene. They soon formed a strong artistic bond over their creative common ground; not just a musical connection, but also in the shared messages they set out to convey. The band’s driving punk rhythms and ability to hold a mirror up to hot button societal issues draws inspiration from the likes of alternative stalwarts Le Tigre and Bikini Kill, combined with a biting, tongue in cheek lyrical style all their own.”
Dave Matthews Band
Walk Around The Moon
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Coinciding with the launch of their U.S. summer tour, Dave Matthews Band will release Walk Around The Moon — their 10th studio album and the follow-up to their chart-topping 2018 album, Come Tomorrow. Most of the album’s 12 original songs were recorded with producer Rob Evans. Longtime collaborator John Alagia served as executive producer of the album. Walk Around The Moon took shape during the pandemic and is as much a reflection on the current times as it is an urge to find common ground. With a career spanning over 30 years, the Dave Matthews Band are one of the most influential groups in rock history. In 1991, vocalist/guitarist Dave Matthews decided to put some songs he had written on tape and sought the assistance of drummer Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore, who were both accomplished jazz musicians in the local Charlottesville music scene.”
The Murlocs
Calm Ya Farm
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Melbourne’s The Murlocs will release their new studio album Calm Ya Farm on ATO Records. Spiked with their signature breed of sharply crafted garage-punk — and with lead vocalist, guitarist & harmonica triple threat Ambrose Kenny-Smith’s surrealist musings on the ever-turbulent world around him — the collection ultimately twists country-rock convention into a free-flowing album fully in touch with the frenetic energy of modern life. As the band’s most collaborative work, Calm Ya Farm unfolds in more elaborate and sophisticated arrangements and achieves new sonic depths largely by creating space for all five members to pursue their most eccentric impulses. “With this record we tried to steer away from all the distortion and dirt and grit, or at least let the grit come off a bit more clean-sounding,” says Kenny-Smith, who also plays with bassist Cook Craigin the globally beloved psych-rock powerhouse King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.”
Graham Nash
Now
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Now, the aptly titled new studio album from legendary artist Graham Nash, is a stunning collection that stays true to his near six-decade mission: Observing the human experience through the lens of a Northern boy and contributing a wealth of songs to the soundtrack of our lives. The new songs on Now are worthy additions to the canon of a two-time inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The new songs range from the intensely political rallying cry of Stand Up and the scorching indictment of MAGA in Golden Idols to the bitterly ironic Stars and Stripes. As Nash says, “just tell me the truth, stop lying and stop trying to create division between people all over the world, just tell me the truth. The stars and stripes are waving, but they’re waving goodbye to the truth.”
Paul Simon
Seven Psalms
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Paul Simon has consistently crafted some of the most influential music in the history of music — from his early classics to the pioneering Graceland right through to his previous collection of original material, 2016’s Stranger To Stranger. A step apart from anything Simon has released before, Seven Psalms defies categorisation. The record is a continuous 33-minute piece of music, a journey which consists of seven interlinked segments. It’s a record which establishes a meditative, almost hymnal ambience, with Paul’s vocals at the top of an acoustic arrangement. Predominantly performed by Paul, the record is seasoned with esoteric percussion instruments, choral elements from the Grammy-nominated British vocal ensemble VOCES8, and a beautiful vocal appearance by Edie Brickell.”
Marty Stuart And His Fabulous Superlatives
Altitude
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Recorded in Nashville with his longtime band The Fabulous Superlatives — Kenny Vaughan, Harry Stinson and Chris Scruggs — Altitude finds Marty Stuart picking up where he left off on 2017’s Way Out West, exploring a cosmic country landscape populated by dreamers and drifters, misfits and angels, honky-tonk heroes and lonesome lovers. Written primarily on the road, the collection was inspired in large part by Stuart’s 2018 tour supporting Byrds co-founders Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman, who reunited for the 50th anniversary of their seminal Sweetheart Of The Rodeo album. “I bought my first copy of Sweetheart Of The Rodeo for $2.99 at the discount bin in a shopping mall record store in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, and it became the blueprint for my musical life,” Stuart recalls. “Revisiting it on the road with Roger and Chris put me back under its spell all over again. I was writing songs in dressing rooms and soundchecks and on the bus, and then one day, I looked up and there was enough to make an album.”
Thee Oh Sees
Live at Levitation
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Back in 2012, Thee Oh Sees made their first appearance at Austin Psych Fest, performing an electrified set at Emo’s East. The first of the band’s many Levitation appearances down in Austin, this show has been revisited for a new series of vinyl releases, Live at Levitation, immortalizing it on glorious 12″ colored wax, mixed by John Dwyer and mastered for vinyl by JJ Golden. Of the appearance commemorated with this physical release, Dwyer wrote: “I think this was our first time at Levitation but our millionth time in the amazing and tough as nails city of Austin, Texas. Brigid Dawson, Mike Shoun, Petey D and myself had already laid the live show out in front of crowds here, so it wasn’t our first rodeo and certainly not my last. Our love is obvious here as we bring forth a short but sweet set of hits and deep cuts. This is also the version of the band with Lars ‘Fingers’ Finberg of Intelligence fame as second banana drummer. So enjoy some primal and sensual double drumming and as a side note, no one died at this show. Thanks as always to Levitation for making shit happen.”
Tinariwen
Amatssou
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Some people have commented that Tinariwen have always been a country band, albeit a North African take on that most North American of genres. That idea is magnified on new album Amatssou, which finds the Tuareg band’s trademark snaking guitar lines and hypnotic rhythms blending seamlessly with pedal steel, piano and strings from guest musicians including Daniel Lanois, the embellished arrangements lending the songs an epic, universal application. Full of poetic allegory, the lyrics call for unity and freedom. There are songs of struggle and resistance with oblique references to the recent desperate political upheavals in Mali and the increasing power of the Salafists. “Dear brothers all rest, all leisure will always be far from reach unless your homeland is liberated and all the elders can live there in dignity,” Ibrahim Ag Alhabib sings on Arajghiyine. The album’s title Amatssou is Tamashek for Beyond The Fear and it fits — Tinariwen have always been characterised by their fearlessness — and as Bob Dylan once said, the power of rock ’n’ roll is that it makes us “oblivious to the fear” as the music gives us the strength and resilience to confront adversity.”
The Used
Toxic Positivity
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Over 20 years into their career, Toxic Positivity is everything fans have come to know and love from The Used — straightforward, in-your-face, destructive, and vulnerable all at once. Established in 2000, The Used were brought to life and have since released a collection of albums that pioneered the scene of emo rock. High-energy live shows, gut-wrenching relatable lyrics, and melodies that blended pop sensibility and hard rock was the perfect combination to make an everlasting impression on fans globally.”
