Ray and Shelby. Jon and Jontavious. Devon and Delicate Steve. A Blind Pilot and more than one Horse Jumper. You’ll meet some very intriguing people if you swipe right on these new releases. Here are your plays of the week:
Devon Allman
Miami Moon
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Fresh off setting a world record (50 shows in 50 states in 49 days), and successful tours with The Allman Betts Family Revival and 2024’s Allman Betts Band tour, Devon Allman, is releasing Miami Moon, his first solo LP in eight years. For the album, Allman put together one of the finest studio bands in recent history, featuring George Porter Jr. (The Meters) on bass, Ivan Neville (Keith Richards) on keyboards, Adam Deitch (Lettuce) on drums, Karl Denson (The Rolling Stones) on saxophone and Jackson Stokes on guitar. Miami Moon was recorded on 2” analog tape at the historic Criteria Studios in Miami (where Layla and Eat A Peach were born) and was produced by Grammy-winning producer Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy). “Making the Miami Moon record with these legendary musicians has been a high point of my career,” Allman says. “They brought these songs to life with their masterful playing and timeless feels. As for the approach, a couple things were different this time: First, writing the songs on bass guitar was a first for me and allowed the grooves to be the main focus. Also, letting go of some previous, limiting thought processes allowed some of my other influences to enter the chat for the first time such as Curtis Mayfield, Sade, The Cure, Steely Dan… among others. I believe you can hear some flourishes of those true loves on this album.”
Jon Benjamin – Jazz Daredevil
The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of The (Unproduced) Film...The Jazz Daredevil
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of the (Unproduced) Film…The Jazz Daredevil is the bold third album by Jon Benjamin – Jazz Daredevil. It follows his landmark 2015 debut Well I Should Have… Learned How to Play Piano, which garnered gushing coverage, blew through two vinyl pressings, and is now a sought-after collectible; and the 2020 followup The Soundtrack Collection, arguably the first truly great collection of movie theme songs performed poorly with a Moog synthesizer and expertly by an orchestra at the same time. Jazz Daredevil sets the scene: “Through ribbons of smoke, Jazz Daredevil walks across the small stage. He takes his place at the piano. Looking out, he clocks his small audience, most of whom talk amongst themselves. “This is my life,” he thinks to himself. It’s not a happy thought. At one table, a woman in sunglasses sits alone. “Is she as lost as I?” He counts in the trio, “One, two, one, two, three…” Jazz Daredevil plays. He can’t play, though. It’s complicated.”
Blind Pilot
In The Shadow Of Holy Mountain
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The first Blind Pilot album in eight years, In The Shadow Of The Holy Mountain emerged from a period of artistic crisis and the radical transformation of their creative ecosystem. “I went through a few years where I wasn’t able to write — I tried therapy, I read books on writer’s block, I went on writing trips, but nothing was helping,” says Israel Nebeker, frontman for the Oregon band. After stepping back and reimagining his songwriting approach, Nebeker challenged himself to write an entire album in a month, then brought those songs to his bandmates with a newfound sense of receptivity. “I told myself that whatever songs came through in that month would be for the love of the band and music we make together,” says Nebeker. “Instead of being controlling in the studio, I wanted to let the songs live and breathe with the band as an entity. By the time we finished, it was the most joy we’d ever had in making an album together.” Produced by Josh Kaufman (Hold Steady, David Wax Museum), In The Shadow Of The Holy Mountain brings a potent new energy to the elegantly composed folk/indie-rock of past LPs like 2016’s And Then Like Lions. In a profound step forward for the band — whose lineup also includes drummer/co-founder Ryan Dobrowski, bassist Luke Ydstie and multi-instrumentalist Kati Claborn — Blind Pilot’s fourth full-length unfolds with an exquisite fluidity, fully harnessing the undeniable chemistry they’ve shown in sharing stages with The Shins, Andrew Bird and Gregory Alan Isakov.”
Delicate Steve
Delicate Steve Sings
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Steve Marion, the critically acclaimed — and completely wordless — songwriter and guitarist known as Delicate Steve, has unveiled a new album called Delicate Steve Sings. Is the album title a reference to the instantly recognizable “voice” of his guitar? Does he actually sing this time? Has he not been singing all along? That’s the crux of Sings — Marion is the rare guitarist where you can put on any of his records and know exactly who’s playing. In an indie rock landscape stuffed end-to-end with guitars and amplifiers, nobody else sounds like this. That unique voice has kept Steve busy in an unpredictable variety of settings. The sheer spread of his work outside his own records — collaborating with Miley Cyrus and Paul Simon, playing in Amen Dunes and Black Keys, and being sampled by Kanye — doesn’t mean Steve’s a chameleon. It means he’s singular. One night while on a trip to Greece, Marion looked out over the sea while listening to Willie Nelson’s pop standards record Stardust, a cosmic epiphany washing over him about what his next record could be. Delicate Steve Sings is a record centered on channeling iconic voices with his guitar. In doing so, Marion is casting himself in the role of iconic singers like Willie who make standards their own. In the process, he reveals just how singular (dare we say iconic) that voice is. The guitar sings these songs — smoothly, sweetly, boldly, and on its own terms.”
Horse Jumper Of Love
Disaster Trick
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Horse Jumper Of Love thrive on patient and uncompromising songs. Thanks to frontman Dimitri Giannopoulos’ evocative lyrics and arrangements that suddenly turn from delicate to blistering, their music is full of intensity. While the Boston trio, which also includes bassist John Margaris and drummer James Doran, has stretched the fringes of indie, their latest is their most immediate yet. Disaster Trick tackles self-destructiveness with healing and heart. Where Horse Jumper Of Love’s last release 2023’s Heartbreak Rules excelled with quiet, bare-bones songwriting, Disaster Trick cranks up the volume while keeping the no-frills intimacy of the band’s catalog. Recorded at North Carolina’s Drop of Sun Studios with producer Alex Farrar (Wednesday, Indigo De Souza), the recordings soar with searing guitars and an unshakeable rhythm section. “I tried the quiet thing on the last album and I realized there’s definitely two parts of me: I like really heavy music, and I like really gentle music,” says Giannopoulos. “The two albums I listened to the most while we were in the studio were Leonard Cohen’s Songs From A Room and Hum’s Downward Is Heavenward.” This contrast between quiet and loud exists throughout Disaster Trick but it’s animated by stark emotion and straightforward, timeless songwriting.”
Ray LaMontagne
Long Way Home
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ray LaMontagne — the celebrated Grammy-winning singer-songwriter — kicks off the next chapter of his career with the new studio album Long Way Home. LaMontagne has spent the past two decades carving a singular space for himself in modern music. In a career that has seen overflowing critical acclaim, he’s opted out of the spotlight and its accompanying celebrity in the remote hills of Western Massachusetts. His signature voice, continues to serve as a conduit for era-defining melodies and songwriting. Across eight studio albums, LaMontagne has let his songs and story speak for themselves, ringing a deep chord in the American subconscious. As has come to be expected through his extensive and awarded discography, LaMontagne delivers yet again on record nine with a cohesive, impressive effort. The core of Long Way Home reverberates deep into LaMontagne’s youth — at 21, in a small club in Minneapolis, he recalls seeing Townes Van Zandt perform. A line from To Live Is To Fly has stuck with him ever since; Van Zandt sang, “When here you been is good an gone, all you keep is the getting there.” LaMontagne reflects, “Thirty years later it occurs to me that every song on Long Way Home is in one way or another honoring the journey. The languorous days of youth and innocence. The countless battles of adulthood, some won, more often lost. It’s been a long hard road, and I wouldn’t change a minute. It took me nine songs to express what Townes managed to say in one line. I guess I still got a lot to learn.”
Shelby Lynne
Consequences Of The Crown
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Produced by Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne, Karen Fairchild, Ashley Monroe and Gena Johnson, Consequences Of The Crown is Lynne’s first new album since returning to Nashville after 25 years away and is her most raw and authentic work to date. Across these 12 genre-blending tracks, Lynne explores the complexities of humanity, as she chronicles her experiences with heartbreak and loss as well as the powerful transformation and growth that comes with both. Reflecting on the project, Lynne shares, “I am going where it feels right to take a step. Breathing. Feeling the power of this music I lived for a time, another chapter in my life. I am grateful to be alive. I am grateful to you for listening to my life. This is the moment. We all wear a crown of consequences.” In addition to Lynne, Fairchild and Monroe, the record also features contributions from respected artists such as Waylon Payne, Jedd Hughes, Angaleena Presley, Carter Faith, Meg McRee and Ben Chapman.”
Pom Poko
Champion
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Pom Poko are growing up. On Champion, a monumental slice of reflective and life-affirming post-punk, vocalist/lyricist Ragnhild Fangel Jamtveit, bassist Jonas Krøvel, guitarist Martin Miguel Almagro Tonne, and drummer Ola Djupvik are the closest they’ve ever been, both personally and in terms of their hermetically tight four-piece rock instrumentation. When most bands call each other “family,” it’s a bit of a cliché — but with Pom Poko, after years of touring the four corners of the world and instituting a stringently democratic songwriting process, they really have evolved into one highly-synchronized unit, whose mission is to stay as true to their artistic values as possible while continuing to explore the farthest reaches of their slightly chaotic, always exhilarating sound. “It feels like we’re maturing and growing up together,” explains Ragnhild. “By the time this album comes out, we’ll have been a band for eight years. It’s like we’re evolving. When you’re not grinding with the band all the time, you gain an appreciation for what you’ve built. It’s like a very weird and really lovely little gang to hang out in. I almost feel like we’re superheroes — it’s like being a part of Powerpuff Girls.”
Various Artists
From Taboo To Telstar: Joe Meek’s Tea Chest Tapes – 1962: A Year In The Life Of 304 Holloway Road
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In the pre-Beatles era, when British pop was a veritable smorgasbord of genres and musical ideas without a dominant narrative, Joe Meek sampled almost everything on offer. From novelty hits to sound effect laden masterpieces, straight forward pre-beat pop and light instrumentals to cinematic ballads, his work with excellent singers such as John Leyton and Mike Berry, alongside talented writers like Geoff Goddard and Ray Dexter, always carried his signature studio techniques, still years ahead of many major commercial studios. From Taboo To Telstar is the first in a series of chronological sets charting work at Meek’s studio year by year. Featuring singles and B-sides (many heard in stereo for the first time), alongside alternate versions, demos and tracks recorded but unreleased, this is not only a document of a world about to be hit by a mop-topped tsunami but a window into the incredible creativity enabled by one man and his vision of independence and experimentation. Hear the gestation of Telstar, marvel at the majesty of Lone Rider and wonder at the kitchen sink humour of Alan Klein’s The Cat. Meanwhile, a light is shone on the genius of Goddard through several unreleased tracks, while Jenny Moss, Billie Davis, Gerry Harlow et al stand up and shout for the girls. The Moontrekkers, Cliff Bennett, Andy Cavell, Tony Victor, Houston Wells, Peter Jay, Ricky Wayne, Kenny Hollywood… they’re all heard here as they’ve never been heard before, straight off the tapes.”
Jontavious Willis
West Georgia Blues
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jontavious Willis is resolved in his mission: To reinvigorate today’s blues with the spirit of the past. Drawn to a time when the blues were plentiful and rhythm reigned supreme, Jontavious leverages his unique sound — a synthesis of his Georgia heritage and the rich history of the blues — to get the world dancing again. A Grammy-nominated musician and songwriter, Jontavious performs original, toe-tapping tunes in the style of Delta, Piedmont, and Texas Blues. With a bawdy, playful sense of humor, he channels the lively “rent parties” and “juke joints” of yesteryear, imparting the vitality of the blues across communities today.”
