Two things I noticed about next week’s new releases: 1 | Even though there are about 100 fewer titles in total, the number that I want to hear went up, which is a good thing; 2 | Several things I planned to include got pushed back a week or two, which is never a good thing (especially this early in the season). But as a wiser person than I once noted: You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life. Now that I’ve implanted that horrible song in your brain for the rest of the day, let’s move on to the rest of your plays of the week:
Luna Sol
Vita Mors
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Luna Sol are a highly regarded high-mountain / stoner / blues-rock band led by singer-guitarist David Angstrom, known for his work in bands such as Hermano, Asylum On The Hill, Black Cat Bone and Supafuzz. Now in their 14th year, Luna Sol are poised to deliver its finest album yet. The 12-song monsterpiece Vita Mors was recorded in Dave’s home studio in the foothills of the Rocky Mountain. To bring this vision to life, Angstrom enlisted the help of drummer Zeth Pedulla and bassist Doug Tackett. The trio’s chemistry was immediate and undeniable. As the riffs began to flow, songs came to life and they decided to hit record to capture the beautiful heaviness they were creating together. From the onset, they all wanted Vita Mors to feel and sound live …pulling the listener into a small dive bar nestled in the mountains filled with Marshall stacks, Les Pauls, a massive amount of drums and a wall of bass amps to shake the foundation.”
Lutalo
The Academy
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Vermont singer-songwriter Lutalo Jones describes The Academy as their “first chapter” — a time capsule of the lessons they’ve learned in their 20-something years of life. “This record is exactly that: a ‘record’ of my early life,” they say of their debut album. “The experiences, thoughts and feelings I was holding at those times and am currently processing. To me, this is the first big stamp of my existence I’m sharing.” Recorded in January 2024 at the storied Sonic Ranch studio in El Paso, Texas, and self-produced along with Jake Aron (Snail Mail, Protomartyr), hearing The Academy feels like watching the best underground film you’ve seen in years; through one character’s specific story, it’s intensely affecting, establishing Lutalo as a singular voice of this generation of indie rock. The Academy delves deep into Lutalo’s early life, but at the same time, it only just scratches the surface. “We won’t see the full story until I’m dead, realistically,” they say. “As time goes on, and the dots begin to connect as I continue to release, I’m hoping that people can then come back to this record in the future and view it as something special.”
Midland
Barely Blue
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Grammy-nominated trio Midland’s Barely Blue is an eight-song exploration of loneliness, masculinity and resilience in the face of heartache. Evoking near-empty bars and heat waves shimmering across the blacktop, the new album brings to life the generosity of spirit required to love, lose, and move on. Recorded with Grammy winner Dave Cobb at Georgia Mae Studios in Savannah, singer-guitarist Mark Wystrach, bassist Cameron Duddy and guitarist Jess Carson lean into a space where solitude is acknowledged, life goes on and steel guitars are often what binds it all together. “We knew we wanted to go somewhere else,” Duddy adds. “We are all big believers in a certain time and place, a sense of classic country that comes from roadhouses and bad coffee, miles and miles and miles on the road — and the idea that, even though we’re all happy, love and life falls apart, but that doesn’t mean you have to, too. When we were writing these songs, it was a trip into all the things in country music we love. You don’t hear much of this kind of unfiltered, hard stuff that comes with the great guitar sounds, the deep harmonies and shuffles you can tuck into. But that’s the essence of what Midland is — and Dave Cobb brought a new altitude to our sound.”
Thurston Moore
Flow Critical Lucidity
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The title of Thurston Moore’s new album Flow Critical Lucidity comes from a lyric in the new single Sans Limites. The album sleeve cover art features Jamie Nares’ Samurai Walkman — a helmet befitted with tuning forks. Some of the songs from Moore’s ninth solo recording were written and arranged in Europe and The United Kingdom — including lyrical references to their environments inspired by nature, lucid dreaming, modern dance and Isadora Duncan. The album was arranged at La Becque in Switzerland and recorded at Total Refreshment Studios in London in 2022, and mixed at Hermitage Studios in London with Margo Broom in 2023.”
Neon Trees
Sink Your Teeth
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Multi-platinum alt-rock band Neon Trees’ fifth studio album Sink Your Teeth is also their first in four years. Written over the course of three years, Sink Your Teeth offers an opportunity for longtime fans to return and for new fans to discover the band for the first time — proverbially sinking their teeth into the music. It also evokes a sense of bite and rawness in the music and lyrics that is compellingly relatable. For lead singer Tyler Glenn, the songs reflect a state of mind felt by many in a post pandemic, chronically online digital age, where the uneasiness and anxiety of modern love and modern life are more potent than ever. Like all of Neon Trees’ work, the album reveals a balance between the dark and the light. “The question was, how do I capture that energy and that feeling of anxiety, but not make it solely about a period of time in our lives or make people only reflect on that when they listen?” Glenn says. “The songs do contain some of the anxiety and existential crisis I was feeling at the start of the decade, but there’s also a thread of hope. It’s not wrapped neatly in a bow at the end, but there’s still a hopefulness.”
Katy J Pearson
Someday, Now
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Following 2020’s Return and 2022’s Sound Of The Morning, Someday, Now sees Katy J Pearson’s signature acoustic-led, sweetly-voiced singer-songwriter fare transmuted through the desk of electronic producer Nathan Jenkins, aka Bullion. After a period of burnout, self-enforced exile from music-making, and solo travel, Pearson came back to her practice with clarity of mind and vision. Where previous records were made with a slower, more piecemeal approach, Someday, Now was rigorously written and rehearsed ahead of time, and laid down efficiently over a couple of weeks at Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire, with a band composed of Huw Evans, Davey Newington and Joel Burton. It was engineered by Joe Jones (Aldous Harding, Dry Cleaningb. Crafting songs which range from achy-hearted, string-laden confessionals to sleek, chic soundtracks for the small hours, Pearson is a pop singer-songwriter for the modern catastrophic age. Unquestionably her most confident, assured, and honest album to date, the 10 tracks on Someday, Now shine with a brilliant lucidity showcasing Katy’s natural knack for a hook.”
Kate Pierson
Radios And Rainbows
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “There is no voice as distinctive in alt-dance-rock than Kate Pierson’s. Just ask Iggy Pop, Jack White and R.E.M., all of whom enlisted her vocal contributions. Best-known as a founding member of the singular, trailblazing B-52’s, Pierson is beloved for her soaring vocals and ear-catching keyboards, at the forefront of the group for nearly 50 years. And now, nine years after her solo debut, 2015’s Guitars and Microphones, Pierson has crafted a diverse collection of her most personal songs yet on the infectious, emotive Radios and Rainbows. “It’s an eclectic group of songs,” says Pierson, “anthems, dance things, a disco song… Overall, the album has an upbeat vibe because I wanted to put out something positive in these dark times. I wanted to make it fun!” A portrait of the many sides of Kate Pierson, Radios and Rainbows has compelled the singer-songwriter “to do more live shows,” she says. With stripped-down accompaniment, Pierson plans to perform at intimate venues and “let the emotions and the feelings of the songs come through, showcasing my vocals… My creativity has been unlocked!” Pierson adds. “I still have a lot more songs in me, and I’m already looking forward to recording my next album!”
Katy Perry
143
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “I set out to create a bold, exuberant, celebratory dance-pop album with the symbolic 143 numerical expression of love as a throughline message,” explains Katy Perry of her sixth album. The result is a sexy, fearless return to form for the multifaceted musician. Jam-packed with the kind of empowering and provocative pop anthems fans have come to love, 143 is an album with a lot of heart — and a lot of BPM. With a cumulative 115 billion streams alongside worldwide sales of over 70 million adjusted albums and 143 million tracks, Perry is one of the best-selling musical artists of all time. She is one of only 12 artists in history to have surpassed 100 million certified units.”
JD Simo And Luther Dickinson
Do the Rump!
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Individually, JD Simo and Luther Dickinson are building their legacies as solo artists, sidemen, songwriters, and guitar heroes. Together, they’re a creative force to be reckoned with, making their version of amplified American roots music. On the pair’s first collaborative album, Do The Rump!, the musicians trade blistering guitar solos, take turns at the microphone, and turn their classic influences — including hill country blues, spirituals, swamp rock, and Afrobeat — into something contemporary, reinterpreting a number of their old-school favorites into eclectic, electrifying anthems. The partnership began onstage, where Simo and Dickinson first shared the spotlight as touring members of Phil Lesh and Friends. Dickinson had already established himself as co-founder of the Grammy-winning North Mississippi Allstars and a celebrated guitarist for acts like Black Crowes and John Hiatt. Similarly, Simo built an audience through his solo project and as a session musician for Jack White, Beyoncé, Chris Isaak and Baz Luhrmann‘s Elvis movie. Occupying the same stage felt different, though. “Playing with Luther immediately felt as easy as water flowing down a river,” Simo remembers. “We had all the same influences, but we played nothing alike. Our styles just fit together. We didn’t have to think about it — it was instinctual.”
Sunset Rubdown
Always Happy To Explode
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Twenty years ago Spencer Krug began using the name Sunset Rubdown for his solo bedroom recordings — experiments too low-fi and odd for what was then a blossoming Wolf Parade — but by 2006 Sunset Rubdown had evolved into a full band, with core members Michael Doerksen, Jordan Robson-Cramer, and Camilla Wynne having joined Krug on the stage and in the studio. By 2009 the band had released three critically acclaimed albums, Shut Up I Am Dreaming, Random Spirit Lover and (with the addition of Mark Nicol on bass) Dragonslayer. Sunset Rubdown toured extensively before quietly disbanding after their final show in Tokyo in late 2009. Fast forward 12 years to Krug whimsically sending the band a group email about a possible reunion, each member replying with an enthusiastic “Yes” that same afternoon, and a dormant volcano beginning to rumble… Despite over a decade of Krug incorrectly assuring fans it would never happen, Sunset Rubdown have reunited, with an extensive reunion tour already under their collective belt, and a fourth LP. Krug admits he was the last one to think a Sunset Rubdown reunion would ever happen, but is grateful he was wrong.”
Keith Urban
High
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The idea of time has always fascinated Keith Urban, living in (and recognizing) the moment, especially when we find ourselves on information overload. So, we’ll be sure to get to the point as quickly as possible. Urban’s High is his first album in nearly four years — a musical journey, intentionally sequenced through themes of what it is to be alive, human connection, cutting loose, huge hook choruses, hope, nostalgia, shredding solos, straight-up fun, and some personal life revelations. “I’ve always been drawn toward the subject of living in the moment, because it’s all there is, and it’s hard to do,” says Urban. “And these days with so much ‘content’ flying at us, it can feel like drinking from a fire hose.” The ambiguity of the word ‘high’ peaked Urban’s curiosity and so the name of the album. “What makes you ‘high’ can mean whatever you want it to mean,” says Urban. “It might be physical, spiritual, herbal, meditative, chemical or musical, but it’s definitely a place of utopia.” He continues, “For me it’s my family, my friends, and this rollercoaster musical journey I’m on. Playing guitar, writing songs and the place where I always feel high — playing live. Every night I get a chance to bring an energy and a release to people.”
Various Artists
Silver Patron Saints: The Songs of Jesse Malin
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “As always in my songs, the themes are all there — transcendence, positivity and global unity through music,” says Jesse Malin. “This is what I love to do, and I’m going to do everything I can to keep doing it.” Silver Patron Saints: The Songs of Jesse Malin is tribute and benefit album, with all proceeds to Malin’s Sweet Relief artist fund. Long a contributor to other people’s causes, Malin is grateful to all the musicians who have rallied around him, including Bruce Springsteen, Billie Joe Armstrong, Lucinda Williams and Elvis Costello, The Hold Steady, Tommy Stinson, Alison Mossheart with the late, great Wayne Kramer, Tom Morello, Counting Crows, Dinosaur Jr., The Wallflowers, Spoon, Susanna Hoffs, Frank Turner and Rancid, among others. “There’s a feeling of liberation that comes with this, but I don’t want to keep repeating myself either,” adds Malin. “My whole process — since I was 13 — is to progress, evolve and challenge myself on each record. I really hope people in all parts of the world can relate to these songs, just the spectrum of emotions, overcoming by celebrating life through music and art.”
The Waeve
City Lights
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The coming together of two musicians who, through working together have formed a new, singular, sonic identity. A powerful elixir of cinematic British folk-rock, post-punk, organic song-writing and freefall jamming. Themes of oblivion and surrender are juxtaposed with suggestions of hopefulness and light. Against a brutal global backdrop of impending apocalypse and despair, Graham Coxon and Rose Elinor Dougall strive to free themselves through the defiant optimism of making music. With the release of their acclaimed eponymous debut album in February 2023, The Waeve established themselves as a songwriting partnership to watch. Now, after a year of touring and studio sessions, The Waeve are back with their sophomore studio album City Lights, 10 new tracks that illustrate the evolution of their collaborative musicianship, allowing this meeting of musical minds to further push the boundaries of their individual creativity.”
Jamie xx
In Waves
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The long-awaited new album by Jamie xx, In Waves is the next chapter in the career of one of the most in demand producers of his generation. With In Waves, Jamie replicates the emotional crescendos and thrilling volatility of an almost mystical night out– one where you return home in the cigarette ash dawn, the specifics of the last eight hours already blurring, but aware that these feelings will remain a crystalline memory. In Waves is a melancholy paradise of bliss, heartbreak, and introspection. The story of a journey where you merge into the divine pulse of shadows, light, and dance floor rhythms.A strobe light epiphany about the illimitable possibilities and spiritual capacities of humanity. Nine years after his debut solo masterpiece In Colour, the London producer has not only eclipsed the heights of its predecessor, he’s somehow made all supernatural adjectives and analogies seem understated.”
