I have never run a marathon. And unless / until the fast-moving zombie hordes rise and overtake our cities, I have absolutely no intention of doing so. But at this time of the year — as the onslaught of new releases finally starts to trail off — I can almost imagine that I am plodding down the road on the final kilometre, getting my first glimpse of the approaching finish line. And weirdly enough, even though I am running my race from the comfortable confines of my couch, my feet and nipples are still killing me. Go figure. Here are some of the final attractions on the road as I stumble towards my annual collapse:
Ryan Adams
Blackhole
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ryan Adams’ infamous cult classic album Blackhole is finally being released for the very first time. The album’s contents and final tracklisting have been widely speculated since its conception in the early ’00s. After nearly two decades of anticipation and bootlegging, Adams is now ready to unveil the real deal. Featuring Catherine, heard only in live performances, alongside previously unheard material, Blackhole captures the raw, unfiltered emotion that defines Adam’s songwriting. The shelved album, first demoed in 2006, became heavily bootlegged, with fans circulating low-quality recordings and snippets from live performances, fuelling a demand for the official release. This long-awaited album not only satisfies years of fan speculation, but also reclaims a crucial moment in Adams’ history.”
The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
Still Barking
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “As one of the U.K.’s most beloved and unconventional bands, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band have delighted audiences for over 60 years with their distinctive blend of music, comedy, and surrealism. This comprehensive 20-disc collection celebrates the complete works of the legendary Bonzos and their impact on a generation of revered artists and comedians, from The Beatles to Monty Python. Known for their hit I’m the Urban Spaceman, produced by Paul McCartney under the pseudonym Apollo C. Vermouth, the Bonzos left an indelible mark on the British music and comedy landscape. Seven years in the making and put together with band’s full co-operation, Still Barking includes 17 CDs with remastered versions of all of the band’s albums, along with mono mixes, singles, demos, rehearsals, outtakes, backing tracks, BBC sessions and live performances; three DVDs of TV performances, rare appearances, short films, and footage from the height of their career; and a 148-page hardback coffeetable book featuring an essay by Bonzos authority Chris Welch and an in-depth day-by-day chronology.”
DeWolff
Muscle Shoals
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Free-wheelin’ rock ’n’ soul trio DeWolff’s new studio album Muscle Shoals was recorded at the legendary FAME Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Alabama. When the opportunity for DeWolff to head to Muscle Shoals to record, it was a dream come true. “Even before we were into southern rock, as a kid, Luka got an album of southern soul, and most of it was recorded at FAME,” says singer/guitarist Pablo van de Poel of his brother. “Our introduction to soul didn’t start with James Brown; we started with Wilson Pickett.” In May 2024, they travelled to Alabama to record their 10th studio album between the two studios with Grammy-winning producer Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes). “You can really feel some kind of rock ’n’ roll magic in the air there,” Pablo adds. “Right when we played our first notes there, I got goosebumps. This definitely was one of the best recording experiences we’ve ever had. Even the grand piano Leon Russell used was still there, just like the electric Wurlitzer piano that was used on I Never Loved A Man by Aretha Franklin!”
Hunger Anthem
Lift
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Hunger Anthem are an indie-rock band from Athens, Georgia with an unabashed penchant for distortion drenched, gritty, tightly executed power pop immediacy, deeply rooted in a lo-fi approach and ever-evolving, bearing an evident DIY punk rock work ethic and ethos. Started as a solo project of singer-songwriter Brendan Vaganek in Buffalo, the self-titled first album was recorded on a Tascam cassette 4-track in various basements and living rooms. Their second release Cut the Chord brought in Georgia-bred drummer Cameron Kelly, and was tracked during one relentlessly scorching summer. Looking for a studio with an expanded dynamic range, the third and forthcoming record Lift utilized the potential and capabilities of Espresso Machine in Athens, recorded by Mike Albanese (Maserati, Bit Brigade) and mastered by Joel Hatstat (Archers of Loaf, Jeff Rosenstock). It’s borne of love and sweat, and pulls deeply from the well of observation, longing, acceptance, and perseverance.”
Angel Olsen / Various Artists
Cosmic Waves Vol. 1
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A few years ago, Angel Olsen quietly formed the record label somethingscosmic, a new imprint and a home for Olsen to have “the flexibility to release when and how I want to.” The label’s second release, Cosmic Waves Vol. 1 is a compilation reimagined as a dialogue; Side A features artists chosen by Olsen, with each artist choosing their own song for the collection. Side B is a collection of songs from the same artists, but chosen and recorded by Olsen. Each song, unsurprisingly, illuminates a new artist Olsen finds spectacular. Hearing Olsen refract the artists’ songs back to them reveals the depth of Olsen’s imagination, while spotlighting multiple exciting artists at work. The artists on Cosmic Waves Vol. 1 draw from a sprawling, myriad sounds, eras and inspirations: Poppy Jean Crawford’s magnetic growl and guitar-god heaviness; Coffin Prick’s reckless, psychedelic fuzz; Sarah Grace White’s hypnotic voice and melody; Maxim Ludwig’s expert minimalism; and Camp Saint Helene’s beautiful, big sky folk.”
Shotgun Sawyer
Shotgun Sawyer
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Shotgun Sawyer are a three-piece blues and rock ’n’ roll band from the small town of Auburn, Calif. Growing up in the woods and down on the river, singer-guitarist Dylan Jarman, bassist Brett (The Butcher) Sanders and original drummer David Lee absorbed deep, Americana roots from childhood. Growing up listening to bands like Led Zeppelin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and The Allman Brothers and expanding out into the blues of Son House, Elmore James and Howlin’ Wolf, Shotgun Sawyer combines these influences and more into a raw, authentic, and explosive performance, night after night, and in the recording studio. Says Jarman about the making of their self-titled third album (and first with new drummer Cody Tarbell): “In many ways, Shotgun Sawyer is the culmination of every hard-learned lesson from the band’s first five years and ever since, synthesized. The songwriting, orchestration, recording process, and instrumentation (the “music”) are all leaps and bounds improved and more sophisticated than anything we’d ever attempted… When Shotgun Sawyer started, I never could have dreamed we’d ever sound this good.”
White Denim
12
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “It’s always been hard to keep pace with James Petralli’s group, ever since they first exploded out of Austin in ’08 with hyper-kinetic post-punk bangers like Shake Shake Shake and I Start To Run. Like so many, the pandemic forced Petralli into a radical rethink in both life and creative process. Going into White Denim’s 12th long-player, he relocated his family to Los Angeles, and, unable to work out songs with the band in person, he plunged into the science of assembling tracks digitally, with contributions from players he’d sometimes never even meet. The results on 12 are intricate, high-tech and forward-facing, yet also somehow still of a piece with the questing ambition, rootsy swing and uplifting way with melody we’ve come to adore about Petralli’s music. “It was out of the window with even the idea of a band,” says Petralli. “On this record, there are many bands, sometimes in the room with me, sometimes miles away in a remote collaboration, and that process opened up a lot of possibility for me.”
Lucinda Williams
Sings The Beatles From Abbey Road
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Lucinda Williams Sings The Beatles From Abbey Road features 12 Beatles songs, including classic hits such as Can’t Buy Me Love, With A Little Help From My Friends and Something. Williams and her band also take on beloved deeper tracks such as I’m So Tired, I’ve Got A Feeling and Yer Blues. Being raised on the blues in the South, the latter is a song Williams was clearly meant to sing.”
Cameron Winter
Heavy Metal
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On Heavy Metal — the debut solo album from Cameron Winter — the Geese frontman unravels his eclectic influences into a surreal mosaic of modern songwriting. Rumored to have been composed in abandoned basements, taxi back seats, and in impromptu jam sessions in public spaces, Heavy Metal draws on both the chaos of the road and Winter’s greater sense of existential dread. Heavy Metal teeters between the grounded and the hallucinatory, pulsing with immediacy, fragility, and the sly humor of a storyteller who’s never afraid to blur the lines between fact and fiction. It’s an unpredictable journey through Winter’s self-reflection, revealing the frontman as a master of reinvention.”
