If you put a gun to my head and forced me to pick just one new album to hear next week, it would obviously be Wet Leg’s Moisturizer. Then again, maybe it would be Tami Neilson’s Neon Cowgirl. Or Brent Cobb And The Fixin’s Ain’t Rocked In A While. Or Anton Barbeau’s Dig The Light. Or another one of the 20 outstanding releases on the way. So I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have to choose just one. And neither do you. Here are your plays of the week. Fire when ready:
The Kinks
The Journey Part 3
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Journey Part 3 is the final part of The Kinks’ very special 60th Anniversary Anthology series — the first ever to be curated by the band. Part 3 covers their transformative RCA / Arista period spanning 1977 to 1984, a period seeing the band finally break America, leaving behind their iconic pop and experimental phases, and returning to a fresh and concise style of classic songwriting that draws on their own distinct British sense of self.”
Kokoroko
Tuff Times Never Last
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Kokoroko’s second studio album Tuff Times Never Last is a spirited and vibrant collection of songs serving as an optimistic reminder to tightly hold and embrace the many dualities that occur in life. Over the course of the 11-song suite, the album explores togetherness, community, sensuality, childhood, loss and above all perseverance. Initially drawing inspiration from a viral social media meme, co-bandleader Onome Edgeworth said of the title’s origins and meaning: “It’s true! Although we’re reflecting on joy and celebration, you realize that a lot of that beauty comes out of challenges and difficulties. It felt like a natural truth that we discovered whilst writing.” While the afrobeat jazz of their previous work is still a core part of the record’s sonic design, the new album largely pulls from British R&B from the 80s, neo-soul, West African disco, bossa nova, lovers rock and funk. Sonically taking cues from the likes of Loose Ends, Don Blackman, Common, Sly & Robbie, William Onyeabor, Patrice Rushen, Ofori Amponsah and Cymande. Throughout this instinctive evolution, the septet’s seasoned musicianship preserves the essence of who Kokoroko are as masterful jazz artisans.”
Midnight Rodeo
Chaos Era
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “After signing with FatCat Records in 2022 and releasing four singles to date, Nottingham’s Midnight Rodeo have delivered their debut album Chaos Era. Extensive, relentless touring have created a tight-knit family whose pleasure in playing as an ensemble is instantly evident on the album. When asked about this, they explain, “We want people to tap into why we are always smiling on stage.” The songs are collaborative efforts. Their different musical backgrounds result in a genre criss-crossing and totally unique creative collisions. Bassist Harry says, “What we do is Dada-istic. The drums play hooks, the bass plays parts usually taken by brass, the guitar’s playing West Coast psyche over disco rhythms.” Written over a prolonged period of time, the songs on the album can be viewed as a kind of coming-of-age “suite”, as the unit of 20-somethings wrestle with subjects such as relationships, shifting social dynamics, changing hopes and dreams. The LP’s title refers to tumultuous personal events they’ve helped each other through. Reinforcing their bonding. With no pointed political agenda, the album is about escape. As they say: “We want people to dance.”
Tami Neilson
Neon Cowgirl
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Neon Cowgirl, towering over Broadway like the patron saint of heartbreak in downtown Nashville as she smiles coyly over her shoulder in red cowboy boots, watched me grow up,” says Tami Neilson. “Basking in her glow, I walked wide-eyed into the Ryman Auditorium as a 16 year old, clutching my ticket. Later that night, dreaming of standing on that stage, I drifted off to sleep in the bunk of our home on wheels at the KOA next to the Opry. When I was 18, she saw me flipping through Loretta Lynn CDs in Ernest Tubb Record Shop after performing the breakfast and lunch shows on the General Jackson showboat with my parents and brothers in our family band, The Neilsons. At 25, she watched me running all over town, meeting up with other songwriters- writing, writing, writing- before I had to fly back home to Canada again. At 30, I returned as a newlywed on my honeymoon, flying in from New Zealand where I’d moved for love, holding hands with my new husband in Hatch Show Print, introducing him to her like a family member. A decade passed without her as I built a life on the other side of the world and raised two babies. My heart raced as I returned to her again to showcase at Americanafest, playing to 12 people at 3rd and Lindsley. Five years and many showcases later, I swear she smiled right at me as I stopped to point her out to my two children as we walked past her, into the doors of the Ryman to finally perform for the first time. Neon Cowgirl represents a lifelong dream of chasing Nashville and country music. I’ve loved her my whole life, even when she breaks my heart over and over again.”
Pygmy Lush
Totem
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Totem is the first new album from Virginia’s Pygmy Lush in 14 years. Like their previous output, it was recorded and mixed by longtime friend and collaborator of the band, Kurt Ballou, at GodCity Studio in Massachusetts in April 2016. And as with their other three full lengths, Pygmy Lush — the band sworn to never break up, only take breaks — is readily recognizable here: a bit different, and a bit the same. Unlike their earlier work though, Totem sat (or stood, fully formed and erect) complete, yet unheard — unreleased, shelved or lost — until now. As sure as you can’t unring a bell, the album’s 11 songs are no less than eight years old, but couldn’t be unmade short of direct and total cataclysm. If you already know Pygmy Lush and their modus operandi over these last two decades, you already know to check your baggage and leave all expectations behind. When others zig, Pygmy Lush zag. When the show is loud, Pygmy Lush are quiet. And so it goes. Totem is no exception, but also stands alone within the band’s body of work, a monolithic sum of its Pygmy Lush parts.”
Ketch Secor
Story The Crow Told Me
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ketch Secor was six years old when he first visited Nashville. Sitting in the church pews of the Grand Ole Opry, he watched Minnie Pearl command the stage, transfixed by country music’s ability to bridge the gap between past and present. When he returned to town in 1996 — two years before forming Old Crow Medicine Show, the Grammy-winning string band that would turn him into a kingpin of American roots music — it was as a busker, playing old-time songs on street corners before shuffling back home to North Carolina. “There was a real spontaneity and quixotic passion to my early days in Nashville,” he remembers. “It took me a few years to move here permanently, but it was always my intention. I set my sights on it. Nashville was the town for me.” Now a Nashville resident for 25 years, Ketch reflects on a quarter-century spent in Music City and beyond with Story The Crow Told Me. Sharply written and wildly creative, the album marks his first full-length solo release. Its 12 songs tell the story of a Kerouac-worthy journey through the misfit wilderness of life, love, longing, and leaving home, filled to the brim with spoken-word vocal performances, punky tempos, bluegrass harmonies, honking harmonica, and fiddle. There are cameos from simpatico artists like Molly Tuttle and Marty Stuart, and even poignant samples from Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash.”
Somerset Thrower
Take Only What You Need To Survive
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Hailing from Long Island, N.Y., Somerset Thrower is founded on lifelong friendship and dedication to all things rock ’n’ roll. Built on punk roots, the four-piece blends raw energy with melody-soaked textures to create something both urgent and timeless. Their latest album, Take Only What You Need to Survive, was produced and mixed by Jon Markson at Animal Farm Studios, N.J. The record captures the band at their most dynamic — equal parts cathartic and anthemic, with soaring guitars, driving rhythms, and unshakable hooks. It’s the sound of a band making music purely for the love of it, with no agenda other than to have fun and make something they would like to listen to.”
The Swell Season
Forward
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Swell Season — the acclaimed duo of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová — are back with their first new album in 16 years. Forward is an eight-song collection that manages to capture both the heart-rending, joyous emotions and moments of beauty that listeners have come to love from The Swell Season — as well as new slice-of-life, where-are-we-now chapters still being determined and understood. Forward was produced by Sturla Mio Thorisson and recorded at his and Irglova’s Masterkey Studios in Iceland, alongside Swell Season musicians Marja Gaynor and Bertrand Galen (strings), Joseph Doyle (bass) and newcomer Piero Perelli (drums). As 16 years have passed since the release of their beloved duo’s previous album, 2009’s Strict Joy, it might be expected that Hansard and Irglová would choose a title more commemorative or reflective than the succinct Forward. But as anyone who has followed their career will tell you, The Swell Season don’t do things the typical way. “It felt right to title the record Forward because it’s a reunion of sorts, but we’re not going backwards,” Irglová says. “Both of us have grown and changed; we’re in different places and getting to know each other again as the new people we’ve become.”
Wet Leg
Moisturizer
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Moisturizer is the bold second album from Wet Leg, the Isle of Wight five-piece founded by Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers. Joined by Ellis Durand, Henry Holmes and Joshua Mobaraki, Wet Leg have spent the past few years on the road, evolving into a feral, electrifying live force. This new record captures that energy, delivering a sound that’s tighter, bolder, and more self-assured, yet still brimming with the same quick wit and raw, unrefined energy. Isolated in a remote house in the countryside, the band wrote Moisturizer in a creative frenzy, diving into themes of obsession and all-consuming love. While their 2022 debut earned Grammys and chart-topping success, Moisturizer brings the bite: Brash guitars, heavy beats, and a fearless devotion to feeling everything — all at once.”
The Wildmans
Longtime Friend
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Wildmans are a sibling-led band. The tale of this duo’s journey starts early when sister and brother Aila and Eli Wildman were 5 and 7. They were born and raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, a veritable hotbed of old-time, bluegrass and all ilks of mountain music. The Wildmans first started touring locally with their mom Deb on bass under the name of The Blackberries. As they entered their teens, the siblings branched out to form their own band with a host of different bandmates and Eli sharing equal time on the guitar, eventually recording their first self-titled release and performing at beloved festivals throughout the area. As soon as they were old enough to drive they have been venturing across the country, delighting new audiences and taking home first place in band competitions while honing their chops at Berklee College of Music. Along the way they have shared the stage with Billy Strings, Bela Fleck, Steep Canyon Rangers, Oliver Wood, Sierra Hull, Molly Tuttle, Dori Freeman and many others. With their latest record Longtime Friend, The Wildmans are showcasing their musicianship and honoring their craft while expanding and improvising on a base of traditional American roots music.”
