Jonathan Meiburg calls the many talented musicians who contributed to Shearwater’s new album “the wildest ensemble we’ve ever assembled.” He’s not really overstating things, either. In addition to regular bandmates Emily Lee and Dan Duszynski, “The New World” features Shahzad Ismaily, Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart, Thor Harris, woodwinds player Doug Wieselman, qanunist Farouz Zreik, ngonist Mamadou Kouyate, and percussionists Mahamadou Tounkara and Moctar Kouyate (of Malian group Ngoni Ba). Oh, and spoken word by one Laurie Anderson.
If you don’t know what some of those instruments are (or some of the musicians who play them), you are not alone, but just know that Shearwater puts them all to good use. About three minutes into the album, on the beautiful, slowly pulsing “Even Song,” a slow build-up leads to a minor chord being unleashed on an acoustic guitar. It has the kind of widescreen ’80s grandeur that brings to mind Trevor Rabin-era Yes, early Peter Gabriel, and Love and Rockets, a tiny moment that awakens your senses, letting you know something special lies ahead.
“The New World” is a Shearwater album of the highest order: lush, proggy, and orchestral; dramatic, just a little gothy, mysterious, and full of wonder and towering melodies. Produced by the band and recorded and mixed by Duszynski, it sounds amazing. (Headphone Album alert!) In addition to all the skilled players and exotic instruments, Meiburg layered the songs with field recordings made on expeditions around the world — he is a geographer and ornithologist when not playing in bands. “I used to worry about keeping those worlds separate,” Meiburg says. “But now it all feels like one big project.” Shearwater’s universe is expanding, and it is a thing of beauty worth getting lost in.
Slow and steady wins the race. Scotland’s Trashcan Sinatras have been making sparkling, literate guitar pop with the same five-piece lineup for four decades. While there’s often a gap between releases, they’ve maintained an equally remarkable level of quality, which continues with “Ever the Optimist”, their seventh album and first in 10 years. “We’re all gambling, trying to hold it together,”
Frank Reader sings on “Ever the Optimist‘s” sprightly title track and opening song. “Always, forever, through stormy weather.” The guitars chime, Reader’s voice sounds just like it did on the band’s debut album, “Cake”, and when the rest of the band join in on harmonies, the song really takes off. They just keep flying from there. Not unlike fellow Glaswegians Teenage Fanclub and Aztec Camera, TrashcanSinatras have an effortless way with melody, a knack for earworm choruses, and an even better way with middle eights, not to mention a disposition for marrying warm tunes with melancholic lyrics that is just so satisfying.
The album, which features guest appearances form Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell and Scritti Politti’s Green Gartside, ends on a sublime note, and really earns its title, with “Learning to Love Your Ghost,” a song about grief and acceptance that’s as good as any they’ve ever written. “When there’s no more normal to barricade my mind / When you’re deep in the trenches, what you gonna do but survive?” Reader sings against swelling strings and horns. Survive they do, the Trashcan Sinatras. Gracefully.
Richard Thompson is one of England’s most distinctive songwriters, guitarists and producers. He first came to prominence in the late 1960s as co-founder, lead guitarist and songwriter of the pioneering folk-rock group FairportConvention. After leaving the band in 1971, Thompson released his debut solo album Henry the Human Fly in 1972. A year later he began recording with his then-wife Linda Thompson, resulting in six acclaimed albums including I Want toSee the Bright Lights Tonight (1974) and the landmark Shoot Out the Lights (1982). Following the duo’s split, Thompson resumed his solo career with Hand of Kindness (1983) and went on to release more than twenty studio albums. His contributions to music earned him an OBE in the 2011 New Year Honours, and he received the Orville H. Gibson Award for Best Acoustic Guitarist in 1991.
Originally released in April 1996, “you? me? us?” is Richard Thompson’s ninth studio album and one of his most ambitious works. Issued by Capitol Records, it marked his fourth collaboration with producer Mitchell Froom and became Thompson’s second album to receive a Grammy Award nomination.
The album is presented in two contrasting parts: LP One Voltage Enhanced , a full-band, electric set showcasing Thompson’s sharp songwriting and signature guitar work. Tracks like “Put It There Pal” and “Bank Vault in Heaven” highlight his dynamic electric playing. LP Two Nude is a stripped-down, acoustic counterpart featuring violin or Danny Thompson’s double bass. Thompson’s intricate acoustic guitar style is at the forefront, offering a more intimate and detailed listening experience.
Two songs “Razor Dance” and “Hide It Away”, appear on both LPs, each version offering a different musical perspective. The album is celebrated for its metrical complexity, lyrical depth and exceptional musicianship.
To mark its 30th anniversary, “you? me? us?” is available for the first time as a double vinyl edition, featuring both Voltage Enhanced and Nude in their original configurations.
Six live shows across 8 CDs, “Access All Areas: Live” captures the raw excitement of Whitesnake in full flight, live on stage. Kicking off with Live… In The Still Of The Night, legendary rock singer David Coverdale is joined by Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach on lead guitar, long time Whitesnake drummer Tommy Aldridge plus Marco Mendoza on bass.
Recorded at London’s iconic Hammersmith Apollo in 2004, the set includes the huge MTV hits “Is This Love”, “Here I Go Again and Still Of The Night.
Live… In The Shadow Of The Blues on CD2 and CD3 was recorded on their 2006 World Tour, and delves back to Whitesnake’s earliest days with “Don’t Break My Heart Again” and “Take Me With You“.
Made In Japan finds the band headlining the huge Loud Park festival in Japan in 2011, across CDs 3 & 4.
Made In Britain unsurprisingly captures the band on David’s home turf whilst on the Forevermore tour in 2011.
The World Tour was also captured in 2011 on the Forevermore tour, features hits such as “The Deeper The Love“, as well as newer stage favourite, “Can You Hear The Wind Blow”. This 8 disc set ends right back where David musical odyssey started, with THE PURPLE TOUR LIVE. Now joined by lead guitarist Joel Hoekstra, Whitesnake power through songs from the earliest days of David’s career with Deep Purple, including “Burn”, “The Gypsy”, “Mistreated” and “Soldier Of Fortune”.
When Jeff Beck and Mick Jagger performed together at the White House on February 21st, 2012, for the PBS special In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues, they were backed by an all-star house band assembled and led by musical director Booker T. Jones.
The core house band consisted of:
Booker T. Jones – Hammond B3 organ, keyboards, and musical director, Narada Michael Walden – Drums (having played on Beck’s 1976 Wired album and toured in Beck’s band right before this event, he locked in with Beck and Jagger effortlessly), Bobby Ross Avila – Bass, Jesse Johnson – Guitar (original guitarist of The Time), Fred Wesley – Trombone and horn arrangements (legendary James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic bandleader), Ernie Fields Jr. – Baritone and tenor saxophone , Freddie Hendrix – Trumpet
During the concert, Jagger and Beck teamed up directly with the house band on Howlin’ Wolf’s “Commit a Crime,” joined Buddy Guy and Gary Clark Jr. on Eddie Boyd’s “Five Long Years,” and closed the night alongside B.B. King, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Warren Haynes, Keb’ Mo’, Trombone Shorty, and Shemekia Copeland (with President Obama briefly taking the mic) for “Sweet Home Chicago.”
Official video from the first seven songs of Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band’s Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour’s Philadelphia finale. With that May 30 show filmed in its entirety, and planned for release in four parts this year, “Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour (Philadelphia Freedom Cut)” features performances of “Born in the U.S.A.,” “Death to My Hometown,” “No Surrender” and “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” alongside covers of the Motown classic “War” (written by Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield) and The Clash’s “Clampdown.”
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band have released the second part of their Philadelphia Freedom Cut project, sharing official video of the next seven songs from their Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour finale: “The Promised Land,” “Two Hearts,” “Hungry Heart,” “Youngstown,” “Murder Incorporated,” “American Skin (41 Shots)” and “Long Walk Home.”
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band have released the third part of their Philadelphia Freedom Cut project, sharing official video of the next eight songs from their Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour finale: “House of a Thousand Guitars,” “My City of Ruins,” “Because the Night,” “Wrecking Ball,” “The Rising,” “The Ghost of Tom Joad,”“Badlands” and “Land of Hope and Dreams.”
Musicians on stage for the Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour included The E Street Band’s Roy Bittan (piano, synthesizer), Nils Lofgren (guitar, vocals), Garry Tallent (bass guitar), Stevie Van Zandt (guitar, vocals) and Max Weinberg (drums) with Soozie Tyrell (violin, guitar, vocals), Jake Clemons (saxophone) and Charlie Giordano (organ, keyboards, accordion). They were joined by The E Street Horns and Percussion (Anthony Almonte, Barry Danielian, Eddie Manion, Ozzie Melendez, Curt Ramm) and The E Street Choir (Ada Dyer, Curtis King, Lisa Lowell, Michelle Moore). Tom Morello performed with Springsteen and The E Street Band for each of the tour’s shows as a special guest.
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band’s “Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour: Philadelphia Freedom Cut Part 3” is directed by Chris Hilson and Thom Zimny, edited by Zimny and Sam Shapiro, and produced by Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Zimny and Adrienne Gerard. Sound was mixed by Rob Lebret and Jon Altschiller, and recorded by John Cooper, with lighting design by Jeff Ravitz and Todd Ricci. The project is released in memory of Dave Marsh.
Blondie have today announced that their 12th studio album – and first in nine years – will be released on February 26th, via BMG Records.
Blondie are back with their first album in nine years,”High Noon“. Once again opening the door to a broad mix of sounds, rock & roll and punk sit alongside dance and Latin rhythms, with contributions from Johnny Marr, Glen Matlock, Zach Condon of Beirut, Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius.
Recorded in New York City alongside producers, John Congleton [St. Vincent, The War On Drugs, The Killers] and David Wrench [Florence + the Machine, Jamie xx, Frank Ocean, Bon Iver], “High Noon2 marks the final recording of Blondie co-founding drummer, Clem Burke, and serves as a document of one of rock music’s longest-running creative partnerships.
“High Noon” features the final recording of Blondie’s co-founding drummer Clem Burke, Listen to the single “Spectral Eyes” below – it was written by Johnny Marr, who also plays guitar on the song.
“This album is classic Blondie – an amalgamation of all our different influences and eras into something new,” says Debbie Harry. “This music feels grounded in the present, shaped by who we are and how we’re living now.”
We are excited to share that “Boys Don’t Cry” & “Wake Her Up”, from our SiriusXM session in Nashville are now available to stream on your platform of choice. You can also listen back to the full session and interview
In August 2026, while between stops on the band’s global No Feeling Tour, American Football visited SiriusXM’s studios in Nashville to record a special live performance for their revered flagship channel, SiriusXMU—but there was also a catch. The invitation was contingent on an acoustic arrangement, as well as a cover song—both of which are rarities in the band’s nearly 30-year history.
Turning a challenge into an opportunity, the result is American Football’s first and only acoustic release. Boasting their seven-piece touring lineup—with contributing members Cory Bracken on glockenspiel, Justine Fallon on backing vocals, and multi-instrumentalist Mike Garzon—the band’s stripped-down configuration is lush with intimacy. “Wake Her Up / Boys Don’t Cry (SiriusXM Session)” captures the bare emotions of American Football’s music in a whole new light, while celebrating a timeless classic by one of their most beloved influences, The Cure.
released October 14, 2026
“Wake Her Up” Trumpet – Steve Lamos Guitar – Steve Holmes Guitar / Lead Vocals – Mike Kinsella Bass / Percussion – Nate Kinsella Guitar / Additional Vocals – Mike Garzón Synth / Glockenspiel – Cory Bracken Additional Vocals – Justine Fallon
“Boys Don’t Cry” (The Cure Cover) Trumpet – Steve Lamos Guitar – Steve Holmes Guitar / Lead Vocals – Mike Kinsella Bass / Additional Vocals – Nate Kinsella Percussion / Additional Vocals – Mike Garzón Synth / Glockenspiel – Cory Bracken
The leather-clad, tattoo-adorned band of brothers return for their sixth studio album, armed with lead single “Lost in Translation” and pristine guitar-playing. Following the loss of their mother and emotional rock, the brothers took time to grieve and now return as individuals, band mates, resilient and more deeply connected.
Recent intimate gigs across London prove the Las Vegas band still carry the same rigour (perhaps with fewer bottles of whiskey) and the same close knit bond with fans and new listeners alike.
Across a series of increasingly bold records, the band have laid out their grand rock & roll vision inspired by everyone from The Libertines to The Rolling Stones, by way of My Chemical Romance. Those first four records were driven by a desire to prove just how much the band could actually do, nailing everything from epic heartbreak to snarling vengeance. Palaye Royale return with a bold new studio album built for longtime fans and new listeners alike.
Palaye Royale return with a bold new studio album built for longtime fans and new listeners alike. Featuring 12 tracks produced by Chris Greatti (YUNGBLUD), “Amsterdamage” delivers a refined, festival-ready rock sound with strong retail appeal and a dynamic new chapter from one of modern rock’s most distinctive acts.
“Dancing Alone on the Concrete”sounds grander than Chura’s previous two albums—more players in the room and higher stakes, emotions and volume both at an all time high—yet some of its most memorable tracks are the ones that demonstrate Chura’s restraint.”
Plenty of dramatic and life-altering things happened in those seven years: She broke off an engagement, she left Detroit for New Orleans (and then Louisville), she gave birth to her first child, she ultimately returned to Detroit. But those events are not the true story of “Dancing Alone on the Concrete“, her third album and second for SaddleCreek. The true story of this album—the experience that gives it its thematic and aesthetic shape—is more simple than that. Here’s what happened while Stef Chura was writing the songs that would eventually become “Dancing Alone on the Concrete” She practiced the piano and the guitar a whole lot, and she went on dates.
Single for the first time in years, Chura used the 2020 Covid lockdowns as an excuse to start over in New Orleans, where, like everyone else, she was mostly stuck indoors, unable to tour or play locally. “I was just writing and practicing,” she says. “By playing the piano more, I was learning more about transposing chords and things like that. I was going back and forth, playing songs on the guitar and the piano, and it lent itself to the writing process in a nice way.” Chura’s singing voice has always been unique—it’s brassy but contained, like a muted trumpet, and on “Dancing Alone on the Concrete” she plays around with little hitches and lilts, punching her melody upward in “Leadweight” as she sings about someone weighing her down. That song moves along on a “Sweet Jane” shimmy, its punchiness lightly inspired by Wreckless Eric’s “Whole Wide World.”
Though it may seem like an obvious outcome considering the context, the album evinces a mastery of craft that only comes with constant writing, experimenting, and editing; the songs here unfold with the simple inevitability that powers all great songs. “Babydoll” bounces along on a bold power-pop beat that brings to mind the early New Pornographers, its lyrics simultaneously a pep talk, a punch-up, and a reflection on how hard it can be to claim one’s own space in a brutal world. If it also sounds a bit like Neutral Milk Hotel in anthem mode, that’s no accident: NMH’sScott Spillane and The Olivia Tremor Control’s John Fernandes both appear on the track, and the album was produced by Robert Schneider of Apples in Stereo, who recorded much of the Elephant 6 output. “When I met Robert, I sent him some demos, and ‘Babydoll’ was the main one that [prompted us to ask if] we’re going to do this together, because he doesn’t produce records anymore,” Chura says.
At Athens’ Chase Park Transduction studio, Chura teamed up with producers, engineers, and session musicians David Barbe (Sugar) and Andy LeMaster (Now It’s Overhead) who played nearly as big a role in shaping the album as Schneider. Chura was also joined by her longtime drummer Ryan Clancy. They enlisted R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Mike Mills, who play together on “Danny,” which sounds a bit like John McEntire producing an Americana record. “Robert was like ‘Wouldn’t this sound great with Mike Mills playing bass on it? So David Barbe called him up, and Mike Mills and Peter Buck ended up playing on that song just from shooting the shit.” Squint and you might hear a bit of Michael Stipe’s bittersweet sensibility in the melody, too, but the song itself finds Chura at her least conflicted. It is a moment of pure longing: “Please don’t make me chase you all the way to New York City,” Chura sings to a person whose kindness seemed to offer her a way forward in a confusing time.
About that time. Once lockdown was lifted, Chura “maybe dabbled debauchery of some kind,” as she puts it. “The word ‘rumspringa’ comes to mind.” Much of “Dancing Alone on the Concrete” concerns the ways in which our need for love convinces us to betray ourselves just to keep the other person around. “I tried to change my thoughts for you, I tried to rearrange who I was for you,” she sings in “The Concrete,” “But you found out.” It’s an unusual framing—the issue isn’t the narrator’s selling herself out, it’s her getting caught doing so—which implies a certain level of personal resilience; try as you might, you can’t become anyone else for too long. “There’s a sadness to that song,” Chura says. “You write a song and then you sing it a bunch and you can lose the connection you had to it. But I remember when we were recording it, I teared up, I’d forgotten that it was a sad song.”
On first listen, you might forget, too; as you listen to “Dancing Alone on the Concrete”, you may keep forgetting how sad these songs can be, such is the sunniness of Chura’s sense of melody and the charisma with which she delivers them. When they turn toward darkness, they do so cleverly and with grace. “I know we’re connected, cause I’m going where you’re going,” she sings in “Leadweight.” On first blush, it sounds like nothing more than a confession of love and devotion. The line before it? “He drops me to the bottom of the ocean.” At least she’s bringing him with her.
“When I was in New Orleans, the freedom to date was exciting,” Chura says. “But there’s this search for love in the album, and no real arrival at any point in time.” Though that search is largely folded into plucky songs about fuckboys (“Thunder and Lightning”) and doe-eyed suitors (“Be My Hound”), in the tender “Lovesick,” the unspoken becomes the spoken. “I wanna be in love,” Chura sings, her voice suffused with a deep longing that makes her sound a bit like Natalie Merchant. “I want to forget slowly / And then all at once / That I’d ever known anything else.” Musically and thematically, it’s the album’s most straightforward moment, nothing but Chura’s voice, her piano, LeMaster’s drone guitar, and a desire so deeply expressed it feels bodily.
Stef Chura’s been through a lot in the last seven years. Maybe you’ve been through similar things. If you haven’t, it’s likely you will soon; everyday difficulty is the primary source here. But Dancing Alone on the Concrete’s key is right there, the adverb in the album’s title: alone. Not loneliness, but personal comfort, self-affirmation, healthy solitude. Not that you’ll find such therapy-speak on this record; it’s too embodied, too rich with experience. It’s clear that these songs come from a place of pain or confusion, that their genesis is in various forms of suffering—you can feel it. As Chura says, they’re about the search for love. And while they never quite arrive there, the rightful object of her affection is right there in every song, in the form of the person singing them.
Release Date: October 2nd, 2026
“Dancing Alone on the Concrete” is one of the best indie rock albums of the year; it finds Stef Chura in the company of indie rock giants, and my biggest takeaway is that she’s become one too.”
Seven years on from Midnight, Stef Chura returns with Dancing Alone on the Concrete, her third album and second for Saddle Creek. A lot changed in that time, but the heart of this record is simpler: deep practice, new songs, and the fresh perspective that came with starting over.
Living between Detroit, New Orleans, and Louisville, and single for the first time in years, Chura spent the 2020 lockdowns writing, practicing piano and guitar, and going on dates. That back-and-forth between instruments shaped the songs, while her unmistakable voice still cuts through, brassy and contained.
Recorded at Chase Park Transduction in Athens with David Barbe and Andy LeMaster, and produced by Robert Schneider, the album also features Peter Buck and Mike Mills of R.E.M. on “Danny”
