The Fat Angel Sings

Brooklyn band Stolen Jars have written a great song that is truly a great representation of social connection in a digital age. Catalyzed by lockdown, Cody Fitzgerald, Sarah Coffey and Elias Spector-Zabusky aimed to make an ode to finding love and warmth through a computer screen. “It isn’t safe in my head / I can’t figure out how to live in silence instead / When the world doesn’t make a sound,” Coffey sings on the track. The arrangements on “Somewhere Else” are addicting and danceable.

While Stolen Jars tackle some dark, foreboding themes on the song, the sonic textures enveloping the story are both auspicious and drunk on joy. What the future holds for the band is not etched in stone quite yet, but “Somewhere Else” signals an immediacy and excitement that we should all, gladly and buoyantly, hitch a ride with.

When we were all isolated in our rooms at the start of the pandemic, we wanted to write a dance song we could shout along to. This is what came of that, and it still feels good to scream it now. It’s a song about feeling stuck in one place, both physically and mentally, and trying to find your way out by dancing and screaming at the top of your lungs – even if you are alone and your friends are far away in their own apartments, only connected to you by the glow of a computer screen.

Stolen Jars Boom.Records Released on: 2023-02-17

Indie outfit Gal Pal debuted in 2017 with their full-length record “Girlish” The Los Angeles indie outfit Gal Pal have returned with their first new song in over four years. Following the 2019 EP “Unrest/Unfeeling”, “Mirror” is a dreamy fit of gothic West Coast shoegaze. The lyrics are sparse yet repetitive, and vocalist Emelia Austin’s vocals soar across octaves and echo like a chamber choir. “He sees you as his mirror / He sees you as his mirror / I am your mirror / I am your mirror,” Austin sings.

The track was produced by Sami Perez, who’s done past work with Cherry Glazer and Jerry Paper, and her vision lets Gal Pal’s ornate, mystifying sonic palette shine. The highlight is the sputtering, cyclical percussion provided by drummer Nico Romero. “It helped me form the theme of being stuck in a pattern. For me, ‘Mirror’ is about the ways we allow our identities to be misshaped by people in our lives, how we are used as reflections for others, and the anxiety over being able to control it or not,” Austin said in a statement. It’s been six years since Gal Pal’s first record, but “Mirror” suggests what’s forthcoming will be burgeoning with kaleidoscopic adventure. ‘Mirror’ streams everywhere February 21st 2023

“Mirror” is a lustrous and dreamy effort, centered on skittering drum lines and shimmering guitar textures. Producer Sami Perez (Cherry Glazer, Jerry Paper) captures the band in flux, caught in a whirlpool of stuttering patterns and cyclical riffs, one that steadily grows more tense and insistent with each loop. The guitars turn spiked and distorted, the drums turn muscular and pounding, all building to a chaotic apex before the track gives way to a floating synth-tinged reverie. Later, the skittering drum pattern returns once more, now shaded with discordant stabs of synths as the track draws to a close.

‘Mirror’ Written by Gal Pal (Emelia Austin, Nico Romero, Shayna Hahn)

Cambridgeshire sextet Black Country, New Road put out one of the best records of 2022, “Ants from Up There“. But, just days before the album’s release date, vocalist Isaac Wood left the band to focus on his mental health. In the wake of Wood’s departure, many fans were left wondering how the band would continue. Black Country, New Road trudged on, touring across the world and playing new songs for adoring crowds. Since Wood left the group, the remaining six players elected to not perform any of his songs live.

This week, the band released “Live at Bush Hall”, an artsy, nine-song live record of the material they’ve been playing since “Ants from Up There“. Every song in the set is a triumph, but the treasure is “Turbines/Pigs,” a massive, near-10-minute cut that showcases pianist May Kershaw’s vocal chops. It’s a beautiful chronicling of heartbreak, as Kershaw unspools a story of loss, uncertainty and doubt. “The bubble that you left then / I think it’s safer than the cold / Not too late to go home now / I’ll chew the pill for you,” she sings. After delivering an angelic five verses, the entire band crescendos into an explosive instrumental driven by Georgia Ellery’s violin.

BC, NR is Lewis Evans (saxophonist), May Kershaw (keys), Charlie Wayne (drums), Luke Mark (guitar), Tyler Hyde (bass) and Georgia Ellery (violin).

It hasn’t been long since Chicago outfit Whitney released their fourth LP, “Spark” last autumn. Even so, in the wake of that record’s singularity, colour and intimacy, the band bring forward “For A While,” a track they’ve been playing live for over seven years. They’d written it around the time of their 2016 debut, “Light Upon the Lake”, but had never given it a proper studio recording. The song, in its purest form, is an emblem of the first two Whitney records: sun-soaked and brimming with clean, airy guitars that contort delicately.

Drummer and vocalist Julien Ehrlich’s singing is in peak form, as he races across the octaves of a lush falsetto, while Max Kakacek plucks richly beside him. Though “Spark” took big swings at electronic glory, here we get Whitney going back to the basics. It’s not a signal that they’re retreating back to their old sound for good; rather, it’s them giving a beloved live tune its day in the sun. And how lucky we are to watch “For A While” swallow it whole. 

So glad to finally hear a studio recording of the song we fans have all come to know and love as “Rolling Blackouts”! This was a highlight of several live shows of yours I’ve seen – the perfect encapsulation of a peaceful summertime thunderstorm!

“For A While” by Whitney, out now on Secretly Canadian.

After “Bull Believer” and “Chosen to Deserve,” North Carolina rockers Wednesday are back with another heatseeking missile of a song before the release of their fourth album in as many calendar years, Rat Saw God. “Bath County” claws tooth and nail at your ears, as the track swells like a nasalled indie folk arrangement before crescendoing into a blistering breakdown of grunge and shoegaze. Karly Hartzman’s vocals strain and crackle power, while Jake Lenderman’s guitar work is sludgy and unforgettable. Like most of Wednesday’s songs, this one contains vivid, evocative imagery, like “piss-colored bright yellow Fanta,” courtesy of Hartzman’s sharp eye for the sublime details and poetic grit. Inspired by a true story, “Bath County” ditches Hartzman’s normal M.O. of writing about the past. “This is a song I wrote on a porch in Bath County, Virginia, when me and Jake were visiting Jake’s mom’s hometown.

It includes some imagery I saw on that trip as well as a description of a guy we saw overdosed in a parking lot early one morning on our way to Dollywood,” she explained in a statement. With “Rat Saw God” on the near horizon, few acts are as captivating as Wednesday at this very moment.

“Bath County” by Wednesday from the upcoming album ‘Rat Saw God’, out April 7th on Dead Oceans Records

Natalie Merchant’s 2023 LP has a lot of significance behind it. Not only is it the singer/songwriter’s ninth studio, it is also her first full-length LP since 2014. With a discography full of hits that date back to 1995, Merchant never seems in a rush to release new material so the fact that “Keep Your Courage” will finally be hitting our ears in 2023 is a celebration on its own.

An eclectic album, produced by Merchant, herself it features two duets sung with vocalist Abena Koomson-Davis (Resistance Revival Chorus), contributions from the Celtic folk group Lúnasa and Syrian virtuoso clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, and horn arrangements by jazz trombonist Steve Davis. There are lush orchestrations throughout by seven composers including: Gabriel Kahane, Stephen Barber, Colin Jacobson, and Megan Gould. 

Merchant writes in her album’s liner notes, “The songs contained within this album were written and recorded during the global pandemic that began in the winter of 2019 and is in its fifth wave as I write, in the autumn of 2022. It has been, and continues to be, a period of great flux and fear on every level: global, national, communal, familial, personal. But this is not an album about the coronavirus or the chaos it caused. For the most part, this is an album about the human heart.” She continues: “The word ‘courage’ has its root in the Latin word for heart, cor, and we see it over and over in many languages: le coeur, il cuore, o coração, el corazón. This is a song cycle that maps the journey of a courageous heart.”

“Keep Your Courage” comprises nine original songs by Merchant as well as an interpretation of “Hunting the Wren” by Ian Lynch of the Irish band Lankum. The vinyl LP edition of “Keep Your Courage” includes four bonus tracks from earlier albums, previously unreleased on vinyl. 

With Merchant producing the album on her own and bringing in collaborators from across the globe like the Celtic folk group Lúnasa, who seems to have contributed a lot according to a post on the artist’s website, the sonics used on this album is equally exciting as they are mysterious. For the real Merchant admirers, the vinyl edition of her upcoming album will feature four bonus tracks from earlier Merchant albums that have not been pressed up on wax yet. 

Release Date: April 14th through Nonesuch Records

Idaho experimentalist Erin Birgy, aka Mega Bog, is back with one of her best songs ever. “The Clown,” the lead single off of her seventh record “End of Everything“, is a perfect piece of synth rock. The arrangements are mesmerizing, concise and immense.

The track is apocalyptic yet beautiful, as Birgy makes sense of perspective in a relationship, examining how roles have shifted. “‘The Clown’ is about the terrible, sensual, and chaotic release of merging one’s own multitudes, showing love to the darkness and insecurities, having curiosity about what is beyond presumed perceptions—surrendering to the uncontrollables, while nourishing the small statues of what we do have control over within ourselves,” Birgy said in a statement. It cannot be understated how funny “The Clown” is, too. Birgy is on another songwriting level here, penning verses that aren’t weighed down by wordiness. “Met a young man who said / ‘You are everything’ / And gave me everything / But I really scared him / Because all I talk about with him is / Beheading young men,” she sings. “The Clown” is playful, sublime and colorful. Turmoil is clearly on Birgy’s mind. Lucky for us, she’s translated it into something wonderfully digestible. We are in Birgy’s shoes, feeling what she feels, dancing cautiously as the world relentlessly curls inward. 

Mega Bog (the experimental pop ensemble led by Erin Elizabeth Birgy) is releasing her intrepid seventh album and first for Mexican Summer out May 19th. In conjunction with the announcement, she presents its lead single and self-directed video, “The Clown.”

Mega Bog – “The Clown” From the album ‘End of Everything’ out 19th May 2023

Jason Isbell is back with a new album, “Weathervanes”, his sixth with his Muscle Shoals band the 400 Unit—Sadler Vaden, Jimbo Hart, Derry deBorja and Chad Gamble—and his ninth overall since leaving the Drive-By Truckers. “Did you ever love a woman with a death wish / Something in her eyes like switching off a light switch,” he sings to open the first single, “Death Wish,” a driving Southern rock song with beautiful strings by Morgan O’Shaughnessey. “Everybody dies but you gotta find a reason to carry on.” The song flips the script on Isbell’s own experience reaching rock bottom with alcohol and drugs in 2012 and finding support and intervention from those who loved him. It addresses depression from the standpoint of a person who loves someone that’s struggling. “I don’t want to fight with you baby,” he sings, “but I won’t leave you alone.”

“Weathervanes” is a collection of grown-up songs about love, change, the danger of nostalgia and the interrogation of myths, cruelty, regret and redemption. “There is something about boundaries on this record,” said Isbell. “As you mature, you still attempt to keep the ability to love somebody fully and completely while you’re growing into an adult and learning how to love yourself.”

“Weathervanes”, the new album from Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, will be available everywhere on June 9th, 2023.

Release Date: June 9th, 2023 Southeastern Records.

Many serendipitous moments have led to the creation of the musical project known as Complete Mountain Almanac. The first of these temporal alignments came at a chance meeting between two visionaries — Norwegian-born, Sweden-based singer and composer Rebekka Karijord and American-born, Italy-based poet, dancer, and multimedia artist Jessica Dessner

Jessica and Rebekka began collaborating, with Jessica providing poems and lyrics for Rebekka to compose music to. While Jessica is not a musician per se, as a dancer she naturally has a deep understanding of music as an artform. On top of that, she comes from a musical family: her twin younger brothers, Aaron and Bryce Dessner, are accomplished multi-instrumentalists, most known as part of indie rock stalwarts The National.

The album consists of twelve tracks, each named after a month of the year. Some have a meditative, almost hypnotic quality, using Jessica’s words as healing mantras. Sonically, the album cycles through folk, classical, chamber music and everything in between, creating a cocoon-like atmosphere that draws the listener into a stand-alone universe. It’s a marriage of the inner and outer worlds, illness and rejuvenation, grief and joy.

Therein lies the idea of the almanac: having a guide to see you through each day, some kind of idea of what the future holds in uncertain times. But even as the project came together over the course of years, Rebekka and Jessica were always able to return to the core of their friendship to keep them on course, and the result is what might be one of the most important works of their respective careers.

The album features performances and co-production from Jessica’s twin brothers, Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National. The four artists united in Paris’ St. Germain studios to work on transforming Rebekka’s demos into a fully-fledged album. In order to preserve the urgency and soul of the material, all the tracks were recorded live, just Rebekka’s voice intricately laced through Aaron and Bryce’s expert guitar playing. As co-producer Rebekka then added minimalistic textures including horns and synthesisers, whilst Bryce wrote string arrangements for six songs that were performed by the Malmö Symphony Orchestra.

Taken from the self titled album by “Complete Mountain Almanac”, released 27th January 2023 via Bella Union Records:

Bully and Soccer Mommy are two artists whose music puts refreshing spins on ’90s rock, so it’s very cool that they’ve teamed up for a song together, “Lose You.” It is indeed very ’90s, and each artist’s unique vibe comes through. It’s also the first time Bully (Alicia Bognanno) has ever had a guest singer on a Bully song. She says:

When “Lose You” came about it was the first time I’ve considered having someone else sing on a Bully song. I love Sophie’s voice and have always admired everything she does so to me it was a no brainer. Watching her soar out of the Nashville scene and dominate indie music world wide has been a joy. Writing “Lose You” was a way for me to work through the pain and reality of impermanence. It doesn’t make it any easier but reflection is often followed by growth and to me that’s what life is all about.

Bully has upcoming shows, including Nashville with The Breeders and a tour with the Pixies. Soccer Mommy too has upcoming dates supporting The National. Last year, Soccer Mommy released her new Oneohtrix Point Never-produced album “Sometimes, Forever, The single was recorded in 2022, at MMK Studios and Alicia’s House in Nashville, mastered by Joe LaPorta at Sterling Sound, and features vocal harmonies from Sophia Allison aka Soccer Mommy.

released February 15th, 2023 on Sub Pop Records