The Fat Angel Sings

Ian Anderson has released several solo albums in the past 19 years. However, with “The Zealot Gene” being the first album by Jethro Tull in almost two decades, expectations are high.

Ian Anderson has come up with a wonderful album, having written all the songs himself. This is a Jethro Tull release that not only meets expectations but surpasses them. It is a concept album, of sorts, and a return to form for the band. It is  twelve rock tracks that fit very nicely together. They do not sound dated, but rather current, yet would not have been out of place in the late 1970s.

“The Zealot Gene”  open with Anderson’s fantastic flute on “Mrs. Tibbets”. Next comes the voice, Ian Anderson in all of his glory. The flute gives way to power chords and it is on its way. There are some great surprises, such as Anderson’s harmonica on “Jacob’s Tales” , which is far too short, the moody background on “Shoshana Sleeping”, the English folk genre of “The Fisherman Of Ephesus” and the hard rock sounds in “Barren Beth, Wild Desert John”.

Florian Opahle is a fantastic guitarist. He provides strong guitar solos, especially in “Mrs. Tibbets”,  but more often provides a steady backing. The majority of the solos are from Anderson on his flute. Special mention should also be made regarding Anderson’s acoustic guitar performance too.

Jethro Tull has shared the title track from the group’s first studio album of new material in over 18 years. The new title, “The Zealot Gene“, officially announced on Nov. 5, 2021, first made headlines last March. It arrives on January 28th, 2022, in a variety of CD and vinyl packages, via Inside Out Music. The group, still led by Ian Anderson, has now released three instantly recognizable singles from the album. The video for “The Zealot Gene,” depicts Anderson as a sketched character in the animated clip.

Of the title track, he says, “As a song lyric, it sums up, for me, the divisive nature of societal relationships and the extreme views which fuel the fires of hate and prejudice, more so today perhaps, than at any time in history. Perhaps you think you know who I might have been thinking about here but, in reality, there are probably right now at least five prominent, dictatorial national figures who could fit the bill.”

The first release, “Shoshana Sleeping,” arrived in November, accompanied by a haunting visual created by Thomas Hicks. “Sad City Sisters,” with a video directed by Sam Chegini, arrived on December 8th.

You’d have to go back to the band’s 2003 Christmas album for the last time Tull released a new studio effort. Their last album of all-new, original material was in 1999.

From the original November 5th album announcement: Ian Anderson holds no reservations about the role for which the mythos and themes of Biblical storytelling played in the lyrical content of the new album, saying, “While I have a spot of genuine fondness for the pomp and fairytale story-telling of the Holy Book, I still feel the need to question and draw sometimes unholy parallels from the text. The good, the bad, and the downright ugly rear their heads throughout, but are punctuated with elements of love, respect, and tenderness.”

The album’s art book editions feature a second CD of demos and initial ideas, plus extended liner notes and an interview with Anderson.

Of the second release, Anderson says, “Sad City Sisters throws up memories of a Saturday night in Cardiff, Wales when I was on my way home from our concert in St David’s Hall some years ago. It could equally well have been any town in the UK, I suppose, or even most cities of the Western World. What possesses hell-bent and vulnerable young people to slip so easily into that tragic loss of dignity and end up sprawling drunk in a wet and windy street at midnight?”

Jethro Tull‘s lineup features Anderson (flute, acoustic guitar, harmonica, vocals), Joe Parrish-James (guitar), Florian Opahle  (guitar) (album only), Scott Hammond (drums), John O’Hara (piano, keyboards, accordion), and David Goodier (bass guitar).

“The Zealot Gene” just may be the album fans have been waiting for for a very long time. It is a classic Jethro Tull album. For the most part, the album was recorded with all the members being in the same room, and at times, live off the floor. This energy and band unity is felt throughout. This is also an album that Jethro Tull could tour and would sound fantastic live. Fans should enjoy “The Zealot Gene“. It is beyond words how good it is to have Jethro Tull back.

The band has an extensive 2022 tour. 

Few 2022 releases are as highly anticipated as Black Country, New Road’s sophomore album “Ants From Up There“, coming out February 4th via Ninja Tune. Only adding to the excitement, the band have shared another preview of what’s to come with the album’s fourth single, “Snow Globes.” After receiving near-universal acclaim for their debut full-length For the first time, these singles make it clear that the seven-piece London band have no interest in resting on their laurels or repeating themselves.

Each single thus far has revealed a new facet of what’s sure to be a complex, sonically diverse album, with each track standing on its own two legs as a bold statement from the group. “Snow Globes” is no exception. Clocking in at an extensive nine minutes, the track’s momentum builds and wavers, beginning as an exercise in steady repetition before swelling to its emotional peak and collapsing in on itself, allowing the gentle guitar march featured at the start to crawl the rest of the way to the end, worming back to where it began post-explosion. The sheer catharsis of the song resonates beyond its runtime.

Drummer Charlie Wayne talked about the song’s origins in a statement:

“Snow Globes” was one of the songs which had existed before we wrote the majority of the songs on AFUT. Though it’s a pretty good representation of the musical world we wanted to explore on the album at large. Rather than writing a song with a number of distinct sections we wanted to see what we could do with one continuous riff. It was a real exploration in trying to create something maximalist whilst limiting ourselves with minimal musical choices.

Because the melodic instruments are all playing the riff in unison, “Snow Globes” left the drums with an interesting opportunity. The drums don’t sit separately from the rest of the band on “Snow Globes”, but we wanted to use them in a way that we hadn’t in the past. The initial idea was to feel like the drums were recorded for a completely separate track. They were meant to be totally arrhythmic and just sort of bubble below the surface – like at the end of [Frank Ocean’s] White Ferrari. As the song progressed the drums still occupy a slightly different sound world, but because the rest of the band is playing in such a syncopated style, the drums were given a space to disregard rhythm and be completely expressive.

Black Country, New Road are currently preparing to undertake a (mostly sold-out) tour through February and March.

Modern jangle pop favourites Rolling Blackouts C.F. have just announced their third album release. ‘Endless Rooms’ was recorded in the very place which features on the album art. Out in the bush around two hours outside of Melbourne, the five piece slipped off to the 1970s mud-brick house and laid down twelve tracks of brisk indie pop. The band states that the setting had a huge impact on the song writing and production of the album, as it sounds like their most naturalistic record yet.

“The Way It Shatters” by Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, from the band’s forthcoming album ‘Endless Rooms’ (out May 6th).

‘Endless Rooms’ is the third studio album from the Melbourne-based indie faves Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever. Created during short getaways to the outback while the pandemic raged, the album’s twelve tracks have a much more bucolic and naturalistic feel than the straight jangle-pop of previous efforts ‘Sideways To New Italy’ and ‘Hope Downs’ – right down to the field recordings of birds and wind scattered throughout.

While initial ideas for Endless Rooms were traded online during long spells spent separated by Australia’s strict lockdowns, the album was truly born during small windows of freedom in which the band would decamp to a mud-brick house in the bush around two hours north of Melbourne built by the extended Russo family in the 1970s. There, its 12 tracks took shape, informed to such an extent by the acoustics and ambience of the rambling lakeside house that they decided to record the album there (and put the house on the album cover). For the first time, the band self-produced the record (alongside engineer, collaborator and old friend, Matt Duffy). The result is a collection of songs permeated by the spirit of the place; punctuated by field recordings of rain, fire, birds, and wind. “It’s almost an anti-concept album,” says the band. “The Endless Rooms of the title reflects our love of creating worlds in our songs. We treat each of them as a bare room to be built up with infinite possibilities.”

Releases May 6th , 2022 Sub Pop Records

Brad Barr – the lead singer and songwriter of The Barr Brothers – is announcing “The Winter Mission”, a brand-new instrumental solo guitar album out January 21st via Secret City Records. The guitarist also shared today the first single from the album titled “Ancient Calendars”.

““Ancient Calendars” is a solo guitar piece, a long-form improvisation where I explore a basic motif and progressively extend it outwards in two directions. Played on an amplified 12-string acoustic guitar, there are no overdubs. That was the approach I took for this album—at no point will the listener hear more than one of me. The title of this song, “Ancient Calendars”, as with all the songs on this record, is a reference to the number 216. Specifically, wherein a single cycle of the ancient Mayan Long Count calendar consisted of 2,160 years. It’s also believed that the entire calendar of five great cycles is equal to 2,160 orbits of Jupiter. If they could think that far ahead, you’d think I’d be able to remember my wedding anniversary.” – Brad Barr  

Barr spent decades developing his visceral approach to the guitar, first with The Slip and then across three records with The Barr Brothers. “The Winter Mission” is the follow-up to The Fall Apartment, Barr’s 2008 solo debut—had its origins in a commission from Michael Wolk, Artistic Director at New York City’s All For One Theater. It “felt like a gift,” Barr recalls—to have a sound he could explore all by himself, away from the road, during COVID’s strange intermission. 

 “I discovered a magic record a while back: The Fall Apartment by Brad Barr. I knew Brad was one of the fabulous Barr Brothers – but this was something altogether different – this was Brad’s extraordinary solo instrumental voice. When AFO sought distinctive music to introduce and accompany our events, I thought immediately of Brad. Turns out, Brad was bottled up with brilliant but unassembled solo guitar masterpieces, and my request was all that was needed to uncork them! So, here, thankfully, is more of Brad’s beautiful, brave, and extraordinary solo guitar.” – Michael Wolk, AFO Artistic Director 

For more than 20 years, Brad Barr has been counting the number 216. It’s a mysterious number that seems to show up everywhere—from clocks and licence plates to Ouija boards and receipts—and now it’s also sewn the fabric of his new album, like the 216 stitches on a baseball. Inspired by artists like Caetano Veloso, Mississippi Fred McDowell, D’Gary and John Frusciante, Barr set out to make music that was naked and unprocessed, but also occasionally loud—alive with a sense of wakeful intimacy. The number 216 was a constant theme. The guitarist first encountered the so-called “magic square” during a teenage acid trip; in the years since then it’s become a talisman—one of the few areas where Barr feels mystical, sensing a genuine order in the universe. These songs pay tribute to that order—from 216’s lofty mathematical and astrological properties to its function as an area-code (for Cleveland). 

Brad Barr is the lead singer and songwriter of The Barr Brothers, a folk-Americana band that’s been around for over a decade. They have toured with The War on Drugs, Calexico, Shakey Graves and Patrick Watson. Their TV performances include The Late Show with David Letterman and CBS This Morning Saturday. They’ve received constant support from press and radio including the entire BBC network, key stations such as KCRW, KEXP, WFUV, WXPN, World Café, Sirius XM, NPR as well as Paste Magazine, Time Magazine, Washington Post, Rolling Stone Germany, Q Magazine, Exclaim!, MOJO, Uncut, Brooklyn Vegan and more. 

Elvis Costello and the Imposters took to the stage on Friday’s episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to give a rousing performance of “Farewell, OK,” the lead track from the group’s latest album, “The Boy Named If”. The song tells the story of a relationship gone off the rails, with one party wondering how things might have gone differently. “Ran my hand in the rhythm along the ballroom wall,” Costello sings. “Felt the rumble of the bass through the entrance hall/ And the door flung open to a mascara cry/ I can’t shake the sound of ‘How could you or why?’”

The incredible Elvis Costello descended on the Ed Sullivan Theater last night with his band The Imposters, and surprised our audience with this impromptu medley performance of two songs, “Farewell, OK” and his classic, “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding.”

“Like a lot of good rock and roll songs this began with a drummer down in a basement and a singer howling outside the backdoor,” Costello said in a statement about the track. “It’s a blurred gaze, a drink too much, an accidental punch and a kiss goodnight all in the tumult of a dancehall.”

Costello also surprised the audience with a rendition of his classic hit, “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding.” The song, which appeared on Costello’s 1979 LP “Armed Forces”, was originally written by English singer-songwriter Nick Lowe.

“The Boy Named If” dropped earlier this month. In an interview about the album Costello shared what still attracts him to writing rock music after nearly five decades in the business. “I don’t like much rock music. I like rock & roll,” the 67-year-old said. “I think if you lose the roll part, a lot of the fun goes out of it.”

Costello is set to hit the road this summer in support of “The Boy Named If” album which is out now.

Punk rockers Spanish Love Songs know that even on the darkest, desolate morning there’s hope in waiting for the sun to come up. “Brave Faces Everyone” feels like a defining moment for the band.

Since the release of their brilliant “Schmaltz” album, the Los Angeles based rockers Spanish Love Songs, have racked up the miles playing to ever more fervent crowds keenly affected by frontman Dylan Slocum’s raw honest, heart on the sleeve lyrics, and the band’s rousing brand of indie punk. In that time, Spanish Love Songs have had to navigate growing popularity whilst avoiding the pitfalls that have curtailed so many bands before them.

On new album “Brave Faces Everyone“, these experiences have translated into universally relatable, authentic anthems with a clear unifying link. Binding the songs together is the tacit acknowledgment that we all need love, empathy, and recognition to move forward.

The album opens with soft swells of synths and a solitary electric guitar as Slocum croons the line, “On any given day I’m a six of ten”, summarising in a single line what many of us feel. We may well be connected by our shared existential (or very real) angst but, by inference, maybe we are doing slightly better than average. The song then quickly kicks into gear as the band crash into a monumental chorus.

“Self Destruction (as a sensible career choice)” maintains the momentum. It’s a surging rocker that bounds to its delightfully cynical chorus of “It won’t be this bleak forever / Yeah right!” Few lyricists can manipulate their misery into such sing-a-long hooks as well as Slocum does on this album. “Generation Loss” reflects on an entire generation trying to navigate the world largely unaided, all while being endlessly judged. (“We’re so fucking tired of explaining ourselves.”)

“Kick” details the all to real plight of someone watching a loved one slide into hard drug addiction. Remarkably, despite the subject matter, it’s one of the catchiest songs on the album, with the band embracing a more pop-rock dynamic. It’s also a superb example of Slocum’s more storied song writing approach as it’s a well-rendered character study rather than a purely autobiographical piece.

“Beach Front Property” is one of the albums subtler, more nuanced moments that finds the band amplifying the space in the song and heightening its emotional resonance. Followers of the band will already be well aware of the song “Losers” – a remarkable, authentic call to arms for the dispossessed and disenfranchised. Based on an almost classic rock ‘n’ roll riff, it’s probably the most straight-up, anthemic rock song in the band’s canon.

Album closer “Brave Faces Everyone” captures the dichotomy that lies at the heart of the album. Torn between wanting to give up (“But I feel like burning down my life again”) and stealing oneself for what comes next, it exemplifies the confusion, anxiousness, and qualified optimism that lies at the heart of the album. “Brave Faces Everyone” feels like a defining moment for the band. By furthering their sonic template, they show just how they have grown into dynamic and articulate songwriters while retaining their ability to write rabble-rousing, shout-along choruses. What’s more, Spanish Love Songs understand that even on the darkest, desolate morning there’s hope to be had in waiting for the sun to come up.

Releases April 15th, 2022