Fresh Tracks: 7/5/23
New music from Sampha, Pup, Faye Webster, + 7 more
What’s your internet farm cat got his the bag this week?
Follow along track by track or sync up the playlist below to find out.
I’m taking the next week off from posting, but I thought I’d leave ya with a few tunes right off the Kyle to keep you company while I’m away. We begin and end with jazz this time, but there’s a bit of everything in between as well—R&B, indie rock, punk, country—you name it. Enjoy! And stay where you’re at till I comes where you’re to.
Terrace Martin, Keyon Harrold, Dominique Sanders, Justin Tyson, “Degnan Dreams”
Apple Music
This week’s dose of jazz arrives via multi-instrumentalist Terrace Martin’s new album, Fine Tune, but—as you can see by the extended title above—it’s a team effort.
Martin taps trumpet-star Keyon Harrold, producer and bassist Dominique Sanders, and the impressively credentialed drummer Justin Tyson, leaving the sax for himself. The result will get you moving. Trust me.
Sampha, “Spirit 2.0”
Apple Music | Spotify
I don’t usually bother highlighting artists that have tracks with nine-figure streaming numbers, but I couldn’t help myself with this one. It’s too good to ignore!
Sampha’s found himself on the outskirts of my radar for a few years, but “Spirit 2.0” has me redirecting my focus. Yes, his voice is butter; yes, he holds onto your attention from 0:00-4:50. But his approach to the rhythm for the song is what has me hooked. It’ll make you want to turn your arms into sine waves.
Zeus, “Air I Walk”
Apple Music | Bandcamp
Jason Collett’s former backing band is back after being AWOL release-wise for the last eight years. “Air I Walk” arrived at the tail-end of June as an introduction to the forthcoming album Credo, and if this acoustic shuffle is any indication, the band will find itself on many a road-trip playlist soon.
Can we get these guys on tour with Wilco sometime soon? I’d go to that show.
Private Lives, “Trust In Me”
Apple Music | Spotify
Those of you who prefer your punk rock made in the garage, have I got a band for you. Montreal quartet Private Lives have a debut LP, Hit Record, headed our way on July 14, and from what the first two singles offer, it’s got the goods to live up its name.
“Trust In Me,” the album’s opener, presents the band’s The Hives-meets-Be Your Own Pet sound to a T. It’ll convince you to keep your hair dirty for one more day.
PUP, “Smoke Screen”
Apple Music | Bandcamp
Speaking of punk from Canada, Toronto’s PUP are still fresh off the success of their well-loved full-length from last year, The Unraveling of PUPTHEBAND. But these guys aren’t sitting on their honches, as June’s three-track single can attest.
“Smoke Screen,” the meat in this punk rock sandwich, includes all the classic PUP trimmings: screaming guitars, smart hooks, and gang vocals that beg for audience participation. What more could you possibly want?
Faye Webster, “But Not Kiss”
Apple Music | Spotify
For the last decade, Faye Webster’s made a name for herself in the “easy-listening singer/songwriter with an edge” space alongside fellow songsmiths like Natalie Mering1 and Andy Shauf. With this latest single, she leans more toward that edge than ever before.
“But Not Kiss” still offers Webster’s sweet voice and the lapsteel flourishes fans have come to love, but only after puncturing her near-whisper delivery with a forearm-on-the-keyboard piano chord that, at the right volume, will definitely wake you from any afternoon nap. Rather than come off as indulgent or distracting, the sonic shift directs your ears back to her intriguing lyrics. For anyone interest in writing pop music, this one’s worth studying.
Colter Wall, “For a Long While”
Apple Music
If you’ve had the pleasure of driving through Swift Current, Saskatchewan, you probably wouldn’t expect much of anything to come from there, never mind country music’s next legend. Believe me, I’d know. The town’s only two hours down the Trans-Canada Highway from here.
But that’s just what Colter Wall is—a burgeoning legend. In stark contrast to the sounds riding today’s country-music airwaves, his songs bring to mind the bygone years of Dolly, Willie, and Johnny in a way that avoids sounding like a kitcsh costume. Even the way he packages “For a Long While”—a three-track single—harkens back to the days when this type of thing came on a vinyl disc. Put your boots up, find a piece of straw to chew on, and have a listen.
The Smile, “Bending Hectic”
Apple Music | Spotify
In case you thought Thom Yorke had lost his edge, he and his other Smile members (fellow-Radiohead Jonny Greenwood and producer Tom Skinner) are here to show you that they can still blow speakers and eardrums if they want to.
“Bending Hectic” starts off at a dynamic and tempo that has your ears filing it next to Yorke’s solo work, but it sure doesn’t end there. I haven’t heard Greenwood cause this much hearing damage since the mid-’90s! My tinnitus is acting up, but it’s worth it.
Meshell Ndegeocello, Jeff Parker, “ASR”
Apple Music
Bringing things back full-circle, this collaboration between Meshell Ndegeocello and Jeff Parker brings the best of r&b and jazz together. Placed on a “head in the clouds” melody and body-moving beat, both artists sing this oddly healing song about heartbreak.
And just a heads-up: the rest of Ndegeocello’s new album, The Omnichord Real Book, is also worth your full attention. Its uncategorizeable yet well-defined sound has me labelling it as a contender for album of the year. In short: it’s a trip.
aka. Weyes Blood