April comes to a close with a rather mighty bang. For several albums now, Jessie Ware has been laying the groundwork for the disco revival many didn’t even know they needed, but on her new record That! Feels Good!, she makes her most triumphant statement yet with a dazzling album full of supreme jams full of maximum power. Easily the best dance album of the year so far and one of the strongest pop showings as well. In this moment, she’s untouchable and we’re all just lucky to be able to dance in pure bliss to her remarkable music.
The National are back this week with their first new album since 2019 and first since Aaron Dessner has been collaborating with mega-star Taylor Swift. Here, the band returns to some of their most somber moments (yes, even for them) and bring a slew of guests along for the ride. Synth-pop singer-songwriter Westerman drops his sophomore record this week and also channels some more reclusive themes while still applying his crystal-lined vocals for some smooth tunes that buzz in just the right places.
Guitar wizard Bill Orcutt’s new album Jump On It has already hit stores in its physical format, but today it makes its way to streaming services as well. Earlier this week, Orcutt’s appearance on NPR picked up some steam and rightfully introduced his Music for Four Guitars work to a much larger audience, but his latest focuses on his acoustic talents, a nice refresher that still offers up more of his esteemed brilliance.
The new record from Country Westerns continues the path laid down on the band’s debut album with more high velocity rock and roll tracks that push the pedal to the metal and channels proto-punk ambition with unapologetic swagger. Indigo De Souza has already dazzled listeners with the fantastic singles to her new record and today she drops the rest, sure to be a highlight of the year, that once again finds powerful rock ballads coming together with pristine pop sounds.
Last week, dream-pop legends Beach House dropped a new EP for Record Store Day. Become contains five tracks that were written during the Once Twice Melody sessions and while it’s certainly a must-listen for any true fan, casual listeners would still be pleased to blissfully float off to the five tracks on this release, each one a pure mood of its own that will surely lift the vibes to whatever it is you desire.
John Talabot and Axel Boman joined forces as Talaboman in the past and dropped the Discodance 12” and now they’re reissuing it along with two more “new” 12”s, Madhouse Dub / Melbourne Bolereo and Bosca Bosca / Bosco Bosco.
Following his appearance at Coachella closing out the main stage alongside his new friends Skrillex and Fred again.., Four Tet shared a surprise throwback track to his downtempo era. It’s a luxuriously chill song with droning synths and meditative drums providing an optimal soundtrack for moments of serenity. Seven years after her remarkable last album, folk singer Julie Byrne has returned with a plugged-in sound that furthers her mystical charm with layers of synths that still capture her tranquil spirit while pushing her sound to the next realm.
PJ Harvey announced her newest record and shared the lead single, “A Child’s Question, August.” Never one to repeat the same note twice, Harvey once again reimagines her sound while still being uniquely her own, four decades into her career. Following a joint album with Jay Som under the name Bachelor, El Kempner has returned to her main project Palehound and this week the band dropped their electric new song “The Clutch,” a high voltage rocker that captures exactly what it is they do so well.
In what seems like an obvious pairing, Thundercat and Tame Impala teamed up for their first proper collaboration, the new single “No More Lies,” which captures their stylings equally for something that sounds immediately familiar even if it doesn’t generate the buzz you might hope or imagine. Jess Williamson, probably better known as one-half of the duo Plains alongside Waxahatchee, shared the second single from her upcoming record and it’s a bonafide country gem that hits in all the right places.
Albums:
Jessie Ware | That! Feels Good!
The National | First Two Pages Of Frankenstein
Westerman | An Inbuilt Fault
Bill Orcutt | Jump On It
Indigo De Souza | All Of This Will End
Country Westerns | Forgive The City
Avalon Emerson & The Charm | Avalon Emerson & The Charm
Beach House | Become EP
Talaboman | Madhouse Dub / Melbourne Bolereo
Talaboman | Discodrums / Flashforward
Talaboman | Bosca Bosca / Bosco Bosco
Songs:
Four Tet | “Three Drums”
Julie Byrne | “Summer Glass”
PJ Harvey | “A Child’s Question, August”
Palehound | “The Clutch”
Jess Williamson | “Chasing Spirits”
Thundercat / Tame Impala | “No More Lies”
Miguel | “Give It To Me”
Kevin Morby | “This is a Photograph II” / “Five Easy Pieces Revisited”
Protomartyr | “Elimination Dances”
Irreversible Entanglements | “Nuclear War” (Sun Ra cover)
If you’re a Spotify user, you can listen to these songs (and more from 2023) here!