It’s felt strange to write about music in the past few weeks when so many other things feel more important. There are more mass shootings in a year than there are days and it never gets any easier to process. If we paused every time this happened, we'd be silent forever. It's fucked up and wrong. So, I will continue to write this newsletter and talk about the best new music every week, I will also continue to demand action is taken and we pass common sense gun laws (as a start).
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After an onslaught of hip-hop, pop, and major indie records over the past few weeks, the institution that is Wilco returns with their version of a capital-C Country album. The band isn’t a stranger to double albums, but this is the first time they’ve embraced this sound with open arms. This is a lengthy affair from the established group, but it’s one that is sure to sink in over time and should make for a lovely soundtrack to the long-weekend ahead.
Shoegaze trio Dehd are back this week with a new album that delivers their particularly rough around the edges, but warm inside, guitar tones of lush, thick reverb and lilting pop vocals. Bay-area rapper Kamaiyah is also back this week with her first new record since the start of the pandemic and follows last week’s single “FWI.”
Glenn Donaldson (of The Red, Pinks and Purples, Painted Shrines, Vacant Gardens) surprised released a new EP this week with Carly Putnam under the name Helpful People and the five tracks are full of flowing guitars and sonic haze. His prolific streak remains firmly intact!
Bright Eyes has three massive reissues out this week for classic records Letting Off the Happiness and Fevers and Mirrors. Each of the reissues features EPs of a material and collaborations with Waxhatchee, Phoebe Bridgers, and M Ward.
After years of build up, Sky Ferreira returned this week with her first new original solo song since 2019. The synth-pop bash “Don’t Forget” immediately picks off from her debut Night Time, My Time, unlike her last song “Downhill Lullabye,” but sounds just as fun and bopping as ever.
Wynonna Judd and Waxahatchee teamed up for a new original track, “Other Side,” a blossoming duet from an icon and another one in the making. M.I.A. dropped her new single, “The One,” that hits grooves of her classic sound. Hovvdy also have a new song this week that features breezy, folk-tronica leaning guitar-pop that gives off an early ‘00s feel to it, a cool twist on their previous, acoustic-forward, sound.
Oliver Sim released a new track which revealed that he’s been living with HIV since he was 17. The track coincided with the announcement of his first solo album, Hideous Bastard, and explained how creating the record has “allowed [him] to feel a lot freer and has only strengthened [his] relationship with [himself'] and with the people in [his] life.” MUNA dropped their shimmering synth-pop number, “Home By Now,” which features pounding drums and buzzing flashes of new wave flare.
The Range shared another single from his upcoming record, due next month, and it continues his fluttering techno sound that he says “represents the butterflies you feel in a new relationship.” Dan Snaith, aka Caribou, revived his Daphni moniker this week for a thumping number of throbbing beats and hard dance grooves.
Albums:
Wilco | Cruel Country
Dehd | Blue Skies
Stars | From Capelton Hill
HAAi | Baby, We’re Ascending
Helpful People | Broken Blossom Threats EP
Kamaiyah | Divine Timing
Stranger Things: Soundtrack From The Netflix Series, Season 4 — Vol. 1
Bright Eyes | A Collection Of Songs Written And Recorded 1995-1997: A Companion
Bright Eyes | Letting Off The Happiness: A Companion
Bright Eyes | Fevers And Mirrors: A Companion
Songs:
Sky Ferreira | “Don’t Forget”
The Range | “Relegate”
Hovvdy | “Ruby”
MUNA | “Home By Now”
Wynonna / Waxahatchee | “Other Side”
Oliver Sim | “Hideous”
Daphni | “Cherry”
M.I.A. | “The One”
Angel Olsen | “One Too Many Mornings” [Bob Dylan cover]
Kali Uchis | “Desafinado” [Stan Getz / Joao Gilberto cover]
If you’re a Spotify user, you can listen to these songs (and more from 2022) here!