New Jersey-based collective CR and The Nones presents ‘The Long Game’, the first single from The Ghosts Are Coming Home, the band’s second album and the first to be released via the Magic Door Record Label.
Oregon-based Colorado-raised artist Berkley presents “Pueblo Nights”, the first single from his debut full-length album Pueblo, forthcoming via Big Secret Records. Making sense of what remains of youth in adulthood – opportunity, regret, and empathy – is where Berkley stakes his claim among current Portland songwriters.
British indie pop artist Mike Gale presents his new single ‘Summer Be Gone’, the first offering from his forthcoming album Thanks for Always Waving (out September 8). Not your typical summer anthem, but a great offering of world / folk-inspired indie pop. The accompanying video was filmed in Suzhou, China by Matt Wallwork and features the artist Kimvi.
Hannah Connolly is a singer-songwriter originally from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, now living in Los Angeles, California. Her debut album From Where You Are was released in 2020, soon to be followed by her forthcoming second record, Shadowboxing.
Minneapolis singer/songwriter Brynn Andre released her debut in 2010 chronicling the twenty-something dance between liberation and loneliness.
Her upcoming release goes deeper. Like a sequel, Honeymoon faces a woman’s next chapter, whispering: what happens after the honeymoon? The songs find Brynn married to the summer fling of her twenties, singing daunting questions like does my story matter and can unsung dreams come true?
Aaron “Heatbox” Heaton (aka The One Man Entertainment System), personifies a true renaissance musical pioneer in his prime. With an already impressive decade plus career spanning multiple lanes of otherworldly creative mastery, he has now writen and produced a seminal work of musical comedy humble titled Hilarious & Epically Legendary.
A lot of minimalistic lo-fi bedroom pop has emerged since 2020, for better or for worse, but Open Dream is a massive and challenging exploration of an artist pushing his own boundaries as well as a clear love letter to the possibilities of music.
Frantic Hearts is a statement from a band not just pushing their musical boundaries, but the boundaries of rock music itself, without ever once becoming too theoretical or needlessly experimental. It’s a truly exciting album that continues to surprise regardless of how many times you listen.
Mae Simpson has been shaking up the Minneapolis music scene ever since her band formed in 2017, performing on larger and larger stages to a growing base of loyal fans across the Midwest. Led by her powerful vocals, the seven-piece band brings audiences to their feet with driving horns and a drum and percussion duo.
Led by acclaimed songwriter Michael Ferrier, Minneapolis folk rockers Fathom Lane return with their first album since 2017. In the Driftless is a poetic and nuanced blend of country, folk, pop, and rock with lyrics exploring themes of loss, isolation, addiction, discovery, and ultimately: redemption. Ferrier’s songs transport listeners across a variety of musical settings ranging from the open spaces of the Midwestern prairies, to the dark solitude of a hidden bedroom.
After first releasing five singles, Mary Strand releases her debut album, Golden Girl.
The long-awaited second album, Sweet Fatality from Minneapolis stalwarts, The Customers is finally out!
A true artist and songwriter world-renowned for his prolific, heartfelt alt-rock love songs, Stephen Jacques*has released ten albums to date, with his eleventh on the way. His *Steve Albini produced music forms a body of work was culled from a lifetime of experiences, including those as an engineer, a Hollywood actor, a custom builder, and a TV host. “Slept on a Ridge” is his new single.
Jeshua Marshall is the combination of all of his past influences to some degree or another, and following on from his lockdown released album, Shoot The Moon, his new single, “Water” infuses all of the muscle and melody, folk and fun, grace and groove into a gorgeous slice of upbeat soul-pop.
Merit Maker is a music project that draws from a very wide range of punk rock sounds and subgenres. The music itself is influenced by various punk and similar genre bands. Crank up the stereo and blast these tunes.
Mesmerizing Irish folk music, dressed up for today.
With Torn still on board and the addition of keyboardist/electronics guru J. Peter Schwalm, with whom composer Thelen has worked on his Fractal Guitar projects and last year’s duo album _Transneptunian Planets*, Sonar takes on another of Thelen’s side hustles: composing for classical ensembles.
Indie rock artist Fred Abong presents ‘My Way’, the second singe from his forthcoming Fear Pageant album, slated for release in late summer via Seattle-based label Disc Drive. Earlier, Abong released the record’s lead track ‘Father’.
Modern London synthpop icon Rodney Cromwell (a.k.a. Adam Cresswell of 90s indie folk band Saloon and 2000s electronic duo Arthur & Martha) and Solemn Arcade have teamed up to present “Memory Box Solemn Arcade Revision”.
On hEARoes, the threesome eschews firepower (for the most part) for chamber music, as if they’re trying to make up new works for small classical ensembles.
Indie rock outfit Beau Jennings & The Tigers present their new single ‘People in This Town’, out June 9 via Oklahoma-based record label Black Mesa Records. What starts as a scrappy ten seconds of scuffling and static emerges as a summer anthem from this Oklahoma band.
Texas roots-rocker Marina Rocks releases a new EP, _Texcentric-, a short, sharp and shockingly good collection of songs that take in established standards to the state of the world around her, and from chilled Americana to full-on rock swagger.
Regardless of what your favorite 70s band is, there is something in While We Were Making Plans for everyone, but The Splatter Pattern emerges with a fully formed, compelling artistic voice that is all their own.
Trans-Atlantic alternative neo-folk collective Lusitanian Ghosts present ‘Shameless’, a song about love, regret and reconciliation, which previews the band’s forthcoming Lusitanian Ghosts III album (out in autumn via European Phonographic). This is the second taste of their full-length album, following up the first life-affirming single ‘The Long Train’.
Recreate is not blindly optimistic, but it is an infectious burst of compassion from a voice that is so needed in this moment.
Always You is a wonderful addition to the artist’s repertoire, and a testament to the continued importance of jazz pop.
Atlanta-based atmospheric alt-pop duo I Am a Rocketship present their new single ‘Do You Feel Good’, a powerful introduction to their forthcoming album La Cruella, a collection of ten tracks about uncertainty, fear and dreams.
A mover and shaker in the fifties, jazz label Contemporary Records lured saxophone great Sonny Rollins from his home base in New York to Los Angeles to record with West Coast musicians.
King Analog remains compelling and exciting over the entire album, an often difficult feat for instrumentalists, and the artist emerges as a dynamically challenging force to be reckoned with right out of the gates.
The Blue Highways are a British rock band based in London. Formed in 2018 by brothers Jack, Callum and Theo, the band is known for its modern Indie/American Roots-inspired rock sound coupled with Callum’s narrative storytelling. Acclaimed as one of the most exciting upcoming acts in the U.K. music scene, The Blue Highways have recently released their new album Out on the Line to critical acclaim.
Brooklyn lounge-chill artist Roman Angelos and electronic producer Scott Solter (St. Vincent, Maps & Atlases, Spoon, Superchunk, The Mountain Goats). have released their collaborative record Supermarkets, Underwater via London label Happy Robots Records.
Four years after the last Swans album, Gira and crew finally return with The Beggar, another album of grim tidings and aspirational gloom.
The generous hat tips the group gives to their predecessors will win over staunch traditionalists, but First Penetration will undoubtedly appeal to almost every fan of the genre.
Manhattan-based artist Nevaris presents his debut Reverberations album, a fruitful and soulful collaboration with legendary bassist-producer Bill Laswell. This instrumental recording combines dub, funk, Afro-Latin rhythms, turntablism and extended improvisation.
Bassist and composer Yosef Gutman Levitt continues his prolific ways with Soul Song, the first album on his new imprint of the same name.
Brazil-based sonic adventurers BIKE present the video for the live performance session, recently recorded at KEXP in Seattle and broadcast on Cheryl Waters’ Midday Show. The session includes select tracks from their new Arte Bruta album, released via Before Sunrise Records.
Formed in 2015 by Julito Cavalcante (guitar and vocals), Diego Xavier (guitar and voice), Daniel Fumega (drums) and João Gouvea (bass), BIKE’s trajectory has been one of impressive journeys – both sonically and geographically.
Bergquist doesn’t try to shake the world with Wiser Then, but it’s almost as if he wants to slip into the room quietly, preferring to slowly blow away the listener with the accumulation of his strongly poetic lyricism over time.
A coming-of-age album, Chuck Rock is the work of a group still growing, and it’s a fantastic snapshot of a moment in time, while the band purposely plays down the album’s remarkable merits at every corner.
High intensity seems to be the running theme of Zombie Telegram as Mallory expresses themselves unabashedly in an exposed, maudlin, and sometimes even violent manner, creating an extremely captivating, thrilling experience that continues to unfold with each listen.
ABBA’s 1973 debut album Ring Ring was the first of the Swedish pop phenomenon’s “golden eight.” For those with a sweet tooth, it’s a crafty pop confection.
Never Sleep is a fantastic expansion of Feder’s sound, offering a more vulnerable, introspective side of the artist, and it’s set to be released June 23rd.
It’s always seemed to be an intense thing for Royal Thunder to make music – the band’s albums practically glow with vivid emotion and acute conviction.
The gloomier side of artists like The Cure or the emotional intensity of Cocteau Twins are clear influences, while stylistically she is closer to musicians including Lana Del Rey and Cat Power.
Taylor Robert has toured the country with various bands as well as a solo artist, played out at notable venues in the Twin Cites, released a multitude of albums and EPs, working with MN legends like Michael Bland (Prince, Soul Asylum) and Ryan Liestman (Jonas Bros) in production and songwriting.
LA-based collective Beauty In Chaos has joined forces with Leeds-born vocalist Julian Shah-Tayler and drummer Pete Parada (Face To Face, The Offspring) on their new collaborative single ‘Kiss Me (Goodbye)’.
Since leaving the Bad Plus a few years ago, pianist Orrin Evans has simply gone from strength to strength, putting his prodigious talent at the keyboard to the service of strong tunes and surrounding himself with top-flight backing musicians along the way.
Toronto-London collective The Flowers Of Hell have released their sixth album Keshakhtaran (their first in six years), as well as the first vinyl pressing of their Lou Reed-endorsed 2012 cult classic Odes album, now available directly from Rolling Heads , from other select UK stores, and on import.
