Listen: Erin McCarley - "Elevator"

Erin McCarley revealed some rhythmic quirky bits on her fine 2009 debut album Love Save the Empty but her new song "Elevator", a preview of her forthcoming fall album My Stadium Electric, takes that element into overdrive. "From late night percussion sessions, to angry bird sound making (you will hear in the intro), to major laughter eruption because of ridiculous lyric writing, to dancing our asses off, the studio was a Brazilian circus while recording 'Elevator'", writes the Nashville-based McCarley. Look for the booty-shaking, dance-centric video coming soon. The Elevator EP drops June 26.

Erin McCarley - "Elevator"

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John Mayer - Born and Raised

John Mayer - "more organic, more natural lyrics and chords and artful simplicity," says Mayer of his long awaited fifth studio album and first since his controversial "really dumb" interviews a couple years back...produced by veteran Don Was (Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt) the new project includes backup from Allman Brothers keyboardist Chuck Leavell along with Graham Nash and David Crosby...originally scheduled for release last fall, B+R was delayed when Mayer was diagnosed with granulomas (found next to the vocal cords) a malady that has also led to his spring tour cancellation // Release: Born and Raised (May 22, Columbia) // Sounds like: the hat, jean jacket and facial hair should have been the giveaway -- this is Mayer time travelling back to Laurel Canyon, circa 1972...the dense and graceful (if somewhat calculating) commercial art/rock of 2009's Battle Studies had a distinctly hip, urban attitude while Born and Raised is a quietly invigorating irony-free escape to thoughtful and equally compelling Neil Young-styled folk/rock with an acoustic, rural feel (cue the harmonica)...

John Mayer - "Queen of California" (from Born and Raised)

John Mayer - "Shadow Days" (from Born and Raised)

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Listen: Sons of Fathers - 'Burning Days'

We first tipped you Texas natives David Beck and Paul Cauthen and their Sons of Fathers last year with the release of their eponymous debut album of Americana and Lone Star folk/rock. As the lead track off their upcoming August album Big Diamond Waltz, the Sons' new "Burning Days" ups the ante in a big way, further expanding the duo's original acoustic sound to the power and depth of a full-fledged band, helped in no small part by a rough-hewn mix (still unmastered) from Jack White studio dude Vance Powell (Blunderbuss, The Raconteurs). The trademark harmonies are still in abundance but "Burning Days" also swings with a loose, soulful swagger and sharper electric edge.

Sons of Fathers - "Burning Days" (From Big Diamond Waltz)

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2:54 - S/T

2:54 - London-based grrl-ish siblings Colette and Hannah Thurow are the dual creative forces behind this darkly atmospheric U.K. band and their highly buzzed (literally and figuratively) debut album // Release: 2:54 (June 5, Fat Possum) // Sounds like: a gothy shoe-gazing mix of distorted guitars and cool, dispassionate vocals, the Irish-born Thurows signal not so much emotional angst as even tempered ambivalence...a densely layered, mesmerizing production from Rob Ellis (PJ Harvey) lays the dreamy groundwork for the sisters' ten groove-driven songs, tracks that swirl and spiral with tightly-coiled force around an oblique, minor chord melody...while hardly what you'd call pretty music, there's an oddly effective impressionist beauty hiding in the gloomy shadows, most noticeably in Colette's airy/eerie nocturnal voice floating above the fray...

2:54 - "You're Early" (from the album 2:54)

2:54 - "Creeping" (from the album 2:54)

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Listen: Shawn Colvin - "All Fall Down"

For All Fall Down (Nonesuch), her first studio album in six years, Shawn Colvin enlisted the help of friend and versatile musical "buddy", the acclaimed guitarist and producer Buddy Miller. The initial offering of the collaboration comes via the new project's title track, a simply-structured song that, over the course of about three and a half minutes, slowly builds from hand-clapping acoustics to a epic riffed folk/rocker thanks to the shimmering guitar lines from Miller and Bill Frisell, Brian Blade's dynamic drum work and a gospel-tinged sing-along chorus that quickly embeds itself deep into the grey matter. More on All Fall Down -- due June 5 -- here.

Shawn Colvin - "All Fall Down" (from the album All Fall Down)

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RADAR: Jason Myles Goss

For Brooklyn performing songwriter Jason Myles Goss, the qualities he loves most about music are "a good story and a memorable melody" -- two things that are happily in abundant display on Radio Dial, his fourth album due June 17. Entirely self-produced, Goss' new project was recorded in old school fashion on good ol' analog tape with the help of some talented friends including Austin Nevins on guitars and Sam Kassirer on keys, both members  of Josh Ritter's Royal City Band. The result is an album that is both profoundly personal and sonically expansive, reflecting Goss' influences of songcraft-centric bands like Counting Crows and The Wallflowers as well as the more roots-rock and Americana shadings of Wilco and Lucinda Williams. Lead track "Red Letter Man" is a prime example of the Goss style, a Tom Petty-ish guitar jangle chord progression entwined with a soaring, infinitely catchy chorus hook. We're also taken with "Home", a country-rock anthem that kicks with on off-kilter rhythm and Kassirer's rich organ fills.

Jason Myles Goss - "Red Letter Man" (from Radio Dial)

Jason Myles Goss - "Home" (from Radio Dial)

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Watch: Carrousel - '14'

Once we watched the video for "14" from arty-smarty Tallahassee, Florida dream/pop outfit Carrousel, we knew we were on to something good. Taken from the just-released debut album 27 rue de mi'chelle, the track (and charminglingly chaotic video) is all about the "layering dense vocal harmonies, tambourines, 60-ish guitar lines and dramatic piano fills into a dazzling melange of smart, sophisticated art/pop." More DC on Carrousel (listen to "Where Do We Go From Here"), umm, here.

Carrousel - "14" (from 27 rue de mi'chelle)

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DC May 15 New Release Recap

A day late. Sorry. One of those weeks. A fairly slim list of notable DC releases this week but a few nice standouts. New England songwriter Ryan Montbleau heads to New Orleans to record his fine new album of Crescent City R+B/pop, For Hire with some famous local names. Beach House return with the follow up to their fine Teen Dream with the aptly titled Bloom. New DC faves Carrousel deliver one of the more intriguing and promising new albums of sophisticated alt/pop: 27 rue de mi'chelle. And L.A. songstress Meiko is back with The Bright Side, her first new studio album in four years. As always, we've got music to stream and videos to watch, so read below (and link for more)...and check out our larger list, too.

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Kate Miller-Heidke - Nightflight

A platinum-selling art/pop star in her native Australia, Kate Miller-Heidke confidently returns with Nightflight, her third studio album that smitten critics have described as "a masterpiece" and "clever, insightful and revealing." Boasting an dramatic, adult-focused sound -- more art than pop -- and a diverse and thoughtful collection of songs written with her husband Keir Nuttall, the successor to her breakout '09 album Curiouser has drawn comparisons with the works of Kate Bush in its sophisticated production, panoramic pop/opera vocals and soul-bearing lyrical edge. "Nightflight is definitely a more vulnerable and exposed record than anything I’ve done before," says Miller-Heidke. "If Curiouser was a playful, dysfunctional adolescent, Nightflight is more like a damaged, melancholy person in her late 20s. With Nightflight, we wanted something darker and more organic, more beautiful and more expansive."

Kate Miller-Heidke - "The Tiger Inside Will Eat the Child" (from Nightflight)

Kate Miller-Heidke - "Ride This Feeling" (from Nightflight)

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Natasha Borzilova - Out of My Hands

Russian-born, Nashville-based performing songwriter Natasha Borzilova brings a remarkable emotional world view to Out of My Hands, her third album of sumptuous folk/pop embellished with an Americana fringe. Self-produced and recorded in Music City with an impressive band of local studio players, Out of My Hands deftly straddles the pensive, grown-up acoustic/pop creations of the likes of Shawn Colvin with the wide-ranging, roots-driven songs of modern Nashville writers such as Gretchen Peters and Matraca Berg. Borzilova, a classically-trained guitarist with a gorgeous, richly textured voice first came to the U.S. as part of the "redgrass" Russian band Bering Strait. She wrote or co-wrote all of the album's eleven tracks, songs that range from the pain of a failed relationship ("Better Than Me"), motherhood ("Long Night"), her own dark days of depression ("The World Below") and the heartbreaking story of her father, a nuclear physicist who died at an early age after helping direct the radiation cleanup at the 80's Chernobyl disaster ("One Second Flat")...

Natasha Borzilova - "The World Below" (from Out of My Hands)

Natasha Borzilova - "Fisherman's Wife" (from Out of My Hands)

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Ryan Montbleau - For Higher

A mainstay of the New England club circuit for the past decade, Ryan Montbleau left his veteran band behind and headed for New Orleans to record For Higher (May 15), a soulful and swinging collection of his own songs peppered with chestnuts from R+B icons Bill Withers, Curtis Mayfield and Eddie Hinton. An invitation a few years ago to write for Crescent City rising star Trombone Shorty inspired Montbleau to journey to the town he describes as "deep, dark and beautiful" and, with help and guidance from  producer Ben Ellman (Galactic), assembled studio sessions with a stellar line up of sidemen (or, as Montbleau calls them, "badasses") including Ivan Neville on keys, Anders Osborne on guitar, drummer Simon Lott, and Meters bassist George Porter, Jr. The result is a loose and funky exploration that feels like a natural progression for Montbleau -- and sounds like a whole lot of fun. "This is a totally different record than I've ever made," he says. "Every single person, kind of to my amazement, got into it. They listened to every playback, and they were high-fiving each other. They were great."

Ryan Montbleau - "Away We Go" (from For Higher)

Ryan Montbleau - "Just Perfect" (from For Higher)

Stream the full album here...    BUY

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RADAR: Louise and the Pins

Three parts smoky molasses and one part warm whisky shot, the voice of Louise Hull -- the retro-glamour frontwoman of Britain's female trio Louise and the Pins -- sounds like it's beaming in magically from some long-ago bar of Naugahyde booths, overflowing ashtrays and stained walnut paneling. Sultry, richly vibratoed and effortlessly radiating heat, Hull turns melancholy folk into an eerie slow dance where her voice, brought intimately front and center by producer David Odlum (The Frames), sounds so close you can detect the slightest breathy texture. Imagine Julie London recording at Sun Studios in the 50's for the feel of the latest single (and touching video, below)  "Bell Jar", the follow up the fine torch of last year's "Melancholy" (a duet with Martha Wainwright) and a song that sets the velvet curtained stage for a full length debut by the end of the year. "The album is going to be like a big story, there’s a lot of light and shade," says Hull. "I’ve got a lot of things I want to say. It’s gonna be emotional!"

Louise & The Pins - "Bell Jar"

Louise & The Pins - "Falsest Start"

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Beach House - Bloom

Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally of Beach House have been redefining their own brand surreal, flip-flop-gazing art/pop over the course of three albums including '09's breakout Teen Dream. New Bloom (May 15, Sub Pop) continues the dreamy soundscapes with Legrand, the niece of legendary French composer Michel Legrand, and Scally taking us by the hand and leading us through celestial, chiming guitars, dense electronic atmospherics and hymnlike vocal harmonies for a stately sound  that touched both Pet Sounds and Cocteau Twins. The duo, who shared co-production duties with Chris Coady say they wanted the self-described "darker" album to be consumed as a real album, a full fledged collection songs with a singular vision. Tracks like the seductive "Myth" and the more delicate shadings of "On the Sea" aren't so much shifts from the Beach House playbook as they are more nuanced refining, adding more complex orchestration -- chamber pop for the XL stage -- and creating moods that seem more attuned to relatively clear-eyed late night headphone bliss than the harsh haze of early AM rays.

Beach House - "Myth"

Beach House - Bloom Sampler (Other People, On the Sea, Wild, Wishes)

Stream the full album at NPR

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RADAR: Gossling

There appears to be no shortage of female songwriters Down Under who combine whimsy and arty smarts for a particularly endearing and quirky version of alternative pop. Helen Croome, who performs as Gossling, is the latest to ply that odd and oddly endearing musical hybrid currently on display from the likes of Lisa Mitchell, Kate Miller-Heidke, Sia Furler, Sarah Blasko and Megan Washington. Third EP Intentional Living, released last month in Australia, preserves Gossling's sleek, deliciously off-kilter songcraft while injecting a slightly darker theatrical element and retro-pop nostalgia into the proceedings. Lead single, the handclap-rhythmic "Wild Love" features Gossling's distinctive helium-laced vocals and a melody that swoops and dives from major to minor chords with a spaghetti-western Telstar twang while the heartfelt piano ballad "Love Falls Foul" laments unrequited feelings with a graceful, tender touch. Listen to the full EP at Gossling's Bandcamp page. "Wild Love" video below...

Gossling - "Wild Love" (from the Intentional Living EP)

Gossling - "Days Are Over" (from the If You Can't Whistle EP)

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Watch: King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - "Third Swan"

When Scottish singer/songwriter King Creosote (aka Kenny Anderson) and electronica-tician/ producer Jon Hopkins  decided to form a rather unlikely musical alliance, who could have imagined that their 2011 collaborative debut album Diamond Mine would become an equally unlikely critical phenomenon in the U.K. Nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize and prominent on a slew of year end Best of lists, the project involved the inspired reworkings of King Creosote songs spanning a couple of decades. Last month Diamond Mine was reissued in an "expanded" version, adding a generous six songs to the disc's original seven. Among the additions: the classic-sounding, folk-rocking "Third Swan", featuring backing vocals from fellow Scot K.T. Tunstall.  "To exist as the ugly duckling between two paragons of swan-like virtue is, no doubt, the metaphor that ties all of this together," says Mr. Creosote. "In short, there was a lot swirling around my head in the dark weeks leading up to the end of 2011, and it had to end up on this, the penultimate page of the Diamond Mine travelogue." 

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins - "Third Swan" (from Diamond Mine: Jubilee Edition)

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DC May 8 New Release Recap

An eclectic mix of music on today's new release turntable as some of our favorites in the Esteemed Singer/Songwriter category go up against a few of the more Adventurous Indie rock and alt/pop bands. From the former, we give you Greg Laswell, Rachael Sage and Sara Watkins (of Nickel Creek). And from the latter, we suggest the latest from Silversun Pickups, Here We Go Magic and Cheers Elephant. And in-between: the magical art-pop of Simone White, the U.K. debut of velvet-voiced chanteuse Ren Harvieu, actress Irene Jacob's cool French/pop diversion and Keane's Strangeland. Eagle fans will note the release of Glenn Frey's croon-fest After Hours while Blur afficionados will want to check out Damon Albarn's Dr. Dee project. Lot's more to review, read and listen below...

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Silversun Pickups - Neck of the Woods

Silversun Pickups - Critically acclaimed "Best New Artist" Grammy nominees gracefully walk the tightrope between bold, intelligent art-pop and prickly, psychedelic indie/ alternative rock on their third longplayer and follow up to their '09 breakout Swoon... frontman and songwriter Brian Aubert says he and his fellow Pickups marked their tenth anniversary together by discovering a certain "playfulness" in the new tracks, adding, "we just wanted to let it all fly"...in-demand producer Garrett "Jacknife" Lee (R.E.M., Snow Patrol) recorded Neck at his Topanga Canyon studio //Release: Neck of the Woods (May 8, Dangerbird) // Sounds like: Aubert's boyish vocals continue to be an interesting counterpoint to the L.A. band's dark, incendiary sonic underbelly and angular melodic structures...there's a gleaming, brittle sheen just below the surface of many of these tracks, programmed beats, booming bass lines and electronic washes rubbing against the immaculate, echoing guitar riffs...

Silversun Pickups - "Here We Are (Chancer)" (from Neck of the Woods)

Silversun Pickups - "Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)" (from Neck of the Woods)

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Watch: Rachel Sermanni - "Eggshells"

Scottish neo-folk songwriter Rachel Sermanni just keeps getting better and better. New single "Eggshells" arrives on the heels of her January Black Currents EP, a song that won't diminish the Laura Marling comparisons but certainly puts the 19-year-old songwriter in a position of carving out her own acoustic persona. As we noted in our earlier post, "Sermanni finds that sweet spot between refreshingly unadorned directness and artful ornamentation, quiet laments and soaring orchestration all centered around a darting sand-textured voice that moves from tumbling lyricism to moments of serene, sweeping grandeur..." "Eggshells", true to it's title, is a more delicate affair than her more experimental Black Currents jam, a sweetly serene, chamber-folk melody carried lightly by Sermanni's cool, breathy vocals. No word on a U.S. signing, but the new single is available digitally this week.

Rachel Sermanni - "Eggshells"

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RADAR: Easter Island

We first tipped you to Athens, GA's Easter Island in January of last year with the release of their excellent track "Proud" and March EP Better Things. Now with a new rhythm section in place, the band's new debut full-length Frightened, arriving July 3, picks up where "Proud" left off, once again surrounding the airy tenor vocals of brothers Ethan and Asher Payne with the ringing guitar lines, richly textured art-pop dynamics and sweeping melodies normally found across the Atlantic and band's like Keane, Snow Patrol and Coldplay. New songs such as the expansive title track are majestic with a small "m", big enough to spill out of the speakers in dense layers of sound but with enough understated style to keep any overt bombast at bay.

Easter Island -"Frightened" (from the album Frightened)

Easter Island - "Hash" (from the album Frightened)

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Simone White - Silver Silver

Simone White's intimate and ethereal chamber/folk acousticism gets a major makeover on her third full length Silver Silver (May 8, Honest Jon's), her wispy, whispered vocals intact but now augmented with an equally delicate, occasionally intense array of cool electronic textures, tapping beats and an atmosphere lifted from some shadowy dreamscape. From the opening seconds you realize that there's a subtle whiff of dark, arty theatricality wafting thoughout her elegant songs, the strains of sweet melody tempered with a seriousness of purpose that, once you sign on and let go, opens one intriguing door after another. Notes, beats and White's airy voice seem to be suspended in air, a closeness that defies the spaciousness and spareness of the production. Every word is right at your ear, each sound handpicked (or plucked) with the backing percussive sounds adding both subtle punctuation and rhythmic flow. The lyrical themes are immense, the poetic approach oblique but thoughtful, as on the the drifting, layered ode to the Japanese tsunami "In the Water Where the City Ends" (video below) or the mesmerizing seven-minute title track, a duet with Andrew Bird that builds from violin-accented folk to a flurry of dense, weaving patterns of minimalist clatter.

 

Simone White - "In the Water Where the City Ends" (from Silver Silver)

Simone White - Silver Silver Album Sampler (Flowers In May, Silver Silver, Big Dreams and the Headlines)

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