England in 1819 - Alma

A pair of classically-trained brothers -- Andrew and Dan Callaway-- and their musician father Liam form the familial nucleus of England in 1819, a Baton Rouge band that weaves distinctive chamber pop with muted post-rock drama. From swirling, densely layered melodies built on a grand symphonic scale to exquisitely-detailed piano and voice quietude, this is modern progressive music that wisely steers clear of pompous excess. Producer Mark Bingham and the Callaways keep the arrangements loosely restrained and, amidst the soaring passages and cinematic scope, surprisingly personal. Frontman and songwriter Andrew Callaway helps by keeping the vocals tethered to a less-is-more understatement, delivering songs like sublime "Waterfall" and "Skyscraper" more like stately pop hymns than just a series of grandiose crescendos. One of the most promising albums we've heard this year.

England in 1819 - "Waterfall" (from Alma)

England in 1819 - "Air That We Once Breathed" (from Alma)

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Julia Nunes - Settle Down

Julia Nunes - 23-year-old Rochester, NY native's head-turning ascent in the highly competitive world of aspiring singer/songwriters has been dramatic. Her witty, self-deprecating, brutally honest and hilarious tunes (and inspired covers) have garnered the ukulele-toting performer 50 million youtube views, a performance on Conan, an EP with fellow tube-sensations Pamplamoose, Lower East Side club dates that sell out with a single tweet and -- most importantly -- nearly $80,000 in funds from fans to record and market her new album // Release: Settle Down (2/28) // Sounds like: beneath the effervescent folk pop melodies, many stripped to demo-style simplicity, lie some pointed, acerbic lyrics that are both personal and sharply observational...Nunes' throaty alto can move from tender lullaby sweetness to bracing, double-shot belt without missing a beat...

Quote: "I don't think record sales happen because kids have to buy those records to get the music. They could easily download my music from wherever. But they see my videos, they know what kind of person I am, and I think they like me; that's why they buy my stuff from me and make it so I can continue doing it." // What we like: over the course of 18 tracks, we're taken with the more fleshed-out tracks like the thoughtful "Nothing's That Great", a polished gem sporting an impossible-to-resist chorus..."To The Damsels: Run" is as good as you hoped it would be, a kickin' rhythm tied to a glorious harmony...the video for "Stay Awake" pretty encapsulates Nunes' goofy, engaging charm...

Julia Nunes - "Nothing's That Great" (from Settle Down)

Julia Nunes - "Stay Awake" (from Settle Down)

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Anais Mitchell - Young Man In America

Anais Mitchell - Any doubts that the creative smarts behind 2010's impressive folk "opera" Hadestown -- a mix of Greek mythology and dust-bowl Americana -- might have peaked are easily dispelled with this intelligent, thoughtfully personal new work of storytelling inspired, she says, "by American manhood, British ballads and my father"...producer/musician Todd Sickafoose (Ani DiFranco, Andrew Bird) is once again at the studio helm // Release: Young Man In America (February 28) // Sounds like: Mitchell's distinctive, girlish voice serves as a counterpoint for her weighty themes of social unrest, gender identification, rootlessness and the ties to family and job, lovers and poets...the instrumental backing, touching elements jazz, folk and theatrical orchestration, is equally formidable and brilliantly realized...

Quote: “Isn’t it amazing to think what it would be like if you met your father or your mother as a young person your age, before they had children. Would you even get along? What would you talk about?” // What we like: rarely does music this remarkably personal and intimate sound so remarkably epic (with a small "e")...on songs such as "Tailor" or "He Did" the melodies are simply constructed and gloriously direct..."Coming Down", a stark piano ballad, reveals its nuanced magnificence one perfectly-constructed pattern of notes and line of lyrics at a time...listen to how "Shepherd" allows the music to breathe in its own space and time, Mitchell's lovely, morphing melodies (reminiscent of another more well-known Mitchell) slowly spinning and twisting over five-and-a-half languid minutes...

Anais Mitchell - "Shepherd" (from Young Man In America)

Anais Mitchell - Young Man In America Sampler (Tailor, Coming Down, Wilderness)

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Amelia White - Beautiful and Wild

Nashville's Amelia White returns with her fifth album of alt-country and Americana songcraft with her new Beautiful and Wild set to street February 28. Collaborating with noted drummer-turned-producer Marco Giovino (Robert Plant, Buddy Miller), White says that her new songs were written "in that nether light between dark and dawn, when the ghosts watch you from the window" as the songs touch on "everything from losing a close friend to an untimely death, to being lost and heartbroken on the road and praying to the muse to save your soul from darkness." Highlights promise to be an A.J. Croce duet on the gospel-tinged "Mercy", a reworking of Bryan Ferry's Roxy Music classic "More Than This" and the title track tribute to White's long time friend and famed songwriter, the late, Duane Jarvis.

Amelia White - "Sidewalks" (from Beautiful and Wild)

Amelia White - "Even Angels" (from Motorcyle Dream)

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The Wooden Sky - Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun

Toronto's countrified folk/rockers The Wooden Sky have honed their own particular rootsy style -- let's call it "North Americana" -- over the course of two full-length albums and a pair of EP's, including last fall's five-track City of Light. Forthcoming album, the wonderfully titled Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun (February 28 Canada, Black Box), follows up 2009's well-received If I Don't Come Back You'll Know I'm Gone. "Everyone had their eyes and ears open searching for new textures to play with," observes frontman Gavin Gardiner. "What began as a simple collection of nine songs quickly ballooned into an 18-song opus; 13 songs ended up making the record. It did come dangerously close to being a double album." Lead track "Child of the Valley" raises the anticipation factor mightily, a beautifully nuanced production that morphs from pulsing folk hymn to twanging rocker, southern-fried dual guitars lines lighting the way.

The Wooden Sky - "Child of the Valley" (from Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun)

The Wooden Sky - "Angelina" (from City of Light)

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Plants and Animals - The End of That

Third studio album from Montreal alt-rock/retro-pop indie trio Plants and Animals finds the sweet spot between their fresh and folky 2008 full-length debut Parc Avenue and 2010's self-described "louder and tougher" La La Land (an album we described as a "smart, often witty and head-shaking rush of an album.") Promising a less freewheeling and more concise approach, thanks in great part to honing a slew of demos prior to studio time, new album The End of That (February 28, Secret City) is led by focus track "Lightshow", a splendiferous riff-heavy folk/rock ditty that gradually kicks in and out of high gear, humming with rough precision and a blissfully fuzzed-out 60's guitar embellishment. For a special treat, dig back with us to "Tom Cruz", a song we gushed that "just may have one of the most incendiary classic guitar riffs of recent memory." Neil Young eat your heart out.

Plants and Animals - "Lightshow" (from The End of That)

Plants and Animals - "Tom Cruz" (from La La Land)

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Magnolia Memoir - The Perfect Crime

Singer/frontwoman Mela Lee and keyboardist/bandleader Alexander Burke are the founders and dual creative forces behind Magnolia Memoir, a genre-jumping (sm)art/pop band that's been a mainstay at L.A. folk/pop clubs like Largo and King King over the past couple of years. In possession of a voice that's part Billie Holiday smoky seduction and part Gwen Stefani coy pop vixen, Lee and her band swing, shake and strut their way through an evershifting melange of styles on their new album The Perfect Crime (February 28, Peak/E1), touching (and smashing through) alt/pop, jazzy, brassy soul and slow burning torch songs with unrestrained glee. Whether they're tackling an incendiary version of The White Stripes "My Doorbell" (video below), the wistful bluesy lament "Good Girl" or classic-sounding pop/soul rave-up "I Keep Falling", Magnolia Memoir keeps things sleek and playful -- though you know there's a slightly dark and demented lurking behind the smile, a ragged run in the nylons and a scuff or two in the patent leather pumps.

Magnolia Memoir - "I Keep Falling" (from The Perfect Crime)

Magnolia Memoir - "Good Girl" (from The Perfect Crime)

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Lyle Lovett - Release Me

Lyle Lovett - After 25 years of major label releases, it's only fitting that the legendary Texas songwriter's final project carry the title Release Me. But true to form, Lovett makes what is admittedly a mixed bag -- a couple of holiday favorites and some interesting covers that he's been playing live over the years -- into something worthwhile...k.d. lang duets on the showstopping title track // Release: Release Me (February 28, Lost Highway) // Sounds like: what could have been simply a somewhat disjointed (but 14-track generous) collection of songs nonetheless offers up multiple reasons why Lovett's cross-genre hopping -- country, gospel, folk, pop, jazz, blues, bluegrass -- makes for such an enjoyable and unpredictable listen...

Quote: On his newfound independence: "I’m thinking about it all different ways," he tells Rolling Stone. "I don’t know really how it’s gonna go, but I probably want to make my records myself and then figure out how to sell them after they’re made. (My label has) been great to me and they’ve given me my career, but I’m excited to see what’s next." // What we like: the tender ballad "Night's Lullaby", Celtic/bluegrass instrumental "Garfield's Blackberry Jam", slow, dramatic reading of Chuck Berry's "Brown Eyed Handsome Man"m upbeat and brassy take on Jesse Winchester's "Isn't That So" and fiddle-festive version of "White Freightliner Blues" by Townes Van Zandt.

Lyle Lovett - "Isn't That So" (from Release Me)

Lyle Lovett - "Baby It's Cold Outside" (w/ Kat Edmondson) (from Release Me)

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Fanfarlo - Rooms Filled With Light

Fanfarlo - Esoteric London-based indie outfit fronted by founder Simon Balthazar revels in adventurous and intricately textured alt/pop quirks -- imagine if David Byrne had graduated recently from some British art school...sleek and sophisticated -- let's call it "twee free" -- sophomore album follows up the '09 Reservoir, an album we described as "appealingly ramshackle with a buoyant, kitchen-sink charm...(translating) 80's influenced 'new wave' pop with a decidedly progressive, smartsy, artsy bent" // Release: Rooms Filled With Light (February 28, Atlantic/Canvasback) // Sounds like: over-caffeinated poly-rhythms are deeply embedded in the Fanfarlo DNA, percolating beats and Philip Glass-ian minimalism merging into jumpy, edgy chamber pop ripe for future improvisation...fortunately, the melodies are equally deft and nimble, breathless choruses and hook-laden lines sinking happily beneath the glittering instrumental surface...

Quote: "There's been a very inspiring crossover lately where people like Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Arvo Part are filtering into the world of pop music. I think we've been trying to use the orchestral parts of Fanfarlo more in that vein. For the actual songs themselves, they have a lot more to do with things from the late 70's and early 80's, things like David Bowie, Talking Heads, even Fleetwood Mac..." - Simon Balthazar // What we like: While the music has it's share of "serious" progressive flavors, the cerebral never dominates the exuberant spirit and jittery kick of songs like "Replicate" or the chameleon moods and enexpected turns of the brilliant "Shiny Things" (video below)...the sprinting "Deconstruction" is one of those songs that seems written as the soundtrack for a 2am highway drive...

Fanfarlo - "Replicate" (from Rooms Filled With Light)

Fanfarlo - "Deconstruction" (from Rooms Filled With Light)

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Erin Passmore - Downtown

Erin Passmore, the co-founding, song-writing multi-instrumentalist member of fine Canadian indie band Rah Rah takes a solo turn with Downtown, an eight-song EP of adventurous alt-pop arriving April 28 via Hidden Pony. With producer Matt Lederman (Holy Fuck, The Besnard Lakes) at the helm and musicians from the Montreal community, Passmore fleshed out her collection of stripped naked demos, veering from melodic Feist-ian songcraft ("Monster") to pensive acoustic reflections ("Captain") to sharply barbed tracks that bristle with just the right touches of rock-riffed dynamics (the title track, "Fall"). But our favorite is the opener "Into the Woods", an inspired stunner that manages to sound both intimate and epic at the same time, Passmore's upfront and center voice a warm, impassioned complement to the grand instrumentation building, then crashing around her.

Erin Passmore - "Into the Woods" (from Downtown)

Erin Passmore - "Downtown" (from Downtown) Stream the full EP here...

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Rose Cousins - We Have Made A Spark

Nova Scotia singer/songwriter Rose Cousins returns with her third album We Have Made A Spark (February 28, Outside), the successor to her exquisite 2009 release The Send Off. Named Contemporary Singer of the Year at the 2010 Canadian Folk Music Awards, Cousins delivers beautifully crafted songs of depth and intelligence in a voice of crystalline purity, even as the weighty subject matter -- notably on new lead track "The Darkness" -- digs into stark, shadowy emotional recesses. "It takes a deep breath and a bucket of courage to face the uncomfortable, painful things we work so hard to avoid," Cousins observes. "Reward comes from recognizing the obstacle exists and pushing through fear.” The sophisticated but unpretentious Spark was produced by Nachariah Hickman (Josh Ritter, Lori McKenna) and features a bevy of songwriter friends including Jennifer Kimball, Amy Correia and Edie Carey.

Rose Cousins - "The Darkness" (from We Have Made A Spark)

Rose Cousins - "I Were the Bird" (from the album The Send Off)

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more February 28 New Releases

February 28

Alabama 3 - Shoplifting for Jesus (UK)
Amelia White - Beautiful and Wild DC
Amy Ray (Indigo Girls) -Lung of Love
Anais Mitchell - Young Man In America DC
Anna Vogelzang - Canary In A Coal Mine
Beth Jeans Houghton - Yours Truly Cellophane Nose
Carolina Chocolate Drops - Leaving Eden
Dead Fingers (Kate Taylor/Taylor Hollingsworth) - S/T
Elliot BROOD - Days Into Years
England in 1819 - Alma DC
Erin Passmore (Rah Rah)- Downtown EP DC
Faithless - Passing the Baton: Live (CD/DVD) (UK)
Fanfarlo - Rooms Filled With Light DC
Green River Ordinance - Under Fire
Jay Farrar/Jim James/Will Johnson/Anders Parker - New Mutlitudes (Woody Guthrie Tribute)
Gabriel & The Hounds - Kiss Full of Teeth
Joy Askew - Drunk On You
Julia Nunes - Settle Down DC
Loreena McKennitt - Troubadours on the Rhine (Unplugged)
Lyle Lovett - Release Me (Covers LP) DC
Magnolia Memoir - The Perfect Crime DC
Memoryhouse - The Slideshow Effect
Mona - S/T
Nneka - Soul Is Heavy
Noam Weinstein - Clocked
Paul Kelly - The A to Z Recordings (Live Box Set)
Pink Floyd - The Wall (Deluxe)
Plants and Animals - The End of That DC
PT Walkley - Thriller
Rose Cousins - We Have Made A Spark DC
School of Seven Bells - Ghostory
Shellee Coley - Where It Began
Sophia Knapp - Into the Waves
Sophie B. Hawkins - The Crossing
The Cranberries - Roses
The White Buffalo - Once Upon A Time in the West
The Wooden Sky - Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun DC
Water Liars - Phantom Limb
We Have Band - Ternion
Xiu Xiu - Always