The Little Willies - For the Good Times

The Little Willies - Five years after their eponymous debut, the NY-based alt/pop and country/folk band returns with a new album featuring a dozen Nashville covers...Started nearly a decade ago as friendly compadres jamming at the Lower East Side outpost The Living Room, The Willies consist of platinum folk/pop songstress Norah Jones, guitarist Jim Campilongo, drummer Dan Rieser, longtime Jones associate and bassist Lee Alexander and singer/songwriter/guitarist Richard Julian // Release: For the Good Times (January 10, Blue Note) // Sounds like: Old school classics get an adoring if modern take from a group of musicians who obviously have an innate feel for these tear-in-your-beer relics...produced with an unpretentious and simple approach, it's clear that this modest little collection of country nostalgia isn't meant to be anymore than a lovingly handled side project -- and maybe that's why it works...

Quote: "I love playing country music. More than any other genre, it makes me feel at home." -- Norah Jones // What we like: while many country covers albums stress style over substance, Good Times rings true because it's the songwriting -- genre-busting gems of melody and soul -- that's at its warm, beating heart..."Remember Me" and the Kris Kristofferson-penned title track stand out as lovely roadhouse slow dances, Norah's smoky vocals wrapped around a classic country chorus...Perhaps the best known song, Dolly Parton's "Jolene" -- a staple of the Willies' live show since their early days -- closes the album in sweet style...

The Little Willies - "Remember Me" (from For the Good Times)

The Little Willies - "For the Good Time" (from For the Good Times)

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Christine Leakey - Tapping Trees in a Trinket Box of Treasure

Settle into that red velvet booth, light up a Lucky and immerse yourself in the nostalgic, gorgeously cinematic indie art/pop of Tapping Trees in a Trinket Box of Treasure, the forever-in-the-works debut album from Canadian songwriter chanteuse Christine Leakey. If Duffy is the chirpy Dusty Springfield of the modern retro pop movement and Amy Winehouse it's dark and bedeviled folk/blues sister, Leakey is its Julie London, trading ripped fishnets and streetwise charms for the cushy penthouse and patent leather pumps, offering purring sultry come ons, slow sambas and heavy eyelids. "Lovely" sounds lifted from some lost 60's soundtrack, a cool cocktail of Latin rhythms, fluttering flutes and perfectly cheesy piano runs. "Here I Stand" coos and entices, a 007 Bond-age theme caught in a slow, twisty dream.

Christine Leakey - "Here I Stand" (from Tapping Trees in a Trinket Box of Treasure)

Christine Leakey - "Lovely" (from Tapping Trees in a Trinket Box of Treasure)

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The Maccabees - Given to the Wild

The Maccabees - Brighton-based indie band's self-described "cinematic" dreamscape of a third album is already getting the Brit critics buzzing: "stunning" gushes The Sun, "majestic and sublime"...Said to be influenced by the disparate likes of Kate Bush, The Stone Roses and David Bowie, the new project, says the band, is "the first time what we really wanted to sound like on record"...Tim Goldsworthy and Bruno Ellingham (Massive Attack, LCD Soundsystem) produced // Release: Given to the Wild (January 9, UK; US: TBA) // Sounds like: mature, thoughtful and expansive, with elements of progressive art/rock, Wild moves easily from epic, arena-sized riffs to the most subtle and intimate moments..."We're all getting older", sings Orlando Weeks in lead single "Pelican" -- and apt line in an album that's all about a more cohesive approach, comfortable in its soul-bearing, poignancy and subtleties... 

Quote: "It's definitely an ambitious album. With the last record, while we were writing it, we'd look to play a few songs to people, just sort of gauge it. And with this one we didn't do that, we just ploughed through and concentrated on it, but with enough of a view to how it would translate." -- Guitarist Felix White // What we like: Lead single "Pelican" is a twitchy, breathlessly off-beat rocker with some killer harmonies and a melody that seems like one long, extended razor sharp hook..."Feel to Follow" jumps from a staggered beat into a lovely, off-kilter chord progression, layered harmonies and a jangle of skittering guitar lines...opening track "Child" exemplifies the album's unpredictable and evolving sound, shifting from nocturnal quiet and chiming notes to a frenetic finish...

The Maccabees - "Feel to Follow" (from Given to the Wild)

The Maccabees - "Pelican" (from Given to the Wild)

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Snow Patrol - Fallen Empires

Snow Patrol - Led by frontman/songwriter Gary Lightbody, Ireland's Snow Patrol has turned the concept of the "anthem ballad" (or is that ballad anthem) into a platinum sales strategy over five albums since the late 90's...it wasn't until the massive Grammy-nominated single "Chasing Cars" that the band achieved success in the U.S....New album is once again produced by Jacknife Lee and features guest vocals from DC fave Lissie on a handful of tracks along with string arrangements from Owen "Final Fantasy" Pallett // Release: Fallen Empires (11/14 UK; 01/10 US Universal) // Sounds like: while the band claims Empires is a dramatic new direction, outside of a more orchestral sound and some electronics the Patrol-men pretty much keep the traditional formulas intact: repetitive, gradually more grandiose chord progressions (usually four) overlaid with the barest of melodies...the effect can be powerful if limited in scope beyond the basic hook...

Quote: "I'm aware they're like nails down blackboard to some people. I do want to connect with people, even if I'm writing a really personal thing. Part of me must want my songs to be universal." -- Gary Lightbody on the band's biggest songs // What we like: New U.K. single "This Isn't Everything You Are" is everything that makes Snow Patrol appealing, simple songwriting basics, immaculate production touches and Lightbody's distinctive voice..."The Garden Rules" -- featuring harmony support from Lissie -- is our favorite by far, a slow-motion study in atmospherics and the power of a few, well-chosen piano notes...listen how Snow Patrol songs don't actually shift into a separate chorus, but rather repeat a line (often the song title) over the song's basic melody -- something we noticed the first time we heard "Chasing Cars" (and haven't been able to shake since)...

Snow Patrol - "This Isn't Everything You Are" (from Fallen Empires)

Snow Patrol - "The Garden Rules" (from Fallen Empires)

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Dear Reader - Idealistic Animals

Forget bittersweet reflections on relationships gone bad. For Dear Reader, AKA Cherylin MacNeil, this break-up is on a much grander scale: the fundamental issues of faith, purpose, randomness and destiny all figure into the dissolution of her discomforting life view -- big themes that make for the inventive and captivating album of indie alt-pop with Idealistic Animals. Originally a collaborative effort based in Johannesburg, MacNeil relocated her Dear Reader to Berlin, taking her struggle with a belief system gone awry and creating songs that expressed her new found independence: physical, emotional, spiritual. Released to acclaim in South Africa and Germany last month, MacNeil's Animal menagerie will be released in the U.K. on January 19 with a U.S. date TBD. Theatrical, unpredictable (sm)art/pop with traces of Regina Spektor in its cascading, twisting melodies and bulging kit bag of intricate, propelled instrumentation, Idealistic Animals restores our faith (at least) in the power of musical imagination. Videos after the jump...

Dear Reader - "MAN (Idealistic Animals)" (from Idealistic Animals)

Dear Reader - "MONKEY (You Can Go Home Now" (from Idealistic Animals)

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more January 10 New Releases

Christine Leakey - Tapping Trees in a Trinket Box...DC
Dear Reader - Idealistic Animals (UK) DC 
Red Wanting Blue - From the Vanishing Point
Run Dan Run - Normal
Snow Patrol  - Fallen Empires (US) DC
The Lemonheads (Evan Dando) - Hotel Sessions
The Maccabees - Given to the Wild (UK) DC
The Little Willies - For the Good Times DC