Carter Family meets Addams Family in Easy Listening for Jerks, two new covers EPs by gold-certified prairie pickers The Dead South. Rich with quality finger picking and replete with harmonies, Easy Listening for Jerks offers many new moods of songs we think we know so well. Under a title that recalls the songwriting humour of Roger Miller and Steve Martin’s comedy stylings alike, the EPs offer a surprising and compelling mix of gravity and levity. Foggy Mountain Boys, but make it Beetlejuice.

Seattle-based seven-piece R&B/soul band The Dip ?makes their Dualtone Records ?debut with their new album ?Sticking With It?, out March 4, 2022. Self-produced by the band and recorded at their self-made studio in Seattle's Central District, the new album puts forth the groove-heavy, richly detailed sound the band has become known for, expertly matching their sophisticated musicianship with a strikingly loose energy. ?

The sole, full length album from Loney Hutchins's most productive era in the 1970"s. Tracked over 3 days in '79 at Lee Hazen's Studio by the Pond by Jack 'Stack-a-Track' Grochmal- the resulting country rock album was too folksy for LA and too electric for Nashville. Featuring a rhythm section from Dolly Parton's live band during her 'Jolene' period, and searing hot country licks, this reissue is restored from the original 2" multitrack tapes, including two never before heard tracks. CD comes in digipak format.

Filthy, belligerent and obnoxious, Midnight make music to start fights to. Since 2003, one-man-band Athenar has been churning out an ungodly racket, dropping countless demos, splits and EPs, and in 2022 he returns with Midnight's fifth full-length, Let There Be Witchery. Delivering more of what can be expected from his demented mind, it is a catchy mixture of black and speed metal and dirty punk rock, and it is relentlessly compulsive. "I always want it to be loud and nasty," he asserts. "That kinda thing never gets old with me. How funny will that look to see me at age 77 - if I reach that point - sitting on the porch blasting Hellhammer?"

2022 release. This World Is Going To Ruin You. Engineered and produced with Grammy winning producer Will Putney of Graphic Nature Audio in April 2020, just weeks into a global shutdown, to create the band's twelve track full length album. Featuring guest appearances from artists Geoff Rickly, Jeff Smith and Bones, as well as the original artwork and typography of Autumn Morgan. While the band's 2018 full length debut Errorzone received praise from Pitchfork stating "sets the tone for one of the year's most exhilarating heavy records.," This World Is Going To Ruin You will be hailed as it's own formidable beast. "Every release is like it's own universe," the band explains. "On Errorzone, we made a departure into another universe, sonically and visually. It was very futuristic and hi-energy and there were lots of elements we tapped into in order to fulfill our vision of that universe."

2022 release. How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars is an introspective record of songs which were written alongside those that appeared on Ignorance. It is intended not to be a follow up, but to be a companion piece, a piece of reflection and quiet, meant to hold stillness in the aftermath. It was recorded live, as a performance; an improvisation, with a group of Toronto jazz musicians. I imagined it as a record of ballads; simple, pure, almost naive, but speaking to many of the same realities as Ignorance does. I see the two albums as two halves of the same coin; the moon and sun, a photograph and a photonegative.

Band of Horses’ sixth album and first record in more than five years.  Sonically, the album is a return to their earlier work and the kind of raw ethos that lies at the heart of Band of Horses. Emotionally intense, both on a personal and elemental level, on Things Are Great we find band founder Ben Bridwell more autobiographical than he’s ever been on record detailing the nebulous frustrations and quiet indignities of relationship changes and what a person will do to make things right.

Jazztronica duo Blue Lab Beats make their full-length Blue Note Records debut with Motherland Journey, an album years in the making that celebrates pushing boundaries, taking risks, and overcoming adversity. Following their appearance on 2020's Blue Note Re:imagined project and their 2021 EP, We Will Rise, this new album is a star-studded affair featuring the duo (producer NK-OK and multi-instrumentalist Mr DM) joined by collaborators including Ghetto Boy, Tiana Major9, KillBeatz and more.

2022 release from the former lead guitarist of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers. External Combustion is Mike Campbell's second as a band leader, following up Campbell & The Dirty Knobs' 2020 critically acclaimed debut album, Wreckless Abandon. Co-produced by Campbell and George Drakoulias, the album was recorded at Campbell's home studio, Hocus Pocus Recorders in Los Angeles.

12th studio album from New Orleans' sludge metal pioneers "existing in a genre of one!" (Metal Hammer)

Seattle-based seven-piece R&B/soul band The Dip ?makes their Dualtone Records ?debut with their new album ?Sticking With It?, out March 4, 2022. Self-produced by the band and recorded at their self-made studio in Seattle's Central District, the new album puts forth the groove-heavy, richly detailed sound the band has become known for, expertly matching their sophisticated musicianship with a strikingly loose energy. ?

The sole, full length album from Loney Hutchins's most productive era in the 1970"s. Tracked over 3 days in '79 at Lee Hazen's Studio by the Pond by Jack 'Stack-a-Track' Grochmal- the resulting country rock album was too folksy for LA and too electric for Nashville. Featuring a rhythm section from Dolly Parton's live band during her 'Jolene' period, and searing hot country licks, this reissue is restored from the original 2" multitrack tapes, including two never before heard tracks. Pressed on standard weight, single pocket LP.

Filthy, belligerent and obnoxious, Midnight make music to start fights to. Since 2003, one-man-band Athenar has been churning out an ungodly racket, dropping countless demos, splits and EPs - and in 2022 he returns, delivering a catchy mixture of black metal, speed metal, and dirty punk rock. "I always want it to be loud and nasty," he asserts. "That kinda thing never gets old with me. How funny will that look to see me at age 77 - if I reach that point - sitting on the porch blasting Hellhammer?"

Limited colored vinyl LP pressing. "You're born into the world as a blank canvas. As you meet people and experience things, you're getting stained and torn up. " That's the concept behind the new record from Vein. Fm, This World Is Going To Ruin You. Recorded with Grammy winning producer Will Putney of Graphic Nature Audio in April 2020, just weeks into a global shutdown, and featuring guest appearances from Geoff Rickly, Jeff Smith and Bones, as well as the original artwork of Autumn Morgan, This World Is Going To Ruin You is a fully realized version of the band's darker and more disgusting inception of metallic hardcore.

Band of Horses’ sixth album and first record in more than five years.  Sonically, the album is a return to their earlier work and the kind of raw ethos that lies at the heart of Band of Horses. Emotionally intense, both on a personal and elemental level, on Things Are Great we find band founder Ben Bridwell more autobiographical than he’s ever been on record detailing the nebulous frustrations and quiet indignities of relationship changes and what a person will do to make things right.

Jazztronica duo Blue Lab Beats make their full-length Blue Note Records debut with Motherland Journey, an album years in the making that celebrates pushing boundaries, taking risks, and overcoming adversity. Following their appearance on 2020's Blue Note Re:imagined project and their 2021 EP, We Will Rise, this new album is a star-studded affair featuring the duo (producer NK-OK and multi-instrumentalist Mr DM) joined by collaborators including Ghetto Boy, Tiana Major9, KillBeatz and more.

MIKE CAMPBELL & THE DIRTY KNOBS - EXTERNAL COMBUSTION - Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs have announced they will release Campbell's second album as a band leader, following their 2020 critically acclaimed debut album, Wreckless Abandon, on March 4. The new album, titled External Combustion showcases Campbell & The Dirty Knobs' evolution, pushing the band to a new level, jumping ahead in vision and drive, proving the first record was no one-shot deal.

12th studio album from New Orleans' sludge metal pioneers "existing in a genre of one!" (Metal Hammer)

8 x GRAMMY-winning artist FINNEAS returns with a new song, “A Concert Six Months From Now,” which is the first track from his debut solo album, Optimist. The album features 12 new, never before heard tracks, plus the previously released, “What They’ll Say About Us,” a heartbreaking ballad written in lockdown as a moving dedication to human strength and connection when faced with life’s tribulations. FINNEAS will also be heading out on tour in North America in the fall of 2021.

Like pausing a VHS tape, music freezes the frenetic motion of daily existence. Even if just for an instant, it calms the feedback loop of routine, engages respite, and provides perspective. Siphoning guitar transmissions and a dynamic vocal push-and-pull through a lens of cinematic production, Lo Moon deftly balance expansive soundscapes and eloquent songcraft. The Los Angeles based quartet—Matt Lowell, Crisanta Baker, Sam Stewart and Sterling Laws - ultimately use music to make sense of each day on their sophomore offering, A Modern Life [Strngr Recordings/Thirty Tigers].

“It’s about survival’’ observes Matt. “Navigating through all that’s thrown at us. Maintaining who we are and where we want to be. Music itself has been so powerful for us in our own survival, it can change everything in an instant. As a band, we’ve got a lot of reverence for it and strive for it. We don’t take it for granted.”

They never have either…

In 2016, Lo Moon materialized as a fan and critical favorite with the buzzing “Loveless.” It paved the way for their 2018 self-titled full-length, Lo Moon, which NPR hailed as ‘’shimmering, immersive and otherworldly. As intimate as it is anthemic’’. Meanwhile, Variety attested, “It possesses a rare balance of pop-inflected songwriting and dense atmospherics that hold each other in check rather than clashing.” Beyond acclaim from The New York Times, NPR, Los Angeles Times, The Sunday Times, NME, Noisey and more, Billboard named them among “10 Rock & Alternative Artists to Watch.” Between amassing over 50 million streams, the band performed alongside The War On Drugs, Glass Animals, Phoenix, and Air in addition to gracing the bills of Governors Ball, Lollapalooza, SXSW, All Points East and more. The group also made their late-night television debut on Jimmy Kimmel LIVE! followed by The Late Late Show With James Corden.

Following a tour with CHVRCHES, the musicians entered the studio with producer Yves Rothman (Yves Tumor, Miya Folick) to record what would become the next body of work. Various elements fell into place as they also officially added Sterling to the fold in the studio. Their old friend Chris Walla (Death Cab For Cutie), who co-produced their debut, eventually joined them for some of the finishing touches.

In the end, Lo Moon might just inspire you to enjoy A Modern Life a little more.

‘’The journey of making a record is always winding, every artist will tell you that. We found that all we needed was the connection to each other and the commitment to believe in the music and emotion in the four of us. Great art has the ability to transform, and transport and we know how powerful that can be. We hope this record does that for you and can’t wait to play it live. That will be the moment this journey feels truly complete.’’ says Matt. 

The songs of Still Life were written in quiet moments between tours and recorded away from Texas in Ontario with Canadian musician and producer Daniel Romano. The phrasing and tones recall John Cale, The Kinks, Richard and Linda Thompson-like-minded artists of the late '60s and early '70s, another era of transition and innovation. Still Life is an offering of deliberation, an exposé of conscience, a confirmation that creation is an act of hope.

Metronomy’s new album Small World is a return to simple pleasures, nature, and an embracing in part of more pared down, songwriterly sonics, all while asking broader existential questions: which feels at least somewhat rooted in the period of time during which it was made – 2020. Finding appreciation in nature and our roots, while reappraising the things we value as we get older are all things that are part and parcel of the human experience: though it has all felt accelerated and emphasised in this past year or so. Through the tumultuous ebb and flow of the years, Metronomy continues to endure, and Joe Mount’s ability as a songwriter, arranger and producer shines through on Small World, evergreen.

Nonesuch Records releases Ghost Song, the label debut of singer/songwriter Cécile McLorin Salvant, on March 4, 2021. Ghost Song features a diverse mix of seven originals and five interpretations on the themes of ghosts, nostalgia, and yearning. Salvant says, “It’s unlike anything I’ve done before—it’s getting closer to reflecting my personality as an eclectic curator. I’m embracing my weirdness!” Cécile McLorin Salvant plays four shows at SFJAZZ in February and two nights featuring the music of Ghost Song at Jazz at Lincoln Center in May.

Snotty Nose Rez Kids is a Canadian hip-hop duo of Haisla (indigenous) descent from Kitimat, BC, composed of rappers Yung Trybez & Young D. Life After, tackles a lot of the lows the group felt with their career stalling due to COVID and mental health issues that have impacted them due to isolation, suicides, and deaths in their community. SNRK intends to get personal with their lyricism, much like their first 2 albums, yet shed a positive light and provide some much-needed empowering messaging.

Nilüfer Yanya runs head first into the depths of emotional vulnerability on her anticipated sophomore record Painless. Recorded between a basement studio in Stoke Newington and Riverfish Music in Penzance, the record is a more sonically direct effort, narrowing her previously broad palette to a handful of robust ideas. Yanya's debut album Miss Universe (2019) earned a Best New Music tag from Pitchfork and saw support tours with Sharon Van Etten, Mitski and The XX.

2022 release. Colorado metal force Allegaeon return with their sixth studio album, Damnum.

Nobody’s Home is the first full length album project from the UK artist who made his solo debut with the 2018 mixtape Badkid and subsequently released the six track EP Will You Be My Yellow? in September of 2019. Bakar's music is a melting pot of indie, rap, rock, and punk and the young musician even labelled his music style as "schizophrenic.” In an interview with Complex, Bakar explained his iconic sound, "If people saw me and presumed the kind of music I make, 90% of them would say rap or hip-hop. I could be on every single playlist and feel at home there.”

Band of Horses’ sixth album and first record in more than five years.  Sonically, the album is a return to their earlier work and the kind of raw ethos that lies at the heart of Band of Horses. Emotionally intense, both on a personal and elemental level, on Things Are Great we find band founder Ben Bridwell more autobiographical than he’s ever been on record detailing the nebulous frustrations and quiet indignities of relationship changes and what a person will do to make things right.

Bitchcraft was born in a move from New York City, where Bitch had lived for 15 years, to a log cabin in the woods. There was all the time in the world to make art, and it was there, in the cabin, that Bitch began to write some of the songs that would appear on Bitchcraft. 'It gave me space to think about the biggest version of myself that I could be,' she says of those early days in the cabin. The songs she wrote were a departure from anything she'd ever written before, and she began to craft huge pop tracks with the help of her trusty violin. Then, she moved to LA and Bitchcraft began to shapeshift again. In the time that followed, Bitch assembled a coven to complete it. She called on Anne Preven (Beyonce, Madonna, Demi Lovato) and God-des who helped her crystalize her vision in terms of writing and production. She called on Roma Baran (Laurie Anderson) to produce the violins on 'Polar Bear.' She called on Melissa York (Team Dresch, The Butchies) and Faith Soloway (Transparent) to co-write a couple of the songs. The resulting record is one that is full of glorious pop tracks that go in unexpected directions. Bitchcraft is like Joni Mitchell set to a click track, it's queer Cyndi Lauper. It's neon pink, in your face, ready to hex you with its brilliance. It's an unbelievably fun record that is extremely capable of breaking your heart a little bit. It also makes you think: about the state of the world, about evil politicians, about what it means to exist as a woman, and how to find joy along the way.

'Antidawn' reduces Burial's music to just the vapours. The record explores an interzone between dislocated, patchwork songwriting and eerie, open-world game-space ambience. In the resulting no man's land, lyrics take precedence over song, lonely phrases colour the haze, a stark and fragmented structure makes time slow down. 'Antidawn' seems to tell a story of a wintertime city, and something beckoning you to follow it into the night. The result is both comforting and disturbing, producing a quiet and uncanny glow against the cold. Sometimes, as it enters 'a bad place', it takes your breath away. And time just stops.

UK eight-piece caroline's eponymous debut album often cascades with force like an avalanche, squalling and rumbling on the edge of all-out collapse. At other points they slip back into impossibly fragile moments of quiet - a simple bassline or a rattle of snare the only sound amid a dark sea of silence. caroline know exactly the right balance between restraint and release. These songs are expansive and emotive pieces, their rich palette drawing on a mixture of choral singing, Midwestern emo and O'Malley and Llewellyn's roots in Appalachian folk.

"Sometimes things sound much better when there's empty space," says Llewellyn. "Sometimes you might populate [a song] with too many things and forget that an element on its own is enough." Elsewhere on the record the band have employed a collage-like technique, combining snippets of lo-fi recordings from a myriad of different locations - a barn in France, the members' bedrooms and living rooms, the atmospheric swimming pool in which they also filmed sublime live sessions for `Dark blue' and `Skydiving onto the library roof' - with more traditional group sessions at the Total Refreshment Centre and their studio in Peckham.

The growth that began as a scrappy guitar band above a pub many years ago is still continuing. caroline's astounding debut album is merely the first step.

Caroline by Caroline