We here at These Subtle Sounds have been working to navigate the new world we inhabit as best we can, trying to figure out what we can do to keep carrying the music flame. We typically and historically have focused on covering live music – and we’ve certainly written about some livestreams – but we’ve realized that there are other services we can provide. As part of this, we’ll begin to do a weekly rundown of a few new releases we think you should hear. For now, we’ll break it down into the following categories:
- New Albums
- Singles
- Recent Releases
There are some natural biases in this rundown, as I (Matt) will likely do most of the writing/recommending. I have a long preference for the worlds of americana, indie rock, and old school rock and roll/soul, though I will certainly mention recent releases I’ve enjoyed that don’t fall under these thematic umbrellas. These are not reviews and will sometimes represent limited listens per album, but just a suggestion for the sake of exploration.
Another small note: if you like something and you have the means, please pay for it beyond your chosen streaming services. Streaming services do not provide musicians with reasonable payment for their work. While we include Spotify due to streaming’s ubiquity, we have also linked Bandcamp and artist stores (where applicable) below.
We most recommend purchasing direct from the artist, but appreciate that Bandcamp’s practices have undoubtedly been the best of the large-scale digital music services. If you purchase from such a service, we strongly recommend waiting for a Bandcamp Friday (a staple of quarantine life so far) when they provide all of the income to musicians.
Brand Spanking New Albums
A Small Death by Samantha Crain
I remember discovering her first album, Songs in the Night, back in 2009, when I barely considered myself an adult – married with a job, but mostly a child nonetheless – and the way the songs held these deep little truths sung/spun with imagery of an open place. She continued to expand her sound, building wide open tapestries with pointed truths, and yet I think A Small Death may just be the most important record she’s made. It’s a record about survival and recovery, about having the foundations of a life so shaken that it feels beyond repair. A shattered thing. These songs are often sad, but there’s a perpetual unstated arc of redemption, of absolutely explosive beauty. Sonically, the songs flutter between country, americana, pop, and nearly everything in between, but the core of the record is this sense that, if we survive, we can stare down any demons that seek to overwhelm us.
My Love is a Hurricane by David Ramirez
This record takes the best of Ramirez and furthers his foray into a sound no one else is making. He continues to build on his americana chops (that focus on the lyrics) and keeps adding a love for synths and the 80s (such as on We’re Not Going Anywhere), with a little bit of something slinky that feels like R&B (maybe touches of gospel) added to the mix. As always, his smoothly gruff voice sits at the top of the mix – absolutely as it should be, especially given how massive it is live – and every song lives and breathes with the power of his delivery. Of everything released recently, Ramirez’s record might be the one I most want to hear live.
Gaslighter by The Chicks
Formerly with “Dixie” in the name, The Chicks finally have some new music in the world (14 years!), almost too-perfectly named Gaslighter (we, as a nation, have been and continue to be victims of manipulation tactics consistent with gaslighting); while it has a political edge to it, Gaslighter sounds like a deeply personal record, absolutely (and appropriately because his behavior is inexcusable) eviscerating Natalie Maines’ ex-husband multiple times. The Chicks flip the script on the traditional country-song expectation for women to stand by their men, especially on the lead single “Galsighter” and its follow-up “Sleep At Night” (personal favorite after a few listens).
In truth, this record has at least 5 songs that should dominate country ”radio”, but most stations won’t play them because all of the power is held by someone who dislikes The Chicks and their message: currently, after Liberty Media and iHeart merged, 850 radio stations, Sirius XM, Pandora, and a big chunk of LiveNation are now all in the hands of essentially one man (John Malone). Without any doubt, this merger will continue to negatively impact the diversity of listening options. But for now, go find The Chicks. Enjoy the hell out of this record. And then, if you’re so inclined, vote for the folks who are interested in knocking down attempts at building monopolies.
Lianne La Havas by Lianne La Havas
Five years since her last album, La Havas returns with her strongest and thorniest album yet. Self-produced and held close, these songs breathe more than anything she’s ever released; she tells stories over tight-stepping rhythms, her voice languorous in verses, exploding when it needs to, and undeniably powerful, beautiful, and sexy. La Havas continues to transcend genre, though plenty will find touchstones to tether her sound. It is a quick candidate for record of the year.
Ultimate Success Today by Protomartyr
Throughout the course of their career, Protomartyr has been the quintessential postpunk outfit that shouted misery into existence and, by the end of the songs exploded it away. The world may indeed decide this is the last album Protomartyr ever releases – a damn shame, but a reality for many musicians in the wakes of covid-19 and careless capitalism – but yet again, Joe Casey sings so many modern anxieties into a a comprehensible space that feels like a true letting loose, an honest catharsis.
We Have Amnesia Sometimes by Yo La Tengo
In the way that Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley, and James McNew always have, this EP (released across 5 days, 1 song per day) provides a kind of language for being. Their music has always been about tensions, sometimes unstated or understated, and other times loudly and gratingly apparent; We Have Amnesia Sometimes is a meditative, freewheeling thing. Not everyone will love it, but those who do will shoot it into their ears.
New Singles
“Snow Cover” by Micah E. Wood
A slow-dancing beauty of a song about staying inside with nowhere to go. Written before quarantine, it feels as prescient as anything Wood has written yet. Sonically, it has some of those old-school meets new-school flourishes that I think of as quintessentially his sound, but mostly it is just a beautiful song for staying in, making dinner, and dancing.
“AEIOU” by Wye Oak ft Brooklyn Youth Chorus
Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack can do no wrong, whatever they touch. This is a single from the forthcoming EP No Horizon, and a song about the boundaries of language. I find it uplifting, beautiful, and cannot wait for the new EP.
“Now You Want to Live in the Light” by Land of Talk
A good friend of mine first introduced me to Elizabeth Powell’s music more than a decade ago, and though I already loved him, it certainly deepened my love. This is the 5th single from the forthcoming Indistinct Conversations, and I won’t even hazard a guess to its meaning, but damn if it doesn’t feel like a beautiful and tense poem.
“Lure Mice Condemn Erase” by John Vanderslice
One of the kings of indie rock (he’s produced everybody), his own music is often glimmering pop that presaged all the heirs of his world. His upcoming EP Eeeeeeeep represents his first time working exclusively on a computer, and though that sounds like it shouldn’t work, it absolutely does.
“Break” by Julia Stone
Oh, person, if this is what to expect from Stone’s new record, I am here for it. Shimmery, jarring, dark, and catchier than a batting practice with a thousand outfielders, this song is immediately massive and built for filling large spaces. Shit, if you built an atmosphere in the stars, it might not be big enough.
“Distant Axis” by Matt Berninger
The incendiary frontman of the saddest white-collar indie band ever (and I fucking love them, y’all), Berninger released his second single from the forthcoming Serpentine Prison. The first single (same name as the album) never hooked me, but “Distant Axis” is exactly the song fans of The National could possibly hope to someday here in the 9:30 Club. Please support any legislation designed to help venues and musicians.
Recent Releases
- That’s How Rumors Get Started by Margo Price
- Healing is a Miracle by Julianna Barwick
- XOXO by The Jayhawks
- The Waterfall II by My Morning Jacket
- Women in Music, Pt. III by HAIM
- Mordechai by Khruangbin
- Country Westerns by Country Westerns
- Comma by Sam Prekop
- Like So Much Desire by Flock of Dimes
- Roll On by Water Liars
