Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood - Anti

One of the hardest working singer-songwriters in the game is named Katie Crutchfield. She was born in Alabama, grew up near Waxahatchee Creek. Skipped town and struck out on her own as Waxahatchee. That was over a decade ago. Crutchfield says she never knew the road would lead her here, but after six critically acclaimed albums, she's never felt more confident in herself as an artist. While her sound has evolved from lo-fi folk to lush alt-tinged country, her voice has always remained the same. Honest and close, poetic with Southern lilting. Much like Carson McCullers's Mick Kelly, determined in her desires and convictions, ready to tell whoever will listen.

And after years of being sober and stable in Kansas City - after years of sacrificing herself to her work and the road - Crutchfield has arrived at her most potent songwriting yet. On her new album, Tigers Blood, Crutchfield emerges as a powerhouse - an ethnologist of the self - forever dedicated to revisiting her wins and losses. But now she's arriving at revelations and she ain't holding them back. Produced by Brad Cook, the album features MJ Lenderman, Phil Cook, and Spencer Tweedy.

Aoife O'Donovan - All My Friends - Yep Roc Records

LP pressed on Opaque Yellow vinyl and includes an autographed insert! The follow-up to Aoife O'Donovan's 3x Grammy nominated album, Age of Apathy, All My Friends is based around a collection of songs Aoife wrote, inspired by women’s suffrage and the passage of the 19th amendment. The music is expansive with orchestral arrangements, choral vocals and a variety of instruments that create a sonic soundscape beyond anything Aoife has done in the past. Special guests include Anaïs Mitchell, Sierra Hull, The Westerlies, The Knights and the San Francisco Girls Choir.

Charlie Parr - Little Sun - SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS

Over the last couple of decades, Charlie Parr has crisscrossed the world on tour more times than one can count. He also has released over a dozen albums of his songs, acclaimed for their poetic simplicity. Little Sun, his most ambitious album to date, was recorded with Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, My Morning Jacket) and features Parr augmenting his raw and affecting songs with stunning full-band arrangements. The remarkable backing band here includes Marisa Anderson, Victor Krummenacher, Andrew Borger, and Asher Fulero. Masterfully channeling the philosophical and transcendental qualities of the blues, Parr takes us on a journey through the winding streets of his imagination.

Gary Clark Jr. - JPEG RAW - Warner

Gary Clark Jr.’s forthcoming album entitled JPEG RAW, his fourth studio release,
marks a grand step in his musical evolution…. A powerful and expansive artistic statement.

While retaining the deep and true resonance of his blues foundations and guitar virtuosity with subtlety yet conviction, he reaches well beyond this time.

The emphasis here is on song and studio craft without losing the rawness of his young legend. (Rolling Stone Magazine called him, The Chosen One).

The music is dense and adventurous with a more cohesive synthesis of his eclectic musical  palette.  Hip samples, Thelonious Monk and Sonny Boy Williamson decorate flourishes of African,  World Music, even Jazz while merging with blues , rock, R&B and rap; familiar areas he has ventured before, this time with more unity forging a fresh new style.  Clark’s lyrics are  pointed, deeply personal, outspoken and socially conscious with occasional forays into  rap and spoken word from Clark himself.  The sonics are immersive verging on modern groove-oriented psychedelia with hip-hop driven beats in verses giving way to anthemic choruses, rich with power-chording and wide fuzz riffage.

Songs like “Maktub”, “JPEG RAW”, “This Is Who We Are”, “Hyperwave” and the epic 10-minute Habits, break fresh ground defying categorization in the ever corporatized, predictable “alt” music world.  The co-written Stevie Wonder duet, “What About The Children” feels like an immediate classic that could have lived on Innervisions or Talking Book if not for Clark’s fuzzed out riff and hip-hop pocket.

Clark has always had swagger and sex in his sound and very dangerous hands when wielding 6 strings. JPEG RAW is all of that and breaks new ground that is both thrilling and inspiring on every level.