{"id":9999,"date":"2023-10-04T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-04T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=9999"},"modified":"2023-10-03T19:36:41","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T23:36:41","slug":"music-update-september-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/04\/music-update-september-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Music update, September 2023."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Months with five Fridays always take me a bit longer to write up, since they have more new releases to work through, and I was away for the weekend as well so I finally caught up after writing this in bits and pieces over several days. Anyway, we got some big new album releases in September from Speedy Ortiz, Jorja Smith, Corinne Bailey Rae, The National, Romy, Olivia Rodrigo, Slowdive, Royal Blood, The Coral, and more, and I\u2019m still working through many of them. Here are some of the best new tracks I found this past month. I\u2019ll also note that the 2023 Mercury Prize went to jazz artists Ezra Collective for their November 2022 album <em>Where I\u2019m Meant to Be<\/em>, which I hadn\u2019t heard before; it\u2019s cross-over jazz with lots of great guest appearances, but I don\u2019t think it would have made my best albums of the year list. As always, if you can\u2019t see the Spotify widget, you can <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/playlist\/3vz0xD0dYJ5CjAb0biEYx5?si=454c1fc31dc74f7e\">access the playlist here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Klaw&amp;apos;s September 2023 new music update\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/playlist\/3vz0xD0dYJ5CjAb0biEYx5?si=454c1fc31dc74f7e&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Speedy Ortiz \u2013 Ranch vs. Ranch. <\/strong><em>Rabbit Rabbit<\/em>, the band\u2019s fourth proper LP, came out appropriately on the first of the month, and finds the band in peak form. The album itself is a little uneven, but has several standout tracks where Sadie Dupuis\u2019 off-kilter vocals and the band\u2019s key changes meld with some heavier riffing to provide what makes them unique, songs where the sense of melody is always teetering on the edge of musical disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Kid Kapichi \u2013 Let\u2019s Get to Work.<\/strong> I thought about seeing Kid Kapichi in Philly last month, but I had no interest in the main act (Nothing But Thieves) and couldn\u2019t see spending the coin for an opening act after I\u2019d shelled out for Arctic Monkeys a week earlier. Anyway, this track sounds more like the band\u2019s debut album <em>This Time Next Year<\/em> than their still strong but slightly lesser second record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jorja Smith \u2013 Falling or Flying.<\/strong> This is the title track from Smith\u2019s sophomore album, which comes five years after her Mercury Prize-nominated debut <em>Lost and Found<\/em>, and the fourteen tracks (plus two skits) show tremendous growth in her musical style while her voice remains the greatest attraction. I love this song, \u201cShe Feels,\u201d \u201cGO GO GO,\u201d \u201cTry Me,\u201d and \u201cLittle Things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Slowdive \u2013 alife.<\/strong> Slowdive\u2019s second post-hiatus album <em>everything is alive <\/em>seems destined for a slew of best-of-2023 lists, as the eight-track LP has the band performing at the level of their album <em>Souvlaki<\/em>, a classic of the original shoegaze movement. Apparently they played here in Philly a few days ago while I was out of town. Alas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Griff \u2013 Vertigo.<\/strong> Griff has released three major singles since her debut album came out, including the collaboration with Sigrid on \u201cHead on Fire,\u201d so I presume we\u2019re getting another album from her at some point. She\u2019s one of the most exciting pop artists recording today and if this isn\u2019t quite up to \u201cBlack Hole\u201d and \u201cOne Night\u201d it\u2019s still one of the best pure pop tracks of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Susanna Hoffs \u2013 I Don\u2019t Know Why.<\/strong> Hoffs, who has been a guest on the Keith Law Show, follows up her latest album of covers <em>The Deep End<\/em> with this \u2018lost\u2019 cover of a 1999 Shawn Colvin track, and it probably belonged on the record because it\u2019s an excellent showcase for her voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Lauren Mayberry \u2013 Are You Awake? <\/strong>Another Keith Law Show guest, Mayberry released her first solo single early last month and then embarked on a small tour (no Philly show, alas). This is a mournful piano ballad, which is fine but I don\u2019t think is the best vehicle for her voice. I\u2019m hoping we get some more diverse tracks as she releases more material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sampha \u2013 Only<em>. <\/em><\/strong>It\u2019s funny; when Sampha won the 2017 Mercury Prize for <em>Process<\/em>, I listened to the album and thought it was just okay, with some interesting vocals but nothing all that award-worthy. Since then, the album has grown on me and I\u2019ve loved the two singles so far ahead of his sophomore album <em>Lahai<\/em>, due out on October 20<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Romy \u2013 She\u2019s on My Mind.<\/strong> Romy Madley Croft of the xx just released her debut solo album <em>Mid Air<\/em> in September to wide critical acclaim, although I think it\u2019s just a good dance-pop record. \u201cShe\u2019s on my mind but I wish she was under me\u201d is one of the lines of the year, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>flowerovlove \u2013 Next Best Exit.<\/strong> flowerovlove is an 18-year-old musician\/singer and model from London who produces bedroom pop, here with a great hook and a sound that feels full despite fairly sparse arrangements. She\u2019s released an EP and a few singles so far but this was my first encounter with her music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Baby Queen \u2013 Quarter Life Crisis.<\/strong> This South African singer announced last month that the release of her debut album, also called <em>Quarter Life Crisis<\/em>, will be pushed back to November 10<sup>th<\/sup>. It\u2019s indie-pop with a snarky edge to the lyrics, although I think the words to this particular track are more hackneyed than some of her previous songs \u2013 it\u2019s not that novel to hit age 25 and wonder about the direction of your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Corinne Bailey Rae \u2013 Erasure.<\/strong> I loved Bailey Rae\u2019s first big single, \u201cPut Your Records On,\u201d but lost track of her music after her second album, <em>The Sea<\/em>, which came after the accidental death of her husband from an overdose of methadone and alcohol in 2008. She recorded just one more album, in 2016, and didn\u2019t release any more music until this year, with the September release of her fourth album, <em>Black Rainbows<\/em>, a massive departure from her previous work. It\u2019s a loose concept album inspired in large part by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/09\/14\/arts\/music\/corinne-bailey-rae-black-rainbows-review.html\">artifacts she saw at the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago<\/a>, which holds a large collection of \u201cAfrican and African-diaspora materials,\u201d and sees Bailey Rae working through genres she\u2019s never touched before, even flirting with punk-tinged metal, and blending them into a weirdly cohesive whole. I think it\u2019s going to be one of the most acclaimed albums of the year and it\u2019s certainly one of the most interesting and ambitious, which makes it hard to pick any one song to represent it on a playlist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>James BKS feat. Ang\u00e9lique Kidjo &amp; Nomcebo Zikode \u2013 Best We Can.<\/strong> James BKS released his second album, <em>Wolves of Africa Part 2<\/em>, in September, and the top track is this collaboration with legendary Beninese singer Ang\u00e9lique Kidjo, winner of five Grammy Awards, and South African singer Zikode, who also won a Grammy in 2020. James BKS was briefly signed to Idris Elba\u2019s record label but went on his own after a few singles, and both of his albums blend the music of his native Cameroon with broader Afrobeat sounds and some elements of African hip-hop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Kills \u2013 God Games. <\/strong>This noise\/indie-pop duo is set to release their first album since 2016 on October 27<sup>th<\/sup> with <em>God Games<\/em>, which is their first new material of any sort since the 2018 single \u201cList of Demands (Reparations).\u201d I\u2019ll always be partial to \u201cSour Cherry\u201d from 2008\u2019s <em>Midnight Boom<\/em> but the first three singles from this album are all pretty solid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Drums \u2013 Isolette.<\/strong> The chorus to this song has to be the earworm of the month, for better or worse. Good luck getting it out of your head. The sixth album from this solo project of Jonathan Pierce, <em>Jonny<\/em>, drops on October 13<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Soft Science \u2013 Stuck.<\/strong> The fourth album from this California post-shoegaze band, titled <em>Lines<\/em>, came out last month, and there\u2019s a lot of early Lush or Slowdive to their sound. Their debut album <em>Maps<\/em> made <a href=\"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2018\/12\/19\/top-18-albums-of-2018\/\">my top ten of 2018<\/a>. I wasn\u2019t a shoegaze fan when the genre first emerged in the early 1990s, but got more into it when file-sharing opened a whole world of new tracks to me at the end of that decade, and it\u2019s only grown on me since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pastel \u2013 Your Day.<\/strong> Credit to MLB.com\u2019s Matthew Leach for posting about Pastel on social media, which is how I found them. This is the sound I loved from the DMA\u2019s on their first two albums or even on some early Arctic Monkeys tracks \u2013 big, anthemic rock that isn\u2019t afraid to be a little bombastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SPRINTS \u2013 Up and Comer.<\/strong> This Irish punk act announced that their second album, <em>Letter to Self<\/em>, will arrive on January 5<sup>th<\/sup>, with this (I presume) third single off the record my favorite so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Van William \u2013 Getaway Car.<\/strong> Another former podcast guest of mine, this one going back to my ESPN days, William is also the lead singer\/guitarist for the band Waters, although he\u2019s only released music as a solo artist since 2015. This is his first new track of any sort since 2018 and definitely more in line with his EP <em>The Revolution <\/em>than his work with Waters or Port O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Del Water Gap \u2013 Quilt of Steam. <\/strong>Del Water Gap is Holden Jaffe, and I have to credit my daughter here, as she introduced me to his music. This catchy indie\/dream-pop single comes off his second album, <em>I Miss You Already + I Haven\u2019t Left Yet<\/em>, which came out on September 29<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Wong feat. Brasstracks \u2013 Flamingo.<\/strong> Wong\u2019s latest album <em>The Lucky One<\/em> is just a blast, a fun ride through various funk, jazz, and pop styles with a great roster of guest artists. \u201cCall Me Wild\u201d is still my favorite track from the LP but this instrumental might be the runner-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Kojaque feat. Biig Piig \u2013 WOOF.<\/strong> Kojaque is an Irish rapper who teams up with the Irish singer Jessica Smyth, aka Biig Piig, which is how I ended up finding this track; her vocals and the \u201880s R&amp;B music are the highlights here, more so than his rhymes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sundara Karma \u2013 Wishing Well.<\/strong> Very glad to have this British band, who are very much descendants of U2 and similar to Australia\u2019s Gang of Youths, back on the scene, even with a song as melancholy as this one. Their newest album <em>Better Luck Next Time<\/em> drops on October 27<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>milk. \u2013 I Think I Lost My Number Can I Have Yours?<\/strong> This Dublin band delivers despite the ridiculous pickup line in the song\u2019s title, with great harmonies in the chorus and a lush pop sound. They\u2019ve released about a dozen singles over the last four-plus years, but there appears to be an album called <em>London<\/em> in the offing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Roosevelt \u2013 Fall Right In.<\/strong> I was fairly sure I\u2019d had a Roosevelt track on a previous playlist, but I appear to have misremembered, or just confused him with another artist. He\u2019s a German synth-pop artist with some strong new wave influences, and this track especially reminds me of one of my favorite albums of this century, St. Lucia\u2019s <em>When the Night<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bombino \u2013 Alwane.<\/strong> Omara Moctar, who records as Bombino, is a Tuareg singer\/guitarist from Niger and a political activist, no relation to the great Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar but working in a similar genre with less Western influence to his music. Bombino\u2019s latest album <em>Sahel<\/em> came out last month, shortly after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2023\/09\/27\/1201956929\/bombinos-new-album-is-out-how-does-his-music-reflect-his-region-of-africa\">his family was evacuated from Niger\u2019s capital Niamey<\/a> during the military coup there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Geese \u2013 Jesse.<\/strong> The Brooklyn indie quintet followed up their sophomore album <em>3D Country<\/em> with an EP called <em>4D Country <\/em>that includes tracks from the same sessions, including this single, which very much fits with the same faux-country post-punk vibe of the album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anxious \u2013 Down, Down.<\/strong> The first new single from this Connecticut emo band since last year\u2019s <em>Little Green House<\/em>, which was one of <a href=\"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2022\/12\/21\/top-22-albums-of-2022\/\">my top 22 albums of 2022<\/a>, finds the quintet mining similar musical territory, with the same contrast between sung and screamed lyrics, with highly melodic guitarwork behind the vocals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Royal Blood \u2013 Shiner in the Dark.<\/strong> This duo\u2019s fourth album, <em>Stuck in the Water Below<\/em>, finds them \u2026 stuck in neutral, really. The album has garnered mostly positive reviews, but I think it\u2019s their least inventive and least compelling record to date, with nothing like \u201cOut of the Black\u201d or \u201cLights Out\u201d anywhere on the album. This track is probably the best one, but it\u2019s weirdly poppy for a band whose best moments were grounded in hard rock \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/music\/2023\/may\/31\/thank-you-royal-blood-for-heralding-the-death-of-real-music\">as bassist\/vocalist Mike Kerr will gladly tell you<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ratboys \u2013 Making Noise for the Ones You Love.<\/strong> Singer Julia Steiner sounds a lot like Waxahatchee, which I mean as a compliment, while this thumping track harkens back to some early Arcade Fire and has less of the alt-country trappings of a lot of Ratboys\u2019 other songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rival Sons \u2013 Sweet Life. <\/strong>If you like Greta Van Fleet, and I don\u2019t really know why you would, Rival Sons does it better, without trying so hard to sound like Led Zeppelin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wheel \u2013 Blood Drinker (Instrumental). <\/strong>This Anglo-Finnish progressive metal group put out a three-track EP called <em>Rumination<\/em> last November, and just released instrumental versions of the same three songs last month. I prefer this with the vocals, but I also find Wheel to be one of the most interesting metal acts recording right now so I appreciate the instrumental versions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Frankie and the Witch Fingers \u2013 Empire.<\/strong> This group is new to me but they\u2019ve been around for ten years, with their seventh album, <em>Data Doom<\/em>, dropping on September 1<sup>st<\/sup>. This track has a heavy King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard vibe, from the psychedelic rock aspects to the massive tonal and stylistic shifts through the song\u2019s seven minutes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Months with five Fridays always take me a bit longer to write up, since they have more new releases to work through, and I was away for the weekend as well so I finally caught up after writing this in bits and pieces over several days. Anyway, we got some big new album releases in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1328,1362,359,167,852],"class_list":["post-9999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-2023-in-music","tag-afrobeat","tag-alternative","tag-indie","tag-music","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9999"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10000,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9999\/revisions\/10000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}