Music Releases 06-09-23
Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit
Weathervanes [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Natural LP]
Vinyl: $29.99 Buy
A Jason Isbell record always lands like a decoder ring in the ears and hearts of his audience, a soundtrack to his world and magically to theirs, too. Weathervanes carries the same revelatory power. This is a storyteller at the peak of his craft, observing his fellow wanderers, looking inside and trying to understand, reducing a universe to four minutes. He shrinks life small enough to name the fear and then strip it away, helping his listeners make sense of how two plus two stops equaling four once you reach a certain age -- and carry a certain amount of scars.
“There is something about boundaries on this record,” Isbell says. “As you mature, you still attempt to keep the ability to love somebody fully and completely while you’re growing into an adult and learning how to love yourself.”
Weathervanes is a collection of grown-up songs: Songs about adult love, about change, about the danger of nostalgia and the interrogation of myths, about cruelty and regret and redemption. Life and death songs played for and by grown ass people. Some will make you cry alone in your car and others will make you sing along with thousands of strangers in a big summer pavilion, united in the great miracle of being alive. The record features the rolling thunder of Isbell’s fearsome 400 Unit, who’ve earned a place in the rock ‘n’ roll cosmos alongside the greatest backing ensembles, as powerful and essential to the storytelling as The E Street Band or the Wailers.
They make a big noise, as Isbell puts it, and he feels so comfortable letting them be a main prism through which much of the world hears his art. He can be private but with them behind him he transforms, and there is a version of himself that can only exist in their presence. When he plays a solo show, he is in charge of the entire complicated juggle. On stage with the 400 Unit, he can be a guitar hero when he wants, and a conductor when he wants, and a smiling fan of the majesty of his bandmates when he wants to hang back and listen to the sound.
Niall Horan's `The Show' - his third solo album and first since 2020's chart-topping `Heartbreak Weather' - will be released on June 9, 2023. Preceded by its lead single "Heaven," the album matches the pure emotion of his globally beloved past work with a powerful new element of soul-searching reflection. Each vinyl copy of `The Show' includes a randomly selected print of a letter handwritten by Niall about a song from the album.
Jenny Lewis’ fifth solo album, Joy’All arrives June 9th. Joy’All finds the singer-songwriter embarking on a new era, in a new town – and on a new label, as she joins the iconic roster of Blue Note/Capitol Records. While Joy’All pulls from a bounty of sonic inspiration – from classic soul to ‘90s R&B, as well as country and classic singer-songwriter records – the album’s rich, intimate and warm live sound is the hallmark of eight-time GRAMMY-winning producer Dave Cobb. Recorded at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A, Joy’All includes new single “Psychos” and the previously released single “Puppy and a Truck.”
“As we enter into The Age Of Pleasure, “Lipstick Lover” is our freeassmothafucka anthem inspired by f.a.m. for f.a.m. This is our oasis made with love, rooted in self acceptance, throbbing in self discovery, and signed with cherry red kisses from me to you. ”
- Janelle Monáe
Janelle Monáe, music’s foremost freeassmuthafucka, has shared her scintillating new single, “Lipstick Lover,” available now.
Arriving on the heels of her showstopping Met Gala appearance, “Lipstick Lover” heralds the arrival of Monáe’s hugely anticipated new album, THE AGE OF PLEASURE, due out June 9th. Pre-orders/pre-saves – including limited edition vinyl – are available now.
THE AGE OF PLEASURE also includes the acclaimed new single, “Float (Feat. Seun Kuti + Egypt 80).” Hailed by Pitchfork as “swaggering, brass-heavy…the sound of a top-tier talent doing a little victory dance,” the track is joined by an official dance video.
Janelle Monáe is without question one of the most celebrated artists of the modern era, an 8x GRAMMY® Award-nominated singer, songwriter, producer, performer, and fashion icon known worldwide for her inimitable style and visionary sound. With multiple celebrated albums, THE ARCHANDROID (2010), THE ELECTRIC LADY (2013), and DIRTY COMPUTER (2018), numerous critically-acclaimed theatrical and television performances, and her unwavering activism for social justice and the LGBTQIA+ community, Monáe continues to be one of the most compelling and important artists of this generation.
3 LP Packaging: 3 LP 180-gram heavy vinyl edition, 20 new songs.
Christine and the Queens presents his new album PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE. Includes “To be honest” and guest appearances from Madonna and 070 Shake.
A lot of people don’t realize that Freddie has actually been in the game for over a decade and came in on the same Freshman XXL cover as Meek Mill, Nipsey Hussle etc…
Yet he was the only one with no major Label Backing or Artist Affiliation and his partnership with Warner is his very first solo Major Label deal.
With that being said, he feels as if he has made it thus far in his career without compromising his morals, Creative Integrity and Principals as a Man all while resisting temptations ….Hence the title “$oul $old $eparately."
Milky Chance
Living In A Haze [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Ocean Blue LP]
Jakob Armstrong (youngest son of Green Day frontman Billie Joe) began playing guitar at 7 years old and honed his craft privately until he met friends with like-minded tastes in music and Ultraman action figures. Produced by Chris Coady (TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Beach House), Ultra Q’s My Guardian Angel offers a deep sonic palette that varies between pop-punk and synth-pop, displaying Armstrong’s songwriting talents with the musicianship of Kevin Judd and brothers Chris and Enzo Malaspina.
Dream Wife
Social Lubrication [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Deluxe Red & Black LP]
Vinyl: $33.98 Buy
Following the menacing but heartfelt return single "Leech", Dream Wife return in 2023 with their long awaited third album Social Lubrication. It's a rock-heavy, call-to-arms for empathy, in a world still propped up by patriarchal systems and underhand codes of silence. "Social Lubrication is built from foundations of trust, honesty & friendship developed over years of making music, experiencing life, love & rocking out together; wall to wall with hot n heavy dirty rockers, sultry, dangerous, vulnerable, untamed, feral, political statements with a healthy dose of silliness. Exploring the alchemy of attraction; lust for life; importance of community; calling out patriarchal structures in society & having a party while we're at it! Horny at the end of the world..."
Teeming with melodic epiphanies and layered sounds, Squid’s second album O Monolith is a musical evocation of environment, domesticity and self-made folklore. Like its predecessor, 2021’s critically acclaimed, UK number 4 album Bright Green Field, it is dense and tricksy – but also more warm and characterful, with a meandering, questioning nature. A sense of open conversation is cultivated: this is unmistakably music made by friends, but it’s not exclusionary – they’re inviting you in to listen with them. Expansive, evocative and hugely varied, O Monolith retains Squid’s restless, enigmatic spirit, but it still holds surprises for those familiar with Bright Green Field. It’s a reflection of the outsized progression of a band always looking to the future. Like its namesake, O Monolith is vast and strange; alive with endless possible interpretations of its inner mysteries.
Written from 2020 to 2022 in between London and Liverpool, ‘Space Heavy’ took shape over the course of Archy’s commutes between the two cities where he was splitting his time. Befitting an album quite literally written on the commute between the two places he called home, Archy found himself fascinated by the notion of “the space between” – the space haunted by dreams of love, touching a narrative of lost connection, losing people and situations to the guillotine of the universe. ‘Space Heavy, indeed.’ The result is an album that inhabits the deepest reaches of the subterranean sonic world that Archy has constructed over the course of his career as King Krule. In it you hear a generational artist stepping into the height of their artistic powers – the auteurism apparent on his debut ‘6 Feet Beneath The Moon,’ the shapeshifting sonic palette of ‘The OOZ’ and the primality of ‘Man Alive!’ all coalesce into a wizened, dynamic body of work that reveals new elements with each listen. In line with Archy’s interest in the space between, it is an album wherein the negative space demands the same attention as the positive space. If one is willing to wade into the mire the reward is rich.
From the tender-hearted “Jinzou Maria” to the rumbling and raucous “Yurei Zanmai”, the songs of Hagata bear an eerie yet somehow familiar sensation. Japanese pop tones, Serge Gainsbourg grandeur, folk whisper, and Brazilian surf rock all mix into the psychedelic stew. Blending past and present, from Canada to Japan, multiple lives lived at once, each track carries a sense of change, impact, of having been marked in an intimate way. And yet the force behind that marking is always just out of grasp, a wisp, a ghost, an energy, a spirit that compels you to keep reaching.
My Morning Jacket
MMJ Live Vol. 3: Bonnaroo 2004 [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Thunderdome (Cloudy & Clear) 2LP]
Vinyl: $34.99 Buy
My Morning Jacket, touring behind It Still Moves, took the stage at Bonnaroo on a scorching hot day in the summer of '04. Ominous dark clouds rolled in early in the performance. "I'll never forget it," reflected Jim James "We're playing & the sky just rips open & rain starts pouring down. People are losing their minds... Everybody is petrified that we're going to get electrocuted, but it was such a transcendent moment that we just didn't care." It would become one of the festivals most iconic sets.
Jess Williamson
Time Ain't Accidental [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Hot Pink LP]
Vinyl: $29.98 Buy
Time Ain’t Accidental is the sound of a woman running into life and art head-on, on her own terms, for the first time in a while. Blending the vocal power and emotional immediacy of mainstream country with the honest transmissions of writers like Townes Van Zandt and Terry Allen, the album's reckoning with loss, isolation and personal reclamation signals a tectonic shift for Williamson: from someone who once made herself small to a woman emboldened by her power as an individual.
Recorded at Blueprint Studios in Manchester in celebration of their 40th Anniversary, Be Opened By The Wonderful is a celebration of James’ most loved and rare tracks, reimagined with a 22-piece orchestra and 8-piece choir and including one brand-new track, “Love Make A Fool.” Tim Booth says “Life begins at 40. For our midlife euphoria we recorded a double orchestral album of some of our deepest cuts.” Indie Exclusive White 180-gram 2 LP.
The Gold Experience, released in 1995, was the first full-length Prince album to be credited to his unpronounceable symbol and was released at the most public, heated stage of his battle with the major label industrial complex. With the word “SLAVE” written on one cheek, Prince shined on the opulent ballads “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World” and “Gold” and the defiant single “[eye] Hate U,” and the album earned widespread critical acclaim. Available as black vinyl double LP.
The Truth is widely regarded as one of Prince’s most underappreciated hidden gems. The album was originally released as an accompaniment to the 1998 triple album Crystal Ball, which marked the first time that Prince released an album totally independently. The Truth was also the first Prince album to be labeled “acoustic,” though it does contain electronic instruments and elements, and it gave listeners an unprecedented chance to hear his songwriting and voice in a stripped-down presentation. Available on black vinyl as a single LP.
Various Artists
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel : Season 5 (Music From The Original Amazon Series)
CD: $14.99 Buy
The acclaimed, award-winning Prime Video series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, returns for its final season with a brand-new soundtrack. In the fifth and final season, Midge finds herself closer than ever to the success she's dreamed of, only to discover that closer than ever is still so far away. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Season Five (Music from the Amazon Original Series) features timeless classics as well as eight new original cast recordings and covers. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season five will premiere its first three episodes on Prime Video on April 14, with a new episode dropping every Friday until the series finale on May 26.
Tears For Fears debut album The Hurting was released on March 7, 1983 and peaked at #1 on the U.K. albums chart in its second week of release. It reached platinum status in January 1985 and contains three Top 5 U.K. singles – “Mad World,” “Change,” and “Pale Shelter.” This LP has been mastered at Abbey Road Studios and cut at half-speed for superior quality.
EXTREME return in 2023 with “SIX”, their first album of new music in 15 years. The multi-million selling hard-rockers present 12 tracks ranging from funk-tinged bangers to soaring ballads as only EXTREME can deliver. Spearheaded by the songwriting team of vocalist Gary Cherone and guitarist Nuno Bettencourt (who blessed the world with chart-toppers like “More Than Words” and “Hole Hearted”), “SIX” is an essential addition to EXTREME’s discography. The album opener and first single “RISE” will immediately fire up legions of anxious fans with its signature riff. Elsewhere, “OTHER SIDE OF THE RAINBOW” showcases EXTREME’s gift for passionate acoustic magic. EXTREME are back with “SIX” – everything the fans have been waiting for.