New Music Friday: 9/5/25

"It's Natural," Seth Avett
I doubt this is the first thing anyone was expecting to hear from Seth Avett, but there's nothing wrong with throwing a curveball, especially when you're this far along in your career. I'd rather listen to this than 90 percent of the M. Doughty catalog; if that isn't the most loudly ringing endorsement you'll ever see, you probably still get the idea.

"Love Song," Justin Bieber
About halfway through the charmingly sunny "Love Song," I realized the only thing keeping me from immediately adding it to this list was the fact that it's a Justin Bieber song. That's my problem, not his, so here you go.

"Words," Big Thief
This is at least the second cut from the new Big Thief album that's ended up in a post, and also the second cut from the new Big Thief album that makes me feel like I'm listening to Patty Griffin floating through space. This record is clearly scratching an itch I didn't know I had; also, we don't hear enough backward guitar solos these days, so bonus points for that.

"She Knows Me," Grant-Lee Phillips
Mr. Phillips is one of those acts who's been reliably doing more or less the same thing for the last 30 years, which unfortunately means that no matter how well he does it — and G-LP does it very well — it's easy to let it fade into the background after awhile. This is the first time I've peeked in to check on a new Phillips joint in some time; it's comforting to hear that his groove hasn't yet become a rut.

"Jelly Man Kelly," Becky Buller featuring Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn
I'm including this here for two reasons: One, unless you're a total asshole, you love the original version, which James Taylor wrote with his daughter Sarah and recorded for the classic Sesame Street record In Harmony. Two, Becky Buller pulled in the big guns for her cover. You don't need an excuse to listen to Béla Fleck and/or Abigail Washburn do a goddamn thing, but I'll take this one anyway.

"Moisturizing Thing," David Byrne
If you are a person who loves all of David Byrne's solo albums, then I think I'm a little afraid of you. On the other hand, I always make a habit of listening to whatever the hell he's gotten up to with each new release, and while significant chunks of his just-released Who Is the Sky? LP don't do much for me, I think "Moisturizing Thing" presents him at a delightfully strange zenith. At the very least, I think you'll get a chuckle out of it.

"Poor and Sharp-Witted," Robbie Fulks
Speaking of uber-talented singer-songwriters who are so quietly reliable that it's easy to lose track of what they're doing, here's Robbie Fulks, nearly 30 years removed from kicking Nashville in the teeth with "Fuck This Town" and still at or near the top of his game. This is such a perfect Fulks song that it's hard to believe he hadn't written it already, but I guess you could probably say that about half of his catalog.

"Yeehaw," Grits
This one comes courtesy of Friend of Jefitoblog David Eastman, who describes the first track on the band's new album as sounding like "Radiohead jamming with the Beatles while listening to Hippocampus." This is not the first track on the album, which I suppose means I'd rather hear people shouting "yeehaw" at regular intervals than listen to Radiohead jamming with the Beatles while listening to Hippocampus. Moral of the story: Grits cover a fair bit of sonic ground, and do it well, all while sounding like a band you might have heard on a college radio station in the mid-'90s.

"Stray Bird," Joe Henry and Mike Reid
This is my most eagerly anticipated release of the week, despite the fact that I've been listening to it and loving it since April or May. My fondness for Joe Henry's work is well known around these parts, and runs deep enough that I confess I was somewhat disappointed when he told me he wasn't singing on this record; consider it high praise that Reid — a supremely talented songwriter whose pen has contributed to Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me," among many others — waved those objections away within the first few moments of the opening track. Like I keep telling people, the duo's new album Life and Time sounds to me like a lost Jimmy Webb record, which is only the highest of praise. You really want to hear this.

"Heartbreak," Ivy
This is a record that's already high on the radar for numerous Friends of Jefitoblog due to the involvement of the late Adam Schlesinger. My personal mileage varies throughout the Ivy and Fountains of Wayne catalogs, which can often be a little too sweet for my tastes, but when he was part of a band or project, you knew right away that the songwriting was not to be ignored. Like a lot of Schlesinger-affiliated stuff, "Heartbreak" sounds like it might have been a big hit in a different (better) time and place.

"Pistachios," JayWood
Pulled from JayWood's new Leo Negro LP, "Pistachios" comes across like a chill party track, but the jazz-tinged beat supports lyrics with more on their mind than gin and juice; instead, he's rapping about ego's relation to art, and how a hunger for the spotlight can be something of a double-edged blade. If that makes the song sound like a slog, don't worry; this is some of the most sonically colorful, purely fun alt-hip-hop I've heard in a while.

"Let's Walk Down to the Swamp Together," Okkyung Lee
Known as a cellist, Lee takes a detour with her new album, one whose contours are readily apparent through its title: Just Like Any Other Day (어느날): Background Music For Your Mundane Activities. A sort of home ambient project, the record will prove an alluring listen for anyone who appreciates minimalistic but still deeply evocative music, and this song — which was apparently inspired by Lee reading translated Sherlock Holmes mysteries as a child in South Korea — is my favorite so far.

"Crush, TX," Red Rum Club
Do your musical diet need more badass rock songs with horns? Mine sure as shit does, and "Crush, TX" is piles of fun besides — there's a winking humor and (deservedly) cocky energy to this thing that begs you to keep turning up the volume. You may find yourself hitting repeat several times. Red Rum Club rules.

"Brand New Me," Saint Etienne featuring Confidence Man
Saint Etienne are apparently calling it quits with their new album, sort of; although they aren't breaking up, per se, they also aren't making any new music. Or at least any further "album-length statements." Caveats aside, this is a sad time for fans, so it's nice that they at least have "Brand New Me," whose sprightly mod horns remind me that I still really like Swing Out Sister's "Breakout" while still being plenty of fun in their own right.

"Street Light Moon," Sons of Sevilla
According to the label, Sons of Sevilla wrote and demoed the songs for their new album during a three-week stint spent on a fishing trawler docked at a marina in Gibraltar. Whether this actually happened or it's just cool-sounding press kit fodder isn't really the point; I mention it because it perfectly captures the Laurel Canyon-adjacent vibe that's sweating through this song's pores (and presumably the rest of the record, based on that Seals and Croft-approved cover artwork). Perfect for late summer.

"Hiss," Teen Creeps
Here's another reminder that a lot of young rock bands appear to be basing their sound on records that were in heavy rotation at college radio stations in 1995, and also another reminder that this isn't such a bad thing. I mean, yeah, you could just go listen to Sleepy Eyed or Sounds Like Easy Listening instead, but "Hiss" is a pretty good time too, and you can't quibble with Teen Creeps' influences, however blatantly obvious they might be.

"Spiders," Lola Young
I know I've featured Lola Young in this space before. I'm doing it again because "Spiders" is just that good — and a perfect showcase for the raw, volcanic vocal power that sets her apart from so many other singers in her peer group. If you're looking for a mental picture before you dive in, I suppose I'd suggest imagining Adele with a pack-a-day habit and without the adult contemporary sheen.