Song Recommendations: 1/28/26
Some recently released music worth adding to your queue
"Always the Same," Cate Le Bon featuring St. Vincent
Describing it as a "cousin to the song cycle" of her recently released Michelangelo Dying album, Cate Le Bon couldn't find room for it on that record's track listing — so she decided to give it "a little more elbow room" and drop it as a single (whatever that means now) a few months later. I'm awarding her bonus points for not pulling the scoundrel's move of putting out a bullshit "deluxe edition," and extra bonus points for the silky, synthy way this track slinks around. I don't think I'd know St. Vincent was involved in this if I hadn't read her name in the credits, but the end result is still a nicely moody puff of gothic New Wave smoke.
"La journée va être chaude," Les Louanges
I didn't know I needed Québécois funk rock in my life until I heard this song, which Les Louanges mastermind Vincent Roberge describes as an outgrowth of his desire to "give the impression that the album is a living, breathing, screaming beast." What's French for "Nile Rodgers would approve"?
"Human Tears," Six Going on Seven
This Boston-based trio was supposed to be a Next Big Thing or something like it in the early aughts, when they toured with Jimmy Eat World and had a song on the Station Agent soundtrack. Denied the brass ring, they lay dormant for 20 years, and the time off didn't hurt; far from a nostalgia-pimping throwback, "Human Tears" pulses with the wary energy that only comes from a lifetime of lessons learned. Spiky, yet sleek; warm, yet discomfiting.
"Eat Your Greens," Parlor Greens
For some of you, all I need to say about this track is that it was released by Colemine Records. For those who aren't familiar with the wares peddled by this eminently trustworthy indie soul emporium, just try to imagine a world in which Booker T. and the M.G.'s had a Beatles-sized string of hits that sent shockwaves through generations of artists to follow. If none of that means anything to you and you need me to break it down even more, fine, here you go: Skin-tight pocket, stinging splashes of lead guitar, all the Hammond your heart desires. Ready to groove?
"For the Children (Fuck All)," Home Front
I didn't know I needed Canadian synth punk in my life until I heard "For the Children (Fuck All)," which blends the widescreen earnestness of early-to-mid '80s Big Music with the raw aggression of, well, punk. It might sound like an awkward combination, and I suppose it sort of is, but it's also one that's no less effective for its inelegance. Home Front is for the children (fuck all)!
"Who You Been Talking To," David Forman
I first fell in love with David Forman's voice in 1998, when I took a flyer on an exceedingly strange (and just as exceedingly wonderful) album called Largo, which united members of the Hooters with an odd sort of all-star cast in order to — shut up, let me finish — pay tribute to Dvořák's New World Symphony. Much later, I learned that Forman had been signed to Arista as a solo artist in the '70s, releasing one self-titled LP before fading into obscurity. Or so it seemed, anyway; in reality, Forman wrote songs for a variety of artists and did a whole bunch of other fascinating stuff that had nothing to do with finding fame as a rock star. Now, many years later, Forman's long-shelved second solo album is finally seeing the light of day, and I could not be more excited. Here's hoping this leads to more.
"Bravehearted," Bill Janovitz
When he isn't a bestselling author, Bill Janovitz is the frontman for '90s alt-darlings Buffalo Tom; when he isn't doing either of those things, he's a sporadically active solo artist. In recent weeks, he's been in the midst of a particularly active period on the latter front, due in part to grim current events; this particular track, which already feels like it was recorded in a different, slightly less brutalized world, was partly inspired by the murder of Renee Nicole Good. Since releasing "Bravehearted," he's already put out another EP, and if you know his work, you know you really can't go wrong with any of it. Buy it all here.
paul b
"Dead End," Snail Mail
Internet-approved critic Anthony Fantano has already dismissed this track — which represents Snail Mail's return from a five-year break that included vocal cord surgery and speech therapy — as a disappointment. If you've got any skin in the Snail Mail game, I suppose you might agree; for me, a withered old man who hasn't ever really spent any time with this artist's discography, it's a perfectly fine scrap of singer-songwriter stuff. Sometimes, the weight of expectations is unbearable.
"Attention Escapist," Tehom
Full disclosure here: Tehom is a one-person project spearheaded by the youngest offspring of Friend of Jefitoblog Bill Childs, a kid I've known from a great distance for something like 20 years. That slight conflict of interest notwithstanding, I'd pretty much always be interested in checking out a piece of music described as "metal mixed with Brian Eno," and this track does not disappoint. Indulge at full volume.
Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 18, 2017
"Snow Owls," Christopher Hoffman
It isn't every day you come across an album of solo cello pieces, and I reckon it's even less common to find yourself treated to a record as compositionally sound and sonically adventurous as Christopher Hoffman's REX. This album certainly isn't for everybody, but if you've got any kind of hankering for a piece of music that's thoughtful, haunting, and deliberately, defiantly apart from the mainstream, you might owe it to yourself to check it out. Start here.
"Streets of Minneapolis," Bruce Springsteen
It's been quite a few years since I thought of Bruce Springsteen as an artist I'd look to for trenchant social commentary. I suppose that was my mistake, because the guy who gave us "American Skin (41 Shots)" and The Rising has now slammed his finger back on the pulse for "Streets of Minneapolis," a response to the despicable brutality unleashed by the current administration against people they'd sworn to serve. It isn't a particularly subtle song, but these aren't subtle times; even if it sucked, which it does not, I'd still be inclined to recommend it here.