A week of excellent vocals and graceful production amongst other things.
Making Room for the Light is the Karma Chief debut from Bay Area-based singer-songwriter Mae Powell and it is a proper airy treat. Her jazz-rich vocals are just something else, totally enchanting as she coos, never forcing it or holding notes too long. Her voice is the main event, but the instrumentation and production are really smart, framing her perfectly as she moves through R&B, soul, retro-pop and even the odd country flavour. Good vibes guaranteed.
+ Available on a limited (and amazing-looking) ‘Moonlit Swirl’ vinyl pressing.
Esteemed Californian singer-songwriter Cass McCombs releases his eleventh studio record, Interior Live Oak, on Domino this week. From its more maudlin moments to the pretty and free-flowing, there is a fantastic energy and both lyrically and vocally, McCombs really is a standout. Across the record (a double, clocking in at over an hour) he is joined by some of his most longstanding collaborators in Jason Quever (Papercuts) and Chris Cohen, alongside NYC guitar slingers Matt Sweeney and Mike Bones. Again, a great flow to it and much to discover on repeat plays.
Marissa Nadler has stripped it all back on New Radiations, her self-produced tenth studio LP. It is an intimate collection and her voice really is hugely impressive over the woozy slide guitars and synths. It has some nice prickles of noise in there too.
Singer, songwriter, and virtuoso guitarist Molly Tuttle releases her fifth LP - So Long Little Miss Sunshine. Officially billed as a solo outing, she is joined by some serious Nashville players and this is high production.
+ Available on limited Pink vinyl.
Boston rock band Pile return with Sunshine and Balance Beams, a pretty expansive evolution of their sound. It’s not like they ditched the guitars, but the arrangements are really full here with all sorts of tones and timbres. Loads going on, some knockout moments.
+ Available on a limited ‘Boris Purple’ colour pressing.
We have a very limited number of Fat Dog’s Peace Song on 12”, backed by a glitchy jungle mix from TowerBlock1, the creative alias of Jimmy Cauty (The KLF/The Orb).
Lastly today, one that we can’t sell you but we still want you to check out. Return The Day is the debut EP from London’s gothic five-piece Dog Race and we had the honour of working with them on a Dinked first pressing. As we say, it sold out in record quick time, but we do encourage you to check them out and keep your peepers peeled for whatever they do next.
The week’s reissues include; Super Static Fever on Numero, early Bdrmm, Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter and Zambian superstar Alick Nkhata, who we have become pretty obsessed with!
