I went on vacation for a week and was busy this Friday. So maybe Sunday will work better for this. Anyway, to catch up on last week, here’s what caught my attention on Friday, February 16:
Gaby Moreno — Dusk. Another fine album from this really solid singer-songwriter.
San Fermin — Arms. Very promising new album from the Ellis Ludwig-Leone led collective with fine vocals from Allen Tate and Claire Wellin,
Frontier Ruckus — On the Northline. Another excellent album from this one of a kind band that combines clever wordplay with picaresque stories from suburban Detroit.
Park Ki Hun — Journey. Very very very conventional jazz sounds from a Korean ensemble I know nothing about.
Varsity — Souvenirs. Very easy to listen to jangle pop.
And here’s what I found on Friday, February 23:
Hurray For The Riff Raff — The Past Is Still Alive. Alynda Segarra is one of my favorite songwriters and they once again have produced a fine album of personal/political despairing/hoping songs.
Real Estate — Daniel. A Real Estate sounds like nothing else out there. Feels very promising.
Laetitia Sadier — Rooting for Love. The latest solo album from the Stereolab vocalist, whose voice transports me nicely.
Album Spotlight - Katy Kirby
Blue Raspberry is Kirby's second album after her very promising bedroom pop debut, 2021's Cool Dry Place. This time her delicate voice is paired with a fine backup band and the production manages to complement her voice without overwhelming it. The sound threads that needle deftly, starting on the first song, "Redemption Arc," which starts with Katy's unadorned voice accompanied by a close-miced piano. The song opens up like a flower and builds as the backup instruments come and Katy acidly toasts her friend/lover's progress: "You're doing the work now, you're trying so hard/Oh, this one goes out to/Your redemption arc."
Kirby has said this album was inspired by her first queer relationship and all the ups and downs of falling into and out of love are presented here. Her lyrics are always witty and the songs here are filled with metaphors about artifice, and fences, and sparkly things that don’t always stand up to scrutiny. In the standout title track, she compares her lover to the fake fruit flavor ("A fluorescence that it seems she has absorbed/From the lights of the laboratory she was surely born in"). In "Cubic Zirconia" she calls her lover the "prettiest mermaid in the souvenir shop" and compares her to fake diamonds ("When they're up against your throat/You know they shine just as well").
Kirby goes back repeatedly to the metaphor of the crystal on almost every song -- it's something manufactured and when you look through it your vision is distorted. But at the same time, there's a lot of euphoria of falling in love here too. On "Party of the Century" that euphoria is there in abundance, though it takes a turn at the end as she compares her lover to a sunset, a snowstorm, a drought, and finally a war. My favorite song on the album is "Wait Listen." Kirby's wicked lyrics ("Good neighbors make good fences/If you pile them end to end") combine with excellent backup band to create a great song.
The album wraps up with a marvelous short coda called "Table." In a seeming nod to her religious background, she starts with a line from the 23rd Psalm ("He prepares a table for me"). But the band quickly takes off with sound that reminds me of Neutral Milk Hotel while Kirby adds one more crystal metaphor ("He pours a pool of salt in my hand"). The song feels like a struggle to find her place in the faith she was brought up in ("Let me fix you a plate/We can find you a place to sit down") and it ends with an enigmatic line, "Have you ever tried trying to run out of everything you got."
I loved Kirby debut album and I'm glad to see her songwriting evolve on this one.
Next week
I don’t have a huge list of new albums to check out on March 1. I see there’s a collaboration between Bruce Hornsby and yMusic, plus a new album from Paula Cole. This may be a week where I discover a new artist who has something excellent to discover.