A fine day. A day on which a new Brittany Howard album drops is absolutely a day to celebrate. And some more interesting music by other artists as well. January is over and the Grammy’s have been handed out — it’s time for Fridays with tons of new releases. Speaking of the Grammy’s, it’s awesome that they finally figured something out that I’ve known since about 1990: that a healthy majority of high quality music is being produced by women.
Here’s what caught my attention today:
Brittany Howard — What Now. Her first since 2019’s Jaime and I can tell this is a good one. This will need several listens to fully appreciate, but I liked my first listen a lot.
Helado Negro — Phasor. Another really strong album. I’m not sure I can figure out what category Roberto Carlos Lange’s music belongs in, but he’s got a great voice and a unique sound.
Madi Diaz - Weird Faith. This is promising too. A singer-songwriter who’s willing to get pretty raw in her songs. She reminds me of Indigo De Souza and does so well in this style of music.
Chelsea Wolfe — She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She. The only “new to me” artist on this week’s list. And, well… I don’t know, it’s pretty dark for my taste — gothy trip hop is not really my thing. But I’m willing to give it a few more tries.
Album Spotlight
My plan was to dig into Katy Kirby’s excellent Blue Raspberry, but I want to give that album another week to percolate — stay tuned next week. Instead, this week, I’m simply going to list my top 10 of January — roughly in this order.
Marika Hackman — Big Sigh
Lizzie No — Halfsies
Bill Ryder-Jones — Iechyd Da
The Vaccines — Pick-Up Full of Pink Carnations
Katy Kirby — Blue Raspberry
Sprints — Letter to Self
Sarah Jarosz — Polaroid Lovers
Sean Shibe — Profesion
The Smile — Wall of Eyes
Brothers Brown — Nowhere Left to Go
Next Week
I’ve got San Fermin (Arms) and Gaby Moreno (Dusk) definitely in my sights. Also, banjo genius Bela Fleck has a new project inspired by Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue that seems fascinating — it will be released on the 100th anniversary of its premiere performance.