After a brief holiday break where the only new albums released were reissues of Sousa marches, July comes thundering back with this eclectic assortment. Teaming up with Daptone associate Leon Michels, Clairo’s third album Charm lives up to its title with confident, breezy pop. On Evolve, Phish revisit live staples and Trey Anastasio solo cuts for their sixteenth studio album. Atmospheric singer-songwriter Cassandra Jenkins crafts a stylish folk- and jazz-influenced set on My Light, My Destroyer. Seattle indie-funk combo The Dip expand their horn-based sound on Love Direction; a reinvention of their soulful party band mode.
First introduced on a Diplo collaboration last year, Sturgill Simpson fully commits to his Johnny Blue Skies persona on the dark and dusky debut, Passage du Desir. LA-based Cigarettes After Sex channel heartbreak into Lynchian dream pop on their third LP, X’s. A self-taught guitarist, New Orleans’ Odie Leigh offers charismatic melodies on Carrier Pigeon, her debut. Havana mambo revivalists Orquesta Akokán employ Congo dialect and deeply spiritual lyrics on Caracoles.
Listen for spotlights on new records like these (and more) every week on the XPN Morning Show and Indie Rock Hit Parade.
Clairo – Charm
CHECK OUT: “Sexy to Someone” “Nomad”
Phish – Evolve
CHECK OUT: “Evolve” “Hey Stranger”
Cassandra Jenkins – My Light, My Destroyer
CHECK OUT: “Only One” “Delphinium Blue”
The Dip – Love Direction
CHECK OUT: “Doing the Thing” “Love Direction”
Johnny Blue Skies – Passage du Desir
CHECK OUT: “Swamp of Sadness” “Right Kind of Dream”
Cigarettes After Sex – X’s
CHECK OUT: “Tejano Blue” “Dark Vacay”
Odie Leigh – Carrier Pigeon
CHECK OUT: “Conversation Starter” “My Name on a T-Shirt”
Orquesta Akokán – Caracoles
CHECK OUT: “Con Liciencia” “Pan con Tibiri”
Antoniette Costa – Pitupatter, Billy Strings – Live Vol. 1, Bones Owens – Love Out of Lemons, Bryce Dessner – Sing Sing (Original Score), Cassadee Pope – Hereditary, Cassandra Lewis – Lost in a Dream, Chris Cohen – Paint a Room, Donovan Woods – Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now, Font – Strange Burden, Hannah Mohan – Time is a Walnut, James Xerxes Fussell – When I’m Called, Jewel – The Portal: A Meditative Journey EP, Joe Goddard – Harmonics, Julia Holter – Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Katy Kirby – Blue Raspberry (Deluxe Edition), Land of Talk – Applause Cheer Boo Hiss: The Definitive Edition, The Lijadu Sisters – Horizon Unlimited (Reissue), Lonnie Walker – Easy Easy Easy Easy, Louis Armstrong – Louis in London, Maya de Vitry – The Only Moment, Metronomy – Posse EP Volume 2, Remi Wolf – Big Ideas, ORB – Tailem Bend, Pavement – Cautionary Tales: Jukebox Classiques, Susan James – Time is Now, Steve Earle – Alone Again (Live), Travis – L.A. Times, Van Halen – For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (Expanded Edition), Water from Your Eyes – MP3 Player 1 EP
