Did I make a joke last week about thawing out or cozying up with new releases? Let’s stick with that. On Lower, his first album in nearly eight years, New Orleans songwriter Benjamin Booker dynamically fuses blues, rock, and soul into a richly produced return. Inspired by rootsy pop forebears like Bonnie Raitt and Brian Wilson, Nashville’s Cecilia Castleman shows off timeless composition skills on her self-titled debut. Bloom is Rebecca and Megan Lovell’s seventh LP as Larkin Poe; their distinctive harmonies remain at the center of their Southern-rock sound. British iconoclast FKA twigs melds hi-NRG with high fashion on her third album, Ensexua.
Working with saxophonist Sam Gendel and percussionist Philippe Melanson, New York multi-instrumentalist Sam Amidon creates an inviting atmosphere for his adventurous musicianship on Salt River. A love letter to her home country, Irish musician Anna B Savage’s You & i are Earth is an organic and ethereal evolution. Well established in their own rights, Drew and Ellie Holcomb step into a new chapter on their full-length collaborative debut, Memory Bank. London-based art rockers The Veils commemorate the 20th anniversary of their debut with their seventh LP, the string-swept Asphodels.
Listen for spotlights on new records like these (and more) every week on the XPN Morning Show and Indie Rock Hit Parade.
PRESS PLAY on these new releases
Benjamin Booker – Lower
CHECK OUT: “Same Kind of Lonely” “Slow Dance in a Gay Bar”
Cecilia Castleman – Cecila Castleman
CHECK OUT: “It’s Alright” “Looking for June”
Larkin Poe – Bloom
CHECK OUT: “Mockingbird” “If God is a Woman”
FKA twigs – Eusexua
CHECK OUT: “Perfect Stranger” “Drums of Death”
Sam Amidon – Salt River
CHECK OUT: “I’m on My Journey Home” “Golden Willow Tree”
Anna B Savage – You & i are Earth
CHECK OUT: “Agnes” “Lighthouse”
Drew & Ellie Holcomb – Memory Bank
CHECK OUT: “Brick by Brick” “Rain or Shine”
The Veils – Asphodels
CHECK OUT: “The Ladder” “O Fortune Teller”