Future Future
Ryan Adams Prisoner
The loftier, heart-in-mouth rock of Prisoner takes him back to the bosom of his original love affair with 80s radio, from Black Sabbath to Simple Minds. His first ever love was The Smiths’ Hatful Of Hollow—probably where the trouble began. Every day during a 90-minute run, he continues to return to the 80s to find his way back to 2017[…] Beyond the musical inspirations, the record explores the notion of being trapped in a prison of your own desire. Lead single, “Do You Still Love Me?” could be the soundtrack to traversing the wedding aisle backwards—all sad church organs and stabbing AC/DC guitars.
— Eve Barlow, Peering into the Abyss with Ryan Adams
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Meat Wave The Incessant
The Incessant is personal yet applicable, intimate yet political, blistering yet soothing. It’s both the healed, ready-to-fall-off scab, and the wound that produced it. Meat Wave’s ability to weave the two together has produced a timely and insistent narrative, an arc that you can trace through the record to its serene final acoustic moments. It’s ultimately cathartic, but that catharsis is only achieved because [vocalist Chris] Sutter had the courage to confront and air the tidal wave of shit weighing on him. The Incessant is ultimately encouragement for us, in our own way, to do the same.
— Luke Ottenhof, Hear Meat Wave’s Cathartic New Album ‘The Incessant’
Jens Lekman Life Will See You Now
Thankfully, [Lekman’s] decided to press on as a songwriter and has gotten better at countering his fears. Refreshed from the “Postcards” and “Ghostwriting” projects, Lekman tapped producer Ewan Pearson to help put his upcoming LP together, and it was the first time in Lekman’s decade-plus career that such a collaboration has proved successful. Life Will See You Now plays to its maker’s strengths: Colorful samples and rich string arrangements mingle with finely drawn characters, as Lekman sings in his signature croon about spats between lovers, intimacy among friends, and the effects that our life choices have. These are songs designed to, as Lekman puts it, “give you the possibility to dance your way out of the darkness.”
— Kyle McGovern, This Is How Jens Lekman Learned to Face His Fears
Bathsheba Servus
There’s a bit of a kitchen sink mentality present here, as scraps of black metal, true doom, stoner doom, sludge, and witchy 70s rock all coalesce into an immensely engaging whole. Michelle’s winsome vocals are a clear focal point, her versatility behind the mic adding dynamic layers to the studied heft of Bathsheba’s slowly unfurling riffs, especially when she stretches and contorts her vocal chords into an ululating wail and heated growl on closing epic “I At the End of Everything.”
—Kim Kelly, Get Familiar with Bathsheba’s Intoxicating Belgian Doom
So Stressed Please Let Me Know
Sacramento three-piece So Stressed’s third record, Please Let Me Know, is riddled with anxieties and crises. It’s a record that opens with a peripheral vision, on “Fur Sale”—”See you in the corner of my eye / Please don’t die”—before hurtling into a sardonic snarl[…] But it’s just sweet enough in just the right doses to keep you hanging in there. The relationship trauma of “Old Hiss” is followed by the semi-tonal guitar musings and electronic blips of “Peach.” Sandwiched between the bellowing “Haricot Vert” and fitful closer “Shaved Muscles,” “Holy Spirit Is Evidently at Work” bleeds enough melody out of itself to create something anthemic. The comparisons to Californians past will keep coming: Spazz, for one, though Drive Like Jehu are often a more apt reference point. But by occasionally doubling back to the playful experimentation of their 2012 debut Attracted to Open Mouths, they’ve detached themselves from their local history like a dangling, dislocated shoulder; it’s hard to look away.
—Alex Robert Ross, Stream So Stressed’s Anxious, Captivating New Album ‘Please Let Me Know’
DOOL Here Now, Here Then
The Orwells Terrible Human Beings
The new album found the group recording in Chicago legend Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio Studios and reunited them with acclaimed Arctic Monkeys producer Jim Abbiss. The re-vamped experience brought a rich sound and depth to Terrible Human Beings, a record that details everything from tour party lifestyles to their love-hate relationship with hometown fans.
—Justin Staple, The Orwells Are Terrible Human Beings
Nikki Lane Highway Queen
Lane’s latest record, Highway Queen, is a forceful, rollicking collection of fiery country tunes that places her toe-to-toe with any outlaw in Nashville. It was another type of puzzle—after working with producers on all her previous records, two years on the road had given her the confidence to take the reins in the studio, where she and boyfriend Jonathan Tyler called the shots this time. Turning those ideas into reality has resulted in Lane’s best album yet.
—Matt Williams, Nikki Lane Tries Harder Than You, No Luck Needed
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Alison Krauss Windy City
The Courtneys The Courtneys II
Strand of Oaks Hard Love
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