Newer Music:

Lana Del Rey : Chemtrails Over The Country Club

The ubiquitous California songstress released yet another fine collection of clever, personal pop songs
last month. In 2021, the artist formerly known as Lizzy Grant appears to be flirting with a true test of the
law of diminishing returns. Following career pinnacle record Norman F Rockwell (and brilliant
single The greatest) from late 2019, Del Rey put out a spoken word album Violet Bent Backwards Over
The Grass last summer. Even before this new record Chemtrails Over The Country Club was released, the
follow-up record Rock Candy Sweet had already been announced for this summer!

She is obviously enormously talented, but at this point it is hard to get too excited about a new Lana
release. Still, LDR remains one of the most compelling artists in pop music with her charming mix of
confessional and conversational lyrics, delicate vocals, and catchy tunecraft.

Standout Tracks: Title Track; White Dress; Tulsa Jesus Freak; Wild At Heart; Let Me Love You Like A
Woman

Jimbo Mathus and Andrew Bird : These 13

Consistently great Indie-folk stalwart Andrew Bird and fellow Squirrel Nut Zipper alum Jimbo Mathus
have partnered on an excellent traditional folk and blues record called These 13. Bird and Mathus
employ a raw, stripped down approach that spotlights the fragile beauty and emotion of the songs. The
record runs out of stream a bit on the back end, but the first half of the record features some of the best
folk music in my recent memory.

Standout Tracks: Poor Lost Souls; Encircle My Love; Sweet Oblivion; Bell Witch; Beat Still My Heart

James Blake : Before EP

Since his underrated last full record Assume Form was released in early 2019, London singer-songwriter
and producer James Blake has been consistently releasing new music in the form of various extended
plays and singles. My favorite of his recent output is the Before EP, a collaboration with fellow electronic
artist Dom Maker, best known for his Mount Kimbie project. The result, released on streaming services
last October and on vinyl in the last month, is a catchy-as-hell collection of electronic and dance music
featuring Blake’s trademark vocals and the first-class production you would expect from Blake and
Maker.

Standout Tracks: Before; I Keep Calling; Do You Ever; Summer Of Now

William Doyle : Great Spans of Muddy Time

William Doyle is an English musician who used to record under the name East India Youth. His debut
record for that project, Total Strife Forever, won the Mercury Prize in 2014, setting crazy expectations
for his career that have been difficult to meet. He now records under his own name and his recently
released record Great Spans of Muddy Time has received his best reviews since that famous debut.
Doyle’s Spotify bio describes his sound as an “exploration of pop, art-rock, and ambient, married with a
voice that deftly glides from tender restraint to soaring peaks” and this record as “a beautiful ode to the
power of accident, instinct, and intuition.”

Standout Tracks: Semi-bionic; I Need To Keep You In My Life; Shadowtackling; And Everything
Changed (But I Feel Alright); Nothing At All

Throwback Selection:

Andrew Bird : The Mysterious Production of Eggs

Listening to the new Andrew Bird collaboration project with Jimbo Mathus encouraged me to revisit
some of my favorite selections from Andrew Bird’s impressive discography. The 8-minute song Hole in
the Ocean Floor off his 2012 album Break It Yourself is one of the most achingly beautiful pieces of
recorded music to my ears.

However, the record I most want to highlight this week is his 2005 masterpiece The Mysterious
Production of Eggs. This record propelled Bird onto the radar of indie music fans for the first time with
his irresistible pop sensibility and his amazing whistling capability. This music sounds just as great as it
did upon release back in those simpler times.

Standout Tracks: Sovay; A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left; Fake Palindrones; Measuring
Cups; Masterfade; Tables and Chairs

More Related Music You Should Also Check Out: East India Youth : Total Strife Forever; James Blake :
Assume Form; Andrew Bird : Noble Beast; Mount Kimbie : Love What Survives