Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 17 June 2022.
Alice Merton has released her second album S.I.D.E.S. which features the new focus track “The Other Side”. This album has seen Alice raise the bar from what she achieved with her debut album Mint (billion+ streams, Top 10 chart positions across Europe, becoming a judge on The Voice of Germany) with some of her biggest moments in fresh territories, including a US tour with Bastille, a career-defining orchestral concert of her biggest songs with the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, and being named as Jo Whiley’s Infatuation on Radio 2. The singles that have previewed the album — including “Vertigo”, “Same Team”, and “Island” — have seen Alice make a huge leap forward in both her artistic vision and her confidence. The voice and alt-pop addictiveness that first enamoured fans remains at the core of her sound, but it’s adventurously doused with touches of indie, electronica, alt-rock and synth-pop. Ultimately, S.I.D.E.S. sees Alice blur the boundaries between ragged rock energy and pop infectiousness.
GRAMMY®-Award winning Third Coast Percussion presents an album exploring the myriad ways that classical music is being created today. Perspectives features four new works, each a world premiere recording, written for — and with — Third Coast Percussion by Danny Elfman, Philip Glass, Jlin, and Flutronix. There are so many ways to create classical music, and this album explores four very different approaches that all, in their way, eschew the paradigms of the genre. The rich sonic universes created in these pieces reflect those approaches, as well as the identities of the music’s creators, and the unique creative processes that formed the works.
Perth singer-songwriter Bri Clark weaves emotionally wrought alt-pop marvels about love, heartache, and the corporeal grind of living with chronic illness. Enveloping her impeccably agile voice—the alluring centerpiece of her work—with spacious atmospherics, brooding piano, and elegant dynamics, Bri Clark has rapidly earned her status as one of Australia’s most enthralling artists on the rise, and she’s back stronger than every with her long awaited debut album Waiting.
The T.S. Monk Sextet’s highly anticipated live album Two Continents One Groove is characterized by the steady pulse and groove that the world has come to know and love as the “T.S. Monk Sextet Sound”. T.S., also known as “Toot”, leads his sextet with an innovative and dynamic approach. Since 1992, the drummer has worked exclusively with his co-players, making the sound of the sextet incredibly tight. When they roll out their arsenal, they soar and swing, and are indeed exciting to hear. In that regard, it might be quite surprising to learn that this is T.S.’s very first live album! The seven tracks on the album are taken from two performances at two similar jazz rooms over a two-year period; three are from “Harlem’s Jazz Shrines Festival: Jazzmobile presents Minton’s Playhouse” at Ginny’s Supper Club on May 7, 2014, while others were recorded at Marians Jazzroom in Bern, Switzerland on April 24, 2016.
We can’t think of many other performers like the singer/songwriter/dancer/actress Asha Puthli who have excelled in such a broad range of genres. From 60s psych, Classical Indian music, Free Jazz, Pop, Soul, Disco, to Rock, the list goes on. A ‘best-of’ or an ‘essential collection’ is always going to be a subjective thing, but for what is unbelievably the first official compilation covering the full breadth of Asha’s illustrious career, The Essential Asha Puthli provides a snapshot into her ever-evolving musical journey and a tribute to the vast richness of her catalogue.
Brett Eldredge’s new album, Songs About You, is out now. The album features 12 songs co-written by Brett Eldredge including the previously released “Want That Back” and “Holy Water.” “I knew exactly what I wanted to say and what I wanted the album to sound like,” said Eldredge of the new album. “I wanted the album to be songs that connect us all in the human experience. These are emotions that are reflective of each of us. There are songs of solitude, joy and heartbreak, and I like that tension.” Songs About You is about the songs that instantly recall your own experiences. The songs that can make you remember exactly how you felt, or the sights around you or the smells in the air. The songs that make you remember all the happiness and the heartbreak.”
Time is the new compilation from the acclaimed Australian singer/songwriter Paul Kelly. It also is the theme underlying the 30 songs on this digital retrospective, via Gawd Aggie/Cooking Vinyl Records. Time also represents the first in the series of themed compilations that are scheduled to be released every few months over the next year. The 30 songs on Time range from his early work to his newer releases. “Before Too Long” and “Randwick Bells” are from Gossip, Kelly’s first album released in America, while “How to Make Gravy” is a track from his last record, Paul Kelly’s Christmas Train. Time contains a number of long-time favorites, such as “Before Too Long” and “When I First Met Your Ma,” as well as tunes from more recent releases like Thirteen Ways to Look At Birds (“The Magpies”) and Nature (“The Trees”).
Other reviews you might enjoy:
- New music round-up (for w/e 27 August 2021)
- New music round-up (for w/e 7 January 2022)
- New music round-up (for w/e 29 October 2021)
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television
