New music round-up (for w/e 19 May 2023)
Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 19 May 2023.
An 11-time GRAMMY-nominee and CMA Award-winning artist, Brandy Clark is one of her generation’s most respected songwriters and musicians. Produced by Grammy winner Brandi Carlile, her new self-titled album showcases Clark’s versatility with eleven songs that span the emotional spectrum. Over the course of her celebrated career, Clark has released three acclaimed albums including 2020’s Your Life is A Record. Additionally, Clark has written some beloved songs including Kacey Musgraves’ “Follow Your Arrow,” Miranda Lambert’s “Mama’s Broken Heart” and “A Beautiful Noise” — the GRAMMY Song of the Year-nominated duet performed by Brandi Carlile and Alicia Keys.
Ride guitarist and songwriter Andy Bell has taken yet another musical detour, this time collaborating with Essex-based duo Masal on an incredible new album of ambient, astral jazz. Tidal Love Numbers is made up of four mesmerising, meandering instrumental tracks that combine Andy’s incredible guitar playing with analogue synths and harp. Andy’s history in Ride, Oasis and numerous other bands is well-known, and his solo career has also taken off; his most recent album, Flicker, was one of last year’s finest. Masal, meanwhile, came together in Leigh-on-Sea after a chance meeting in a charity shop.
The London trio of Nina Cristante, Jezmi Tarik Fehmi and Sam Fenton are bar italia; and their new album Tracey Denim is out now. Tracey Denim was recorded and produced by bar italia with mixing from Marta Salogni. Over the last two years, bar italia have released two albums, an EP and several singles on Dean Blunt’s World Music label, leading to much word-of-mouth, sold out headline shows, and festival performances at Pitchfork Music Festival London, by:Larm, OUT.FEST, Le Guess Who?, and End Of The Road.
Conductor Klaus Mäkelä brings the Orchestre de Paris to Decca Classics for a major new album of Stravinsky’s most iconic ballet scores. The album represents Mäkelä’s first recording with his French orchestra, which will be followed by a further Ballet Russes release in 2024 featuring Stravinsky’s Petrushka and Debussy’s Jeux and L’Apres midi d’une faune. Klaus Mäkelä has electrified the musicians and audiences of the Orchestre de Paris since the start of his Music Directorship in September 2021. One of the major projects of his second season at the Philharmonie de Paris was a traversal of Stravinsky’s pivotal ballet scores “The Firebird” and “The Rite of Spring” that proved anything but routine. The performances captured live on the new release carry the combination of intensity, intelligence and authority on which the young conductor is building his extraordinary career.
Musicmusicmusic is back in the oversized department with Oversized Vol. 2 – original music written for piano trio + violin, cello, flute and bass clarinet. This is the second album with strings and reeds featuring the trio’s most wanted players. The recording was made in Atlantis Metronome, Stockholm and the warm and generous sound was carefully sculpted by Anton Sundell.
From the warm heart of Malawi rises Keturah, a 27-year-old virtuoso arriving to the world stage with her self-titled debut. A 10-track odyssey chronicling Keturah’s journey from the tiny remote home village of Monza to the shores of Venice, California, Keturah (coming May 19, 2023) updates traditional Malawian folk with contemporary rhythms from the greater African diaspora, a cultural exchange made possible through a unique opportunity to travel to Los Angeles to record her first full-length project.
Late Night Thoughts is shy martin’s new album. It’s also her boldest, most openly emotional, brave and beautiful work to date. An album dealing with topics including mental health, recovery, and the search for happiness, late night thoughts presents shy as she’s always wanted to be heard. The album represents an example of pop world-building at its best, creating a fresh realm for fans to enter, as well a personal reset, the beginning of a new chapter in shy’s life.
Other reviews you might enjoy:
- New music round-up (for w/e 3 November 2023)
- New music round-up (for w/e 26 May 2023)
- New music round-up (for w/e 23 June 2023)
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television