Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 22 July 2022.
Beach Bunny aka Lili Trifilio, has released their sophomore album Emotional Creature, out now. The 12 new Sean O’Keefe (Fall Out Boy, Motion City Soundtrack)-produced songs on Emotional Creature soar to new heights of magnetic energy and dive to new depths of unguarded vulnerability further cementing Trifilio’s well-earned reputation as a leading voice of her generation.
Innovative string trio Time For Three have released their new album Letters for Future with the Philadelphia Orchestra led by Xian Zhang on Deutsche Grammophon. The album comprises world premiere recordings of two technically demanding and musically virtuosic concerti for trio and orchestra by two Pulitzer Prize-winning composers, written fifteen years apart but both commissioned for the group: Jennifer Higdon’s 2007 Concerto 4–3 and Kevin Puts’s brand-new Contact.
ARIA-nominated singer, songwriter and storyteller Alex The Astronaut has shared her highly-anticipated second album How to Grow A Sunflower Underwater (out now via Warner Music Australia). Called “her most vulnerable work yet” (Sydney Morning Herald), How To Grow A Sunflower Underwater reinforces Alex’s graceful ability to merge the playful with the profound as she documents the complexities of life, her strength as a songwriter magnified by her sense of empathy and embracing a new level of emotional transparency. The album features ‘Octopus’, ‘Haircut’, ‘Growing Up’, ‘Airport’, and the heart-wrenching new single ‘Ride My Bike’.
Joe Pug presents Nation of Heat | Revisited, a reimagined, full-band version of Pug’s acclaimed 2008 debut. Featuring contributions by Brandon Flowers (The Killers), Derry deBorja (Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit), Carl Broemel (My Morning Jacket) and Courtney Hartman, Nation of Heat | Revisited is a collection of songs that have earned themselves a passionate following over the years but are given the proper treatment here that Pug had originally intended for them. Revisiting and reinterpreting these songs from a place of experience and perspective. Nation of Heat | Revisited sounds livelier, rowdier, punchier, but also more sophisticated, headier.
Night Vision is the third recording from the Carole Nelson Trio, a relatively new jazz project from Ireland made up of Cormac O’Brien on bass, Dominic Mullan on drums and Carole Nelson on piano & soprano sax. All three contributed to the writing of the 10 original tracks. Since their debut album in 2017 the trio have received great critical acclaim, including a ‘Best album of 2020’ in All About Jazz magazine for their second album Arboreal.
Extra Presence is a 90-minute, 17-track collection showcasing Los Angeles modern music scene pioneer Carlos Niño’s unique, highly developed, self-described “Spiritual, Improvisational, Space Collage” sound, and featuring an incredible cast of collaborators (including Jamael Dean, Nate Mercereau, Shabazz Palaces, Deantoni Parks, Sam Gendel, Laraaji, Jamire Williams, Iasos, and more). It’s an expanded edition of a 10-track suite called ‘Actual Presence’ that Niño self-released exclusively via his Bandcamp page in 2020.
She & Him’s seventh studio album is a loving, LP-length tribute to one of the greatest living American songwriters and singers, Brian Wilson. Melt Away: A Tribute to Brian Wilson finds Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward diving deep into the legendary artist’s extensive songbook, offering fascinating and delectable new spins on time-honored classics and overlooked gems alike. These fourteen covers are infused with the familiar magic that She & Him fans know and love, opening a new window into Wilson’s iconic catalog. Wilson even features on a song with Zooey and M. Ward for the album, “Do It Again.” The band have enjoyed a friendship, and mutual appreciation, with Wilson over the years and She & Him was previously a guest vocalist on his 2015 album, No Pier Pressure.
Other reviews you might enjoy:
- New music round-up (for w/e 1 July 2022)
- New music round-up (for w/e 18 March 2022)
- New music round-up (for w/e 27 August 2021)
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television
