New Releases - 7/30/21
Hitting The Racks
Here's your weekly rundown of what's hitting the new release racks at Grimey's
New Releases
Yola – Stand For Myself CD/LP/Cassette (Easy Eye Sound)
Stand For Myself is the anthemic new album from Yola. Produced by Dan Auerbach, the record is a timeless masterpiece marking an idiosyncratic sonic shift, which will defy all expectation. A sophisticated and diverse sonic mix of symphonic soul and classic pop, tracing an expansive musical thread to the English singer/songwriter's most eclectic musical inspirations. Yola's inimitable vocals share nuanced stories of allyship, black feminine strength through vulnerability, collective awakening and loving connection from the sexual to the social. The Grammy-nominated artist declares that it is only when we stand for ourselves, and acknowledge our complexity, that we can be truly alive. For Yola, living is more than merely surviving. [Indie store exclusive pink vinyl & limited edition cassette edition are available. Free signed LP jacket or CD booklet with purchase, while supplies last!]
Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever CD/2xLP/Cassette (Interscope)
Billie Eilish's highly anticipated second full-length album Happier Than Ever, which she calls the favorite thing she's ever created, features no outside songwriters or producers, and was written by Billie and her brother Finneas, who produced the album in Los Angeles, CA. In late 2020, the singer released "Therefore I Am", an audacious ode to being entirely unbothered which followed the release of the ethereal single "My Future". She told Sirius XM “"Everything about every song is very different but somehow cohesive, and I think that was the same with the last album. We really wanted a project to be cohesive and make sense, but not just be a repeat and a clone of every other song.” [Indie exclusive brown vinyl with free handkerchief while supplies last.]
Bleachers – Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night CD/LP (RCA)
Bleachers - led by five-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, musician, and producer, Jack Antonoff - follow-up 2017's critically acclaimed Gone Now with their third studio album, Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night. "Stop Making This Hurt" is the first single and third offering from the record issued on the heels of "Chinatown" featuring Bruce Springsteen and "45" which were met with critical praise in late 2020. The New York Times hailed Bleachers' new music as "anthemic life-affirming pop-rock." [Indie-only ‘coffee and suit’ foil-stamped alternate cover with gatefold & booklet. An indie store exclusive glow-in-the-dark vinyl pressing is due August 27.]
Cartalk – Pass Like Pollen LP (Lame-O)
Chuck Moore's debut as Cartalk, Pass Like Pollen, is an album about holding on to what you've had and have-charting an emotional path for moving forward, while understanding the importance of looking back. Merging the loud, grungy guitars of classic indie rock and emo with country-esque songwriting and Moore's undeniably affecting punch of a voice, Pass Like Pollen hits you hard immediately and leaves a beautiful mark. [Limited edition cloudy clear vinyl.]
Chloe x Halle – Ungodly Hour LP (Columbia)
“Chrome edition” vinyl pressing housed in foil embossed jacket. Ungodly Hour is the second studio album by the R&B duo.
Raheem DeVaughn – Lovesick LP (Mello Music Group)
Recently released on CD – now available on white color vinyl. Lovesick is a collaboration between the 3x Grammy-nominated singer Raheem DeVaughn and the legendary hip-hop producer, Apollo Brown, best known for making hip-hop so grimy that it permanently lodges in your lungs and underneath your fingernails. It is a work of startling beauty, a blend of modern R&B, classic soul, and guttural funk that recalls Smokey Robinson, Al Green, and Marvin Gaye.
Drug Church – Tawny LP (Pure Noise)
Tawny is comprised of Drug Church's crushing 2020 single “Bliss Out”, a cover of Arcwelder's “Remember To Forget”, and two brand new songs, “Tawny” and “Head-Off", which feature some of the band's most dynamic songwriting to date. [Limited edition ‘black in beer’ with heavy white splatter vinyl.]
Grouplove – This Is This LP (Atlantic)
Following their Grammy-nominated album Healer, This Is This was produced by Grouplove and collaborator Ricardo Acasuso – with additional songs produced by Dave Sitek (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and Malay (Frank Ocean). The album was written and recorded during the global pandemic, fueled by all the upheaval and hardship of the past year. Recording this album proved both cathartic and powerfully creative for Grouplove, the sound of five friends finally letting go of all the anxiety, sadness, and frustration they've all had to endure.
Guardian Singles – Guardian Singles CD/LP (Trouble In Mind)
Guardian Singles hail from Auckland, New Zealand, home to (among many things) storied label Flying Nun. Their eponymous debut album packs a wallop: driving guitar lines dance across the rhythm sections propulsive throb hearkening back to greats like Mission Of Burma, The Wipers and The Sound. [Limited edition red vinyl.]
Helloween – Helloween 2xLP (Nuclear Blast)
Recently released on CD – now available on gold vinyl. New release by the German metal band and their seven-member lineup.
Naia Izumi – A Residency In The Los Angeles Area CD (Masterworks)
Overlaying virtuosic two-hand tapping, eloquent phrasing, and time-warping tremolo upon a slow-honey drip of soul, Naia speaks through his music as if the sound flows through him. On A Residency In The Los Angeles Area, Naia collaborated with producer Tony Berg (Peter Gabriel, Phoebe Bridgers) and recorded at Sound City Studios, performing vocals, guitar, bass, drums, Japanese Koto, mandolin, cittern, and more. From the simmering funk beat of “Honesty” to the searing solo performance on “Natural Disaster”, the smoky wah of “Six Inch Stilettos”, and the lushly hypnotic melodies on “Good At Being Lonely”, the album showcases Naia's artistry on every level. [Vinyl edition due August 20.]
King Woman – Celestial Blues CD/LP (Relapse)
King Woman, the outfit featuring songwriter, vocalist and "tour de force of gloom and woe" (Rolling Stone) Kris Esfandiari, return with their eagerly awaited sophomore album, Celestial Blues. Feeling compelled to reshape the biblical archetypes that once bound her, Esfandiari has created a theatrical tale of rebellion, tragedy, and triumph – a metaphor for her own personal experiences over the years – Celestial Blues was born. [Limited-edition red vinyl.]
Jim Lauderdale – Hope CD/LP+MP3 (Yep Roc)
Jim Lauderdale has never been content to sit still in any one musical place for long, effortlessly cycling through a wide range of country, rock, and bluegrass shades of Americana. But Hope, album number 34 in the two-time Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter's distinguished career, nevertheless stands out stylistically as well as thematically. After a year of locked-down isolation, Hope finds Lauderdale breaking out with wide-open arrangements along the lines of Neil Young, The Grateful Dead and Little Feat.
Los Lobos – Native Sons CD/2xLP (New West)
Los Angeles based band, Los Lobos, has always been inspired by their surroundings and the place they call home. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños. With Native Sons, the band set out to showcase all these influences with their own take on the songs of Los Angeles from some of the city's greatest songwriters. Native Sons features 13-songs from well-known L.A. artists such as Buffalo Springfield, WAR, Jackson Browne and the Beach Boys as well as deep cuts from The Jaguars, The Basters and The Premiers. The album title track is the sole original composition written by the band. [Indie exclusive coke bottle clear vinyl features an etched D-side.]
NEEDTOBREATHE – Into The Mystery CD (New Elektra)
After quietly composing and recording throughout the fall of 2020, Grammy-nominated rock band NEEDTOBREATHE return with their eighth full-length studio album, Into The Mystery which features guest appearances by Jon Foreman of Switchfoot, Natalie Hemby and Carrie Underwood. Just as their critically acclaimed 2020 album Out Of Body impacted audiences, NEEDTOBREATHE capitalized on a rush of inspiration and rode the wave of creativity. Without telling a soul, the band decamped to a historic house-turned-recording studio in Columbia, TN to begin working on new music. Over the course of three weeks, they resided under one roof, laughed during meals, explored their surroundings, and recorded together with co-producer and engineer Konrad Snyder and special guests. Out of this de facto creative hub and "extended summer camp," they handcrafted an album reflective of the moment, yet independent of all expectations – even their own. [Vinyl edition due October 29.]
Prince – Welcome 2 America CD/2xLP/CD+2xLP+Blu-ray (Legacy)
Recorded in the spring of 2010 and then mysteriously abandoned by Prince before its release, the statement album Welcome 2 America documents The Purple One's concerns, hopes, and visions for a shifting society, presciently foreshadowing an era of political division, disinformation, and a renewed fight for racial justice. The album features some of Prince's only studio collaborations with the bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, drummer Chris Coleman, and engineer Jason Agel, with additional contributions from New Power Generation singers Shelby J, Liv Warfield, and Elisa Fiorillo and keyboardist Morris Hayes, who Prince also recruited to co-produce the album. [The Deluxe Edition of Welcome 2 America combines the double-LP and CD versions with a never before released Blu-ray of Prince's full April 28, 2011, performance at the Forum, part of the Welcome 2 America Tour's historic 21 Nite Stand in Los Angeles, a 32-page 12x12 book, exclusive poster and an embossed vellum envelope of limited-edition memorabilia, and more.]
Quakers – Supa K: Heavy Tremors 2xLP (Stones Throw)
Supa K (formerly known as Katalyst) tells the origin story of the beat tape: They returned to the planet to find humans reaping ecological havoc. From their arsenal of secret weapons comes Heavy Tremors: a sonic assault to help bring the world back into balance. This siege of beats targets the few who systematically pillage the planet and its resources for their own benefit. Play it loud.
Nathaniel Rateliff – Red Rocks 2020 2xLP (Fantasy)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Red Rocks 2020 was recorded in an empty Red Rocks Amphitheatre during Nathaniel Rateliff's mid-September run of socially distanced shows, which was limited to 125 attendees per night in the 9400-capacity venue. Through Red Rocks 2020, Rateliff offers this 90-minute live experience to the fans who were unable to attend his live shows last year. Red Rocks 2020 features a wide range of music from Rateliff's celebrated career, which includes songs that had never been performed live, several tracks from And It's Still Alrightand his previously released solo albums – In Memory Of Loss, Falling Faster Than You Can Run and the Shroud EP – as well as "Still Out There Running", a track from The Night Sweats' beloved 2017 album Tearing At The Seams. In addition, Rateliff's close friend Kevin Morby, who was set to open the cancelled Red Rocks dates in August 2020, joins him for a duet on Leonard Cohen's "There Is A War". [A limited-edition color vinyl pressing is available.]
Red Ribbon – Planet X LP (Danger Collective)
On limited galaxy color vinyl. Planet X, Emma Danner's second LP as Red Ribbon, explores the joys, tragedies and perils that come with being alive and searching for meaning in an at once beautiful and crumbling world. With an aesthetically varied sound and a trove of multi-layered lyrics, the album continues to expand and transform with every listen. With the help of doom metal producer Randall Dunn - known for collaborating with iconic bands such as Sunn O))), Earth, and more recently Marissa Nadler, Shame, and Pallbearer - Danner and her talented cadre of multi-instrumentalists pushed themselves to the outer reaches of their creative comfort zones, while discovering the deeper meaning of each song along the way.
Seether – Wasteland – The Purgatory EP CDEP (Fantasy)
Seether's new five-track EP features three never-before-heard tracks and an alternate take of "Wasteland" (along with the original album version.) Written and produced by Shaun Morgan, and mixed by Matt Hyde, Wasteland – The Purgatory EP, follows the fall 2020 release of their ninth album, Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum. That album debuted with impressive chart success and has already spawned two No. 1 rock radio hits: the anthemic, "Dangerous", and hard-hitting "Bruised And Bloodied". [Vinyl edition due October 22.]
Skyzoo – All The Brilliant Things LP (Mello Music Group)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Skyzoo is one of the most consistent artists in rap. Growing up in Bedford-Stuyvesant and South Jamaica, Queens, the New York City C was heavily influenced by The Notirious B.I.G. who lived one block away.
Son Volt – Electro Melodier CD/LP (Transmit Sound)
Like a needed kick in the butt as the world returns to something like normal, Son Volt is back with their 10th studio album, Electro Melodier. “I wanted to concentrate on the melodies which got me into music in the first place,” band founder and Uncle Tupelo alum Jay Farrar said of the album. “I wanted politics to take a back seat this time, but it always seems to find a way back in there.”
The songs on Electro Melodier, which takes its title from two vintage amplifiers, address very current concerns, including the pandemic and political division, but also time-honored topics like love and, as the announcement puts it, “the inevitable passing of time.” [Indie store exclusive opaque tan with silk-screened insert.]
TORRES – Thirstier CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)
Torres' fifth album, Thirstier, pumps the miraculous into the mundane. It is in open revolt against the gray drag of time, a searing and life-affirming eruption of an album that wonders what could happen if we found a way to make our fantasies inexhaustible. What if we got whatever we wanted and still wanted it, endlessly, with no threat of boredom and no danger of depletion? What could we become if we let ourselves grow incandescent with eternally renewing desire? Recorded in the fall of 2020 at Middle Farm Studios in Devon, UK, Thirstier marks a turn towards a bigger, more bombastic sound for Torres. The anxious hush that fell over much of Mackenzie Scott's previous music gets turned inside-out in songs tailored for post-plague celebration. [Peak vinyl opaque red with translucent yellow is available.]
Kelsey Waldon – Goldmine CD (Oh Boy)
"I've always said that, if George Jones sang on a disco song, I think it'd still be country," Kelsey Waldon muses. "If it's a part of who you are, it's a part of who you are." And country music is very much a part of who she is, a part of who she's always been. The Kentucky singer/songwriter hails from Monkey's Eyebrow, in rural Ballard County where her family put down roots several generations ago, metaphorically and otherwise. "Farming and planting tobacco were some of the first jobs I had growing up," she recounts. Even so, Waldon's musical tastes reach well beyond those borders. From classic crooners like Merle Haggard and Loretta Lynn, to bluegrass greats like Ralph Stanley and Ricky Skaggs, to iconic songwriters like Vern Gosdin and Guy Clark, she wears her influences on her sleeve... and proudly so. [Vinyl edition due August 20.]
Reissues, Compilations, Live Recordings & Vault Excavations
The Anniversary – Designing A Nervous Breakdown [Reissue/2000] LP (Vagrant)
This emo classic is an equally emotional and melodic affair with plenty of punk and new-wave flourishes to go around and divine male/female shared vocals.
The Awakening – Mirage [Reissue/1973] CD/LP (Real Gone Music)
The only 'group' on the Black Jazz roster, The Awakening today should be heralded as one of the great bands in early '70s jazz. Spiritual jazz, free jazz, soul jazz, fusion jazz, you name it - The Awakening take all those threads common to early '70s African-American music and, like any great ensemble, weave them into a beautiful sonic garment that's greater than the sum of its parts.
Bad Brains – I And I Survive [Reissue/1982] 12” (Org Music)
I And I Survive was released on the heels of Bad Brains’ iconic self-titled debut album. Like Rock For Light, the recordings were produced by The Cars' Ric Ocasek. The release was previously out-of-print for nearly four decades.
Bryan Ferry – Boys And Girls [Reissue/1985] LP (Virgin)
180gm remastered vinyl reissue. Boys And Girls, released in 1985, is the sixth solo album from English singer/songwriter Bryan Ferry (Roxy Music). It would be both a critical and commercial smash, featuring “Slave To Love” and “Don't Stop To Dance”. An album rich with musical aristocracy, it includes contributions from David Gilmour and Nile Rodgers.
Aretha Franklin – Aretha 4xCD (Atlantic)
Aretha Franklin – Aretha CD/2xLP (Atlantic)
Among this collection's 81 newly remastered tracks, 19 are making their CD and digital debuts, including alternate versions of classic hits, demos, rarities, and live tracks. To say that Aretha Franklin was one of the greatest American artists of all time is an understatement. Her multi-octave voice moved millions around the world during an unrivaled career that spanned six decades and garnered the singer-songwriter every achievement and honor imaginable. [The single disc and double-LP versions contains 20 highlights from the four-CD box set.]
Henry Franklin – The Skipper At Home [Reissue/1974] CD/LP (Real Gone Music)
Bassist Henry Franklin's 1972 release for Black Jazz, The Skipper, is one of the highlights in a label catalog full of many, and his 1974 follow-up, The Skipper At Home ('The Skipper' is Franklin's nickname), lives up to its predecessor's high standard and might even surpass it. The album is rooted in bop but one that nods to some of the currents that were swirling in jazz at the time; it's a little freer, a little more electric.
Panic! At The Disco – A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out [Reissue/2005] LP (Fueled By Ramen)
As part of Fueled By Ramen’s 25th anniversary reissue campaign, Panic! At The Disco’s debut album has been pressed on silver color vinyl. Ooh!
The Dave Pike Set – Noisy Silence – Gentle Noise [Reissue/1969] LP (MPS Jazz)
American vibraphonist Dave Pike gained fame from his work throughout the ‘60s with popular jazz flutist Herbie Mann, recording 11 albums with Mann's groups, also recorded with legendary pianists Bill Evans and Paul Bley. On moving to Europe, the Dave Pike Set became an instant success through the combination of Pike's vibes play and German Volker Kriegel's electric, acoustic, guitar and sitar play. Kriegel's compositions helped create the quartet's unique sound, encompassing jazz, funk, psychedelia, avant-garde, and ethno.
Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers [Reissue/2006] CD (Sony Legacy)
Raconteurs – Consolers Of The Lonely [Reissue/20086] CD (Sony Legacy)
CD reissue of the first two albums from the alt-rock super group featuring Jack White, Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence, and Patrick Keeler. Broken Boy Soldiersspawned the hit single “Steady, As She Goes”. The album earned a nomination for Best Rock Album at the 49th Grammy Awards. Follow-up Consolers Of The Lonely features the single “Salute Your Solution” and also earned a nomination for Best Rock Album at the 51st Grammy Awards.
Todd Rundgren – Nearly Human [Reissue/1989] LP (Friday Music)
Limited 180gm yellow color vinyl pressing. Nearly Human was Rundgren’s first release in four years, although he had been active as a producer in the intervening years. Many of the album's songs deal with loss, self-doubt, jealousy, and spiritual recovery. It was also the first collaboration between Rundgren and Michele Gray, a singer and ex-model who helped organize the sessions. Gray sang background vocals, both on the record and on subsequent tours, and the pair later married.
Brian Setzer – Setzer Goes Instru-Mental! [Reissue/2011] LP (Surfdog)
180gm color vinyl reissue. A musician's musician who's credited with continually taking chances with innovative and daring musical styles, Brian Setzer took two forgotten genres, rockabilly and swing, added his own blend of gunpowder and rockin' style, and completely reinvented and single-handedly resurrected them in the process.
Various Artists – Soul Jazz Presents: Cold Wave #1 2xLP+MP3 (Soul Jazz)
A collection of current electronic artists who have been shaped by the early European cold wave artists of the late '70s and early '80s.
Various Artists – Space Jam (Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture) [Reissue/1996] 2xLP (Atlantic)
Includes tracks by Seal, Coolio, Quad City DJ, B-Real (from Cypress Hill), Busta Rhymes, Coolio, LL Cool J and Method Man (from Wu-Tang Clan) amongst others.
The White Stripes – Under Great White Northern Lights [Reissue/2009] CD (Sony Legacy)
Under Great White Northern Lights is a 2009 documentary film about The White Stripes' summer 2007 tour across Canada directed by Emmett Malloy. It contains live concert and off-stage footage. The film's accompanying album is a collection of various recordings from throughout the tour. The live album was recorded during the band's tour across Canada.