As expected, all the attention this past week has gone to Taylor Swift. I’m not needed to feed that fire, so let’s look at something else for this New Music Friday.
Singles
1. David Gilmour, The Piper’s Call (Sony)
Pink Floyd may be done and Gilmour may have sold off most of his guitar collection, but he’s not done making music. This single will be part of a new album entitled Luck and Strange on September 6, marking the end to a nine year hiatus. From what I’ve been told, it’s not that Floyd-y, but if you love Gilmour’s style and attitude, you’ll be pleased. This song, however, does feature some recovered keyboard parts by one-time Pink Floyd member Richard Wright who died in 2008.
2. Cigarettes After Sex, Tejano Blue (Partisan Records)
Terrible name but a good band. This song was born about ten years ago when bandmember Greg Gonzalez was driving through Texas listening to Sade. The experience stayed with him as he kept wondering how he could write music like that? He finally cracked it with this song which will appear on CAS’s upcoming third album entitled X. Look for it July 12.
3. Julian Taylor, Weighing Down (Howling Turtle)
Toronto-based roots artists Julian Taylor continues to crank out material with his latest project being Pathways, an album due September 27. (Yes, we’re already talking about fall releases even though the leaves aren’t out on the trees.) This will be the follow-up to a couple of acclaimed albums, The Ridge (2020) and Beyond the Reservoir (2022).
4. Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Heartless (Stax/Universal Music Canada)
With a four album entitled South of Here on June 28, Nathaniel and his crew are gearing up with a summer of tour. This was made in El Paso, Texas, and features themes of anxiety, insecurity, and bad choices. Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin has said Nathaniel & The Night Sweats is one of his favourite bands.
5. ACROBVT, Neon (ACROBVT Music)
Something new from the UK. ACROBVT features four guys who might be of interest to fans of Imagine Dragons. I have a feeling that their sound might travel well globally. They got help from James Loughey, a producer who has worked with everyone from Manic Street Preachers to Bjork.
Albums
1. Fat White Family, Affection (Domino)
Again, not a great name but a very intriguing band. The combative South London five-piece (they like on-stage nudity and often use some, um, confrontational imagery) has returned with a fourth album, their first since Serfs Up! in 2019. This is an alt-rock/indie-rock band but one with so many different types of songs that you need to be prepared to shift gears going into this album. Psych-folk? Yes. Disco? Yep. Post-punk? For sure. A touch of Britpop? It’s here, too. A song about having a circumcision without anesthesia? Why not?
2. Neil Young & Crazy Horse, FU##IN’ UP (Reprise)
This was initially just available for Record Store Day, but it now has a wider release. This nine-track live album is a document of a secret show the band played at the Rivoli in Toronto back in November. (It was a private birthday party for the CEO of Canada Goose).
3. Pet Shop Boys, Nonetheless (Polyvinyl)
The Pet Shop Boys have now been with us since 1981 and through fifteen studio albums. It has been a while, though, since we’ve had a PSBs album, so they wanted to make it a little different. Every track has an orchestra on it, pared with the duo’s signature electronics. If you buy the double CD/vinyl version, you’ll get a bonus four-track EP we re-recordings of some of the band’s biggest hits from the 80s.
4. St. Vincent, All Born Screaming (Total Pleasure/Virgin Music Group)
Annie Clark is now up to her seventh album (she calls it “post-plague pop” and is appropriate dark in many places) and has called in some of her favourite friends to help out. That includes Dave Grohl, Foos drummer Josh Friese, and Welsh songwriter Cate Le Bon, among others. Listen for what Annie calls “sonic jump scares.”
6. Sierra Pilot, Karma EP (Independent)
Coming out of Waterloo, Ontario, Sierra Pilot has a new EP of what some have called “new age rock.” But that doesn’t mean anything they do is soft and soothing. They incorporate everything from grunge, metalcore, an industrial into their tracks. Think Nirvana, Three Days Grace, and Nine Inch Nails.
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