The recorded music industry is still mostly in its year-end hibernation stage, but even though things have been quiet, some new music has managed to seep out.
1. City and Colour, Meant to Be
Single (Dine Alone Records)
Recommended If You Like: Songs about death and dying
It’s been a while since Dallas Green released any new music. Did A Pill for Loneliness really come out way back in 2019? Yes, it did. This track, complete with a cinematic video shot in an abandoned airport terminal in Detroit, was inspired by the death of his best friend and longtime producer, Karl Bareham. Vulnerable stuff, this.
2. Kurt Uenala ft. Dave Gahan, Cracks are Showing
Manuscript EP (hfn music)
RIYL: Interesting collaborations
While still dealing with the death of fellow DMer Andy Fletcher, Dave Gahan accepted an invitation from American producer/programmer/songwriter Kurt Uenala (a.k.a. Null + Void; he’s remixed Depeche Mode material in the past and now lives in Iceland) to work on an EP. The result is a “confluence of poems and tone poems” with lyrical fragments culled from a notebook that Dave carries with him.
3. Tame Impala, The Less I Know the Better
Currents (Island Records)
RIYL: Resurrected songs
This is hardly new. Kevin Parker and his crew first released this song in November 2015. And according to the date on the YouTube video, this track was first posted on August 17, 2020, and has about 120 million views. No surprise, given that it was a massive, MASSIVE hit at home in Australia back then. For some promotional reason that escapes me, the song is now grabbing some attention in some areas of the alt-rock radio universe. Better late than never, I guess.
4. HARDY, Jack
Single (Frontside)
RIYL: Twangy rock with a bit of a country feel
HARDY has been on something of a tear with this song since it was released in November. With hundreds of millions of listens on Spotify (plus 5.5 million monthly listeners), something is definitely happening. His first love is country (he’s from Tennessee), but this rocks pretty good in a Puddle of Mudd/Velvet Revolver sort of way. Oh, and the “Jack” in the song is a thinly veiled reference to the liquid courage that is Jack Daniels.
5. Shame, Fingers of Steel
Food for Worms (Dead Oceans)
RIYL: British rock with a guitar crunch
Shame, a five-piece post-punk outfit from South London, has two well-regarded indie albums so far with a third due on February 24. If bands like Dublin’s Fontaines D.C., Sleaford Mods, Idles, and Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever (i.e. young guitar bands with a sometimes dangerous attitude), then give these guys a look.