Are we really at Labour Day already? As we start the transition into a crazy period for labels in Q3 and Q4, today is part of the calm before the storm when it comes to New Music Friday.
Singles
1. and 2. The Smile, Foreign Spies and Zero Sum (XL Recordings)
With still no Radiohead on the horizon–will there even be another?–we have an excellent facsimile of their sound with The Smile, the side project featuring Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenway. A new album entitled Cutouts is coming on October 4. (Fans may want the limited edition purple cassette edition). They’re teasing the record with these two new songs.
3. Kim Deal, Crystal Breath (4AD)
Kim–ex of The Pixies, of course, and part of The Breeders with her sister Kelley–is almost ready to release her solo debut, Nobody Loves You Anymore, on November 22. We’ve already heard bits of the record already, but this is the first official single.
4. Bryan Ferry and Nine Inch Nails, Star (BMG)
Whoa. Hold on hold on hold on. That Bryan Ferry? Collaborating Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross under the guise of Nine Inch Nails? Believe it. Ferry co-wrote this with Reznor and Ross and then brought in Glasgow vocalist Amelia Barrett. The track will be part of an 81-track retrospective of Ferry’s work set for release on October 25. Got a Ferry/Roxy Music fan on your list and have about $165 to spare? Here you go.
5. Jesse Malin, She Don’t Love Me Now (feat. Bruce Springsteen) (Glassnote)
Jesse, in case you don’t know, suffered a spinal stroke last year and has been dealing with a lot of medical expenses for treatment and rehab. Jesse and Bruce share a bunch of musical DNA, so it’s not surprised that The Boss would help out with a tribute and benefit album entitled Silver Patron Saints: The Songs of Jesse Malin, which will be out September 20. Proceeds will go to a fund called Sweet Relief which will help out with Jesse’s recovery.
Albums
1. Laurie Anderson, Amelia (Nonesuch)
Time for a good old-fashioned concept record. How about 22 songs that tell the story of the final tragic flight of aviatrix Amelia Earhart in 1937? This is ambitious stuff, featuring a Czech orchestra, and multiple guest performers.
2. AWOLNATION, The Fantom Five (Two Twenty-Five Music)
We first heard about the band’s sixth studio album back in March with the release of a first advance single. There have been two others since. The record features appearances by Del Tha Funky Homosapien and a few others.
3. Jónsi, First Light (Myndstream/Lakeshore Records)
Jónsi, a key member of Iceland’s Sigur Rós, is up to his fourth solo album, a release he calls “utopian.” I quote: “I imagined First Light as a momentary fantastical, over-the-top, utopian world where everyone and everything lives together in everlasting peace and harmony.” While the label is Lakeshore Records, Myndstream is a “health and wellbeing music provider.” You may need this after you listen to the fourth album I’m about to recommend this week. Which brings us to…
4. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Wild God (Bad Seed Ltd./Play It Again Sam)
Finally, let’s add some gravitas and sadness to your long weekend because why not? This album was also announced back in March and the three advance singles have been rapturously received by Bad Seeds disciples.
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