Best of What’s New

By now, more frequent visitors of the blog know what’s about to come. If you’re here for the first time or haven’t seen a previous installment, Best of What’s New is a weekly recurring feature looking at new/recently released music. Since I mostly listen to ’60s and ’70s music, oftentimes, artists I include in these posts are new to me. Occasionally, I also push a little bit beyond my comfort zone. All tunes in this installment appear on albums and an EP that were released yesterday (July 16).

Jodi/Get Back

Jodi is an alter ego for Chicago-based singer-songwriter Nick Levine. According to this review in Stereogum, until last year, Levine was affiliated with New Jersey indie rock band Pinegrove. He occasionally had been part of their line-up since 2010. Levine debuted as Jodi in 2017 with an EP titled Karaoke. Get Back is a track from Jodi’s new and first full length album Blue Heron. I like the sound of this tune. It’s got a bit of an alt. country vibe. Check it out!

Aodhan/Flies In My Room

Aodhan is the moniker of 21-year-old Australian artist Aidan Whitehall. According to a profile on Australian music outlet Unearthed, Aodhan started releasing self-produced singles in 2019. In an accompanying interview, he said his sound is still developing, adding he likes dream pop/bedroom pop music and coastal/indie folk. Flies In My Room is the title track of his debut EP. Apple Music characterizes it as “deeply wistful, often existential musings, sung over soft guitars and gentle melodies.” Not the kind of music I typically listen to, but I find this quite soothing.

Wavves/Thru Hell

Wavves is an alternative rock music project of singer-songwriter Nathan Williams. Started by Williams (guitar, lead vocals) in 2008, Wavves’ current members also include Alex Gates (guitar, backing vocals) and Stephen Pope (bass guitar, backing vocals). Their eponymous debut album appeared in September 2008. King of the Beach, the band’s third album from August 2010, was the first to enter the U.S. charts, climbing to no. 28 and no. 168 on the Billboard Independent Albums and 200 charts, respectively. Thru Hell is the opener of Wavves’ new album Hideaway, their seventh. I also featured the title track, which had been released upfront, in a recent Best of What’s New installment. This music nicely rocks!

John Mayer/Last Train Home

Here’s a name I haven’t heard for some time. While I mostly like John Mayer as a guitarist when he “gets dirty” and rocks out with the likes of Eric Clapton, e.g., here, I also respect him as a pop-oriented songwriter and vocalist. Mayer started his recording career as a 21-year-old with the EP Inside Out, which appeared in September 1999. His first full-length studio album Room for Squares was released in June 2001. In 2005, he formed blues rock band John Mayer Trio, together with bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan. They have played on and off since. The trio also formed the core of the studio band for Mayer’s seventh solo album The Search for Everything from April 2017. Last Train Home is the opener to his eighth and new album Sob Rock. Commenting to Apple Music, Mayer said, “It’s demonstratively sweet and luscious, and melodic and colorful, but it’s never to the point where it gets cloying and syrupy. I like to teeter on that line.”

Sources: Wikipedia; Stereogum; Apple Music; YouTube

Best of What’s New

Welcome to another installment of Best of What’s New, a look at new or recently released music that sufficiently speaks to me to write about it. If you’re a first-time visitor of the blog, I should point out that oftentimes my picks in these posts represent the first exposure to the featured artists. That’s certainly the case this week, which includes different flavors of rock from the U.S. and Australia, as well as beautiful pop-oriented folk from England. Let’s get to it!

Wavves/Hideaway

Wavves is an alternative rock music project started in San Diego, Calif. in 2008 by singer-songwriter Nathan Williams. Apple Music characterizes his music as a blend of distorted no-fi and refined sunshiny melodies. Charmingly messy, most of his lyrics, while difficult to decipher, generally revolve around the subjects of weed, boredom, and the beach — when he isn’t poking jabs at the gloomy subculture of goth rock (a common theme, found in “Goth Girls,” “California Goths,” “Summer Goths,” “Surf Goths,” and “Beach Goths”). Current members of Wavves also include Alex Gates (guitar, backing vocals) and Stephen Pope (bass guitar, backing vocals). Wavves’ eponymous debut album appeared in September 2008. Their third album King of the Beach received generally positive reviews and was the first to enter the U.S. charts, climbing to no. 28 and no. 168 on the Billboard Independent Albums and 200 charts, respectively. Hideaway, co-written by Williams and producer Dave Sitek, is the title track of Wavves‘ upcoming seventh studio album slated for July 16. The tune was released as the third upfront single on June 8.

The Murlocs/Bittersweet Demons

The Murlocs are a rock band from Melbourne, Australia, which was founded in 2011. Their current line-up features Ambrose Kenny-Smith (vocals, harmonica), Cal Shortal (guitar), Tim Karmouche (keyboards), Cook Craig (bass) and Matt Blach (drums). Kenny-Smith and Craig are also members of fellow Aussie act King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. Both bands also share the same label, Flightless Records. On their Bandcamp profile, The Murlocs describe their music as “firmly placed in their own blown-out, distorted brand of soulful RnB.” After two EPs in 2012, the band released their first full-length studio album Loopholes in April 2014. Rolling On, the second single from September 2015 off their sophomore album Young Blindness, marked a breakthrough for The Murlocs and remains one of their most popular songs. Their third and fourth albums from July 2017 and March 2019, respectively, reached the top 20 on the main Australian music charts. Bittersweet Demons, credited to The Murlocs, is the title track of the band’s upcoming fifth studio album set for release on June 25. According to this review by Melodic Magazine, the piano-driven tune was inspired by the death of a close friend of Kenny-Smith. I dig the catchy melody and the cool retro sound.

Benjamin Francis Leftwich/Full Full Colour

Benjamin Francis Leftwich is a singer-songwriter from York, England. According to his Apple Music profile, he is known for his introspective, acoustic folk sound. Leftwich emerged in 2011 with Last Smoke Before the Snowstorm, which peaked at number 35 on the U.K. Albums Chart. He continued to hone his melancholic brand of acoustic folk-pop on subsequent efforts like After the Rain (2016) and To Carry a Whale (2021), which drew similar acclaim and elicited comparisons to the likes of Jose Gonzalez and Iron & Wine. Born in York in 1989 to South African and Australian parents, Leftwich lived a nomadic childhood, spending as much time in Sydney as in his native U.K. Inspired by Elliott Smith and Bruce Springsteen, he taught himself to play the guitar at age ten, and fronted indie pop outfit the Nicoles in his teens before embarking on a solo career. The above mentioned To Carry a Whale is Leftwich’s fourth full-length studio album released yesterday (June 18). Here’s the closer Full Full Colour co-written by him and fellow English musician Samuel Duckworth. The track was also previously released as a single on May 14. It’s a lovely mellow tune!

Reigning Sound/Let’s Do It Again

Reigning Sound are a rock and soul band founded in Memphis, Tenn. in 2001 by garage punk musician Greg Cartwright (vocals/ guitar). Apple Music describes them as blending “the hot wired energy of garage rock with the deep emotional resonance of classic soul music in a manner that suggests a cross between the early Rolling Stones and the Sonics.” Cartwright is also known for his involvement in Compulsive Gamblers and Oblivians, two other Memphis garage rock bands. Reigning Sound’s lineup has changed over the years. After their first single Two Sides to Every Man from early 2001, the band released Break Up, Break Down, their country folk-oriented debut album in May of the same year. Let’s Do It Again is the seductive opener of Reigning Sound’s eight and new studio album A Little More Time with Reigning Sound that came out on May 21. According to this Pitchfork review, it reunites Cartwright with Alex Greene (organ, guitar, backing vocals), Jeremy Scott (bass, backing vocals) and Greg Roberson (drums), the band’s lineup before Cartwright relocated to Ashville, N.C. in 2004 where he has since been based.

Sources: Wikipedia; Apple Music; Murlocs Bandcamp profile; Melodic Magazine; Pitchfork; YouTube