Welcome to my weekly look at developments on the new music front. All picks are included on albums released yesterday (August 18).
Dan Sultan/Boats
Kicking off today is Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor and author Dan Sultan. Sultan, who started playing guitar as a 4-year-old and wrote his first song at 10, released his debut album Homemade Biscuits in March 2006. From his self-titled seventh and latest album, here’s Boats solely written by Sultan.
David Dondero/Monarch Highway
David Dondero is an indie folk singer-songwriter from Duluth, Minn., who in 2006 was named one of the best living songwriters by NPR’s All Songs Considered, along with Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Tom Waits. Prior to launching his solo career in the late ’90s, Dondero had been a member of punk/hardcore band Sunbrain and folk punk group This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb. His latest album is called Immersion Therapy. Let’s listen to Monarch Highway, which like all of the remaining nine songs he wrote himself.
Diners/Working On My Dreams
Diners is an indie pop project by Arizona native Blue Broderick. The first Diners album Throw Me A Ten came out in 2012. Their AllMusic bio notes Broderick gained broad recognition with 2016’s Three. Off Diners’ latest album Domino, here’s Working On My Dreams. In addition to Broderick (lead vocals, guitar, bass, piano, keyboard, percussion, vocal harmonies) who penned the catchy guitar-focused power pop tune, the album features Mo Troper (drums, bass, guitar, percussion, vocal harmonies) and Brenden Ramirez (guitar, vocal harmonies).
Grace Potter/Rose-Colored Rearview
Roots rock-oriented singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Grace Potter started out in the early 2000s as a solo artist and with her band Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Since 2015 Potter has focused on her solo career. Rose-Colored Rearview is a groovy tune from her fourth and latest studio album Mother Road.
Mapache/Sentir
Mapache are a California-based folk-rock group led by vocalists and guitarists Sam Blasucci and Clay Finch. AllMusic notes their music has flavors from the ’60s and ’70s, influenced by the likes of Neil Young and Flying Burrito Brothers. Since their 2017 eponymous debut, they have released three additional albums. Of the latest, Swinging Star, here’s a beautiful Spanish song called Sentir.
Bobby Rush/I’m the One
Wrapping up this week’s new music review is Bobby Rush who has been active since the early ’50s and is known for his unique style that combines blues, soul, funk and rap. I’m the One, which appears on Rush’s new album All My Love For You, chronicles his life. “Ever since 1968, I was in a situation where someone comes to me and said ‘Bobby Rush, your blues is so funky, we don’t know what to call you,” he told Blues Rock Review. “I was the first man to put the funk in the blues.”
Sources: Wikipedia; Dan Sultan website; David Dondero website; Diners Bandcamp page; AllMusic; Grace Potter website, Mapache website; Bobby Rush website; Blues Rock Review; YouTube; Spotify