New Music Musings

Just in time before seeing off the year, I’d like to take a final look at new music. This post highlights my six favorite albums of 2023 I reviewed.

Highway 61 – Driving South

After 30 Years and an incredible background story including the global pandemic, a near-fatal cancer episode and the death of a music mentor, Los Angeles blues rock four-piece Highway 61 released their debut album Driving South on March 24. While after their formation in the early ’90s the band managed to establish themselves on the Southern California club circuit, the record deal they sought remained elusive, and they broke up in 1993. Fast forward to the summer of 2022 when they reconvened for the first time in decades at an L.A. studio to finally record their first album. Highway 61 blend flavors of The Rolling Stones and Tom Petty with dashes of The Black Crowes and Stevie Ray Vaughan. For a little taste, here’s the kickass opener Walk On Water (full album review). Thanks again to Gregg Bell of Wanted Management, who brought Highway 61 on my radar screen!

Ian Hunter – Defiance Part 1

Ian Hunter may be an octogenarian, but he sure as heck can show all the young dudes how to rock. After his departure as lead vocalist from British glam rockers Mott the Hoople in 1974, Hunter launched a solo career and has released his own albums at a fairly steady pace. He frequently collaborated with Mick Ronson until the untimely death of David Bowie’s former sideman in 1993 at the age of 46. His 15th and latest album Defiance Part 1, recorded during COVID lockdown and released on April 21, features the late Jeff Beck, Slash, Billy Gibbons, Todd Rundgren and Ringo Starr, among others, who all added contributions at their home studios. The album also includes Hunter’s longtime collaborator Andy York, one of John Mellencamp’s guitarist, who also served as co-producer. Here’s This Is What I’m Here For, written by Hunter and featuring the late Taylor Hawkins (formerly of Foo Fighters) on drums, Waddy Wachtel (guitar) and Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott (backing vocals) (full album review).

Lucinda Williams – Stories From a Rock n Roll Heart

Lucinda Williams may be among the ultimate rock & roll survivors. Only two and a half years ago, things looked pretty bleak for the singer-songwriter, who turned 70 in January. After her East Nashville home had been damaged by a tornado in March 2020, she suffered a debilitating stroke in November of the same year. Not only did the stroke limit Williams’ physical mobility, but it also took away her ability to play guitar, the instrument she had relied on to write her songs. None of this stopped Williams. After intense rehab, she returned to the stage. Still unable to play guitar, she adjusted her way to write music, collaborated with her husband and co-producer Tom Overby and others, and recorded the incredible album Stories From a Rock n Roll Heart, which dropped on June 30. I don’t mean to romanticize hardship, but I find Williams’ strength truly inspiring. Here’s the de facto title track Rock n Roll Heart, co-written by Williams, Overby and Travis Stephens, guitarist and Williams’ road manager. The song features Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa on backing vocals (full album review). Only select songs of the album are available on streaming services.

Cordovas – The Rose of Aces

East Nashville, Tenn.-based Americana and country rock band Cordovas have become one of my favorite contemporary groups since the summer of 2018 when I coincidentally caught them at a free open air summer concert in New Jersey. Their three-part harmony vocals and warm sound remind me of other groups like The Band, Grateful Dead, Eagles and Little Feat. Cordovas were formed in 2011 by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Firstman  after he had put out a series of solo projects and served as bandleader on NBC’s former late-night TV show Last Call with Carson Daly from 2005 to 2009. On August 11, they released their fourth studio album The Rose of Aces, another gem. Here’s Love Is All It Takes, a song written by Firstman with a neat Allman Brothers Band vibe (full album review).

The Rolling Stones/Hackney Diamonds

Hackney Diamonds is no Sticky Fingers or Exile On Main St., but the first new Rolling Stones album with original music in 18 years still marks a late-stage career highlight. Released on October 20, Hackney Diamonds sounds remarkably fresh and dynamic for a band that has existed for 61 years! The first Stones album since the 2021 death of longtime drummer Charlie Watts features Elton John, Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, Bill Wyman, Paul McCartney and even Watts, among others. One of the most effective contributions are Lady Gaga’s backing vocals on Sweet Sounds of Heaven, a great soulful ballad credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. It also includes Wonder on keyboards and piano, but you don’t notice unless you carefully listen to Jagger telling Wonder, ‘Play me something, Steve’, at around the 5:30-minute mark or check the credits – a relatively small wrinkle on what I think is the Stones’ best studio album since 1989’s Steel Wheels (full album review).

Raze Regal & White Denim Inc. – Raze Regal & White Denim Inc.

The collaboration between Raze Regal, who AllMusic calls an eclectic, psych, jazz, and rock-influenced guitarist, and James Petralli, vocalist of Austin, Texas indie rock band White Denim who he co-founded in 2006, is one of my most intriguing new music discoveries this year. The album’s sophisticated sound blending jazz, rock, soul and pop at times reminds me of Steely Dan and some of Gino Vannelli’s work I’ve heard. Here’s the cool opener Ashley Goudeau, named after a local Austin morning news anchor, a song about a parasocial relationship with a TV personality (full album review).

Sources: Wikipedia; AllMusic; YouTube; Spotify

Highway 61 Have Arrived After 30 Years With Phenomenal Debut Album

A band named Highway 61 was bound to get my attention. It also didn’t hurt the four-piece from Los Angeles deliver music they rightfully describe as mixing doses of The Rolling Stones and Tom Petty with dashes of The Black Crowes and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Last but not least, there’s a truly inspiring background story behind their excellent debut album Driving South, which officially will be released on April 7 and is already available digitally on streaming platforms as of last Friday (March 24).

Before getting to some great music, I like to touch on the group’s history, especially for readers who didn’t catch my most recent Best of What’s New installment. Highway 61 originally were founded in the early ’90s. While they managed to establish themselves on the Southern California club circuit, they didn’t secure a record deal. “We were young and committed to constantly rehearsing, writing, promoting, and playing stellar shows,” recalls drummer Mike Knutson in the band’s official bio, which was kindly provided to me by their manager Gregg Bell of Wanted Management. “…but eventually we got burnt out, the scene changed, and we split up.”

That split happened in 1993. But while they went their separate ways (most notably, guitarist and vocalist Frank Meyer formed award-winning punk band The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs), they remained friends and occasionally worked with each other. Fast-forward to 2020 when the world found itself in the throes of the global COVID pandemic and guitarist Andy Medway was confronted with a life-changing experience – a diagnosis with leukemia. After a year of chemotherapy, Medway ended up undergoing a bone marrow transplant. This required more than a year of recovery and resulted in a series of complications and setbacks.

“Frank was great about staying in touch with me during my recovery and encouraging me to play music even when I didn’t know if I would ever be able to play again,” says Medway in the band’s bio. “Music truly is the great healer.” Not only that it turned out. Here’s more from Highway 61’s bio: Inspired by the challenge, Medway started firing off ideas. Soon he and Meyer had written several songs, including the Driving South track “Black Magic,” which led to the reunion with Knutson and [bassist and vocalist Russell] Loeffler.

In summer 2022, the foursome reconvened for the first time in decades at Kitten Robot Studios in Los Angeles with producer Paul Roessler (The Screamers, 45 Grave, Nina Hagen) to make Driving South, which mixes doses of The Rolling Stones and Tom Petty with dashes of The Black Crowes and Stevie Ray Vaughan. The band ripped through the entire album over a few weeks, finally tracking fan favorites like “Baby, Where’s You Stay Last Night” and “Supernatural Monkey Child,” alongside brand new song “Black Magic.”

Driving South also salutes Highway 61 mentor Alan Mirikitani, a.k.a. blues guitar master BB Chung King, who sadly passed away in 2015. “Walk on Water” and “Breath Away” feature unreleased solos Mirikitani recorded with the band in 1992. In an incredibly emotional reunion, “Walk on Water” also features Mirikitani’s daughter Alana Mirikitani on backing vocals joining the two artists on an album for the first time.

Time to get some music! Let’s start at the very beginning with the aforementioned Walk on Water, the great opener that nicely sets the mood for the album and is a perfect illustration of what Highway 61 is all about – kickass rock & roll that makes me smile. Frank Meyer explains the song is “about evangelists, dirty politicians, and police brutality written around the time of the Rodney King verdict and the L.A. Riots. It’s nuts to me that we were writing about heady topics at such a young age.”

On Baby Where You’d Stay Last Night Highway 61 slightly slow down the tempo, but this tune still rocks as nicely as the previous opener.

Next is Black Magic. Unlike the other nine tunes the band wrote when they were still in their teens and early 20s, Black Magic is the only new song on the album.

Midnight Train has a cool funky sound. Check it out!

Let’s do one more: Supernatural Monkey Child, another neat funky rocker. It’s got a bit of a Jimi Hendrix vibe! I can also hear a dose of Stevie Ray Vaughan in here – damn!

“The crazy thing about this album is that with the exception of “Black Magic,” all of this material was written when we were still teenagers and in our early 20s,” observes Meyer. “Yet somehow these songs sound incredibly mature to me now.”

Adds Loeffler: “Thirty years is a long time, and during that time the music we created still resonated in me. While continuing to write and play music, I always wondered what the others were doing. We spent an enormous amount of time together, rehearsing, writing, traveling for shows, and becoming a family. When Frank called me about finishing what we started, I didn’t hesitate.”

Well, as they say, sometimes good things take time. Highway 61 have delivered what in my book is a fabulous debut. I also think I’m not alone in hoping that we won’t have to wait another 30 years for their next album. I’ll leave you with a Spotify link to Driving South, so you can check out the remaining tracks.

Sources: Highway 61 press materials; YouTube; Spotify

Best of What’s New

Welcome to another installment of my new music revue. Unless noted otherwise, the picks are from albums that appeared yesterday (March 24). As oftentimes is the case in this series, I’m completely new to all featured artists.

The Reds, Pinks and Purples/Life in the Void

The Reds, Pinks and Purples are an indie pop project launched in 2015 by San Francisco-based musician, singer-songwriter and producer Glenn Donaldson. According to an AllMusic bio, he is dedicated to the pristine melodies and unvarnished emotions of mid-period Sarah Records [a British independent record label that existed from 1987 to 1995 – CMM] and indie pop outsiders like East River Pipe. Working mostly alone, he released a string of singles and albums, like 2021’s exquisite Uncommon Weather, that showcase his laser-focused vision, intimate vocals, and unerring way with a hook. 2022’s Summer at Land’s End showed him expanding his musical reach to include the influence of the ethereal sounds of late-’80s 4AD bands like This Mortal Coil, while the next year’s The Town That Cursed Your Name [his fifth and latest album – CMM] drew from fuzzier, more earthbound college rock influences while the lyrics examined the turbulent lifestyle of trying to survive as a working musician. Before launching this project, Donaldson notably played in lo-fi psychedelic pop duo the Skygreen Leopards, the Television Personalities-loving Art Museums, and a host of other projects, like the heavy shoegaze duo Vacant Gardens and his lo-fi psych-folk project the Ivytree. Here’s Life in the Void, a melodic tune written by Donaldson, which instantly spoke to me!

Lankum/Newcastle

Lankum are an Irish contemporary folk group from Dublin. Founded in 2000 by brothers Ian Lynch (vocals, uilleann pipes, concertina, tin whistle, percussion) and Daragh Lynch (vocals, guitar, percussion, piano), along with Cormac Mac Diarmada (vocals, fiddle, viola, banjo, double bass, vibraphone, piano, percussion) and Radie Peat (vocals, bayan, concertina, harmonium, organ, piano, electric organ, harp, mellotron), the band was initially known as Lynched. After changing their name in October 2016 to avoid associations with the practice of lynching, the group signed with Rough Trade Records in 2017 and released Between the Earth and Sky the same year, their first album as Lankum. That name comes from the folk ballad False Lankum by Irish traveler and folk singer John Reilly. False Lankum is also the title of the band’s new album, their third as Lankum. Here’s the beautiful Newcastle.

The New Death Cult/High + Low

Unlike their cheerful name may suggest, The New Death Cult aren’t some death metal outfit. Instead, the Norwegian group, according to their website, has been referred to as a brilliant mix between Queens of the Stone Age, Biffy Clyro and Muse, with their critically acclaimed self-titled debut album earning praise in The Guardian’s “50 New Artists for 2020” and single airplay on BBC1 Rock Show. The band has been touring with the likes of Wheel and Djerv while making several festival appearances, before heading to the studio to record their second album in Ocean Sound Recordings in May 2020. That new album, Super Natural, was released on March 17. High + Low is a nice melodic hard rock tune penned by vocalist and guitarist Jon Vegard Naess. Eirik Naess (lead guitar), Vegard Liverod (bass) and Anders Langset (drums) complete the band’s line-up. High + Low is a fantastic illustration that heavy-charging rock and great melodies can go in perfect harmony.

Highway 61/Stranger

Sometimes good things take time. In the case of Los Angeles-based blues-rock & roll band Highway 61, it was 30 years between the group’s breakup in 1993 and the release of their debut album Driving South. From their bio, which was kindly provided by manager Gregg Bell of Wanted Management: Highway 61 began in the early ‘90s and tore it up on the Southern California club circuit alongside bands like B.B. Chung King & the Screaming Buddaheads, Marc Ford’s Burning Tree, and The Havalinas, yet they never managed to get that elusive major label record deal...After the band’s breakup, singer/guitarist Frank Meyer went on to form award-winning punk outfit The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs…Despite Highway 61 calling it quits in 1993, the guys stayed friends and occasionally collaborated, but it took an unfortunate event to reunite the band. In 2020, as the pandemic hit, guitar player [Andy] Medway was diagnosed with Leukemia. After a year of chemotherapy, Medway had a bone marrow transplant, which required more than a year of recovery and isolation that was followed by a series of complications and setbacks... Inspired by the challenge, Medway started firing off ideas. Soon he and Meyer had written several songs, including the Driving South track “Black Magic,” which led to the reunion with [drummer and percussionist Mike] Knutson and [bassist and vocalist Russell] Loeffler. In summer 2022, the foursome reconvened for the first time in decades at Kitten Robot Studios in Los Angeles with producer Paul Roessler (The Screamers, 45 Grave, Nina Hagen) to make Driving South, which mixes doses of The Rolling Stones and Tom Petty with dashes of The Black Crowes and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Here’s the great-sounding lead single Stranger, which appeared on March 14. The album’s official release date is April 7, but it’s already available on streaming platforms as of yesterday.

Last but not least, following is a Spotify playlist of the above and some additional tunes by the featured artists.

Sources: Wikipedia; AllMusic; The New Death Cult website; YouTube; Spotify