Continuing with these round-up posts. I’m not entirely sure are these kind of posts any good for anybody, but at the moment I just don’t have the time or energy to write long posts. Maybe these are better than nothing. If not, just shout STOP and I’ll think it over again.
Last Friday, the 5th of October was a pretty special release date. The new solo album from Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker was one particular highlight. Abysskiss came out on Saddle Creek and it’s a mesmerizing and enchantingly beautiful collection of songs. Shines as brightly as the Big Thief albums and stays with you long after the last note has drifted away from the speakers.
The Other Years are Anna Krippenstapel and Heather Summers from Louisville, Kentucky and their self-titled debut album came out on the same day on No Quarter. This is such a strong debut filled with beautiful lead vocals, surrounded by the loveliest of harmonies and accompanied by fiddle, banjo and guitar. The whole album is a treasure, but I’m especially fond of this remarkable song Talkeetna. I can listen to it on repeat for an hour or two. Such a beautiful song.
Last but not least, we have an EP of the year contender. Two singer-songwriters Haley Heynderickx (Portland, Oregon) and Max García Conover (Portland, Maine) traveled to Spain and spent seven days in a farm among the horses and wrote and recorded a six-song EP during their stay. This approach seemed to fit them perfectly, because the end result Among The Horses III EP is tremendous. It definitely inspires me to look deeper into the work of Max Garcia Conover, because before this I was only vaguely familiar. I was already fully aware of the undeniable greatness of Haley Heynderickx, but somehow she still has the ability to leave me astounded. All of her songs on this little record are again quietly phenomenal and match the sky high level of her earlier 2018 full-length album I Need to Start A Garden. Here’s my early personal favorite from the new EP, but you need to hear/buy the whole beautiful EP. You can follow the links on that player to Son Canciones Bandcamp.