I’m not gonna start posting concert news regularly, but I’m gonna do an exception this time around due to the magnitude of this. One of my favorite songwriters Courtney Marie Andrews will be playing in Helsinki on the 26th of March. Leuven Letters was an EP of the year here years back and since then she has been one of my most listened artists. Big thanks to Silmien Takana for bringing such a great songwriter to Finland. I hope I see you all in Helsinki next week. The concert will probably focus on the material of the wonderful 2022 album Loose Future, but here’s also some personal favorites from the older releases. Listen them below, grap a ticket from Tiketti and let’s meet in Helsinki on the 26th.
Loose Future (Loose Future 2022)
Burlap String (Old Flowers 2020)
May Your Kindness Remain (May Your Kindness Remain, 2018)
Continuing with these quick late night round ups of releases that I love. Kicking off this in Portland, Oregon with the brand new album The Sea Drift from country soul masters The Delines. The band led by Amy Boone and Willy Vlautin have again created a truly captivating album. Willy Vlautin is a first class storyteller and Amy Boone’s mesmerizing voice sends his words into my heart. It’s kinda early, but this one has a guaranteed place on my eoty list if the blog/world still exists at the end of 2022. Here are a couple of the singles from the album. Check out that Bandcamp link or your favorite record store to buy/hear the whole beautiful thing.
Moving over to Scotland for the new Josienne Clarke EP I Promised You Light that came out on the 4th of February on Corduroy Punk Records. If I still wrote actual reviews this is one of those that might get full five hearts. The promised light might not be flashy or flamboyant, but it has the power to sparkle through every barrier I’ve foolishly set for myself and I love everything about this. Here’s the music video for the lead single Driving at Night with another fabulous EP cut, but make sure you buy / listen the whole thing on her Bandcamp.
Let’s wrap this small blog entry with a couple of album announcements with a lead single. First a long time blog favorite John Calvin Abney from Oklahoma. Well actually it looks like he is currently living Austin, Texas. However, the place that he calls home right now is somewhat irrelevant. Far more important is that his new song Holy Golden West is ready to find a home in your heart and the full album Tourist will knock the same door in August. Check out the new music video by filmmaker Rahul Chakraborty and pre-order the album from Black Mesa Records.
And last stop on this tour is Toronto, Canada and the lead single from the forthcoming Evan J Cartwright album. The drummer extraordinaire (The Weather Station, U.S. Girls etc) is getting ready to release his debut album and it will come out on the always great Idee Fixe Records. I’m very fond of this first outtake and you’ve got nobuddy and there’s something strangely captivating in this simple music video as well. There may not be a whole lot going on, but somehow I ended up watching it several times in a row. I look forward to hearing the full album when it arrives on the 15th of April.
A quick sunday morning round up with some recent or fairly recent (should be) pop hits. This blog entry was inspired by falling madly in love with the new Hurry album Fake Ideas that came out on Friday on Lame-O Records. I’ve been somewhat familiar with this Philadelphia-based power pop band led by Matt Scottoline for a couple of years, but I didn’t fully understand how great they were until I listened this new album yesterday. Totally my kind of pop music. That double hit of It’s Dangerous and A Fake Idea in the beginning for example. Total Teenage Fanclub meets 90s US power pop perfection. Maybe a bit dangerous to feel so strongly after just few spins, but definitely feels like an instant classic and one of the best pop records I’ve heard in recent years. Monstrously highly recommended on the old Not Lame scale.
Next we move to Athens, Georgia to meet up with long time blog favorite Drew Beskin. I’ve loved all his work both solo and with the bands The District Attorneys, Party Dolls and PURSES. His new solo album Problematic for the People will be released 2nd of July by Super Canoe. To get a headstart, here’s a couple of gorgeous songs from the forthcoming album.
Moving over to Sweden where former MerrymakerDavid Myhr continues to make us smile with melodic pop treasures. His new EP And Now This came out on the always great UK power pop label Lojinx. Here’s the fabulous lead single We Wanted to Shine from the new EP.
Last stop on this pop goes the world tour is Nashville, Tennessee. Dungeon of Skeletons is a new one for me and I only found them some months ago. They have three singles on their Bandcamp and oh my, they are all pretty perfect pop songs. Hopefully there’s more on the way, because it doesn’t get much better than this. Here’s a couple of those singles. 2020 lyric video for Valencia and the most recent single Gonna Be Alright.
