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.

The Delines Website

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.

Josienne Clarke Website

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.

John Calvin Abney Website

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.

Evan J Cartwright at Bandcamp

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.

Hurry at Facebook

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.

Drew Beskin at Facebook
Drew Beskin Website

Moving over to Sweden where former Merrymaker David 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.

David Myhr Website
David Myhr at Facebook

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.

Dungeon Of Skeletons at Facebook

This June 25 release date is something else and it might take a day or two to get the new music weekly ready, because there’s so much to love and cherish. One of the key songs on it will be CARLENE’s remarkable new single Time Passes. She is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter and this is the first single from her forthcoming album Looking Out My Window that she has been working on for ten years. It’s a magical folk song and I can’t wait to hear the full album sometime this fall.

Carlene Website
Carlene at Facebook

More recent folk treasures. This time from Portland’s Jeremy Ferrara who made one of my favorite albums of 2020. He already has a new one lined up and and Everything I Hold will be released by American Standard Time Records on the 9th of July. There’s a couple of great singles out there already. I’m especially fond of this beautiful and deeply moving song called Fictional.

Jeremy Ferrara at Facebook
Jeremy Ferrara Website