New Music Friday Vol. 14

Somber to upbeat. Jazz to pop. Old favorites to new listens.

Rhye - Blood

I'm a sucker for unique voices. Rhye is the project of singer/arranger/composer/multi-instrumentalist/etc. Mike Milosh. I loved his 2013 album, Woman, and I was very excited to learn he's released a new one. 

Milosh creates very personal, emotionally-invested songs. They're often Sade-like slow jams. His sound is gentle and intimate. He augments his tasteful arrangements with beautiful strings and horns. This is great music, but it's probably extra-great rainy day music.

Kate McGarry - The Subject Tonight Is Love

I really like Kate. I met her several years ago, and she's become something of a friendly acquaintance. I've been to a handful of her shows, and I'm proud to say she's come to see Chanticleer perform, as well. So when Kate releases a new album, I am always thrilled to listen.

This is a beautifully arranged set for this trio of musicians (McGarry and her husband, guitarist Keith Ganz, and keyboardist Gary Versace) And, as always Kate's vocals display their sympathetic, often playful, gently smoky character throughout. She frequently manages an appealingly confident fragility in her singing that accompanies a sort of innocent wisdom that bridges a divide between folk and jazz.

Justin Timberlake - Man of the Woods

What am I supposed to say about Timberlake? He makes consistently good pop music. If you like that sort of thing, you'll probably listen. If you don't, you'll probably hear it somewhere anyway.

Also, this is a pretty good video...

Rae Morris - Someone Out There

If you like a little less mainstream in your mainstream pop, this might be for you. Each week, as I'm looking for new music to post about, I gravitate first to names I recognize, naturally. But I'm also needle-dropping stuff that I've never heard of before. A lot of it I end up not caring much about, but some of it grabs me.

Rae Morris is one of those that I liked even though I knew nothing about her. What I hear on this album is typically relationship-centric electronic pop with a songwriter's approach to...well...the songwriting. Which is to say it's not just electronic beats and hooks with zero substance. Morris has a songbird voice, and there are occasional touches of Björk without the crazy. I liked a lot of this album.

Here, have a beautiful ballad for your weekend:

Field Music - Open Here

In the fresh discovery department, this is another album I knew nothing about before I pressed play. And it's fun. This is a British trio with 6 previous albums (so this is definitely not a fresh discovery for somebody). They are quite obviously influenced by other artists from that region of the world. Think Beatles, XTC, and David Byrne. If you like thinking those things. You'll dig this, for sure.

Brian HinmanComment