City and Color’s sixth album, released on March 30, is one of the most beautiful works in his repertoire, the most beautiful musical object he has brought into the world in a long time. His poetry, his voice, his productions are magnificent. This is certainly his most personal work, and that’s saying a lot when we talk about this artist who always seems to transpose everything he is into his lyrics and melodies. After the death of his best friend, Dallas Green’s unspeakable pain turned into this record which is made up of as much suffering as healing, a lot of despair and a ray of hope too. Although he does not stray far from the melodies strummed on the guitar that we are familiar with, he sets a different atmosphere here thanks to the arrangements, of impeccable quality.
When asked by Rolling Stone about the need to change the Hives’ (winning) sound formula, frontman Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist responded with an animal analogy: “We are sharks, and sharks never needed to change, supports the 45-year-old singer. You don’t need to change when no one can kill you. The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons is therefore a concentrate of youthful energy, led by the same band of Scandinavian madmen who gave us the timeless rants Hate to Say I Told You So or Walk, Idiot, Walk. The new album may not have a song of the same caliber, but it’s solid and fun enough to come back to with a smile on your face.
The very original Japanese surf rock group Teke::Teke have made a name for themselves with their first album released in 2021 – the septet from Montreal, which is unlike anything else, even won the Félix de l ‘Album of the year – Another language for this surprising Shirushi. Now represented by the American indie record label Kill Rock Stars, Teke::Teke released a second album, Hagata, in June, the release of which had completely eluded us. In a clever mix of traditional flute and psychedelic guitar, we go from the most gently tense to the most strident, but the group is above all endowed with an implacable energy that moves everything in its path. If you don’t already know, now is the time to give it a listen.
The Chicago rapper loves Montreal. From his first mixtapes and EPs in the mid-2010s, he collaborated with Quebec producers High Klassified, Da-P and Kaytranada. Mick Jenkins then called on them for his first two albums. On The Patience, his fourth album released on August 18, the energetic MC once again draws on local rhythm makers. Yama//Sato and Jai Nitai Lotus welcomed Mick to the NBS studio to concoct Sitting Ducks, a very sinister piece on which we can also hear the excellent Benny The Butcher. The Patience, which also includes the participation of Freddie Gibbs, JID and Vic Mensa, is solid as a whole and is distinguished by the variety of its atmospheres and its themes.
We will have to abandon this preconceived idea that the albums that reach our ears in the summer are of less good quality. Another proof: this jewel signed by the American from Buffalo, released at the end of the first week of July. We are swimming here in a folk that makes us think of Nick Drake, also of the first steps of Cat Power and, let’s stay contemporary, of Lana Del Rey and Weyes Blood. Ten pieces of high quality where the sadness of departures and the nostalgia of happy moments transcend each note and accompany Byrne’s warm voice. For good reason: the artist finished the recording after the death of his director and long-time collaborator Eric Littmann (who also plays the synthesizers heard on this album). It was Alex Somers (Sigur Rós) who finally had the mandate to record the pieces again, creating in the process a hushed and, let us write it, disastrous atmosphere to accompany Byrne’s texts. The Greater Wings thus becomes an essential part of the 2023 discography.
Joni Mitchell’s unexpected return to the stage in Newport in 2022 has yielded some moments of pure magic. Talk of resurrection is no exaggeration: more than 20 years after her last headlining tour, almost a decade after her last public performance, 8 years after suffering an aneurysm that forced her to learn to walk again, playing guitar and singing, Joni Mitchell returned to the stage at the Newport Folk Festival, where she had performed in 1967 and 1969. This concert, billed as a “Joni Jam”, was a stage extension of friendly sessions that she held for years at her Californian home, with the accompaniment of Brandi Carlisle in particular, and which contributed to her recovery. Surrounded by a star group (the “Joni Jam” band), she interpreted some of her emblematic songs, including A Case of You and the extraordinary Both Sides Now of this warm timbre, carrying her age, her experience, of his health problems and of a richer sensibility than in his younger years. An unexpected concert, made and received in the pleasure of the present moment.
We are used to Brazilian singers with a smooth and delicate voice in the tradition of the late Astrud Gilberto. Adriana Calcanhotto also has a soft voice, but less perfect, less unctuous, more fragile, than many of her compatriots. This is not a defect, especially since the musical universe that she puts forward on her album Errante is also out of the ordinary of the MPB. There is samba in all this, a bit of bossa nova, but above all a song spirit and a modern approach, without claiming to be revolutionary, which results in orchestrations sometimes close to jazz, a hint of rock (Er Isso O Amor) and even a bit of psychedelia. Errante is a very elegant synthetic disc by an artist unknown in our latitudes.
