Tuesday Tracks: Your weekly new music discovery for May 9
This week we bring you jazz from Meshell Ndegeocello and Jon Regen, country from Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, goth-rock from Beauty in Chaos featuring Julian Shah-Tayler, folk-pop from Emile Mosseri, “weird pop” from Speelburg and Americana from Easy Dreams.
Meshell Ndegeocello, “The 5th Dimension” – We haven’t had a new album from Meshell Ndegeocello since 2018’s Ventriloquism, but now she’s signed with Blue Note and has an appropriately jazzy record, The Omnichord Real Book, coming next month. “The 5th Dimension,” featuring vocal group The Hawtplates, aurally takes you to a place of peace in your mind. The harmonious vocals and gentle saxophone will carry you away. When Ndegeocello sings, “I’m only giving humble love/ I watch and wait in humble love,” she truly transmits the wavelength, so that you can hop aboard and ride.
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Jon Regen, “Nobody But You” – Regen started out as a sideman to jazz artists like Kyle Eastwood and Little Jimmy Scott before striking out on his own. His music varies from straight-up jazz to singer-songwriter fare and instrumental new age. “Nobody But You” is a bluesy jazz number that features icon Ron Carter and saxophonist Dave McMurray (Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones), and was produced and co-written by Matt Johnson of Jamiroquai. It’s such a catchy, cheery tune! “You’re my morning sun/ My evening moon/ My Breakfast With the Beatles tune,” Regen sings over jaunty piano. That’s the ultimate compliment, in my book! Regen’s new album, Satisfied Mind, is out July 11.
Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, “That’s On You, That’s On Me” – “That’s On You, That’s On Me,” is pure country-fried swagger from Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors about the stories we tell ourselves, and Holcomb’s frustration with the division and disagreement in America today. “That’s on you, that’s on me/ Say it out loud for posterity/ We all make our own mythology,” Holcomb sings in the chorus over laconic slide guitar. Their new album, Strangers No More, is out June 7, and they’ll be supporting Darius Rucker on tour this summer before heading out on their own tour in the fall.
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Beauty in Chaos with Julian Shah-Tayler, “Kiss Me (Goodbye)” – Beauty in Chaos is an L.A.-based collective that includes Michael Ciravolo and Michael Rozon. For this song, Pete Parada (Face to Face, The Offspring) mans the drums while Julian Shah-Tayler handles vocals, singing, “Oh you made me crazy/ So we tear it all down/ And send out the clowns/ Kiss me goodbye we’ll let it burn.” If Shah-Tayler’s elegant delivery reminds you a little of David Bowie, that’s because (in addition to his own solo work as The Singularity and playing in Depeche Mode tribute band Strangelove), he has an incredible Bowie tribute act, Electric Duke. So, if you like the idea of Bowie singing over shoegaze-y goth rock, this is the track for you.
Emile Mosseri, “My Greedy Heart” – Emile Mosseri, formerly of The Dig (Tuesday Tracks alums, 2018), is an Oscar- and Grammy-nominated composer. He’s also a singer-songwriter, and his new song, “My Greedy Heart,” has the ambience of a score and the heartbreaking lyricism of a troubadour. “My greedy heart/ Stretched out and used/ Can’t walk a straight line/ All ‘cause of you,” he sings. For the video, he worked with frequent collaborator Joe Talbot, who filmed him wearing red at the Hollywood Forever cemetery, “a bleeding heart stumbling through different spaces in pursuit of an elevated one.” Mosseri’s solo debut album, Heaven Hunters, is out June 9.
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Speelburg, “Game Over” – Noah Sacré, who makes “weird pop” (his term) under the name Speelburg, gives off big Beck/Eels vibes on “Game Over,” with violin and cello swelling warmly alongside synth bleeps and guitar. This song might be about global warming: “Dress the kids/ I’ll address the nation/ Sorry I let you down/ But you wanted permanent summer vacation/ There’s no turning around,” but Speelburg says the song is more about transitions than the end of the world. He directed, edited and colored this video himself; he’s also directed videos for John Legend and The National.
Easy Dreams, “Am I a Fool” – How the partnership of Meredith Meyer, from post-punk-influenced group Young Unknowns and Brandon White from noisy ensemble Cuss Words ended up a mellow Americana rock band is anyone’s guess. It was probably their shared influences, which include psych country, shoegaze and ’60s pop. You can hear hints of the Flying Burrito Brothers and Whiskeytown in their combined voices as they intertwine, playing on the words “full moon/ fool’s moon.” Meyer calls it their “ultimate midnight heartbreak song.” Drummer Kenny Kupers and bassist Pete DiBiasio round out the band, whose debut album, Sunformer, is out May 12.
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Rachel’s pick: Meshell Ndegeocello is an underrated national treasure, so I’m glad to see her back on the scene. “The 5th Dimension” is transcendent and I can’t wait to hear the rest of the album.
Follow Rachel Alm at Twitter.com/thouzenfold and Instagram.com/thousandfold.