Thought I’d capitalize on a brief moment of respite in another double shift on puppy patrol where we thankfully seem to have shifted from constantly pissing and shitting on everything in the vicinity (including himself) to constantly biting everything in said space (including himself). I’ll take the pain over the horrifying aromas at unholy hours — gladly — but wanted to highlight a couple finds before he starts needling me again and I lose a couple fingers and the ability to type. First is the latest single from beloved songstress Neko Case whose upcoming album is her first since 2013’s disappointing The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You. Case is a big favorite of mine with a voice that sounds like heaven should, so it was unfortunate that album was a letdown for me. (Her previous Middle Cyclone and its predecessor Fox Confessor Brings the Flood were far greater efforts in my book.) We’ll see what the latest album brings — the cover art is a little odd, with Case wearing a wig of cigarettes…because…..ummmmmmmm…..why not? The song itself is a little off-kilter, too, with an eerie xylophone chiming in before the song snaps into place a couple minutes in. It’s a promising enough start, though — Case’s voice sounds fantastic and the lyrics are her characteristic blend of narrative and understated, unexpected impact, like a pillow with a brick inside (“God is not a contract or a guy… God is a lusty tire fire…;” “My voice is not the liquid waves… my voice is straight garroting wire;” “Nothing quite so poison as a promise”) Hopefully the rest of the album carries on the trend. Check it out the title track in the meantime here:
Next is the lead single from former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne’s first solo outing in 14 years, Utopia. He’s spent the intervening time doing pretty much everything under the sun — dabbling in British electro, collaborating with St Vincent, playing all forms of world music, as well as the occasional apartment building — but nothing compares to his efforts in his former band. His latest is no different for me — even this song, which sounded so energetic and cool on Colbert (almost like classic Heads) sounds neutered in the studio. It’s too bad because based on this clip I had the track stuck in my head for half the day after the performance, so was hoping for something more. Save yourself the letdown and just watch the below:
We’ll close with the second single from the ever-restless Courts’ upcoming album, which shows the band shifting sounds yet again (they’re trying to compress Byrne’s 14+ years of experimenting into 14 months it seems), this time morphing into a straight up funk band. And as preposterous as that sounds…it kind of works! These guys can be exasperating in their almost willful defiance of giving people what they want, but if it leads to winners like this I’ll take a little more calculated rebellion. See what you think here: