“I break bricks with my heart/ Only a fool would call it art,” Jeff Tweedy sings on “Some Birds,” a track from his new album, Warm. In the most accurate determination, the album is Tweedy’s proper solo debut, though it’s … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Warm

I will admit upfront that I don’t quite know what to make of the 1975. Now three full-length albums into their career (with another promised within the next six months or so), not much music from the Manchester band has … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships

At around the time several of her songs took off in unexpected ways that forecast the crazy land of viral popularity, it seemed Robyn was poised to become as big of a pop star as she wanted to be. Certainly, … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Honey

I don’t think it’s simply a matter of longevity that gives the new Cat Power album, Wanderer, the feel of a classic. I’m referring less to the actual quality of the release — although it’s plenty strong — than the … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Wanderer

And Nothing Hurt is the sound of a seasoned rock ‘n’ roll artist in beauteous collapse. On the eight studio album with Spiritualized (and the first in six years), Jason Pierce doesn’t sound worn out, not in the slightest. But … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — And Nothing Hurt

Mitski’s new album, Be the Cowboy, is the white flowers that freckle up on scorched earth. It is beauty and anger and disappointment and resilience. It is a tremor that signals life in a wounded form. It is a mural … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Be the Cowboy

The notion of rock and pop music as a young person’s game persists, even as a multitude of artists push toward the latter half of middle age while maintaining clearly viable voices. I suspect it’s because so many of the … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Hell-On

For their third full-length release, Scottish band Chvrches are making a concerted charge for broader commercial success. Despite their occasional protests to the contrary, I don’t think there’s too many other realistic interpretations of the choice to bring in an … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Love is Dead

Courtney Barnett clattered into the public sphere — here in the U.S., anyway — with a fitting hesitancy. Her first two EPs were collected together on a release that got the most meager of pushes, as if her modest indie … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Tell Me How You Really Feel

In writing about recent albums, I can sometimes lose sight of the simple fact that new bands aren’t always that new. (Unless the band has been around for ages, of course.) I go through a litany of comparisons to other … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — 7