Presumably, the consensus starting point in conceding dazzlement before the art of Snail Mail remains the songwriting precociousness of Lindsey Jordan. She’s not a kid anymore, as she most certainly was when her first recordings were released. Jordan’s debut effort … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Valentine

Kacey Musgraves has a story to tell. It’s a sad story, it’s a true story, and it’s her story. After filling Golden Hour, her roundly acclaimed 2018 release that won her the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, with … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Star-Crossed

Chvrches might not have felt like they needed a rebound from their third album, Love Is Dead. There are some signs that the Scottish trio knows they went down a blind alley, both in some stray comments here and there … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Screen Violence

Any Shape You Take, the sophomore album by Indigo De Souza, lives up to the generous acceptance of its title. While grounded in R&B-based pop music, De Souza lets her musical muse wander widely. She doesn’t quite reach the wild … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Any Shape You Take

I’m hardly privy to all the information I would need to definitely determine why Billie Eilish’s debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, became an outright sensation. It’s sold more than four million copies to date, … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Happier Than Ever

Eleven years is a long stretch between solo albums, but sometimes the world conspires to make working alone, more or less, the most prudent course. In the time since the generally well-regarded debut released under her first name, Anika Henderson … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Change

Lucy Dacus writes songs as if her heart depends on it. On the new album Home Video, her third full-length studio effort, Dacus excavates her past. By her own reckoning, the lyrics across the album are almost entirely preoccupied with … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Home Video

It’s reasonable to surmise that no modern musician with an already well-stocked discography was better prepared to persist in their creativity through an extended lockdown than John Darnielle. The frontman of the Mountain Goats started his now-lengthy tenure as a … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Dark in Here

For at least a little while longer, every new album is going to feel like it carries the woozy hangover of the lockdown times. I don’t know anything about the genesis of Faye Webster’s new album, I Know I’m Funny … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — I Know I’m Funny haha

Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land, the new album from Marina, opens with its title cut. An electrified drum beat and burbling synths are soon joined by Marina’s rich, low-tone vocals declaring “Our ancestors had to fight to survive/ Just … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land