Baby Rose

Here's a soulful new track from Atlanta-based R&B artist Baby Rose.  New album "Yearnalism" is due in July on Secretly Canadian.  Pre-order the LP here and listen to "But, Nvm" below.

Hatchie

New dreampop is on the way from Australian artist Hatchie in November.  Dig on the poppy, shoegaze-tinged "Lose It Again" below and pre-order the upcoming "Liquorice" LP here from Secretly Canadian.

Porridge Radio

UK alt-rock band Porridge Radio will forever be tied to early 2020 and onset of Covid for me.  It's not their fault.  Bad timing put their "Every Bad" LP out right in the middle of everything shutting (it dropped about three days before my boss sent everyone home).  Also, they were one of the acts i was hoping to see at that year's SXSW...which of course was cancelled.  It seems like a whole lifetime ago now.  Anyhoo, the band is still kicking around and their latest release is the upcoming "Clouds in the Sky They Will Always Be There for Me" in October.  Check out the excellent lead-off single "Sick of the Blues" below and pre-order the album here from Secretly Canadian.

Baby Rose & BADBADNOTGOOD

Last year, i caught Atlanta artist Baby Rose at SXSW, and she's got the kind of pipes that can silence a room.  And now, she's teamed up with the excellent Toronto jazz/soul fusion group BADBADNOTGOOD for new EP "Slow Burn."  The collaboration is a groovy, dusty, soulful affair, and i hope to get even more music from them in the future.  Check out "Weekness" below and get the record here from Secretly Canadian.

Baby Rose

I was fortunate enough the last couple of days to see a few artists playing around town for SXSW, and yesterday i was most fortunate to get to see the positively divine Baby Rose perform at Mohawk.  Heartfelt psych and blues-tinged soul from Atlanta.  Check out the artist's "Go" below and pre-order the upcoming "Through and Through" LP here from Secretly Canadian.

Hatchie

Australian dreampop artist Hatchie just dropped a new track called "Nosedive."  The song was co-written by Jorge Elbrecht and sounds like some industrial and shoegaze tinged alt-pop that could have come out in the '90s.  Check it out below and download it here from Secretly Canadian.

Porridge Radio

I'm still a little bummed that i didn't get to see UK post punk/alt-rock band Porridge Radio back in 2020 when SXSW was cancelled because of COVID.  Maybe someday.  But they're still chugging along, and just dropped their new album "Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky."  Get that here from Secretly Canadian and listen to "The Rip" below.

Hatchie

I am just a total sucker for pop music that injects the right amount of shoegaze and dreampop into the fold.  Thus my love for the music of artists like Hatchie.  New album "Giving the World Away" drops in April.  Listen to "Quicksand" below and pre-order the album here from Secretly Canadian.

Hatchie

Last we heard from Australian pop artist Hatchie was last summer when she was covering The Jesus and Mary Chain.  This month, she's back with some new material of her own, the dreamy, dancey, almost Balearic sounding "This Enchanted."  Groove to the track below and get it here from Secretly Canadian.

Porridge Radio (with Lala Lala)

Here's an excellent new track from Brighton post punk tinged artist Porridge Radio recorded during the pandemic with an assist from indie artist Lala Lala.  Listen to "Good For You" below and grab the track here from Secretly Canadian.

Porridge Radio

While it is going to severely impact the city of Austin and so, so many of the service folks and gig employees who work here, the decision to cancel SXSW looks more and more like the right call with each passing day.  It's getting scary out there.  Music makes me feel better.  So i may as well write about and cheerlead all on the artists i intended to check out over the next 9 days.  Brighton's Porridge Radio is one of those artists.  A female fronted alt-rock band with post punk vibes for days, SXSW would normally be the kind of festival that explodes for a band like this, so enjoy "Don't Ask Me Twice" below and get the "Every Bad" LP here from Secretly Canadian.

Richard Swift

I saw "The Hex," the swan song of singer/songwriter/producer Richard Swift popping up on a lot of year end lists over the last couple weeks and decided to check it out.  Wow.  Oh how did i miss this last September?  The record is phenomenal, a mix of doo-wop, classic pop, folk, honky tonk piano, synths, croon, and wall-of-sound aesthetic that is simultaneously funny, woozy, uplifting, melancholy, and devastating, a showcase of the human spirit.  Swift made a name for himself collaborating and producing records for folks like Kevin Morby, The Shins, and more, but "The Hex" feels like it's on a whole other level.  Somewhat inspired by the deaths of his mother and sister, the record finds an artist trying to find ground, something Swift was ultimately unable to do as he passed away earlier this year as a result of his alcoholism.  And while death may hang over the proceedings, there's so much more to hear in this final work.  Listen to album closer "Sept20" below and get the record here from Secretly Canadian.

Whitney cover Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton is a national treasure, and i will fight to the death anybody who would imply otherwise. That being said, why aren't there more bands out there covering her songs?  Jazz, folk, and classic rock dabbling band Whitney have apparently heard the call, having just released a new 12" single featuring a cover of Lion's "You've Got A Woman" on the A-side and Dolly's "Gonna Hurry (As Slow as I Can)"on the B.  Listen to it below.  It's a wonderful take on the song, sounding like Whitney, but still serving as a loving tribute to the original.  Get it from Secretly Canadian.

Cherry Glazerr

One of the bands that i caught last week that i did not expect to enjoy near as much as i did was the LA band of energetic misfits Cherry Glazerr.  They absolutely killed their performance at the Levitation party, and word on the street is they did the same everywhere else they played.  Anyway, the band put out their most recent album "Apocalipstick" back in January on Secretly Canadian.  You should check it out, but also listen to "Nurse Ratched" below.

She-Devils - The World Laughs

I heard lo-fi pop band She-Devils a couple years ago, really dug their sound, and then kind of forgot about them.  It appears the duo have signed to Secretly Canadian, are working on an album, and just released a new song and video for the wonderfully woozy and summery jam "The World Laughs."  Good to have them back on my radar.  Listen and watch below.

Whitney

Former members of Smith Westerns and Unknown Mortal Orchestra make up the cast of the jazzy, AM radio flavored Whitney.  Their debut album, "Light Upon the Lake," out on Secretly Canadian, feels like some obscure, private press record from the 70's that you somehow stumbled across at a garage sale or used book store.  You can practically see the dust rising off of it.  Listen to "Red Moon" below, a short and wonderful trumpet-led instrumental, and an album highlight.

I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness

So, it's kind of weird, but just the other day, i was listening to a bunch of CD's that i haven't listened to in years, and one of those albums was Austin gothic post-punk band I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness' 2006 LP "Fear Is on our Side."  While listening, i wondered whatever happened to them...and lo and behold, here is a new song from the upcoming follow-up "Dust."  Listen to "Faust" below and get the new LP from Secretly Canadian in October.

Gardens and Villa

It's that time of year again (the lead up days until SXSW) when so many band names start getting thrown my way that i get lost in the flux.  It's already begun.  One of these is the Santa Barbara synth pop band Gardens and Villa, a quintet of dudes insisting upon making me dance.  The group's "Dunes" LP is out now on Secretly Canadian.  Listen to "Colony Glen" below.