New Music Friday - Expanded Edition

It’s New Music Friday – Time for the Picks of the Weeks – That’s right, plural weeks – I’ve been out of pocket for a bit so it’s a super-duper sized New Music Friday post - Songs and albums that have caught my attention and something I think you’ll want to listen to this weekend. So let’s get to it…

Today’s featured singles start with “Take My Breath” by The Weeknd

The first single off the upcoming album is a straight up disco-pop classic in the making. Borrowing the best grooves from the “Father of Disco”, Giorgio Moroder, the song continues down the pop music highway showing maturity in his songs and a voice that gets better with each album.

The next featured single is “The Hang of It” by Dan Israel

A perfect highway traveling song, the latest from the Minnesota singer-songwriter. Combining hints of The Jayhawks with the power-pop sounds of the late 1970s, the track shines while touching on maturing and being cool (or not). I’ll be adding this to my road trip playlist.

The final featured single is “Suicide Is Murder” by Aimee Mann.

In 2018, Mann revealed she was working on songs for a planned “Girl, Interrupted” stage musical, to be based on Susannah Kaysen’s memoir. While we’re still waiting on the musical, the music pegged for it will be released in in the form of “Queens of the Summer Hotel,” an album Mann has coming out in November. It’s a gorgeous, painful piano-led track that falls into the best of the singer-songwriter category.

Today’s featured albums start with Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night by Bleachers

Jack Antonoff’s third album is full of songs of desperation and longing to break free – it’s no surprise that he enlisted Bruce Springsteen to sing on one of the tracks. It’s more mature than previous releases from Bleachers, maybe that’s a testament to all the great production work Antonoff has done with a wide variety of artists. Check out the track “Don’t Go Dark”

Next, we’ll focus on the latest album from Yola, Stand For Myself

Re-enlisting the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach as producer, Yola emerged from the last year with her second album, in which she revels in possibility. Yola testifies in her singing as she immerses herself in different genres and styles, her formidable instrument guiding the way. Straying from her debut retro-country sound, Yola reaches back decades to incorporate funk, disco, R&B, and even Britpop for a set of songs that sounds both strikingly original and wholly classic. Check out the track “Diamond Studded Shoes”

Finally, our third featured album is Native Sons by Los Lobos

Tribute and cover albums are difficult – but when you take a great band and have them cover songs celebrating their home town – you get a fun romp through Los Angeles. The reinterpretations are as inspired as they are varied, covering songs by Jackson Browne, War, The Beach Boys and The Blasters (a band that Steve Berlin was in before joining Los Lobos). Decades and genres – it doesn’t matter to the great Lobos. Everything sounds fresh and dazzling. Check out the track “Love Special Delivery”