Birch Street Radio

Sunday, April 13, 2025

New Music: Arcade Fire, Garbage, Valerie June, Aurora, Current Swell

Arcade Fire: Year of the Snake

The lead single from the just-announced LP Pink Elephant is "all about how times are weird and bad, but feeling uncomfortable can be positive," writes Stereogum. "It’s the season of change / and if you you feel strange / It’s probably good," says the chorus. Win Butler and his spouse/bandmate Régine Chassagne produced the album with Daniel Lanois at the couple’s studio in New Orleans. (Photo by Danny Clinch)

Garbage: There's No Future In Optimism

Ahead of a new album, Let All That We Imagine Be The Light, comes this single inspired by being in Los Angeles in the aftermath of George Floyd's killing. The lyrics, say band leader Shirley Manson, "are an action against that title. Because if we allow our fatalism or our negativity to really take over, we will crumble." (Photo by Joseph Cultice)

Valerie June: All I Really Wanna Do

The singer-songwriter from Tennessee, "who began her career as a blues singer, has moved pretty far away from that with her fourth album, Owls, Omens, and Oracles," writes Glide Magazine. "Call it Americana, but there are heavy tinges of pop and indie, with lighter hints of gospel and neo-soul. Here, she explores the many aspects of love but celebrates the joy of being alive." This number features "an array of keys from piano to glockenspiel to organ behind June’s layered vocals.".

Aurora: The Flood

The Norwegian art-pop singer follows her fifth studio album, last year's What Happened To The Heart?, with this new single. "This is a song about the invisible enemy. What brings you anger, what brings you worry and sadness. What makes you crawl into yourself instead of meeting the world fully."

Current Swell: If You Want My Time

This Victoria, BC-based indie-rock band returns six years after it's most recent LP, Buffalo, with this new single. Canadian Beats calls it "a heartfelt and infectious track that captures the balance between love’s deep affections and everyday frustrations. Wrapped in catchy melodies and nostalgic warmth ... Blending elements of rock, roots-rock, and indie-rock."

Saturday, April 12, 2025

Brad Paisley/Dawes collab, Tunde Adebimpe, The Ramona Flowers, Krooked Tongue, Deep Sea Diver

Brad Paisley & Dawes: Raining Inside

The press notes about this track say country star Paisley co-wrote this song with Taylor Goldsmith from Dawes and Lee Thomas Miller in 2024. "It was initially recorded with just Brad’s vocals but turned into a collaboration after the magic of the Grammy performance with Taylor and his brother Griffin Dawes on Randy Newman’s 'I Love L.A.'"

Tunde Adebimpe: God Knows

Of the latest single from his new album Three Black Boltz, the TV On The Radio frontman had this to say in a press release: "Breaking up is hard to down dooby doo down do." So yeah it's a breakup song, which includes the lyric "God knows you’re the worst thing I ever loved."

The Ramona Flowers: Human

The Bristol-based band says this new single "is a song about learning from mistakes, letting go of guilt, and realising that every moment is a chance to begin again and grow into a better version of yourself. At the end of the day we’re all Humans, everyone on this planet makes mistakes, it’s just how you learn from those mistakes and move forward which makes the difference." (Photo by Guy Aroch)

Krooked Tongue: Marigold

Can we have two Bristol groups in the New Music Bin at the same time? Why not, and we're previewing this trio's new single. Vocalist/lyricist Oli Rainsford says this single "Is a love letter to the 'what might've been'. ... Most of the time when we interact with strangers, it never gets a second thought. Maybe a subtle glance, or a smile here and there ... But then there's those moments where you have instant chemistry with someone, and for a minute it's electric ... And then you never see that person again. Who knows where a split decision could've taken you."

Deep Sea Diver: Emergency

We dive (ahem) back into Billboard Heart, the Seattle band's fourth LP, and surface another strong track. Pitchfork says this track's "frenetic energy is kept aloft by indefatigable drumming and whining synths," as frontwoman Jessica Dobson "seems to sing the verses through gritted teeth."

Sunday, March 30, 2025

New Music: My Morning Jacket, Kilowatt Parade, Stereophonics, Mumford & Sons, Lucy Dacus

My Morning Jacket: Everyday Magic

The tenth album by the five-piece band from Kentucky continues its "pattern of inspired yet accessible rock music," writes Glide Magazine. "Each song has layers that build upon each other, with little guitar flourishes or pieces of percussion adding nuance to riffs that draw from funk, southern rock, and psychedelic rock."

Kilowatt Parade: The Minute I Wake

This is the first release from a new project by Ottawa-based guitarist, songwriter and producer Andre Nault, who's also the artist behind Stand Up And Say No. The pitch is that he's "venturing into new musical territory with his latest indie-rock project." It's too early for us to say how different it will be, but this track seems to be in the same groove as, for example, SU&SN's "Shared Interests."

Stereophonics: Seems Like You Don't Know Me

Here's a preview of the Welsh rock band's 13th album, Make ‘em Laugh, Make ‘em Cry, Make ‘em Wait. NME writes that the song takes the group "into new territory, experimenting with nostalgic synths, drum machines and acoustic guitar elements to create an eye-catching yet spacious sound. The vocals from Kelly Jones explore the nuances of relationships and the questions that arise about how well we really know one another." (Um... eye-catching sound?)

Mumford & Sons: Caroline

A mixed - and very amusing - review in the Irish Times calls the new album Rushmere "spirited if uneven." It adds that the LP "is at its most enjoyable when the musicians focus on straight-ahead tunefulness, as they do on the single 'Caroline.'" And that's our choice for the New Music bin. (Do yourself a favor and read the snarky-fun review!)

Lucy Dacus: Forever Is A Feeling

This is the title song from the new album by this singer-songwriter from Virginia. AllMusic describes the LP as "examining 'it's complicated' relationships through an adult lens." The review calls this track "an obvious centerpiece." It includes Dacus' boygenius bandmates Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker, Blake Mills' bass, Madison Cunningham's 12-string guitar, Melina Duerte's drum programming and synths, Bartees Strange's additional drums, and more. "It temporarily changes keys and passes through several emotional contradictions" as the singer concludes she's in a relationship for the long haul.

Saturday, March 15, 2025

Lucius, OK Go, Thompson Springs, Great Tide, Watchglass added to the New Music bin

Lucius: Gold Rush

Coming in May is Lucius, the self-titled fourth album by singers Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, their band and several guests. It will include last fall's single, "Old Tape," as well as this track the duo says is about "that addictive sweetness to love. The roller coaster highs and lows. ... It’s energy and grit: guitars wailing, heavy backbeat, dynamic vocals which flip from verse to chorus – mellow to strong – playing off the band and echoing the sentiment of the lyrics.” (Photo by Dana Trippe)

OK Go: Take Me With You

Here's another foretaste of the upcoming album And The Adjacent Possible, the group's first since 2014. The track is a sprightly, synth-y plea for companionship: "Oh, take / Take me with you / Whatever the mystic whispered voices tell you / I need to hear them, too."

Thompson Springs: All My Life

This indie band from Chicago blends rock with strains of country and blues. We've been sprinkling them into our mix since catching them in a small live show some five years ago. We hope this strong new single is a sign that an album might be in the works. In the meantime the group is about to start a tour through the Netherlands and into Belgium and Germany.

Great Tide: Passing Fancy

Although they're based in Norway, this quartet sounds like its heart is in the Laurel Canyon. They describe themselves as "a hard-working Americana, blues, and rock band ... bringing a timeless 70s-inspired sound with a modern edge." They cite the likes of Tom Petty, Eagles, and Fleetwood Mac as influences, and this track has us recalling Buffalo Springfield.

Watchglass: Soda Pop Plastic

We've just been introduced to this duo from Sydney, Australia, and their refreshingly new music, described as "equal parts melodic and hypnotic." Instrumentalist-producer Mark Vigano loves to experiment with sounds and styles, and Gina Graham adds the lyrics and the vocals. This track from their new album Long Ways Conversations is about disengaging from pop culture and social media to touch grass - literally!

Saturday, March 8, 2025

New music variety: Tune-Yards, Illuminati Hotties, Chris Church, I'm With Her, The Moons Of Jupiter

Tune-Yards: Limelight

The duo of Merill Garbus and Nate Brenner make music that doesn't neatly fit into any genre or category - maybe a bit like Rubblebucket in that way. Their last album was 2021's Sketchy, and now they've announced Better Dreaming is due in May. This bouncy first single was inspired by the couple's dancing with their 3-year-old to George Clinton music, and the toddler can be heard vocalizing on the track. "This one almost didn’t make it onto the album because it felt trite," says Garbus. "But it kept coming back as people kept responding positively to it, in particular our own kid."

Illuminati Hotties: 777

LA-based Sarah Tudzin "has pulled off a lot of different sounds under the banner of Illuminati Hotties, and her new single adds another one to the mix," writes Stereogum. "Heaping mounds of distorted guitar are pulled along by a relentless undertow, with Tudzin’s gleaming vocals and screaming/dreamy guitar melodies taking turns leading the charge." The single comes less that seven months after the most recent IH album, Power.

Chris Church: She Looks Good In Black

The word on this Lenoir, North Carolina, musician is that he has crisscrossed genres over a three-decade career - performing, writing and recording with power-pop, prog-rock and metal bands and releasing solo albums ranging from art pop to hard rock. Church describes this track as "suggesting country-rock." Its sound and lyrics also put us in mind of Marshall Crenshaw (think "Cynical Girl").

I'm With Her: Ancient Light

It's been seven years since modern folkies Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan, and Sara Watkins released their first album as a trio, See You Around, and now they've announced their second, Wild And Clear And Blue, is on the way. The group says this first single "sets the tone for the entire album, communing with our past and future selves."

The Moons Of Jupiter: Dancing With Destiny

The English duo of multi-instrumentalist Nicky Rowe and vocalist James Harris just released their self-titled debut album, which expands on their 2023 EP Ghosts. They cite classic eletro-pop bands like Depeche Mode, The Human League and Tears for Fears as influences, and add a modern darkwave overlay.