Sunflower Bean: Nothing Romantic
This indie trio, formed in Brooklyn in the mid-teens, took a break after 2022's Headful of Sugar - "walking away with no promise of coming back, moving to different states, floating in the abyss," as the band puts it. "Yet there was also a language that pulled us back together, the dream that there was more we needed to say together." They reunited and put out an EP last year, and now follow with their fourth album, Mortal Primetime. AllMusic says the LP showcases "the group's hard-won maturity and broad musical influences, balancing guitar-heavy rock with AM pop and introspective singer/songwriter ballads."
My Morning Jacket: Half A Lifetime
We pull another solid track from Jim James & co.'s 10th album (annoyingly titled is). New Noise Magazine says has "upbeat and funky energy" as its lyric "dives into the longer journeys of life and all the little moments that suddenly add up."
Faded Paper Figures: Forget All The Days We Died
This trio is working on its seventh album of synthpop - Triangles - while balancing their "day jobs" as a physician (Heather Alden), an English professor (R. John Williams) and a composer for film and TV (Kael Alden). We've been including their music in our mix for nearly a decade, and we're happy to present this early taste of the LP due in the fall.
The Darcys: Dreaming
Now based in LA, this duo from Toronto released Rendering Feelings last fall, so we're late picking up this track, but it was just issued as a single. Jason Couse and Wes Marskell say this song is "about the irreversible damage we’re inflicting on the planet and how our individual efforts to create change often fall on the deaf ears of those in power. ... If anything, we probably should have called the song Nightmares."
Free Range: Concept
The sophomore album from this Chicago indie-Americana band, Lost & Found, is a set of songs about that time of life when you’re transitioning out of adolescence and into adulthood, grappling with self-discovery and self-acceptance, and feeling alone but seeking connection. So lead singer Sofia Jensen tells Paste Magazine. This track is one of the higher-energy, rocking numbers on the LP.