New Music Friday is with us once more and we have a bounty of new music to tell you about…new albums from Michael Kiwanuka, Kim Deal, Sally Stockwell, Father John Misty and The Coward Brothers (Elvis & T-Bone).
The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda picks these five new releases for your consideration:
- The Coward Brothers – The Coward Brothers (New West) Elvis Costello and T-Bone Burnett have used the names Howard and Henry Coward as occasional noms de plume, dating back to the 1980s. This collection is something of a soundtrack. Said Costello in a press release, “With regard to the ludicrous assertion that this person, Howard Coward, and I are one and the same, I have to say: this is the work of a bounder, a rounder and a charlatan, and I shall be examining my legal options forthwith.” Burnett, for his part, claimed to have once heard “Pure Bubblegum” on Fort Worth radio, and “the disc jockey played it once and got such a bad response from listeners that they burned it the next morning in front of the station.” The songs come from “The True Story of the Coward Brothers,” a scripted musical-comedy audio series arriving as an Audible Original exclusive. Now you know!
2. Sally Stockwell – Little Triggers (Self) Sally unpacks the complexities of motherhood in this courageous new album. Ōtautahi-based, multifaceted artist tells us, “I think it’s important to have the courage to make art that is true and authentic to oneself first, and say what you need to say. I hope LITTLE TRIGGERS provokes some thought and perhaps discussion.” Click here to watch the 13th Floor MusicTalk interview with Sally Stockwell to hear more about Little Triggers.
3. Michael Kiwanuka – Small Changes (Geffen/Polydor) Small Changes was produced alongside Danger Mouse and Inflo, the same studio team behind the globally acclaimed KIWANUKA and its equally as acclaimed predecessor, Love & Hate. The artist tells us, “I was always trying to sound like my favorite singers, or [thinking] that [my vocals] weren’t good enough. But now I think I just want to sound like me.”
4. Kim Deal – Nobody Loves You More (4AD) Nobody Loves You More is Kim Deal’s debut album, although it’s technically not her first release under her own name – she self-released a 5-part, 10-song 7” vinyl series in 2013, and beyond that, she’s earned her stripes as early as the late 80s with bands Pixies and The Breeders. Sonically versatile and propulsively infectious, the resulting record is a celebration of Deal’s unmatched artistry, nodding not only to her career highlights with celebrated bands across the alternative landscape, but also to her immovable cultural weight.
5. Father John Misty – Mahashmashana (Sub Pop) A more Google-friendly version of the Sanskrit word Mahāśmaśāna (महामशान), Josh Tillman uses Mahashmashana to mean “great cremation ground, all things put going thither.” Tillman co-produced Mahashmashana with Drew Erickson, who worked across Chloë and the Next 20th Century. Longtime collaborator Jonathan Wilson served as executive producer.