PlayARt - Bring Albums to Life

The whole story could’ve been written in the stars…

Astrology tells us a “Saturn Return” happens when the planet Saturn revolves back to the same position it held upon our birth. It typically takes almost thirty years. However, in the case of Delta Spirit, it took a little less than fifteen. The enduring California rock quintet—Matthew Logan Vasquez [vocals], Kelly Winrich [multi-instrumentalist, vocals], Will McLaren [guitar], Jon Jameson [bass], and Brandon Young [drums]—realign on their fifth full-length and first album since 2014, What Is There. As much as it reflects their journey thus far, it also ushers them into new territory as both musicians and, most importantly, friends. In the end, Delta Spirit not only return, but move forward together on What Is There.

On the cusp of releasing his first-ever solo album, Every Feeling on a Loop (ANTI-Records), songwriter Josiah Johnson is aware he wasn’t supposed to be here. Just five years ago when he took a leave of absence from the acclaimed indie-folk band, The Head and the Heart, the question was less where Johnson’s star would take him and more whether his struggles with addiction would end his music career. But then, he wasn’t supposed to be there, either.

Prior to co-founding the band, Johnson studied math and computer science in graduate school. But the magic of song led him to an open mic that changed his life. At Seattle’s Conor Byrne Pub, Johnson sparked collaborations with fellow musicians who would eventually form The Head and the Heart. The group’s rise was rapid. They built a loyal fanbase and zigzagged the globe, with sold-out shows at historic venues from The Fillmore to Red Rocks and festival appearances at Coachella and Lollapalooza. Their 2011 self-titled debut went on to receive RIAA Gold certification, followed by 2013’s Let’s Be Still, which landed on Billboard’s Top 10 Albums Chart.

On Every Feeling on a Loop, lush musical arrangements and harmonies support Johnson’s baritone crooning. At times, the songs sound like prayers. At others, his exuberance feels like the euphoria he’d always sought, this time hard-earned and wiser. He says he feels like a new person making it, charting his journey out of the dark into the wide awake of the morning, using the magic that was his all along.

ALL THEM WITCHES have built a career out of playing music that can not be pigeonholed into one specific genre. NOTHING AS THE IDEAL was recorded in Studio 2 at the world famous Abbey Road with the help of longtime mixing engineer Mikey Allred. The history and vibe of that setting laid the groundwork for what was to come. The band’s signature psychedelic blues riffs, relentless drums, melodic bass lines and non-linear lyrics are all present. The resulting album is a thought provoking head banger that is the band’s most cohesive album to date.

Standard weight clear vinyl

The Waterfall II completes The Waterfall, My Morning Jacket’s acclaimed 2015 record. Originally intended to be a sprawling triple album, the band were advised to hold back and keep some of it on the shelf. Until now! Frontman Jim James says, "this is simply the second half of a long snapshot of life for me as a writer in the years leading up to 2014, and the life of us as a band as we lived and worked in the epic country in and around Stinson Beach, CA during these recording sessions."

“I allowed myself to support a narrative I thought I had to support of PVRIS being a band,” Lynn confesses. “I didn’t really have a role model for this. Coming from a ‘band culture,’ it’s about how the group is always greater than the sum of its parts, and you’re not supposed to take credit, even if you do everything. There’s no template or role model for really owning it as a woman. I wanted to make everyone else happy and uphold an image I thought we had to. Growing up, I learned I don’t have to do that anymore. I’m finally allowing myself to take credit. I’ve got the full support and encouragement of my bandmates. PVRIS is a unit and very much a team, but the heart and soul of the vision and music always has sourced from me. I’m just saying it now. I fulfilled my own vision of what a role model should be.”

Writing and recording all of 2019, she found the perfect collaborator to bring this to life in JT Daly [K. Flay]. With Lynn writing, cooking up beats, playing guitar, drums, and bass, and singing, he amplified and augmented her vision and versatility in the studio. PVRIS set the foundation for the new era with recent EP, Hallucinations, spawning lead single and title track “Hallucinations,” which clocked 10 million total streams in a few months’ time, as well as fan favorites, “Old Wounds” and “Death of Me.”

Gregory Porter, the world’s best-selling contemporary Jazz/Soul artist with over 3 million worldwide album sales returns with ALL RISE, his  sixth studio album. The album marks a return to Porter’s beloved original songwriting – heart-on-sleeve lyrics imbued with everyday philosophy and real-life detail, set to a stirring mix of jazz, soul, blues and gospel. Produce by Troy Miller (Laura Mvula, Jamie Cullum, Emili Sande), the set also represents the evolution of Porter’s art to something even more emphatic, emotive, intimate, and universal too. After 2017’s Nat King Cole & Me, Porter knew two things: one, he’d bring in an orchestra for his next LP, and two, the music is medicine. In the spirit of that latter revelation, ALL RISE brims with songs about irrepressible love, plus a little protest, because the road to healing is bumpy.

 

Since his world-beating 2013 Blue Note debut, ‘Liquid Spirit’, which won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album, Gregory hasn't let down his legion of fans, whether collaborating with Disclosure on ‘Holding On’, releasing his dance hit ‘Liquid Spirit – Claptone Remix’ which became one of the most popular tracks in Ibiza, scoring another Grammy for ‘Take Me to the Alley’ (2016), or telling his life story through Cole's songbook. Porter is still surprised by his runaway success, but he has a theory: "I was soothed by my voice as a child and I think that's the same thing others get from it. I'm trying to heal myself with these songs."

 

Not only has Gregory made chart history by bringing jazz back to the masses, graced the iconic Pyramid Stage and the world’s most prestigious gig venues, performed for the Queen, appeared on the biggest TV shows as well as presented his own series (‘Gregory Porter’s Popular Voices’ on BBC Four), 2019 saw the singer launch and host his own podcast, ‘The Hang’, featuring such distinguished guests as Annie Lennox and Jeff Goldblum.

Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter J.S. Ondara, reveals Folk N’ Roll Vol 1: Tales of Isolation, a new collection of songs written in direct response to the current global pandemic. The album was composed and produced by Ondara while in lockdown in Minneapolis over the course of a week and came out of Ondara’s deep need to create as a form of therapy during this incredibly uncertain time. FNRV1: Tales of Isolation is the follow up to Ondara’s critically acclaimed 2019 debut Tales of America.

Double vinyl LP pressing housed in gatefold jacket. 2020 release. Rick Wakeman, best known as keyboard player in progressive rock band Yes, releases The Red Planet - a serious return to "Wakeman Prog". Harking back to Wakeman's critically acclaimed 1973 debut The Six Wives of Henry VIII, The Red Planet features eight newly composed pieces based around a central subject matter. Rick's blown the dust off his favorite analog keyboards and along with his latest keys has used the same formula he devised when making his debut album and the equally legendary Criminal Record. Upon being asked about the expectations of his prog fans, that they are hoping he will have shoved the "Prog Fader" up to 11, he replied, "That could be a problem... as it's already at 14!!!"

Blackbirds features songs primarily popularized by women who were the “bridge she came across on.” The album finds LaVette in top form with powerful renditions of songs that touched her personally. From Dinah Washington’s “Drinking Again,” Nina Simone’s “I Hold No Grudge” and more, they are all delivered in LaVette’s rich & raspy tone. Blackbirds honors LaVette’s heritage as an R&B singer and the women who came before her. LaVette A&R’d and sequenced the record herself – her first true curation.

The Shadow is an album of growth. In the years since our previous album SLUFF was recorded, we have toured around the world, honed our musical skills and found our own little place in the music industry - but we have also seen our share of shadows, and it is through acknowledging these shadows that we grow the most. Each song on The Shadow examines an aspect of this growth through a different musical lens, adding up to a series of rock-and-roll vignettes of light, shadow, anxiety and responsibility. Frantic punk-scenes of information overload are contrasted by patient drones of introspection; fun, ear-worm musings of life as a young rock band are juxtaposed with the heavier responsibility of having a voice and not quite knowing what to say. The amalgam of information in the songs is complemented with a blend of sonic perspectives - we threw in all our infl uences, from the usual suspects of punk rock and new wave to spacedout 80’s balladry, fuzzy garage-metal and psychedelic desert folk (with synths and tape loops added to taste). And with producer Chris Funk leading the way, our somewhat scatterbrained sprawl of musical and conceptual ideas are tied together in an artful way. Chris’ quiet but steady direction pushed us to serve the songs, reigning in the guitar pedal breaks and drum solo freakouts from our live set while leaving just enough unpredictability and experimentation to give the album a liveliness of its own.

With her heart-swelling, folk-inflected pop, music's bright-eyed anthropologist, Alex the Astronaut, uses uses sprawling narratives and rich vignettes to unravel the joys and struggles of everyday life on her debut album. Brough to life with infectious melodies, plucked guitar, and Alex's unmistakable vocals. The Theory of Absolutely Nothing is the work of a storyteller attuned to the world around her.

Josh Turner returns with his new studio album, Country State Of Mind. The 12-track record highlights some of Turner’s favorite Country Classics, and features guest appearances from John Anderson, Kris Kristofferson, Chris Janson, Runaway June, Maddie & Tae, and the legendary Randy Travis. CD packaging includes a bonus “Country State Of Mind” decal sticker.

World renowned and multi-Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Bebel Gilberto has been enchanting fans and critics worldwide since her solo debut release in 1986. She catapulted onto the global music scene in 1996 when she featured on the celebrated compilation RED HOT + RIO. She followed up with her breakout album, Tanto Tempo, positioning herself as one of the top-selling Brazilian artists since the 1960's. She continued with a streak of critically-acclaimed albums on which she refined her sound and showcased her strengths as a composer. Her new album, Agora, which translates to now, chronicles the moment in time in Bebel's life after a period of great change. It was produced by Thomas Bartlett (Sufjan Stevans, St. Vincent, Father John Misty, David Byrne, Martha Wainwright).

Bruce Hornsby is on a roll. After taking the music world by surprise with his wide-ranging, critically acclaimed 2019 album Absolute Zero, the singer, songwriter, composer and bandleader returns with a follow-up that picks up where its predecessor left off. Non-Secure Connection features 10 new songs exploring a broad range of themes, from civil rights to computer hackers, mall salesmen to the tribulations of youth basketball.

Hornsby plays piano, of course, but the songs on Non-Secure Connection also feature Hornsby’s electric sitar and Chamberlin, along with guitars, horns, strings and subtle samples from sources as varied as minimalist composer John Cage and Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand. Like Absolute Zero, Non-Secure Connection also features a wealth of collaborators: singer James Mercer of The Shins and Broken Bells, singer and poet Jamila Woods, Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid, Bon Iver leader Justin Vernon and the late Leon Russell, who appears thanks to a demo that he and Hornsby recorded together more than 25 years ago.

Non-Secure Connection LP by Bruce Hornsby

Amassing over 2 billion streams, British four-piece Glass Animals is led by singer/songwriter/producer Dave Bayley with bandmates and childhood friends Joe Seaward, Ed Irwin-Singer & Drew MacFarlane. A fan favorite, their album How To Be A Human Being was one of the most critically acclaimed records of 2016. Now, Glass Animals is back with new album DREAMLAND. Featuring hit singles “Tokyo Drifting” with Denzel Curry and “Your Love (Déjà Vu)”.

How To Be A Human Being has received praise from various press outlets, including Billboard, Pitchfork, The FADER, The Guardian, The Telegraph and more. Glass Animals has also made appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Late Show with James Corden. As well as producing both of Glass Animals’ studio albums, ZABA and How To Be A Human Being, Dave has worked with a number of artists outside of the band, including 6lack, Khalid, Joey Bada$$, DJ Dahi, Flume and MorMor.

Third Man Records is excited to announce The Stooges' Live At Goose Lake: August 8, 1970. This previously-unheard, high-quality soundboard recording of the original Stooges lineup's final performance -- recorded just before the release of their earthshaking 1970 album Fun House -- will be available on vinyl, CD and digital on August 7, 2020, nearly 50 years to the day after the performance. 

Laura Marling’s exquisite seventh album ‘Song For Our Daughter’ arrives almost without pre-amble or warning in the midst of uncharted global chaos, and yet instantly and tenderly offers a sense of purpose, clarity and calm. As a balm for the soul, this full-blooded new collection could be posited as Laura’s richest to date, but in truth it’s another incredibly fine record by a British artist who rarely strays from delivering incredibly fine records. Taking much of the production reins herself, alongside long-time collaborators Ethan Johns and Dom Monks, Laura has layered up lush string arrangements and a broad sense of scale to these songs without losing any of the intimacy or reverence we’ve come to anticipate and almost take for granted from her throughout the past decade.

INCLUDES FULL BOARD GAME WITH GAME PIECES!!!

Pop on Floor It!!!, the new and second full-length effort from the Texas Gentlemen, and prepare your eardrums to be hit with everything from woozy, brass-fueled Dixieland-style jazz (“Veal Cutlass”), to slinky, chicken-scratch country funk (“Bare Maximum”) to lushly orchestrated pop-soul balladry (“Ain’t Nothin’ New”)—and that’s all in just the first 10 minutes of play time.

While the Gentlemen’s sound is clearly steeped in the classic roots, rock and pop music of the ‘60s and ‘70s, there’s a dreamy (the lilting “Sing Me to Sleep”), spacey (“Skyway Streetcar”) and occasionally progressive (“Dark at the End of the Tunnel”) element to what they do that seems to detach the music from belonging to any particular place and time. Add in elements of funk, soul, country, r&b, southern rock, gospel and essentially any other style that catches their musically omnivorous ears; an expansive and detailed approach to arrangement that sees the songs adorned with all manner of horns, strings and heavenly background vocals (“Hard Road”) and you have a collection of tunes that is more than just a mere album. Rather, Floor It!!! is a rich and righteous ride.

 

Vinyl LP pressing. 2020 release, the fifth album from the British rockers. The follow-up to Full Nelson features 12 new tracks. The members of Massive Wagons say: "Times are hard and scary right now. We want to do all we know how to do - that's bring music to people. Everyone needs to look after each other because we are all In It Together. We hope our music sends positive vibes to everyone affected by the situation, and see you on the road when normality is restored."

S.G. Goodman was raised in Western Kentucky on the Mississippi River Delta in a strict church going family of row crop farmers. Her debut solo album, co-produced with fellow Kentuckian Jim James, showcases S.G.'s otherworldly voice, which soars above a sonic blend of gritty guitars, bottomland grooves and plaintive balladry."

Chicago bred trio The Lawrence Arms will release Skeleton Coast, their first album in six years, on July 17.

Skeleton Coast was recorded 30 miles east of El Paso, TX at Sonic Ranch Studios with longtime producer Matt Allison. It was kind of like album camp in the sense that we were in this very remote setting for two weeks and really focusing on making the record. That was a very different experience for us because we’ve always made our records in Chicago which is home and all the things about home are in the way,” says vocalist and guitarist Chris McCaughan.

The album contains the elements of the band’s sound that fans have come to love for the past two decades but recontextualizes them in a way that somehow sounds perfectly aligned with this strange time in our collective history. Although it was written and recorded before the Coronavirus upended the world, the band’s seventh studio album sounds eerily prescient as it imagines an apocalyptic future where coyotes croon and wolf packs roam free. “For a band who has been around as long as us, this is about as urgent of a record as we could make,” vocalist and bassist Brendan Kelly explains. “It may be kind of dark but it’s really about searching for light in the darkness and finding it, as small as those moments may seem. That’s sort of where we’re at: Collecting the scraps of things that could make for a bearable existence in dark times.”

THE HU "The Gereg" deluxe edition includes six additional tracks.  Following the success of the 2019 debut release, The Gereg features viral rock hits "Wolf Totem" and "Yuve Yuve Yu", with additional features from Lzzy Hale of Halestorm, Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach and Danny Case of From Ashes To New, whose version of "Yuve Yuve Yu" reached top 10 at rock radio. Hailing from Mongolia, The HU are unlike any other rock band in the world, introducing their new style of music they call "hunnu rock" - from the Mongolian root word for human being, "hu". Since their release, the band has been #1 on the Billboard World Albums Chart, #1 on the Top New Artist Albums, and Top 5 Globally on Hard Rock Music Album Charts (US, Canada, UK, and more). They have toured the world extensively, with sold out shows in Europe, the UK, and the United States. The deluxe CD includes the full album, as well as 3 acoustic tracks and 3 featured versions.

Paul Weller’s 15th solo album, On Sunset, is a soul album. At the same time it’s an electronic album, an orchestral album, an album packed with classic pop songs and heart-tugging ballads, and an album filled with touches of experimentalism. It’s also an album that sees Weller taking a rare glance into the rear-view mirror as he speeds into the 2020s.

Stu Larsen has no fixed residence...all he owns is a suitcase. You can find him in his native Australia, in Spain, Japan or South America before he picks up and leaves for his next destination. The Queensland, Australia-born singer-songwriter, and narrator packed up his life in a suitcase and has circled the globe on a near twelve-year and five-continent international trip. He has chronicled this journey through his music, including his newest full-length album Marigold.

Corb Lund embraces his rich and rustic western heritage with a style that’s unique, honest and resolute, while touching on a range of cowboy themes — from rough-and-tumble tales of lawless frontier saloons, to the sombre realities of running a modern family ranch. As a descendant of many generations of rodeo contestants and ranchers, he sings about a life that he and his ancestors have lived themselves, paired with his quick-witted, wry observations of today’s world. As a result of his heritage and the ten years he spent touring the world with his indie rock band, Corb’s writing resonates emphatically with rural and urban audiences alike. It’s a classic sound with a twist, something of a rarity these days, but one that evokes the spirit of the American West, past and present.

Corb Lund’s 11^th studio album, Agricultural Tragic, finally puts a name to the genre he’s been embodying all of these years.

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Norah Jones’ seventh solo studio album Pick Me Up Off The Floor features collaborators from Brian Blade to Jeff Tweedy, and grew out of her acclaimed singles series of the past 2 years as the songs she hadn’t yet released unexpectedly congealed into an album of tremendous depth and beauty connected by the sly groove of her piano trios, lyrics that confront loss and portend hope, and a mood that leans into darkness before ultimately finding the light.

Go, Just Do It!, Kenny ''Blues Boss'' Wayne's newest album (June 12 on Stony Plain Records), finds the Boogie Woogie Hall of Famer applying his tremendous talent to an energetic recording of top-shelf good time blues. The album is 13 tracks of originals which include Kenny's arrangement of two Percy Mayfield songs and one by JJ Cale.

Showcasing the magnificent horns of Jerry Cook and Vince Mai, harmonica player Sherman Doucette and Grammy-winning vocalist Diane Schuur, the album will also feature Maple Blues winning vocalist Dawn Tyler Watson, Julie Masi of Juno Award-winning group The Parachute Club and Cory Spruell (aka SeQuaL) rappin' on ''I don't want to be the President.''

Legendary blues piano master Kenny ''Blues Boss'' Wayne was inducted on August 9, 2017 into the Boogie Woogie Piano Hall of Fame in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is hailed by Living Blues Magazine for his six-decade career of bringing the piano back to the front ranks of contemporary blues. This Juno Award winner and multi-Maple Blues Award winner is at the forefront of modern day blues piano.

Vinyl LP pressing. 2020 release. The Ghost Inside is a Los Angeles-based hardcore band. They began as a group of friends in El Segundo, CA united by their shared passion for bands in the hardcore scene. The group stands for authenticity, dedication, perseverance and the most literal adherence to the core values behind their craft. Sonically, the group places equal emphasis on deeply personal vocals, urgent riffing and pile-driving breakdowns within the framework of their heavily melodic modern hardcore.

Guitarist John Scofield celebrates the music of his friend and mentor Steve Swallow in an outgoing and spirited recording, made "old school" style in just one day in New York in March 2019. "I love these songs", says Scofield of the selection of Swallow compositions explored here. The rapport between Scofield and Swallow is evident in every moment. Behind the drum kit, Bill Stewart, a close associate of Scofield's since the early 90s, is alert to all the implications of the interaction.

Imploding the Mirage is The Killers highly anticipated sixth studio album. The album - produced by the band in conjunction with Shawn Everett and Jonathan Rado of Foxygen - was recorded in Los Angeles and Park City, UT. It is the first album of their career to be created outside their hometown of Las Vegas, NV. Imploding The Mirage also features a brilliant array of collaborators, another first for the band who have typically kept guest spots on their albums to a minimum. The list of featured artists includes Lindsey Buckingham, k.d. lang, Weyes Blood, Adam Granduciel (War On Drugs), Blake Mills, and Lucius.

If there’s one lesson to be gleaned from Jamie Wyatts latest album, Neon Cross, it’s that life goes on. And through it all—good times and bad, dreaming and desperation, there is truth. When it came to capturing that truth on tape, Wyatt had some assistance from Shooter Jennings, who produced Neon Cross. Together, she and Jennings boldly color outside the country lines, taking a wide-lens sonic and stylistic approach to the songs on Neon Cross.

Multi-PLATINUM singer/songwriter Kip Moore’s highly anticipated fourth studio album WILD WORLD will be available May 29. Co-writing 12 of the album’s 13 insightful tracks, he navigates the search to find place and purpose. Throughout the album, that search is revealed in deeply personal terms, with Kip even co-producing the set. The weathered heartland-rock sound Moore has embraced pumps up its emotional volume, recorded live with a full band. CD includes free poster offer, valid thru 12/31/20.

The buzz around CHRISTIAN LEE HUTSON started in earnest in 2018 after he began his collaborative friendship with singer Phoebe Bridgers. Hutson co-wrote songs with Bridgers for both the EP of supergroup boygenius (ft. Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus) and her 2019 release with Conor Oberst, Better Oblivion Community Center. The emerging folk artist received further critical attention after Bridgers invited him to Eaux Claires Festival last July, where he performed a solo set and earned praise from festival host Bon Iver. Eventually, Bridgers asked if she could produce an album for him. Engineered and mixed by Joseph Lorge (Blake Mills, Perfume Genius), the forthcoming release also features contributions from Bright Eyes pianist Nathaniel Walcott. To merely call Christian Lee Hutson an old soul would be to deny the vibrancy of his sound. Hutson writes songs that the SF Bay Guardian describes as, "... Foreboding, bluesy love ballads laden with longing nostalgia." Hutson is an avid touring artist and his touring will take him to Austin this Spring for SXSW. For Fans of Phoebe Bridgers, Elliott Smith and Bright Eyes.

Los Angeles-based guitarist, composer, and producer Blake Mills announces forthcoming album Mutable Set. Much of the material was co-written with acclaimed singer-songwriter Cass McCombs, and this is Mills' first album of solo music with lyrics since 2014's "Heigh Ho" and second release under New Deal Records / Verve Label Group.

Following up the Grammy nominated album "Run Home Slow", Australian soul band The Teskey Brothers are back with their new live album "Live at The Forum" out 5/22. The album was recorded on tape during their two day residency at the iconic Forum Melbourne in Australia this past November. Opaque Blue Vinyl. Polybag. Gatefold Sleeve.