New Album Showcase: May 2021

Albums

The Black Keys- Delta Kream (Easy Eye Sound)

The Keys’ tenth long-player finds the duo returning to their gritty and primitive blues roots, unearthing a collection of formative hill-country blues standards from the likes of Junior Kimbrough, John Lee Hooker, R.L. Burnside, Big Joe Williams, and other notables from the music’s earliest eras. The set opens with the ferocious “Crawling Kingsnake” and immediately fulfills what we knew would be a reverent and vintage roots exploration, while also invoking the project with tasteful, modern production standards. Longtime Keys die-hards will rejoice in this record, which connects Dan Auerbach’s soulful vocals and Patrick Carney’s commanding guitar grooves back to the roots of their earliest albums. The entire record’s a highlight, but pay particular attention to the sensational heights of “Going Down South” and the humid, haunting allure of “Come and Go With Me”.

Alan Jackson- Where Have You Gone (EMI)

The Hall of Fame poet and one of country music’s modern, living legends ends the longest silence of his three-decade career with his twenty first studio set, and his first since 2015. Those years have done nothing to rob the icon of his sturdy twang or the honky tonk grace of his prose. Where Have You Gone abounds with the tried and true Jackson hallmarks of the past: potent drinking tunes (“Way Down In My Whiskey”, “Wishful Drinking”), sincere familial sentiment (“You’ll Always Be My Baby”, “Where Her Heart Has Always Been”, and sage life reflections (“The Older I Get”, “So Late So Soon”). And of course, with thriving country arrangements of fiddle and steel supporting him, he proudly reasserts himself as a traditionalist gatekeeper with commentaries on the current state of the country genre, whether it be the mournful title track, or the jaunty “Back”. If anything prevents this 21-track album from being a flawless entry in his canon, it’s the combination of its length and lack of tempo. Nevertheless, an Alan Jackson release is always a welcome occasion and overall, this one more than makes up for lost time.

Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram and Jon Randall- The Marfa Tapes (RCA)

Miranda Lambert further upholds her restlessly artistic reputation by joining fellow Texans and frequent lyrical collaborators, Ingram and Randall, for this delightful left-field and all-acoustic side project, smack dab in the midst of her recent renaissance on mainstream radio. Devotees of the Texas country scene will fall head over heels; it offers an impressive Flatlanders spirit coupled with a minimalist, unpolished production, complete with the intimate background noise of idle chit-chat and campfire flames. It’s soulful, warm and cozy. And, as a true songwriter’s album, it’s chalk-full of tremendous tunes including former Lambert tracks “Tin Man” and “Tequila Does”, as well as other highlights like “Anchor”, “In His Arms”, “Am I Right Or Amarillo”, and “Amazing Grace (West Texas)”. Hell, the entire track list is stacked from top to bottom. The Marfa Tapes is sure to be a dark-horse favorite of 2021.

St. Vincent- Daddy’s Home (Loma Vista)

The most dazzling and dizzying female force to hit the alt-rock scene since Florence Welch unleashes the follow-up to her 2017 breakthrough, Masseducation, and while it finds her once again reuniting with sonic scientist Jack Antonoff, Daddy’s Home is indeed another reinvention for this artistic chameleon. It finds Annie Clark and her alter-ego excavating retro-funk and soul sounds while also reconciling deep, personal matters such as her father’s recent release from a 10-year prison stint, which frames the brilliantly bizarre title track, and ultimately the entire record as a whole. It makes for an album that is both a sonic, and emotional, roller-coaster. Still reeling from the weird, guttural impact of Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters? Tracks like “Daddy’s Home”, “Pay Your Way In Pain”, “The Melting of the Sun”, and the like will prove to be excellent chasers. Meanwhile, “Live the Dream” is a flat-out masterclass in modern psychedelia, and cuts “Down and Out Downtown” and “Candy Darling” form a pair of gorgeously painful portraits of New York City, with vocal heights that recall the best powerhouse moments of women like Sinead O’Connor and Annie Lennox.

Travis Tritt- Set In Stone (Big Noise)

Alan Jackson’s “Class of ’89” peer likewise returns after a long absence from the studio; Set In Stone marks Travis Tritt’s first full-length record since 2007. Recent years have proven that the rebellious Southern Rocker is even more outspoken as a country elder-statesmen than he was as a hell-raising superstar in the mid-90s. And while you may not necessarily agree with all that Tritt has to say these days, you certainly can’t argue with the greatness at which he still sings. The Georgia native’s twangy rasp remains as bluesy and soulfully dimensional as it ever has, and new producing partner Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton) unsurprisingly finds the very best framing for Tritt’s classic voice at this stage in his career and life. With roots leaning as much toward The Allman Brothers Band as they did Waylon Jennings, Tritt’s sweet spot remains that middle ground between Southern Rock and Outlaw country, as evidenced by rave ups like “Stand Your Ground”, legacy clinchers like “Set In Stone”, and sweet reflective moments like “Leave This World”.

Twenty One Pilots- Scaled and Icy (Elektra)

2021 has been positively stacked with great albums from rock’s biggest bands thus far. And you just knew that the highly anticipated sixth set from Twenty One Pilots was going to stake serious claim for the distinction as the best. Scaled and Icy certainly didn’t disappoint. Like its preceding albums, it finds idiosyncratic partners-in-crime Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun pulling from a vast well of influences, both sonically (hip-hop, classic rock, alternative, dance and pop) and topically (anxiety, self-worth and discovery, the loss of both time and people). The range of character to be found in Joseph’s vocal range remains truly impressive. He continues to convey the same kind of nervy tension of past smashes on new ones like “Shy Away” and “Choker”, while also sounding outright gleeful and brightly optimistic on boppers like “Good Day” and “Saturday”, which both of course offer plenty of dark undertones hidden beneath the surface, but they’re still as infectious as anything they’ve ever released. It’s the devastating “Redecorate” however that is the artistic cornerstone statement of the record; raw and chilling to the bone.

Weezer- Van Weezer (Atlantic)

When The Black Keys return to their roots, they’re rediscovering century-old hill country blues. When Weezer returns to theirs, it’s by resurrecting the amped up guitar sound of late 70s and 80s hair metal. Two vastly different universes, but each entertaining in their own way. Van Weezer was originally to see release in 2020, but was delayed due to COVID’s shuttering of touring. Instead, we were treated to the superb orchestral record, OK Human earlier this year, and now with the return of live music very much on the horizon, this album becomes primed for its own limelight. And Van Weezer is without question, a record tailor made for a loud, amplified arena tour. It also proves that Weezer remains as skilled in heavy rock theatrics as they ever have. Rivers Cuomo is on fire vocally, and kick-ass anthems like “The End of the Game” and “Hero” have earned every second of airplay they’ve achieved, and the same can be said for recent singles “I Need Some of That” and “All the Good Ones”. The AC/DC, Metallica, and KISS influences are obvious but not cliche, and truthfully, many of these licks owe as much to The Killers and the pop-punk era that Weezer themselves helped build in the first place.