The Black Keys- Ohio Players (Easy Eye Sound)
With the arrival of their twelfth studio release, The Black Keys colorfully bolster a canon that is arguably the most reliable rock canon of the 21st century thus far. On Ohio Players, we find the Keys the most experimental with their blues-based garage rock template since the polished streamlining of their commercial breakthrough El Camino in 2011. As ever before, this sonic dabbling is once again executed with the utmost style, nuance, and integrity. Not to mention a moody yet funky backdrop and the Keys’ standardly bawdy vocal flare that pays low-key homage to the LP’s true namesake band. From the surfy noir of tracks like “Don’t Let Me Go” and “Read ‘Em and Weep” to the sunny piano-pop of hit single, “Beautiful People (Stay High)” and even the Hip-Hop and rap dalliances of “Candy and Her Friends” and “Paper Crown”, each stylistic pivot is made in the best interest of the band’s artistic signatures, and never in betrayal of their core blues-rock sound. Appearances by guests like Beck, Noel Gallagher, Leon Michels, Juicy J, and Lil Noid easily make this the most collaborative release of the Keys’ career, and it speaks to the impressive continuity of their artistic vision that each of these diverse spots sound equally cohesive and natural. And then there’s the superlative cover of the William Bell/Booker T. Jones soul classic, “I Forgot To Be Your Lover”; what a reverent interpretation and divine watershed this proves to be. It easily ranks among one of their greatest moments put to wax, and serves as a grounding beacon on an album that isn’t afraid to be confidently weird or splashy. (I’d also be remiss not to mention that the badass record cover sets an impossible standards for all 2020s records to follow. Album artwork is indeed a lost, and ever-critical, art-form in itself.) Ohio Players is another victory from this duo , further staking their claim to one of the most consistently excellent catalogs of the past two decades.
Maggie Rogers- Don’t Forget Me (Capitol)
A boldly confident third record from a stunning singer-songwriter who continues to craft a body of work that is as infectiously rollicking as it is intimately evocative. On Don’t Forget Me, Maggie Rogers once again masters the art of wrapping her pensive and bitingly personal lyrics within an artillery of shimmering, hooky melodies. She anchors it all with a deliciously dichotomous vocal delivery that is simultaneously raw in its pain and triumphant in its purity. Her new union with producer Ian Fitchuk (most prominent for his work with Kacey Musgraves) further pushes her to the forefront of the scene of female indie noisemakers that HAIM has had the corner on for the past decade. Whether it’s the snappy confidence of acoustic rock tracks like “On and On and On” or the sheer devastation of piano ballad and album centerpiece, “I Still Do”, Rogers’ vocals leave every ounce of emotional power squarely on the surface. Listeners need only lean into it all for a means to process the weight of their own personal battles. It’s no easy feat to create a body of music that is as equally thrilling, despondent, and rejuvenating as this album proves to be. But it’s this complex combination of emotions that makes it perfect to soundtrack the transition from one life decade into the next (in Rogers’ case, her twenties to her thirties). These milestones find us celebrating our victories, reconciling with our disappointments, and anticipating the promise of the future. Maggie Rogers covers all this ground sensationally inside of this gorgeous ten-song emotional excavation.
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Maggie Rose- No One Gets Out Alive (Big Loud)
This golden-voiced powerhouse uses her stunning fourth album to further solidify the thoughtful and sultry brand of Southern soul that was such a glorious revelation on 2021’s Have a Seat. No One Gets Out Alive once again finds Rose using her sharp pen and soaring pipes to unpack so many of the heavy considerations one confronts during the back-half of their thirties. Of primary concern is the steady diminishment of time, and the increasing gravity of the decisions made as to what we do with it. A lush tapestry of vintage but timelessly vital rock & soul arrangements awaits the listener as Rose navigates through stirringly emotional reckonings with marriage, friendship, life aspirations, and expectations of the world around her. Producer Ben Tanner once again imbues the proceedings with his magical Muscle Shoals touch. His treatments here are elegant without being extravagant; torchy without being melodramatic. Everything swells to the perfect fever pitch, without ever taking the glowing spotlight off of Rose’s majestic range. A range which consistently proves itself as gutturally gorgeous as the lyrics she’s put on paper. If there’s one minor complaint, it would be that she doesn’t outright rock here as often as she did on her previous LP offering. Rose’s vocal signature has a saucy rock bent to it that can melt our speakers as effectively as her ballads can melt our hearts. This is a very minor complaint given how perpetually solid these slower moments are, even if they force the rockers to take a backset. No One Gets Out Alive is another sizzling step forward for an alluring artist now firmly settled into her true artistic skin.
Aaron Lee Tasjan- Stellar Evolution (Blue Elan)
Adventurous sonic twists, charmingly deadpan vocals, and sardonic commentary on the heaviest subjects of our current times. They are all once again the order of the day as Aaron Lee Tasjan reemerges to follow-up 2021’s spell-binding Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!. The bold tunesmith long ago mastered the art of balancing out the biting nerve of his songwriting with a vocal delivery that firmly plants one foot in the sociopolitical dirt, while the other plays in that of a more a satirical nature. It’s a blend that works tremendously once again throughout Stellar Evolution, accomplishing the rare feat of crafting a record that is as amusingly entertaining as it is remarkably purposeful. His voice continues to reside in a piercing timbre that offers a haunting evocation that’s equal parts John Lennon and Tom Petty, though the campy spoken-word of “The Drugs Did Me” recalls nothing but “Loser”-era Beck. Tasjan spends the majority of the album offering his signature side-eye to romance, corruption, and bigotry. He does so by way of an impressive arsenal of compositions and stylistic concoctions that range from the spooky synth-pop of “Horror Of It All” and the funky beats of “Pants”, to the anxious devastation of “Nightmare” and pointed politics of “I Love America Better Than You”. The latter, a frank questioning of blind jingoism, would make an excellent “Weird” Al track if it wasn’t as painfully true as it was hilarious. But again, the true beauty in Tasjan’s work is his understanding of balance. Just when you’re ready to pigeonhole him as a bitterly snarky protest singer, he delivers a ballad as straight-forwardly lovely and heartfelt as “Young”. It ends the album on a beautiful note that’s only further elevated by the complex nature of what preceded it, leaving the listener further in awe of a potent modern voice whose ability to provoke and move us is only growing stronger.
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