Brittany Howard is a Southern rock & roll radical with a centuries-deep sense of history and some inspiring ideas about how to reshape it to fit our moment. As the lead singer and guitarist for the expansively retro-minded Alabama Shakes, she’s combined garage rock, soul, and psychedelia. In 2015, she …
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“The world is crumbling and I don’t have much to say,” sings Greta Kline, leader of the band Frankie Cosmos, on the band’s new album. It’s a striking admission in a time when everyone else seems to be playing pundit in their own teapot echo chamber. And despite specializing in …
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It’s hard to get a bead on exactly what Minneapolis-based Jeremy Nutzman is up to with Neon Brown, his second LP as Velvet Negroni, which is part of why it’s good. You could almost call its dreamy trap-soul “new age” if that didn’t suggest a yin-yoga chill at odds with …
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“I might be heart broke, but that don’t mean I gotta stay home,” sings Runaway June‘s Naomi Cooke in the country trio’s sprightly hit single “Buy My Own Drinks,” obliterating any expectations that she might be the type to waste time crying over someone. Cooke, along with singing partners Hannah …
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Just over a year after J Balvin first hinted at a collaborative album with Bad Bunny, the reggaeton and Latin trap titans have finally released their eight-track opus, Oasis. Not long after putting out their respective 2018 masterworks — Bad Bunny’s X 100Pre and J Balvin’s Vibras — the two …
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Todd Snider’s an ace word guy — his lyrics are razor sharp, unsparing, hilarious, and surprisingly tender — so this bare-bones acoustic LP is a fine idea. Punchlines fly from the get-go (there’s no Vol. 1 or 2), with humanity the usual butt of the jokes, though Trump’s a target, …
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