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John Amen

The Deslondes’ Sam Doores Makes Audacious Solo Debut

The Deslondes’ Sam Doores Makes Audacious Solo Debut

With his self-titled solo debut, Sam Doores, formerly of The Deslondes and Hurray for the Riff Raff, offers hooky melodies and evocative soundscapes, reconfiguring approaches associated with a wide array of genres, including big band, jazz, and traditional country. In terms of production, spearheaded by Anders “Ormen” Christopherson, the album

Frazey Ford Goes Political, Cements Her Singular Style on ‘U kin B the Sun’

Frazey Ford Goes Political, Cements Her Singular Style on ‘U kin B the Sun’

It’s slightly annoying that Frazey Ford’s lyrics are frequently indecipherable. That said, her voice and melodies are so uniquely compelling that her verbal content almost seems incidental. She could be singing stats from an actuary table, and I’d probably still be on board. Additionally, the musicians who

With ‘Lover,’ Noah Gundersen Mines Pop Confessionalism

With ‘Lover,’ Noah Gundersen Mines Pop Confessionalism

Emerging in the 2000s with a series of EPs and then his first full-length album, The Ledges (2014), Noah Gundersen drew from the atmospherics artists such as Gregory Alan Isakov and the melodic and vocal sensibilities of Ryan Adams, lyrical proclivities ranging from the quotidian to the apocalyptic. If 2017’

On ‘Gypsy,’ Eilen Jewell Balances Roaming and Roots

On ‘Gypsy,’ Eilen Jewell Balances Roaming and Roots

Eilen Jewell’s new album, Gypsy, opens with “Crawl,” a bluesy/honky-tonk tune bolstered by Jerry Miller’s chorus-y guitar part and Katrina Nicolayeff’s wending fiddle. “I want solitude, don’t want to be alone,” Jewell sings, “want to put down roots, want to be a rolling stone,” capturing

Prison Songwriting Sessions Inspire Eleni Mandell's 'Wake Up Again'

Prison Songwriting Sessions Inspire Eleni Mandell's 'Wake Up Again'

Wake Up Again highlights Eleni Mandell’s knack for penning hook-friendly songs and, as a vocalist, navigating subtle but significant melodic variations. Inspired in part by a songwriting class she taught in two California women’s prisons, Wake Up Again blends etheric ambience with Mandell’s earthy presence and marks

David Gray and the Legacy of Romanticism

David Gray and the Legacy of Romanticism

Romanticism is characterized by a desire for transcendence of the everyday; unity with God, a Higher Power, Nature, or Life; and harmony with the idealized lover or soulmate. As these cravings are ultimately unfulfillable, at least in any permanent sense, Romantic works of literature, art, and music exude palpable melancholy

Liz Cooper & the Stampede’s Stellar Return

Liz Cooper & the Stampede’s Stellar Return

Monsters, the 2014 EP from Liz Cooper & the Stampede, was a six-song calling card, introducing Liz Cooper as a gifted songwriter, singer, and guitarist. Grant Prettyman on bass and Ky Baker on drums asserted themselves as a rhythmic force, integral to a sound that draws from various strands of