Each week Release Day Picks profiles new LPs and EPs Team JamBase will be checking out on release day Friday. This week we highlight new albums by Tom Petty, John Butler Trio, Loretta Lynn, TAUK, Turkuaz, Amy Ray, Ivan Neville & Cris Jacobs, and more. Read on for more insight into the records we have all queued up to spin.
Tom Petty – American Treasure
The Scoop: Last October the music world suffered a huge loss when Tom Petty died. An American Treasure, out today on Reprise Records is the first release of Tom Petty music since his tragic death. The set features 60 tracks, dozens of which were previously unreleased. Included within are alternate versions of classic songs, rarities, live tracks and obscurities. Tom’s daughter Adria Petty and his wife Dana Petty put together An American Treasure with studio collaborator Ryan Ulyate and Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench. “Everyone involved in this project chose each track with tremendous care and deep respect for the body of work Tom Petty created over the course of 40 years,” Adria and Dana said. “We can’t wait to share with Tom’s fans this musical portrait of an artist who deeply affected our culture and indelibly touched the lives of fans the world over.”
John Butler Trio – Home
The Scoop: While the new John Butler Trio album Home is attributed to the band, it’s more of a John Butler solo LP. The Australian singer-songwriter recorded most of the 12-track effort as a solo performer. He tapped fellow Aussie Jan Skubiszewski to help on the production side. “Home is inspired by the amount of touring I’ve done over the years and the ironic duality of bringing your dreams to life whilst having to be away from those you love the most,” Butler told Billboard of the Nettwerk Records release.
Loretta Lynn – Wouldn’t It Be Great
The Scoop: Last year, legendary country vocalist Loretta Lynn was preparing to release Wouldn’t It Be Great when she suffered a stroke. The album’s release and tour in support were put on hold while Lynn recovered. Now, the 85-year-old is ready to issue the 13-track album featuring new songs and reimagined versions of some of Lynn’s classic favorites. New songs include the title track and “I’m Dying for Someone to Live For,” which was co-written by Shawn Camp. The album was co-produced by Lynn’s daughter Patsy Lynn Russell and the son of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, John Carter Cash. Sessions were held at Johnny Cash’s estate at the Cash Cabin recording studio. Among the re-recorded hits are new versions of “Don’t Come Home a Drinkin’” and perhaps Lynn’s best-known song, “Coal Miner’s Daughter.”
TAUK – Shapeshifter II: Outbreak
The Scoop: Back in April, TAUK released Shapeshifter I: Construct. The New York-bred instrumental quartet has now issued the follow-up, Shapeshifter II: Outbreak, which serves as a continuation to the five-song EP. The 11-track release was recorded at an old home on Long Island that drummer Isaac Teel described as, “the Jumanji house meets Addams Family meets Amityville Horror.” Produced by their regular collaborator Robert Carranza (The Mars Volta, Ozomatli) the record is inspired by both classic and current sci-fi movies landing “an unsettling but ultimately exhilarating look at artificial intelligence and its potential to upend our world.”
Turkuaz – Life In The City
The Scoop: Much has changed in the world of powerhouse nine-piece funk act Turkuaz since the release of Digitonium in 2015. The Brooklyn-based band has climbed up festival billings and continue to draw bigger crowds. Seven years after putting out their self-titled debut and three years after Digitonium comes Life In The City via Electric Habitat Music. Turkuaz began the recording process at More Sound in upstate New York and then moved to guitarist Dave Brandwein’s Galaxy Smith Studios in Brooklyn. Life In The City features nine tracks, one of which (“If I Ever Fall Asleep”) was produced by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads at The Bunker Studios. “I’m extremely hands-on, so it was a growth experience to see someone else’s take on the band,” Brandwein said. “Overall, Jerry made us as a band think about things we wouldn’t have otherwise. It was really beneficial.”
Amy Ray – Holler
The Scoop: While Amy Ray is best known as one half of the venerable folk duo The Indigo Girls, she has also steadily been releasing solo albums since 2001. For her latest, Holler, the singer-songwriter and her touring band headed to Echo Mountain Studio in Asheville, North Carolina. The 14-track collection boasts an impressive array of guests that includes the likes of Derek Trucks, Kofi Burbridge, Brandi Carlile, The Wood Brothers, Justin Vernon, Phil Cook and Vince Gill. “The songs are all my own compositions,” Ray said about the record, “and tell stories of late nights, love, addiction, immigration, despair, honkytonks, growing up in the south, touring for decades, being born in the midst of the civil rights movement, and the constant struggle to find balance in the life of a left-wing Southerner who loves Jesus, her homeland and its peoples.”
Joe Strummer – Joe Strummer 001
The Scoop: The work of late adored rocker Joe Strummer outside of fronting The Clash has been collected under one release for the first time. Featuring Strummer’s post-Clash bands The 101ers and The Mescaleros, each of his solo albums and contributions to film soundtracks, Joe Strummer 001 also comes with an new album made up entirely of previously unreleased recordings. Strummer’s widow Luce Strummer and Robert Gordon McHarg III oversaw Joe Strummer 001, which was culled from a large cache of Strummers’ personal recordings that was discovered in “barns full of writings and tapes stored in his back garden.” Among the previsouly unheard recordings are early demos of “This Is England” (entitled “Czechoslovak Song/Where Is England”) and “Letsagetabitarockin” (recorded in Elgin Avenue in 1975), as well as outtakes from Sid & Nancy featuring The Clash’s Mick Jones and never-before-heard songs “Rose Of Erin,” “The Cool Impossible” and one of Strummer’s final recordings “London Is Burning” (an alternative/early version of “Burnin’ Street” from Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros’ last album Streetcore).
Neville Jacobs – Neville Jacobs
The Scoop: A chance meeting at a poker table during New Orleans Jazz & Hertiage Festival between native keyboardist Ivan Neville and Baltimore-based guitarist Cris Jacobs was the genesis for the duo’s self-titled debut album. The pair enlisted the assistance of bassist Tony Hall (who performs with Ivan in Dumpstaphunk and drummer Brady Blade. A few of the songs on the 9-track LP feature Shreveport, Louisiana-based singer/violinist Theresa Andersson and the tune “Makeup Of A Fool” features Ivan’s legendary father Aaron Neville on vocals. The deubt album is said to be the “first chapter of Neville Jacobs” that is “sure to be a long lasting and fruitful collaboration between two truly unique talents.”
Various Artists – Muscle Shoals … Small Town, Big Sound
The Scoop: Earlier this year, famed producer Rick Hall the influential “Father of Muscle Shoals Music” and founder of FAME Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama died at age 85. As a way of celebrating Hall and FAME’s 60th anniversary, an impressive array of musicians were enlisted to re-record songs originally cut at the studio for a new compilation. The results can be heard on Muscle Shoals… Small Town, Big Sound a 16-track collection that features Willie Nelson, Jason Isbell, Alison Krauss, Grace Potter, Keb’ Mo’ and more. The record features takes on the likes of The Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar,” Bob Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody,” The Allman Brothers Band’s “Come & Go Blues” and Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally.”
Compiled by Jeffrey Greenblatt, Andy Kahn and Scott Bernstein.
