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 David Crosby, Thom Yorke, The Skiffle Players, Blackberry Smoke, Ty Segall, Ryan Montbleau and Georgia Anne Muldrow. Read on for more insight into the records we have all queued up to spin.
David Crosby – Here If You Listen
The Scoop: A prolific five years for David Crosby continues with the release of his fourth album in that period today. Here If You Listen is out on BMG featuring 11 tracks. Crosby once again joined forces with the musicians who helped him record 2016’s Lighthouse: Michael League of Snarky Puppy, Michelle Willis and Becca Stevens. “If leaving a group like Crosby, Stills & Nash was like jumping off a cliff, then finding the Lighthouse Band was like growing wings halfway down,” stated Crosby. “These three people are so startlingly talented, I literally couldn’t resist making this album with them.” Michael League handled production duties with Stevens, Willis and Crosby serving as co-producers. The quartet wrote the material collaboratively at League’s Atlantic Sound facility in Brooklyn. “The songs are taking on all of our collective influences, which is kind of crazy if you think about it—hearing the influence of Björk on a song with David Crosby lyrics, for example,” League added.
Thom Yorke – Suspiria Soundtrack
The Scoop: Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has contributed 25 new original compositions to director Luca Guadagnino’s remake of the 1977 Dario Argento horror classic. The new tracks are “a mix of instrumental score work, interstitial pieces and interludes, and more traditional song structures featuring Thom’s vocals such as ‘Unmade,’ ‘Has Ended’ and ‘Suspirium,’ the album’s first single featuring the melodic theme that recurs throughout the film and its score.” Yorke produced the soundtrack and recorded with Sam Petts-Davies.
The Skiffle Players – Skiff
The Scoop: The Skiffle Players have gone in a bit of a new direction for their sophomore album Skiff. The indie all-star band featuring Farmer Dave Scher, Neal Casal (Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Circles Around the Sun), Dan Horne (Circles Around the Sun, Jonathan Wilson), Aaron Sperske (Beachwood Sparks) and Cass McCombs went with a more democratic approach for their new release. The 13-track record features with each band member contributing vocals and writing. “This record takes things up a notch for The Skiffle Players, expanding upon the topography of our first record, while using the Piffle Sayers EP as a stepping stone to leap to new heights, song styles, thematic content and writers,” said Farmer Dave.
Blackberry Smoke – The Southern Ground Sessions
The Scoop: Earlier this year, Blackberry Smoke released their sixth studio album, Find A Light. The band assembled at the famed Southern Ground studio in Nashville to record a companion EP. The Southern Ground Sessions is out today on 3 Legged Records. Not only does the six-track collection feature stripped down renditions of five songs from Find A Light, the EP also includes a cover of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ “You Got Lucky.” Blackberry Smoke was joined by Amanda Shires for the Petty cover and by Oliver Wood for the acoustic version of “Mother Mountain” off Find A Light. “It felt really cool to come back to Southern Ground Studios and play music with some good friends. It was like stripping it down and playing in the living room,” frontman Charlie Starr stated of the new EP.
Ty Segall – Fudge Sandwich
The Scoop: Prolific guitarist Ty Segall is letting his influences show on the 11-track Fudge Sandwich. The Los Angeles-based musician said he recorded the covers LP “for fun.” The collection finds the 31-year-old taking on songs originally performed by the likes of the Grateful Dead, John Lennon, Neil Young, War, Funkadelic, Spencer Davis Group, Amon Düül II, Sparks, Rudimentary Peni, Gong and The Dils.
Ryan Montbleau – Woodstock Sessions
The Scoop: “I played for three hours or so and did tons of stuff,” guitarist Ryan Montbleau told Billboard about his new live album Woodstock Sessions. “In the end, we chose those songs that hadn’t been out before and new versions of other songs. Everything on the record is presented in a way I haven’t presented it before. Every single song has something about it that hasn’t been out before.” The live performance was captured in December 2017 at Applehead Recording in Upstate New York. Montbleau is backed by Tall Heights on six of the album’s 10 tracks, which includes some previously unreleased material alongside favorites from across his career.
Georgia Anne Muldrow – Overload
The Scoop: Soul-siger Georgia Anne Muldrow signed to Flying Lotus’s Brainfeeder record label for the release of Overload. The 13-track effort was executive produced by Flying Lotus, Aloe Blacc and Dudley Perkins. Muldrow also worked with production duo Mike & Keys, as well as Khalil, Dutchman Moods and Lustbass. A cover of The Gap Band’s “These Are The Things I Like About You” features Shana Jenson and Muldrow’s partner Dudley Perkins. “Overload is an experiment in restraint,” stated Muldrow. “I pack myself into something as clear as possible with the help of gifted artists from all over the world. The live show is an experiment in interpretation. That’s when [my band] The Righteous and I unpack into a joyful noise. Both of these dynamics have been striving to balance themselves within me since birth… since wanting to record anything. And by the grace of Patience, Discipline and Devotion, a sweet spot has started to appear.”
Compiled by Jeffrey Greenblatt, Andy Kahn and Scott Bernstein.
