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 Nickel Creek, Lana Del Rey, Caroline Rose, Secret Machines, Pink Floyd and The Fritz. Read on for more insight into the records we have all queued up to spin.
Nickel Creek – Celebrants
Acclaimed trio Nickel Creek is back with their first album in nine years. Celebrants, the follow-up to 2014’s A Dotted Line, arrived today via Thirty Tigers and sees mandolinist Chris Thile, violinist Sara Watkins and guitarist Sean Watkins exploring “the inherent dynamics of human connection,” as per a press release. Nickel Creek, along with renowned bassist Mike Elizondo, recorded Celebrants at the storied RCA Studio A in Nashville with longtime collaborator Eric Valentine (Queens of the Stone Age, Grace Potter, Weezer).
“This is a record about embracing the friction inherent in real human connection,” the band stated. “We begin the record yearning for and pursuing harmonious connection. We end the record having realized that truly harmonious connection can only be achieved through the dissonance that we’ve spent our entire adult lives trying to avoid.”
Lana Del Rey – Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
Lana Del Rey returns today with her new album Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. Following the singer-songwriter’s 2021 albums Blue Banisters and Chemtrails Over The Country Club, the new record sees Del Rey teaming back up with collaborators Jack Antonoff, Drew Erickson, Zach Dawes, Benji and Mike Hermosa as co-producers and co-writers.
Additionally, Antonoff’s Bleachers, Father John Misty, Jon Batiste, Judah Smith, Tommy Genesis and SYML appear on the album as guests. Del Rey shared a trio of singles to preview Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd including the title track, the seven-minute eclectic cut “A&W” and the bittersweet “The Grants.”
Caroline Rose – The Art Of Forgetting
Caroline Rose released a new album, The Art Of Forgetting, today via New West Records. The Art Of Forgetting follows Rose’s 2020 album Superstar and sees the singer-songwriter processing a difficult time in their life, which included going through a difficult breakup. According to press materials, “All the while, Rose was getting voicemails from their grandmother ‘who was clearly losing her mind.’ These respective moments are pieced throughout the album, offering moments of lightness amidst an otherwise heart-rending story of a person who has forgotten, and is perhaps re-learning, how to love themselves.” To sonically capture the idea of fading or faulty memories, Rose utilized instruments that naturally decay “wooden and string instruments, voices, tape, and granular synthesis.” Rose began the journey of piecing the album together at home before trying out different rooms and techniques.
“Every time I make an album I’ll come out of it learning a lot about myself,” Rose noted. “Now I look back and see the healing of a wound. I feel like a new version of myself. I think one for the better.”
Secret Machines – The Moth, The Lizard, And The Secret Machines
Secret Machines finally released their album, The Moth, The Lizard, And The Secret Machines. The band made their debut in 2004 with their debut album, Now Here Is Nowhere. The band followed with Ten Silver Drops in 2006. Co-founding guitarist Benjamin Curtis parted ways with the group in 2007, amicably leaving in order to focus on his new outlet School of Seven Bells. Sadly, Benjamin Curtis died in 2013 from a rare form of cancer. Remaining co-founders, bassist Brandon Curtis (Benjamin’s brother) and drummer Josh Garza were then joined by Phil Karnats on guitar. The trio released a new self-titled Secret Machines album in 2008. The next Secret Machines LP, Awake In The Brain Chamber, would wait until 2020 to come out. The sessions for what became The Moth, The Lizard, And The Secret Machines were held after Brandon Curtis, Garza and Karnats recorded and released Secret Machines. Initial work was the result of freeform recording done in Karnats’ home studio, which was different from their more meticulously planned approach to tracking and the results were unlike anything the band had done before.
“If you listen to them in order,” Brandon Curtis stated, “Awake In The Brain Chamber is basically a reaction to the Moth record — very tight and verse/chorus/verse/chorus rather than loose, sprawling and unconventional.”
Garza detailed the making of the album, stating:
“We were actually in a pretty dark place at the time and felt that the only way to not get lost in that darkness was to play a couple chords, breathe, and get lost in this weird head trip. After a few days, Brandon would listen back to what we did and be like, ‘Hey, this part is kind of cool.’ Then we’d start recording over that. The drums and vocals were often the last thing we added, because we didn’t even know there would be songs. I thought they were instrumental exercises for a while there— just us trying to generate happiness out of music.
“This album is really special to us because it represents a band playing music with no other agenda than to connect with one other. My main hope is that people will hear it and say, ‘These guys went somewhere weird, man.’ I feel like Secret Machines finally delivered the crazy album everybody knew we had in us.”
Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon: Live at Wembley 1974
Coinciding with today’s release of the 50th anniversary deluxe reissue of Pink Floyd’s landmark album, The Dark Side Of The Moon, is for the first time a standalone release of The Dark Side of the Moon: Live at Wembley 1974. Previously issued in 2011 as part of the immersion box set editions of The Dark Side of the Moon, the live recordings feature a complete track-by-track performance of the album released in 1973. The recordings were culled from the influential British rock band’s two November 1974 concerts at London’s Wembley Arena, which at the time was called Empire Pool. Accompanying today’s release is the original 1973 line-drawn cover artwork by Hipgnosis-affiliated George Hardie. The live album captures the Pink Floyd lineup of Roger Waters, Richard Wright, Nick Mason and David Gilmour. They were bolstered by saxophonist Dick Parry and The Blackberries backing vocalists Vanetta Fields and Carlena Williams.
The Fritz – Take Your Time
Asheville, North Carolina-based outfit The Fritz shows off their post-COVID lineup on Take Your Time, a new album that arrived today. Co-founding members Jamie Hendrickson (guitarist, musical director) and drummer Michael Tillis are joined in the band by post-COVID additions Datrian Johnson (vocals), Matt Schueler (synth bass) and Thomson Knowles (synth bass). Special guests include keyboardist John Medeski, vocalist Rachel Waterhouse, trombonist/vocalist/percussionist Jonathan Lloyd and saxophonist Jonathan Cole.
“Last year we rented a beach house in Florida specifically to hang out and write music together in a relaxed, fun environment,” Hendrickson explained. “Everyone contributed and brought along their unique personalities. Most of the songs come from that one session. I listened to the demos when I got back home to Asheville and knew right away we had an album.”
Compiled by Scott Bernstein, Nate Todd and Andy Kahn.
