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 The National, Joy Oladokun, Taj Mahal, Josh Ritter Stephen Stills and a covers tribute to Doc Watson. Read on for more insight into the records we have all queued up to spin.
The National – First Two Pages Of Frankenstein
Out today from The National is First Two Pages Of Frankenstein, the band’s ninth studio album. The self-produced follow-up to 2019’s I Am Easy To Find was recorded by Matt Berninger, Bryce Dessner, Aaron Dessner, Scott Devendorf and Bryan Devendorf at Long Pond Studios in Upstate New York. Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers and Sufjan Stevens each make guest appearances on the 11-track LP.
“This record to me – and to all of us – feels like the culmination of everything we’ve learned. Aesthetically, we are really proud of where it sits,” Bryce Dessner told NME regarding First Two Pages Of Frankenstein. “We sound more like ourselves maybe than we did in recent times.”
Joy Oladokun – Proof Of Life
Singer-songwriter Joy Oladokun seeks the Proof Of Life on her new album released today through Amigo Records/Verve Forecast/Republic Records. Oladokun co-produced the follow-up to 2021’s in defense of my own happiness along with Mike Elizondo, Ian Fitchuk and Dan Wilson. The 13-track LP was recorded throughout 2022 and features a number of guests, Chris Stapleton, Noah Kahan, Manchester Orchestra, Maxo Kream and Mt. Joy. Regarding Proof Of Life, Oladokun stated:
“This album is evidence of how I live. I hope these are helpful anthems. I started making music because I wasn’t hearing from the ‘everyday human being’ on the radio. I hope this resonates with anybody who feels normal and needs a little musical boost to get through the day. I’m average. I do this job because I love what I do. I put so much care, craft, and intention into it. I’m making music to live to …
“As a black queer human in my 30s, I’m an anomaly. I have an opportunity to make a model for a life I didn’t imagine was possible when I was a kid, so a future generation can say, ‘There’s a place for me in this world.’ It’s a privilege to be a rarity in this world.”
Taj Mahal – Savoy
Taj Mahal is back with a new album, Savoy, via Stony Plain Records. Captured at 25th Street Recording in Oakland, Savoy sees Taj backed by Simon on piano along with guitarist Danny Caron, bassist Ruth Davies and drummer Leon Joyce Jr. Additionaly, the record contains contributions from backing vocalists Carla Holbrook, Leesa Humphrey, Charlotte McKinnon, Sandy Cressman, Sandy Griffith and Leah Tysse. Maria Muldaur makes a guest appearance on “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” which joins other American songbook classics like “Summertime,” “Sweet Georgia Brown” and more. Helmed by Taj’s longtime friend and collaborator, renowned producer/musician John Simon, Savoy sees the legendary bluesman paying tribute to the music he grew up hearing.
“I heard [the songs on Savoy] as a kid when all of those people who made those musics were alive and speaking to us through the records,” said Mahal. “Those weren’t just records to collect. Those were like listening to your relatives, your uncles, your cousins, your grandparents speaking to you through that medium, the medium of music… My parents came together around music, which was swing and the beginnings of bebop. That was significant, in terms of what kind of music I heard from them.”
Josh Ritter – Spectral Lines
Singer-songwriter Josh Ritter issued his 11th album, Spectral Lines. Released today by Thirty Tigers, Spectral Lines follows Ritter’s 2019 album Fever Breaks. Produced by longtime collaborator Sam Kassirer, Spectral Lines consists of 10 seamless tracks that are described as “atmospheric and impressionistic.” The new album was dedicated to the memory of Ritter’s mother. In a statement, Ritter described his mother and her influence on crafting an album outside of his typical output, explaining:
“My mom was truly a fascinating person. Besides being my mother, she had a mind that went in so many directions. She was always questing, always looking. There are things that she devoted her life’s work to, but those things seem to be equaled in in the final equation by finding a pretty shell on the beach. She’s the one who made me realize that wonder is a reflex, and that reflex will take you to some amazing places, and will make your life richer and more beautiful.
“Something that I decided to do with the record, in a tribute to my mom, was to try and make it seamless, like a little journey of the mind. There are swings, there’s the wind on Mars, there’s tropical birds — that’s my mom all through it.
Stephen Stills – Live At Berkeley 1971
Stephen Stills Live At Berkeley 1971 arrived today via Iconic Artists Group and Omnivore Recordings. Stephen Stills captured the previously unreleased collection over the course of two nights at the Berkeley Community Theater on August 20 and 21, 1971, on his debut solo tour. The ’71 trek — dubbed The Memphis Horns Tour — featured both acoustic and electric sets, the latter seeing Stills backed by drummer Dallas Taylor, bassist Calvin “Fuzzy” Samuels, keyboardist Paul Harris, guitarist Steve Fromholz and percussionist Joe Lala along with The Memphis Horns. The late great David Crosby also made guest appearances on Crosby, Stills & Nash classic “You Don’t Have To Cry” and his own “The Lee Shore.” Other highlights include “Love The One You’re With” and Stills’ stellar CSN/Buffalo Springfield solo piano medley “49 Bye-Byes”/”For What It’s Worth.”
“The intimacy of the Berkeley Community Theater seemed to serve as a focal point between the audience and the energy surrounding the social climate of the day,” Stills said of the concerts that produced Live At Berekely 1971. “It was my first tour as a solo artist and these shows were raucous and unrestrained, captured here in these recordings.”
Various Artists – I Am A Pilgrim: Doc Watson At 100
Influential bluegrass guitarist Doc Watson was born on March 3, 1923. An all-star covers compilation honoring the North Carolina native’s 100th birthday, I Am A Pilgrim: Doc Watson At 100 was issued today through FLi Records/Budde Music. Watson, a blind musician who died in 2012 at age 89, was a revered guitar picker, vocalist and songwriter. I Am A Pilgrim presents covers of 15 songs from Watson’s vast catalog. Participants who recorded songs for the covers comp produced by Matthew Stevens include Dolly Parton, Jerry Douglas, Bill Frisell, Rosanne Cash, Steve Earle, Valerie June, Marc Ribot, Jeff Parker, Nora Brown, Chris Eldridge, Yasmin Williams, Corey Harris, Jack Lawrence, Lionel Loueke and Ariel Posen.
Compiled by Scott Bernstein, Nate Todd and Andy Kahn.
