Our Fresh Picks albums this week are from Tedeschi Trucks Band, looking to their future soul; Bill Callahan, tackling mortality with grace and humor; Ireke, bringing the heat in French and Yoruba; and The Montvales, with timeless Americana from Cincinnati.
For singles: Irreversible Entanglements rise above it all with help from Motherboard, Widowspeak takes on fearing change and Emanuela Hutter takes you to the ’60s, with martinis in hand.
Check out this week’s suggestions from Music Director Kari Hedlund, Asst. Music Director Malachy Koons and Arts Reporter and Morning Show Host Andrew Dziengel.
Albums
Tedeschi Trucks Band – Future Soul
Led by Susan Tedeschi’s warm and soothing vocals and Derek Trucks signature bluesy guitar riffs, the 12-piece band is back with their sixth album, Future Soul. Kicking off with funky soul on “Crazy Cryin’,” the album combines the elements that make them a great band: searing rock on “Future Soul,” guitar solos that stop you in your tracks on “Who Am I,” jam breaks throughout and a sheer dedication to the blues in “Devil Be Gone.”
From start to finish, the album showcases this fully collaborative band solidly at the top of their game in the blues rock genre. -KH
Bill Callahan – My Days of 58
Bill Callahan has become an indie rock institution at this point. His baritone and poignant lyrics are unmistakable. With his new album, My Days of 58, he peels back the curtain.
Before working on this album, he had a cancer scare. He’s alright now, but it forced some introspection. In the first track, “Why Do Men Sing,” he talks about meeting Lou Reed at the pearly gates. In “The Man I’m Supposed to Be,” he literally laughs at death. He sings about his late father in “Empathy.”
This may sound like a crushingly sad album, but it’s not. Callahan adds a flare to these songs. At some points, it feels like some of these songs are meant to be sing-alongs. Callahan is a well-respected artist for a reason, and My Days of 58 is a worthy addition to such a rich catalog of music. -AD
Ireke – Ayô Dele
Ireke is a French duo of multi-instrumentalists Julien Gervaix and Damien Tesson, but their new album Ayô Dele is essentially split between two different trio forms with guest vocalists Agnès Hélène and Nayel Hóxò, with the two vocalists stealing the show. Hélène’s breezy and tropical French vocals float over five tracks while Beninese-Nigerian Hóxò’s hard-hitting Yoruba verses anchor another four. The title translates to “Joy comes to me” in Yoruba and Ayô Dele is packed with joy from start to finish. -MK
The Montvales – Path of Totality
Molly Rochelson and Sally Buice are Cincinnati-based Americana duo The Montvales, releasing their third album, Path of Totality. A collection of character studies and intimate portraits of American life, the album plays like a road trip through the U.S. while the world burns. Rochelson and Buice’s clear country voices and old-time harmonies ring out like the radio that cuts through the night on “Loud and Clear.” -MK
Singles
Irreversible Entanglements – “Don’t Lose Your Head (ft. MOTHERBOARD)”
The free-jazz quintet, Irreversible Entanglements, is back with a new album, Future Present Past, out on Friday, March 27. If the first single, “Don’t Lose Your Head” featuring New York vocalist MOTHERBOARD, tells us anything about the album, it’s going to be a soul-infused jazz experience. The band released a statement with a message of musical responsibility: “It is our duty to vibrate higher, beyond the noise, above the hype, away from the novelty, over the walls, across the borders: to keep going.” -KH
Widowspeak – “If You Change”
The first single from Widowspeak’s upcoming seventh album, Roses, “If You Change” is a nostalgia filled and jangling country rock tune with the chorus “If you change, don’t change to much/ Keep it nice but don’t leave the plastic on/ If you change, don’t change too much/ Cause I really loved this one.” Lead singer Molly Hamilton was thinking about the fear of change when she wrote the song, and her nuanced approach will take on different meanings for everyone, depending on the changes going on in your life. -MK
Emanuela Hutter – “Everybody’s Valentine”
Listening to this song feels like I’m in the 1960s walking into a party with dancing, great outfits and endless martinis. Emanuela Hutter, Italian-Swiss singer for Hillbilly Moon Explosion, is releasing her second solo album, Goose Bumps, with this song written by JD McPherson. “Everybody’s Valentine” channels surf rock, rockabilly and French pop through a noir lens, and I can’t get enough. -KH
KAXE’s weekly list of concerts near you features Them Coulee Boys, Jeremy Jewell, Mae Simpson Band, BlackFishBleu and A.T.O.W.