The playlist is a list of songs that inspired all of the music that i will release this year. It also give people a look into where i am trying to go with my music. There are also some songs in this playlist that I cover live and will be releasing covers of this year. Take a step into my world of musical influences and inspiration.
AJ Mitchell releases his newest track “Spring Break” featuring Rich the Kid. Off his upcoming debut album Skyview, the track showcases everything that works in a pop/R&B song, with a catchy chorus and verses listeners can’t help but move to.
A music video was released alongside the single, featuring both artists. Bright colors, incredible video quality, and warm weather scenes make us all crave a spring break adventure. Hopefully recent world events haven’t completely derailed your person spring break plans, but if they have, this video will breathe some fresh air into your staycation!
Mitchell is already among the top 500 Spotify artists with 8 million monthly listeners. His upcoming album release is sure to make him one of 2020’s breakout pop/R&B artists.
by: meredith schneider + kendal chandler
Four-piece indie rock outfit The Districts have just released their new album, You Know I’m Not Going Anywhere, the album that almost never happened.
After nearly 200 shows and two years of touring in support of their 2017 effort, Popular Manipulations, the band found themselves both professionally and personally exhausted. And, with the shadow of needing to create a new album looming over them, the Districts started questioning everything.
In a press release, front man Rob Grote said “It felt like much of my world had reached such a pitch that all I could do was try to tune it out. I felt really uncertain about the future of the band and super detached from much of what I used to identify with, on a personal level and with our music. I was thinking, ‘Do I want to keep doing music?’ ‘Do I want to keep doing it in this context?”. So Grote did what any musician having an existential crisis would do; he holed himself up in his bedroom and began writing, not necessarily for The Districts, but to get excited about creating again. It was here that he found the space and freedom he needed to be creative again. He ended up with a batch of 32 songs, and while he never intended them for The Districts, when he finally showed them to the band, they loved them. Those 32 were cut to 11, and thus You Know I’m Not Going Anywhere was born.
Album opener “”My Only Ghost” is an ode to secrets and memories with ones we’ve lost. The synth almost overpowers the vocals, (which have a Bon Iver kind of feel) but it works, giving the track a lo-fi feel. Between this, echo-y clapping, and thickly layered shout-y vocals, the song feels almost like chilling cult-like chant.
“Hey Jo” is the lead single from the album and the definite standout. A circus of sound, this piece is thickly textured, but the song is incredibly well put together. Credit to producer Dave Fridmann is owed here, whose mix expertly layered the many elements into a cohesive whole. This track floats on plucked guitars and airy vocals before kicking into a fiery chorus with Grote repeating “Fuck my head.”
“Cheap Regrets”, is an electrifying disco number on the surface, but the lyrical content dives into nihilism and the shadows of consciousness that lurk in our minds. This one has all the bright and shiny qualities that we love in a dance number while letting everyone listening still feel angsty as hell. Of the song, Grote says; “This song is a criticism of the divisions that result from a self-oriented society and an attempt to transcend them, while simultaneously being an example of these very ideas. The song is the statue to the self; it is about itself.”
Upbeat and full of glittery guitar, “Velour and Velcro” is a love letter to the unknown future we’re all rocketing towards.“Changing” ebbs and flows, enjoying sweet, quiet moments of reflection and questioning before launching into electrifying choruses. “Descend” is a deceptively chipper folksy string plucked number that deals with death and separation.
Closer “4th of July” strips it back and feels sweetly reflective. Hand picked guitar and sliding whistling ride over Grote’s breathy and thoughtful vocals. It feels like a cross-country road trip, and not just because he sings about his own to Sante Fe. It’s a nice full circle moment of peace and closure.
You Know I’m Not Going Anywhere is out everywhere on March 13th via Fat Possum.
The world is in a tailspin, and I don’t have to go into detail to tell you why. While America – and the world – locks themselves in their homes (and eats the key, right?), we want to provide some of the best new tunes to party hardy (alone or with other self-quarantined friends and family) throughout the pandemic. Check back all month long for the latest releases, and new ear worms to get moving to!
Minimum wage is a track for all the people that struggle to pay their rent. For everyone who knows the feeling of not being able to pay their groceries at the register, to then lie about how they’re going to the bank to withdraw money, only to never return to that supermarket. An ode to the rat in our hallway that we used to call Ratatouille. For everyone working dead-end jobs, trying to make something of themselves. Because the end of the month is a son of a bitch.
“Minimum Wage” and Glints’ debut album, CHOIRBOY, are now out everywhere.
Electronic-production duo Kodacrome have just released their newest track “Play Dead.” The act – comprised of Elissa LeCoque (vocals/arrangements) and Ryan Casey (synthesizer/production) — combine their passions for music, screenwriting, visual arts, and filmmaking to create the authentic experience that is Kodacrome.
“Play Dead” fits right into their model. The track is synth heavy, with the main focus on the texture of the piece. Once the vocals are eventually introduced, LeCoque creates a light layer to the darkness of the production already present. Kodacrome’s music videos are art-heavy. “Play Dead” depicts an artist as he creates a pottery piece. The dark tone is shown in the lighting as the only feature visible by the light is the artist’s hands and the piece he is creating.
Keep up with Kodacrome here.
Jerry Williams Jr. has done it all: soul, R&B, country, disco, and, of course, among a myriad of other things, serving as “one of the great cult figures of 20th century American music.”
But he’s not finished.
Jerry Williams Jr., better known since the ‘70s as ‘Swamp Dogg’ (Before you question it, he beat Snoop Dogg to it) is releasing his highly anticipated, (so long as you consider Rolling Stone’s most anticipated albums of the year to be a reliable source), star-studded new album on March 6th. The record is produced by Ryan Olson (Poliça) and features the likes of Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) Channy Leaneagh, Chris Bearden and Jenny Lewis (Poliça), and none other than country-folk legend John Prine gracing it’s grooves.
Sorry You Couldn’t Make It is the follow up to Dogg’s critically acclaimed 2018 release, Love, Loss, And Autotune (also produced by Ryan Olson), which was his first LP to debut on 11 Billboard charts and his first chart ink since his immortal 1970 album Total Destruction to Your Mind, which also served as the debut album for William’s alter-ego Swamp Dogg. The now 77-year old cult icon has been on stage since he was 6 years old and began his professional singing career back in the ‘50s before working in A&R for Atlantic in the ‘60s. While he’s worn a lot of different hats over the years, his most enduring persona is the “psychedelic soul superhero” Swamp Dogg, a “musical vigilante upholding truths both personal and political”. His biggest hit came in the 70s with (ironically) country song “Don’t Take Her (She’s All I Got)”, co-written with his best friend Gary U.S. Bonds, which hit Top 40 when Freddie North covered it and #2 on the country charts with Johny Paycheck in 1971. This album sees Dogg finally go back to his roots after a literal lifetime in the industry to finally make a record that bears homage to the country music that he was raised on.
Lead single “Sleeping Without You Is A Dragg” (extra points for the clever and very on brand stylization) exists in a sweetly soulful vein. The album opener is a heartfelt introduction to the record, letting listeners get an initial taste of what they’re in for, which at first listen seems to be a more reflective and heartfelt version of the cult icon, undoubtedly a result of spending over 60 years fighting to keep up in an ever-changing industry. After a very long journey, Williams is finally getting to make the record that he has longed for, and it just feels right.
In a powerful revisit to his 70s hit, “Don’t Take Her”(She’s All I Got)” Williams brings new life to an old story through a devastating new take which features a backing band of 14 musicians, including Vernon and Lee. The sheer number of players incorporated into the track increases its intense beauty ten-fold, but Williams himself possesses the most heart-wrenching mix of country and soul in his delivery and is a force to be reckoned with on his own. His aching vocals shift focus from the persona that Williams has created over the years and brings the attention back to the raw and powerful talent that he’s always possessed, both in his vocals and his storytelling. It comes early in the album, but it’s hard to not point to the track as a climatic moment.
The legendary John Prine appears on not one but two tracks on the record, which is probably smart since according to Dogg, “It’s the first time I seen John since the sixties!”. Certainly seems that everyone would benefit from getting a couple of legendary collaborations before another 60 years manages to pass us by. Prine features on subtly psychedelic “Memories” and album closer “Please Let Me Go Round Again”. The latter was originally written and demoed by Williams in his 40s but is just now making its way onto a record, which feels just right as a perfect full-circle moment for Williams. The reflective number is a plea for one more chance at life, and knowing Swamp Dogg and his ever-changing identity and roles, it’s a chance he’ll probably get.
While more tame than much of Swamp Dogg’s work, SYCMI is still not your conventional country album. “Family Pain” is a blues number about a family ravaged by a crack addiction. “A Good Song” dives into Williams philosophy on the flexible border between country and R&B. But other songs fall more into the traditional vein of the country genre, calmly delving into lost love, regret, and reflectiveness. “Billy” depicts Williams visiting his late wife’s grave and telling her about their son. The duets with Prine delve into aging and regrets as the two old men look back on their lives. “Memories don’t leave like people do. That’s why in my mind I’m always gonna be with you”, Williams croons on “Please Let Me Go Round Again”. While SYCMI still possesses Swamp Dogg’s trademarks, it’s also a new side of Williams’ always outgoing alter-ego, one that borders on being- Well, Jerry Williams Jr. again. Perhaps the convergence of the two is just what was needed. Here’s to getting that one last chance, Swamp Dogg.
I’m Sorry You Couldn’t Make It is out March 6th via Joyful Noise Recording and Pioneers Works Press. Keep up with Swamp Dogg here.
Tomorrow, DoublePlusGood – expertly comprised of Erik Carlson (Singer/Writer), Shawn Michael Thornhill (Guitar), Cole Johnston (Drums), and Jacob Marsh (Bass) – releases their latest track, an otherworldly, slightly nostalgic somehow, song befitting of a true romantic. “Northern Lights” is equal parts dramatic and entirely soulful, intense and relaxing. It is very much like a very palpable, true romance, and we’re all in.
Get your first listen below with our exclusive premiere.
Keep up with DoublePlusGood here.
Alt-rockers Juán Tigre have just released “THE DREAM CATCHER”, the title-track from their debut album. The group is led by guitarist, vocalist, and producer John Maestas and features Max Moran on bass, Alfred Jordan on drums, and Shea Pierre on keys. The group’s debut full-length THE DREAM CATCHER is set to release in April of this year on Maesta’s own label, Bubble Bath Records.
The track is short and sweet, clocking in at just over 2 minutes long, but the number manages to pack a lot into that time. The instrumentation is intense and fast-paced without being overpowering while Moran’s distorted vocals do their part to chill things out a bit. The bass line is particularly cool, and the drums and guitars fire off in quick but powerful hits while alien-like sound-effects and echoey backing vocals pull back the intensity and leave you feeling a little floaty. Think getting punched in the face with sound, but add trippy space vibes.
THE DREAM CATCHER is out via Bubble Bath Records April 17th, 2020.