Week of August 18: This week, Emily Barker’s dystopian folk, PJ Morton’s gospel/reggae, and Jonsi’s collaboration with Elizabeth Fraser. Plus, a new album from the Mountain Goats.
A Post-Apocalyptic Lament From Emily Barker
The Australian-born, London-based folk singer Emily Barker goes for a more contemporary sound on her new single, “Where Have The Sparrows Gone?” – a song about the very contemporary threat of climate crisis and species loss. The title will remind many listeners of Pete Seeger’s classic “Where Have All The Flowers Gone,” which is not at all coincidental. Barker’s song finds her looking out her window at a landscape devoid of birds; it’s from her forthcoming LP called A Dark Murmuration of Words – a title that at once refers to starlings (a flock of starlings is called a murmuration) and suggests their absence (because it’s a flock of words, not birds). All is not well with the song’s human inhabitants either, as she sings of blowing the dust off grandma’s gas mask, and hiding where the woods were once. “They closed the bridge again; they’re not letting us out,” she sings near the beginning of the song – and, in old folksong fashion, again towards the end. It’s unnerving stuff. The band sound is bigger here than in many of Barker’s other songs, but there is little comfort in that – the guitars, keyboards and drums are restrained, as if to suggest the claustrophia and confinement of the narrator.
A Dark Murmuration of Words comes out on September 4.
Anjimile Dances Through A Breakup
The Boston-based singer and songwriter Anjimile pulls off a pretty neat trick in their new single, “Baby No More.” The song is a breakup song, but sung from the point of view of the person doing the breaking up. Written after battling alcoholism and coming to terms with their trans identity, Anjimile’s little song does some heavy lifting. But “Baby No More” is no mopey tale of heartbreak; it’s a song that climbs a ladder of dance-y goodness, and does so in short order. The beginning has a tropical, almost bossa nova sound, but the song quickly adds funky bass and some R&B vocals, and then, when Anjimile finally admits “I can’t be your baby no more,” the dance groove kicks in. That’s a lot of song to pack into less than three minutes.
The single is the latest from Anjimile’s forthcoming debut LP called Giver Taker, which comes out next month.
Sigur Ros Singer Jonsi Releases New Song With Elizabeth Fraser
“When Sigur Rós was starting, we were always compared to Cocteau Twins and I really didn’t like that,” the Icelandic singer Jonsi says in a press release. “I hated being compared to anybody. Then I got really into Cocteau Twins like two or three years ago. They’re so good. I understood the comparison then.” Jonsi’s new single is called “Cannibal” and it features the voice of Elizabeth Fraser, whose eerie, whispery singing defined not only the Cocteau Twins sound but also that of Massive Attack’s epochal song “Teardrop.” It’s the third track he’s released so far from his upcoming solo album Shiver, itself a collaboration with the British producer A. G. Cook, who is best known for his work with Charli XCX. Cook is known for taking the ingredients of a pop song and mixing them in ways that are unexpected and only obliquely pop; and that is essentially what he and Jonsi have done here. “Cannibal” begins with some striking, and potentially alarming lyrics (in English – although I confess I still prefer hearing his alien voice singing in Icelandic or his made-up Hopelandic), accompanied by what seem to be just little bits and pieces of the instrumental tracks that most other producers would layer together into something big and bangin’. And halfway through, the song does finally cohere into a grand musical statement, with the singers’ feathery vocals floating over synthesizers, guitar power chords, and a sad-dance rhythm track.
As with his previous single, “Exhale,” the video focuses on a single dancer in a hypnotic, enigmatic setting. Shiver comes out on October 2.
The Mountain Goats Are Getting Into Knives
John Darnielle is back on his porch again. The scene will be familiar to those who watched his live performances this Spring on our Soundcheck podcast, but now, he’s writing out the lyrics for the new Mountain Goats song, called “As Many Candles As Possible.” (And does so while sporting an Anna Netrebko t-shirt.) It’s our first glimpse of the band’s forthcoming album, Getting Into Knives, and it seems to grow out of nothing, with the band creeping above the threshold of audibility and then punching in when Darnielle begins his darkened storytelling. The video is a model of economy and making-do, essentially a lyric video written out while you watch. Vicious dogs and nightmare beasts roam this song, and apparently another track will be from the point of view of a hunted wolf, so the animal kingdom is represented. But as usually happens with Mountain Goats songs, it’s all about the people who populate the songs and how they deal with whatever life (or Darnielle) throws at them.
Getting Into Knives comes out on October 23.
PJ Morton Is Going Back To His Gospel Roots
PJ Morton is a Grammy-winning singer and songwriter best known for his soul/R&B productions, and for playing keyboards in Maroon 5. But PJ Morton is the son of two pastors, and grew up in the church playing organ. Now, he’s about to release his first (and, his family might add, long-delayed) gospel album, called Gospel According To PJ. If the new single is any indication, it actually casts a wide sonic net. The song “So In Love” seems like a pretty secular love song, although if you check the lyrics of Amber Bullock’s original version, the Y in “you” is capitalized throughout, suggesting that the love is aimed heaven-ward; and while the vocal harmonies, organ and horns may look to Morton’s New Orleans church roots, the rhythm and easygoing pace all say “Jamaica.” Reggae fans will find much to like here; gospel fans, though, will no doubt look forward to hearing guest turns by such bright lights as Kirk Franklin and Yolanda Adams elsewhere on the album.
Gospel According To PJ comes out on August 28.