Weekly Music Roundup: PJ Harvey, Willow, and Phoebe Bridgers

Photo of PJ Harvey by Steve-Gullick

This week, previews from PJ Harvey, Phoebe Bridgers, and Wyclef Jean.  Plus Willow goes to Brazil and Son Rompe Pera go to AA.  

Traveling The Cosmos With PJ Harvey

PJ Harvey’s songs have always seemed to be firmly grounded in such earthbound things as sex, death, and the land. But her new single, “Voyager,” takes as its inspiration the Voyager probes launched by NASA in 1977 and still traveling today. The song is a striking one for several reasons: the vocals are mostly two-note falling phrases, almost as if they were some kind of rudimentary transmission from the cosmos (or those now distant probes); there is also the subtle but steady pulse underlying the synthesizers and strings, suggesting the implacable universe of which we are such a tiny part. And then there is the epic string orchestra surge at the end, courtesy of Oscar-winning film composer Dario Marianelli, which suggests that however insignificant our planet might be in the grand scheme of things, we should still, as Harvey sings, “care for/our shelter/tender tender.” 

Willow’s New Single Is A Musical Trip To Brazil

Willow Smith, who records simply as Willow, is no longer the 10-year old who burst on the music scene with her hit “Whip My Hair.” The daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith has proven to be a consummate musician, as a singer, instrumentalist and producer. In the wake of her seventh album, Petal Rock Black, which came out in February, Willow has now released a single called “She’s My Religion.” For a four minute slice of pop, there’s a lot going on here: The song has sultry vocals in ultra-smooth R&B harmonies, but behind them are the sounds of Brazil – bossa nova-style acoustic guitar, and especially a drum/percussion section that adds a note of samba. Willow, who is a practicing Hindu, also taps into an old South Asian musical/poetic tradition of lyrics that blur the line between the sensual and the spiritual.  

Phoebe Bridgers Returns With First Single From Her Upcoming LP

Phoebe Bridgers felt obliged to take some time away from the spotlight after her 2020 LP Punisher and her supergroup boygenius (with Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker) made her one of the hottest names in rock. She’s now preparing to release her new LP, Lost Weekend, in August, and this week we got the first single, “Lost Boys.” Bridgers has not lost her knack for songs that suggest rather than describe, and somehow the more elliptical her lyrics, the more of an emotional punch they pack. Here, the verses suggest conflict, interior or otherwise – there is war imagery woven throughout – and the music is a kind of gauzy, midtempo rock. But in the choruses, the sound expands and Bridger’s heart moves to her sleeve. “Lost boys/Never grow up, never go home,” she sings in glorious overdubbed harmony, as trumpets add a searching quality; “lost boys/never give up, never get old.” A marvelous, big-hearted video, mixing medieval, martial arts, and gaming imagery, includes a bonus addendum in the form of the song’s melody done in the simple electronic tones of an early video game.  

Wyclef Jean Welcomes The New Season… Winter

“Winter Is Coming” is one of two singles that Wyclef Jean dropped earlier today. The other, “GBTC,” finds Wyclef collaborating with rapper Lil Wayne and the extraordinary singer Andra Day, with Wyclef’s own verse occupying a gray space between rap and song. On “Winter Is Coming,” though, he is all about the soulful texture of his singing voice and the lush string arrangements you’d hear in the classic R&B of the early 70s.  Using winter as a metaphor for a chill in a relationship, Wyclef Jean wrestles and pleads and ultimately reaches into his falsetto voice in an effort to provoke a thaw. 

Now if two singles on one day sounds ambitious, wait: he is planning to release Quantum Leap, a series of 7 albums in different genres, beginning with Clef Notes, a hip hop album, next week.  

Son Rompe Pera Dance Their Way Out Of Trouble

The Mexican marimba punks Son Rompe Pera have released a new single called “El Reencuentro,” a bouncy, irresistible piece of mostly instrumental dance music with a cumbia beat. The title refers to the fact that this is a re-encounter with an old tune that the Gama brothers, who form the heart of the band, heard when they were kids. What they didn’t know is that the tune was the music to a public service announcement for Alcoholics Anonymous. It was only when the brothers entered AA themselves that they found the melody again, and decided it would be appropriate to give it a very Rompe Pera-style remodel. The marimbas of course lead the way, but the bass and the rhythm section more than hold their own in this winning arrangement.