Weekly Music Roundup: The Rolling Stones, Aldous Harding, and Carín León

This week, The Rolling Stones return, so does Broken Social Scene; also, new releases from Aldous Harding, Carín León, and Tank & The Bangas. 

Ladies And Gentlemen, The Rolling Stones.  Again.

The Rolling Stones will put out a new album, Foreign Tongues, on July 10, and this week they released two singles. One is the bluesy “Rough And Twisted,” a throwback to the band’s sound circa 1966. The other, more interesting track is “In The Stars,” which bounces between a classic Keith Richards guitar riff in the verses to an almost indie-rock refrain full of chiming guitar chords and a wordless chorus. It sets up an interesting dynamic between Mick Jagger’s brash, shouty vocals and the lyrical croon of the backing singers – until the end when it sounds as if Mick reaches up into a high register that would’ve sounded great 40 years ago and, even allowing for some studio wizardry, is still pretty amazing for an octogenarian.  

The Strange Beauty of Aldous Harding’s Music

New Zealand singer and songwriter Aldous Harding has become known for obscure, mysterious lyrics and a gently psychedelic take on folk and gothic rock.  (And for willfully weird videos.) Today she released Train On The Island, and it will, as always, produce lots of quizzical double-takes (did she really just sing about a naked owl? and eating rocks?), but at a certain point, you have to just accept that the lyrics don’t have a fixed meaning: whatever you think they mean is what they mean. But this album, done once again with producer John Parish, best known for his work with PJ Harvey, is full of songs that somehow manage to maintain Harding’s idiosyncrasies while still being neatly formal in their structure.  Having a recognizable verse/chorus format highlights just how subtle the instrumental choices are, and how strange the world of Aldous Harding is. This track, “Worms,” is like a late night country song from another planet. 

Carín León Embraces Change on Muda

Mexican superstar Carín León released his new album Muda today – the title is a Spanish word that means “change” in the sense of changing your clothes or shedding your skin. On it he employs his versatile voice in styles that range from norteño to disco, with an emphasis on ballads that still hide a sharp edge. (Most of the tracks have explicit lyrics, in Spanish naturally.) There is a collaboration with the veteran Colombian singer Juanes and another with the young Venezuelan band Rawayana, and an upcoming tour that will include Barclays Center on June 5 and Madison Square Garden on June 22. He will then do a residency at The Sphere in Las Vegas in September, already sold out. This track, “Olvidate,” or “forget about it,” has a lilting, Latin dance beat and a largely electronic arrangement, augmented with strings; it’s one of the album’s most expansive productions and elicits one of Leon’s most impassioned vocals.  

Tank And The Bangas Enjoy The “Nighttime”

Both on her own and with her band, Tarriona “Tank” Ball plays the role of shapeshifter, gliding seamlessly between R&B, neo-soul, funk, hip hop, and rock. Tank And The Bangas have just released a song called “Nighttime,” in advance of their album The Last Balloon, which comes out next Friday. This will be the third, and presumably final, album in the band’s “Balloon” series after Green Balloon (2019) and Red Balloon (2022), and like those records it not only expands the group’s sonic palette, it also reflects the emotional complexity of modern life, as the lyrics deal with frustration and resistance while also finding times for quiet repose or for unbridled joy. “Nighttime,” writes Ball, is “about what comes up when everything gets quiet—thoughts you can’t ignore, feelings that sit a little heavier after dark.” Far from being a pensive or sleepy affair, though, “Nighttime” bounces along on a Motown-style beat, until the texture clears and the song ends with some highly processed rapping.  

After A Decade, A New LP From Broken Social Scene

The Canadian collective Broken Social Scene has never been a fixed band; it’s basically Kevin Drew and a grab bag of mostly Toronto-based musicians. Over the years, Drew has shared vocal duties with some heavy hitters, including Feist, Emily Haines of Metric, Amy Millan of Stars, and plenty more.  With everyone so busy, it’s perhaps no surprise that it’s been nearly a decade since their last record. But absence seems to have done its making-the-heart-grow-fonder thing: the band’s NYC shows on July 30 and 31 are already sold out. Because the band could number well over a dozen musicians, BSS songs could reach almost orchestral levels of sound, and the new record, Remember The Humans, begins with one such production. “Not Around Anymore” actually sounds less like a big band and more like, say, four Liverpool lads playing around in Abbey Road. The spirit of late Beatles psychedelia is evident in the expansive sound of music and the trippy but somehow reassuring lyrics.