Weekly Music Roundup: John Legend, Lau Noah, and Ambrose Akinmusire

Week of Dec. 18: This week, a new film and song by John Legend; a thought-provoking track by Jason Isbell; trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire’s new trio; and songs by Lau Noah, Tunisian star Emel, and Hermanos Gutierrez. 

John Legend Helps Produce and Score Documentary Film

“Don’t Need To Sleep” is the new song by John Legend, and it comes from the documentary film We Dare To Dream, for which he and Oscar winner Angelina Jolie acted as Executive Producers. The film tells the stories of refugee athletes who overcome apparently insurmountable obstacles to realize their dreams of making it to the Olympics. Legend’s song is appropriately anthemic, but also curiously restrained. The accompaniment is limited to strings and piano – no triumphant horns and drums here, because after all even the success of these athletes is rooted in disaster and desperation. But the key line is in the song’s chorus, where Legend sings “Don’t need to sleep to dream.”

The film We Dare To Dream is streaming on Peacock. 

An Exquisite Duet from Lau Noah and Cecile McLorin Salvant

The Catalan singer and guitarist Lau Noah is now based here in New York, so while her music is still deeply rooted in Spain, her forthcoming album, A Dos, is full of musical guests from all over. Gaby Moreno, Jorge Drexler, Chris Thile, and Jacob Collier all make appearances on the album, which, as the title indicates, is mostly a collection of duets. The final single before the record’s release on January 12 is “Siete Lagrimas,” or “Seven Tears,” a duet with the inimitable jazz singer Cecile McLorin Salvant. Accompanied only by Spanish guitar, the two voices (both in Spanish) weave around each other in a way that almost feels comforting, and makes the song’s pain feel so good. 

Jason Isbell’s New Single Is An Emotional Gut Punch

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Jason Isbell has taken the phrase “three chords and the truth” seriously throughout his years as a solo artist, especially since getting sober over a decade ago. His latest single, “White Beretta,” recounts an episode from his own life, but like any good storyteller, he tells it in a way that makes it feel, if not universal, then at least familiar and relatable. The character is looking back at a time when he drove someone across state lines to a place that is not specifically named, but without ever mentioning abortion, the song’s meaning is clear.  He sings about not recognizing the bravery of the woman he has dropped off – and not going inside because he was young and afraid. The music, in the restrained southern rock style that Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit have become known for, is as steeped in regret as the lyrics. It’s a raw and difficult story, but while Isbell rarely restricts himself to just three chords, the song certainly has the ring of truth. 

Ambrose Akimusire Debuts New Trio With Bill Frisell and Herlin Riley

Trumpeter and composer Ambrose Akinmusire usually has a big idea driving his albums: recent efforts have included suites connected by ideas about Blackness, gentrification, and creativity. His new album, Owl Song, is smaller, less dense, less dramatic - “this is my reaction to being assaulted by information,” he says. Working for the first time in a trio with guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Herlin Riley, Akinmusire works to create a space to think - or simply a space, period. There is some multitracking, subtle but effective, on the track “Weighted Corners,” but much of the album is even more basic, with the three musicians playing some of Akinmusire’s most direct and affecting music. This track, “Flux Fuelings,” has a gentle, almost funky groove – a reminder that you can free your mind while still tapping your toes.  

Surf-Noir Guitars From Hermanos Gutierrez

I was quite taken with Hermanos Gutierrez’s 2022 album, El Bueno Y El Malo; the two guitar-playing Gutierrez brothers, based in Switzerland, make instrumental music that echoes the Ennio Morricone soundtracks for those old spaghetti westerns, like The Good The Bad & The Ugly (their album title translates to The Good & The Bad), as well as evoking the sounds of 60s surf guitar and the nocturnal landscapes of ambient music. They’ve just released a new single called “Blood Milk Moon,” recorded in Mexico City after the brothers found themselves having a rooftop dinner under a blood red moon. It’s a short piece of “night music” that is somehow not dark, but instead suggests a slow dance (maybe a tango) on a moonlit night.  

Tunisian Star Emel Releases New Single

Although she’s now based here in New York, the Tunisian singer/songwriter Emel (full name Emel Mathlouthi) will always be associated with the Arab Spring uprisings, with her 2010 song “Kelmti Horra (My Word Is Free)” widely considered to be the anthem of that movement. Since moving here she’s released songs that reflect her longtime love of art-pop, metal, and alternative rock. Her new song, “Souty,” or “My Voice,” draws on both Western and Arab orchestral pop, and a beat that also walks between the two. Ultimately, though, the song soars highest when it leans into Emel’s rich, emotive voice.