Week of October 11: This week, a shiny new song from Robert Glasper and eagerly-awaited returns for Cat Power and Mitski. 

Robert Glasper Releases New Single In The Midst Of A Busy Month

Multiple Grammy-winning keyboardist, songwriter and producer Robert Glasper is spending his October in residence at the Blue Note, performing 66 shows in 33 nights at the historic jazz club. He’s also just released a new single, “Shine,” which will be on his next album, Black Radio 3, due in early 2022. Like the first two installments in the series, it will occupy that sweet spot that Glasper has organically created between jazz, R&B, and hip hop. (Numerous guest artists from those worlds have been dropping in on his Blue Note gigs.) “Shine” features an effortlessly slinky R&B groove, over which rapper D Smoke delivers lyrics that are full of both wordplay and uplift, while the chorus is sung by D Smoke’s cousin, Tiffany Gouche.  

Cat Power Covers Frank Ocean – And There’s More To Come

Chan Marshall, who makes music as Cat Power, has had a career full of unexpected twists and turns. The latest is an album of covers, called Covers, which she will put out on January 14. Now, an album of covers is not by itself all that unusual.  But the first two songs have been released, and the word “covers” barely describes these Cat Powerized versions of “A Pair of Brown Eyes” by the Pogues (here, eerie and weightless) and especially “Bad Religion” by Frank Ocean. Gone is the original’s orchestral R&B, replaced by a piano vamp that seems to be based on the guitar part of Cat Power’s own song “In Your Face,” with curiously hesitant drumming and some different lyrics. Notably, the cab driver’s original “Allahu Akbar” is replaced here with “Praise the Lord, hallelujah,” but there are other changes as well. The result is an almost totally different song, but one that is, in its own way, just as moving.  

But Wait, There’s More!  Dave Gahan Covers Cat Power

Dave Gahan will always be best known as the lead singer of Depeche Mode, but he’s made a lot of music on his own and with Soulsavers, which these days is essentially the producer Rich Machin. Gahan is also about to release an album of covers, called Imposter, out on November 12; and wouldn’t you know it, there’s a Cat Power song on it, and it’s the just-released lead single. “Metal Heart” follows the contours of the original, but Gahan’s version holds back for its first half, so that when the rest of the band and the rich harmony vocals come in, the effect is thrilling, especially as Gahan unleashes his full-throated vocals.  

Time To Renew Our Acquaintance With Mitski

Mitski announced that she’d be doing a spring tour next year, and to make sure you took notice, she released a new single. “Working For The Knife” is a good example of Mitski’s blend of noisy rock and pop sensibility: the drums pound out a dance rhythm but also a syncopated one; guitars and keyboards punctuate the melody with exclamation points; and over it all Mitski’s implacable vocals tell a story of creativity being stifled. “I cry at the start of every movie,” she sings, “I guess 'cause I wish I was making things too/But I'm working for the knife.” Mitski actually turned this two-and-a-half-minute song into a six-minute film, which might test the patience of folks who aren’t already Mitski fans. (It hit half a million views six hours after it was released.)

But the song stands on its own, and should only help stir up excitement about her upcoming visit. 

Mitski plays Radio City Music Hall on March 24.

Tangana Will Make You A Believer

The popular Spanish rapper C. Tangana (real name Antón Álvarez Alfaro) had a good week: he scored five Latin Grammy nominations, and released his new single, “Ateo,” or “atheist.” The song, and video, were collaborations with Argentine singer Nathy Peluso (she got four nominations last week herself); the song is full of lyrics about belief and miracles, and falls into a very long and time-honored tradition of songs that use sacred or spiritual imagery to talk about sensual, even erotic delights. Tangana is a big fan of the Dominican style known as bachata, and the song dances along on a traditional rhythm while both Tangana and Peluso veer between rap and song. The video, shot in the beautiful Toledo Cathedral, barely escapes a NSFW rating with a little judicious blurring – but it has a surprising wholesome twist at the very end.  

Alice TM Makes A Notable Debut

Alice TM is the stage name of Alice Tolan-Mee; she’s been making edgy yet mostly danceable art-pop for several years, releasing a series of singles and EPs. A dance conservatory dropout and now a singer and songwriter, Alice TM has finally released her first full-length album, called Little Body In Orbit. She’s described it as a celebration of queer love, and an expression of previously hidden feelings. This track, “Generous,” has skittering percussion and a curiously plonking keyboard track; but in the chorus, Alice TM’s pop instincts kick in, with warm harmonies and a steady walking synth-bass line.