George Lewis, Jr. aka Twin Shadow is set to release album number three: Eclipse. The swooning new wave revivalist, a guitar-wielding cross between Prince and Morrissey, seems to be swinging for the arenas with his new tracks "To the Top" and "Turn Me Up," and the same goes for the recently-dropped, big-pop send-off "I'm Ready."
Sufjan Stevens is a national and personal treasure, one of the most important songwriters of the 21st Century, and one of the few artists who can thread the needle of genuine Christian poetry and music. His forthcoming album, Carrie & Lowell, is inspired by his mother and stepfather, which he candidly describes in this recent interview. Check out "No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross," a powerful meditation in the wake of his mother's passing.
The Church is one of the most underrated bands of all time. Though titans in Australia, the band is largely loved everywhere else by in-the-know, classic alternative heads, which means The D Man is a definitely a fan. "Under the Milky Way" is one of my all-time favorite songs, "Reptile" and the rest of the tracks on the 1988 classic Starfish still resonate, and I was easily the only kid in my junior high that bought 1994's Sometime Anywhere. The band just released its 25th album and Steve Kilbey's voice still sounds like a conspiratorial shaman, dispensing wisdom over psychedelic, shimmering guitars. That said, I had never really listened to the band's 1982 and 1984 albums, The Blurred Crusade (second) and Remote Luxury (fourth). The band's distinctive sound emerges on both records, reveling in a kind of mystical, exquisite guitar pop, and I've been lost in the deep cuts all week.
The D Man is back after a well-deserved hiatus. Cultivating the Top Twenty list is no joke. Lower Dens have a new album, Escape from Evil, that is dropping soon and the track "To Die in L.A." is worth checking out; I heard it on the radio and was instantly drawn in.
