111 songs, albums and videos submitted this week
Real Artificial, album by Elsten Torres. So happy! I love to listen to Torres and these songs in particular. Even the closing song – “Con Esta Me Despido” (With This I say Goodbye), and the heartbreak titled duet with Lena Burke , “Si Ti” (Without You)With catchy, thoughtful lyrics and a joyful chorus, you will put this album on repeat and listen all day. Spanish and English. Stream on all major platforms.
See You at the Maypole, album by Half Waif. Seventeen songs that shine with emotion. This album was made in the aftermath of the miscarriage that cost her a son. She pours herself into every song, swirling with tears and hope, and stories. Her angelic voice is more poignant than on her earlier albums. The mystery of “Fog Winter Balsam Jade”, the tense background in “I-90”, the sadness of “Mother Tongue”, the loving drum march of “March Grass”. There is simply no one who can pull your heartstrings like Half Waif and she does it in this album. Stream on all major platforms.
Mother, EP by ZZ Ward.. Down and dirty blues with her blistering guitar, a product of her shifting from a pop label to a blues one, and becoming a mother. Six songs that are a mix of her favorite Sun Records blues songs, and her previous blues hits, they all will grab your gut and make you go “oooh – that’s good”. She kicks off the EP with a Chicago-style “Mother”, but I especially like “Put the Gun Down” – she is so tough and so urgent and her guitar fills the sky with her signature sound. And “Cadillac Man” will burn your socks off. If you love the blues- even if you don’t – stream this one. All major platforms.
Mas o menos, single by Nicole Zignago. The Latin-Grammy nominated cantautora (singer-songwriter) has a way not only with words but with a voice that is both distant and close, and arrangements that are both urgent and sweet. Whether or not you understand the Spanish, you will understand the song – she communicates musically so clearly and on so many levels, that you are there with her. Spanish. Stream on major platforms.
Good Miles to Go, single by Jackie Bristow and Barry Saunders. This New Zealand native grew her voice in pubs and bars in Australia and New Zealand, but found it in the American south and Los Angeles – and on the road, where she seems happiest. She blends Nashville, Americana, even blues and a bit of rock in this song with Barry Saunders of the New Zealand country/folk/rock band The Warratahs and many others that have endured – at least for me, who has followed her for almost 10 years, In a way she is a modern Joni Mitchel, but in some ways transcends the Laurel Canyon singers. Stream on major platforms.
Te Perdono single by Agris. Agis’ voice doesn’t quite fit with many of the adjectives that describe women’s voices, words like beautiful, angelic intimate. It is all of those, but more – a kind of tough sweet, confident but tender, generous in sharing herself. “Te Perdono” (I Forgive You) feels like she is in charge, but also in love and pain – sometimes a difficult combination to manage. Close your eyes and sway to this song and feel its gentle power. Spanish. Stream on all major platforms.