JACK GARRATT Phase (Interscope) — British singer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Jack Garrattwill release his eagerly anticipated full-length debut album, entitled Phase, via Interscope Records. Phase follows the release of Garratt’s acclaimed EPs Remnants, which racked up over a million plays and led to several sold-out shows in London, and Synesthesiac. Garratt has received a host of critical acclaim for his previous output, including “Weathered.” Complex wrote that the singer “is about to explode in a big, chart-topping, unable to miss kind of way,” while London’sEvening Standard called Garratt “one of our most inventive new stars.” The Sunday Times’ Culture section noted that “[Jack’s] songs thrum with the dynamics and textures of after-hours electro-blues, dubstep and alt-R&B,” while Entertainment Weekly said Garratt “sprinkles dance-floor glitter over crooning analog soul” on “Weathered.” Check out Jack Garratt’s exclusive live stripped back performance of his song, Fire, he did for Vevo UK LIFT located below… Learn more about Jack here jackgarratt.com
LAKE STREET DIVE Side Pony (Nonesuch) The four band members—drummer Michael Calabrese, bassist Bridget Kearney, singer Rachael Price, and guitarist/trumpeter Michael “McDuck” Olson—worked with Nashville-based producer Dave Cobb (Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, Secret Sisters) on their Nonesuch Records debut album. Side Pony takes its name from a song on the record that refers to a whimsical hairstyle, but it also serves as a metaphor for Lake Street Dive’s philosophy and personality as a band. As Kearney puts it, “When we were settling on the album title, that one just stuck out to us as embodying the band’s spirit. We’ve always been this somewhat uncategorizable, weird, outlying, genre-less band. That’s the statement we wanted to make with this record: be yourself.” Olson echoes her sentiment: “It has also come to mean anything you’re doing for the sheer joy of it. We have always ‘rocked our side pony.’ Now we have a convenient phrase for it.” Lake Street Dive’s 2014 album Bad Self Portraits was highly praised by the press. USA Today called the record “a sparkling collection of jazz/Motown/girl group/British Invasion–inspired original tunes.” Performances on the Colbert Report, Late Show with David Letterman, and Conan followed, and their live shows became a hot ticket, culminating in two sold-out shows at New York’s Terminal 5. Check them out at lakestreetdive.com
RA RA RIOT Need Your Light (Barsuk)Need Your Light, the fourth full-length from Brooklyn’s Ra Ra Riot, is the sound of a band being reinvigorated by their own existence. Correspondingly, the album sees the band — Wes Miles (vocals), Mathieu Santos (bass), Milo Bonacci (guitar), Rebecca Zeller (violin), and Kenny Bernard (drums) — getting back to their house party roots without abandoning the more heady soundscapes they explored with 2013’s Beta Love. The result is an album that’s celebratory without being solipsistic and that sees the group collectively mining their prior experiences in order to craft something that looks toward the future with an optimistic gaze. Whether Miles is singing about something fantastic or mundane, there’s an enduring energy to the songs on this album which illustrate that in many ways Ra Ra Riot are still only getting started. Check them out at rarariot.com
Also Available The Week Of February 19 ANIMAL COLLECTIVE Painting With (Domino) CARRIE RODRIGUEZ Lola (Luz/Thirty Tigers) GAZEBOS Die Alone (Hardly Art) JESU/SUN KIL MOON Jesu/Sun Kil Moon (Caldo Verde) LNZNDRF Lnzndrf (f/ members of The National & Beirut) (4AD) MARLON WILLIAMS Marlon Williams (Dead Oceans) MAVIS STAPLES Living On A High Note (produced by M Ward w/ guests including Nick Cave, Justin Vernon, tUnE-yArDs, Neko Case, and Benjamin Booker) (Anti/Epitaph) MONSTER TRUCK Sittin’ Heavy (Dine Alone) SIMPLE PLAN Taking One for the Team (Atlantic) SO PITTED Neo (Sub Pop) THE CAVE SINGERS Banshee (independent) WILD NOTHING Life of Pause (Captured Tracks) WOLF MOTHER Victorius (Ume) YOKO ONO I’m a Witch Too (collaborations & remixes w/ Death Cab For Cutie, Peter, Bjorn and John, Sparks, tUnE-yArDs, MiikeSnow, Cibo Matto, Portugal The Man & more) (Manimal)
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