If It's Too Loud...

It's been a long, long time since we've had some new music from Jessica Lea Mayfield. Sure, we had a Christmas song last year and some demos, but Emotional Abandonment is the first proper music from Mayfield in a long time. The EP/single is two new songs. The first, "Daddy Boyfriend," is Mayfield dipping her toes in the pop side more than she ever has. Gone is the country or grunge sound we've heard from her in the past. While being decidedly pop, "Daddy Boyfriend" is still fuzzy as hell. "Emotional Attachment" brings a little more fuzz, but is still fairly pop. It's an interesting sound from an artist that is constantly evolving her sound. You can watch the video for "Daddy Boyfriend" below. Emotional Abandonment , the new release from Jessica Lea Mayfield, is available now via Bandcamp . For more on Jessica Lea Mayfield, check out the artist's Facebook and Twitter .

2019 has seen Jessica Lea Mayfield returning and releasing two collections of rough demos on her Bandcamp page. To close out the year, she's releasing an original Christmas song. "what all have ya bought me?" is an ode to Christmas greed and using presents to mask a terrible relationship, with lines like " our love leaves a lot to desired /  I need material things to fill the void." It's a much more finished song than we've heard from Mayfield in a while, and it's more country than she's been for even longer. Of course, this is Jessica Lea Mayfield, so it can't be straight country. "what all have ya bought me?" has a haunting quality in its guitar that leans more into dream pop, while still having a country twang. You can listen to "what all have ya bought me?" below. The song is currently available on Jessica Lea Mayfield's Bandcamp . For more on Jessica Lea Mayfield, check her out on Facebook and Twitter . what...

Back in June Jessica Lea Mayfield released tape demos part 1 , and three months later she's bringing us TAPE DEMOS PART 2. The latest is a five song collection of solo home cassette demos Mayfield is currently working on. Songs like "ALL MEN" fits the typical acoustic solo demo we'd expect while "I'M DOING FINE" is surprisingly reverb heavy. These demo collections aren't really meant for new or casual fans. These are extremely rough and meant for the type of fans that would have bought import singles or giant box sets in the past to make sure they have everything. These offer a great look into what Mayfield is working on while we wait for her next full release, and it'll make hearing the finished versions that much more interesting. You can listen to "DON'T EVEN TRY ME" below. TAPE DEMOS PART 2  is available now via Bandcamp. If these do well enough Mayfield is teasing a full band demo for part 3. For more on Jessica Lea Mayfiel...

We've been huge fans of Jessica Lea Mayfield's version of country/roots meets 90's alternative ever since we first heard her. She recently left ATO Records and is a free agent in the music world. She's just put out tape demos part 1  on her Bandcamp page. These are incredibly rough demos of just her and a guitar recorded as lo-fi/DIY as humanly possible. She's opening up the songwriting process to her fans at a very early point, and is welcoming us to imagine the songs however we want. And these songs could end up going in any possible direction, or no direction at all. As a fan, it's such a special opportunity to hear an album in such a raw format. You can listen to "warped and melted" below. tape demos part 1 is available now via Jessica Lea Mayfield's Bandcamp . For more on Jessica Lea Mayfield, check out her Facebook and Twitter . tape demos part 1 by Jessica Lea Mayfield

Photo by Ebru Yildiz There are three things I have a nearly undying love for: 1. Cover songs 2. Jessica Lea Mayfield 3. Loretta Lynn Luckily for me, all three have been combined as Jessica Lea Mayfield has recorded a version of Loretta Lynn's Christmas classic "To Heck With Ole Santa Claus." Before listening, I assumed that this would be a return to Mayfield's original, more country inspired sound, but I was wrong. In covering this country Christmas classic, Mayfield doubles down on her current more dream pop sound. The result is this haunting take on Lynn's upbeat novelty song, that is both more disturbing and more amusing. You can watch the video for Jessica Lea Mayfield's version of "To Heck With Ole Santa Claus" below. The song is part of this year's Amazon Indie for the Holidays playlist which also includes Charly Bliss, Best Coast, Dean & Britta, and more. For more on Jessica Lea Mayfield, check out her website .

NoiseTrade has been on fire the past few weeks with exclusive EPs from some of our favorite artists. This week they did it again with The Sorry is Gone Tour EP  from Jessica Lea Mayfield. Mayfield is about to embark on a tour that was postponed due to a car accident she was recovering from, and to celebrate she's giving away a four song EP exclusively through NoiseTrade. It contains two songs from her recently released album, Sorry is Gone , which will be a contender for us when it comes to best album of 2017. There's also "Feeling Oppressed," which is a b-side exclusive to this release, and a live solo version of the song "Sorry is Gone." Twenty years ago we used to pay $10-$20 for b-sides like these, and now they're just given away. You can get your copy of The Sorry is Gone Tour EP  for free over at NoiseTrade . For more on Jessica Lea Mayfield, check out her website . The dates for her current tour are below. Let's just hope for a rescheduled...

A busy week! Album of the Week : Artist : Anna Tivel Album : Small Believer Quick Description : Latest from a favorite folkie. Why You Should Listen : Anna Tivel is crazy consistent. Overall Thoughts : Ken has raved about Anna Tivel before, and I’ve been jumping back and forth on her back catalog since he turned me onto her. The new album? It’s predictably great. There’s a reason we’re a big fan of hers here, and while she’s not trying to reinvent the wheel with her brand of folk music, there’s something to be said about nearly perfecting it. This is a solid listen for this week, and definitely worth your time. Recommendation : My favorite of the week. Artist : Keep Shelly in Athens Album : Philokalia Quick Description : Weird, yet accessible, electronic music. Why You Should Listen : Keep Shelly in Athens has been under the radar too long. Overall Thoughts : I missed the release last year, but the release from a few years ago was of interest to me. This new album ...

Photo by Ebru Yildiz September is a ridiculously stacked release month for music, but with each song the new album from Jessica Lea Mayfield speeds up our list of "most anticipated." The latest song is "Meadow." While her entire album Sorry Is Gone is about empowerment and taking her life back, "Meadow" feels especially along this vein. Mayfield's voice comes across particularly breezy and vulnerable in this song, even for her. As the song progresses, it becomes a little more assured and powerful. The instruments become more forceful throughout the song, too. It's a great song that harkens back to the 90's alternative singer/songwriter movement that included Liz Phair and Elliott Smith. You can watch the great video for "Meadow" below. And, seriously, it's a great video. Unfortunately, it's about 20 years too late to be in the MTV Buzz Bin. The newest album from Jessica Lea Mayfield, Sorry Is Gone , will be out Septemb...

Photo by Ebru Yildiz With her earlier sound, Jessica Lea Mayfield combined 90's alternative with country (if I was into bad jokes I'd say that she put the alt in alt-country, but I'll spare you that one), and with 2014's Make My Head Sing... she wore her grunge influences on her sleeve and pushed the country into the background. She has a new song out, "Sorry Is Gone," that goes just slightly back towards her country roots. Sonically, it's a little closer to 2011's Tell Me , but with some killer early 90's indie guitar work. Despite the song's light sound, Mayfield says  “The whole record is about me taking my life back, without really realizing it. I realized I’m the only person that is going to look out for me. I have to be my main person. No one else.” The album features notable guest musicians Seth Avett (who Mayfield collaborated on 2015's Elliott Smith covers album) and Steve Shelley formerly of Sonic Youth. You can watch the vi...

As promised, here is the second batch of new releases for this week. It's still a pretty dodgy week on a whole, unfortunately. Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield - Sing Elliott Smith : Jessica Lea Mayfield is a favorite of mine, and the Avett Brothers are always a good time, so with one of them teaming up with the other for Elliott Smith songs in a more rootsy style? Sign me up. I'm not the biggest Elliott Smith fan, but the covers are distinctive without being different for the songs I did remember and recognize, and that's both interesting and refreshing. Worth a listen on a number of counts, definitely a solid release this week and probably my favorite. Anna & Elizabeth - Anna & Elizabeth : A debut folk album, the best way I can describe this is if you wished First Aid Kit or Lily & Madeleine sounded more like Gillian Welch. This is a high compliment from me, as a fan of all of those acts, but the strong parts of this specific album comes from ho...

I love this newfangled trend of artists you'd never expect to work together coming together to record an album of covers. The latest truly has the potential to be the best. Seth Avett (of the Avett Brothers, of course) and Jessica Lea Mayfield have an album coming out in March of Elliott Smith covers. They've been working on this project for 3 years, recording in each other's homes and hotel rooms. Both are huge fans of Smiths', and from the snippets you can hear in the promo video below, it should be fantastic. The album will be titled Seth Avett and Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliott Smith  and will be out on March 15 on Ramseur Records.  Tracklist: 1. Between the Bars 2. Baby Britain 3. Fond Farewell 4. Somebody That I Used to Know 5. Let’s Get Lost 6. Twilight 7. Ballad of Big Nothing 8. Angel in the snow 9. Pitseleh 10. Angeles 11. Roman Candle 12. Memory Lane

I hate Christmas music. It's pretty dull and repetitive. But, this weekend you'll be subjected to work holiday parties and family and/or friend's holiday parties. Then next week someone will insist on putting Christmas music on in the background while you're wrapping presents and then opening presents. How many times can you be expected to listen to Mariah Caery's "All I Want for Christmas?" As an alternative, here is the If It's Too Loud... 2014 Christmas Playlist. It features some lesser known songs from The Sheila Divine, Emmy the Great and Tim Wheeler, Jessica Lea Mayfield, a cover of Wham's "Last Christmas" (the greatest worst song ever recorded), and we had to end with "Christmas in Hollis." Enjoy!

A slow week for us here, but some tax day goodies came out this week that you might like to hear. The Secret Sisters - Put Your Needle Down : I fell in love with The Secret Sisters with their first album, which had some nice traditional songs interspersed with some fun originals. Their second album is more of the same in many regards, but doesn't feel like an old retread like some other sophomore efforts do. If you enjoyed The Haden Triplets and their effort this year, you might end up liking this one more. Jessica Lea Mayfield - Make My Head Sing... : When I first dove into the roots/bluegrass genre a few years back, Jessica Lea Mayfield is a name that popped up semi-regularly. I loved her second album in particular and I've been rather impatient in waiting for a new one to come out. This album is certainly a far cry from the rootsy stuff she started out with, and even her previous album showed signs of trying to branch out and find her sound. That exploration continu...