If It's Too Loud...

Photo: David Raccuglia / Pitch Perfect PR Lonney Holley is a musician, writer, and artist out of Birmingham, Alabama. His story alone is worth paying attention to , but the acclaimed creator began making music in 2006, and he has a new record out via Jagjaguar this spring. We are excited to share a pre-release track from this album today, the song "Oh Me, Oh My," featuring backing vocals by former R.E.M. frontman and lyricist Michael Stipe. According to the label: Oh Me Oh My features both kinetic, shortwave funk that calls to mind Brian Eno’s My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and the deep space satellite sounds of Eno’s ambient works. There are also elements of Laurie Anderson’s meditations, elements of Gil Scott-Heron’s profound longform soul, elements of John Lurie’s grabbag jazz, and yes, elements of Sun Ra’s bold afrofuturism. But Oh Me Oh My is a triumphant sonic achievement of its own. The title track itself, posted below, is haunting while still feeling bright...

Photo by Tim Duffy I don't know if it's truly possible to describe Lonnie Holley's "I Woke Up in a Fucked-Up America." I think the closest thing we have to it is free jazz, maybe? Except this song is loud, noisy, and dissonant. It might kind of be like some of the more experimental improvisational side projects of Sonic Youth, but this feels more controlled and like it has an actual purpose. From the song title alone I think we can all assume that this is an intensely political song, so you might be able to compare it to Childish Gambino's "This is America," but "I Woke Up in a Fucked-Up America" would be like Childish Gambino on crack. I'm also getting the slightest hints of P-Funk here, but very slight. I'm pretty certain that none of that makes any sense, but this is definitely a song worth listening to. You can watch the video for "I Woke Up in a Fucked-Up America" below. MITH , the new album from Lonnie Holley, ...