If It's Too Loud...

Artist : Lydia Loveless Album : Nothing's Gonna Stand in My Way Again Quick Thoughts : We love Lydia Loveless here, and their gradual shift toward a more adult-alternative sound from the more twangy early work felt invevitable until this new album landed, which both feels like a great combination of the new and old while also remaining true to their evolution as an artist. There are so many good songs here, with that now-classic and unmistakable voice to go with some great songwriting. One of the best of the week. Songs of Note : "Poor Boy," "Feel," "Toothache," "Do the Right Thing" Artist : Jenny Owen Youngs Album : Avalanche Quick Thoughts : On one hand, it's been a decade since the last proper Jenny Owen Youngs album, although that is misleading given the amount of music she's made for her Buffy the Vampire Slayer podcast, plus the whole getting married and moving to Maine thing. So here's Avalanche , which is both ex...

Photo by Laura Czech The latest from Jenny Owen Youngs is this interesting mix of modern folk-pop and a more indie version of folk. "It's Later Than You Think" is a warm and welcoming folk song with some beats more along the lines of pop than folk. But the song just has this unique certain something to it that keeps it from being a purely pop song. It's almost like there is a little too much pop in the song to make it folk-pop, or it could be a very 90's alt-rock/singer-songwriter quality to Youngs' vocals, but "It's Later Than You Think" is one of the more engaging folk songs to come across our inbox in quite some time. Jenny Owen Youngs says of her latest single: “When we got together to write, I was feeling particularly preoccupied with my relationship to my phone, social media, and the internet in general. It was the summer of 2021 and the world still felt a ways off from returning to any semblance of social normalcy. I had also moved away fr...

Photo by Lisa Czech It's been over a decade since Jenny Owen Youngs has released a full length studio album, so we're obviously thrilled that she has a new one coming out in September. The first single from the album, "Avalanche," was co-written by Madi Diaz, and it's the perfect kind of singer/songwriter music that has just the slightest bit of folk, country, pop, and indie rock to appeal to virtually any music fan. There are times I hate referring to music as mainstream because that's usually meant as an insult, but in this case it's apt, and when it's done this well I can't imagine anyone complaining. "Avalanche" has breezy vocals from Youngs and a gravity to it that is sure to suck you in. Jenny Owen Youngs says of her new single: “An avalanche is an extreme force, it can cause great harm, and when it’s over, you can be certain things will be different than they were before.  When it came time to name the album, this song leapt forwar...

Because we can't hear them all? Diana Krall - Wallflower : I'll listen to almost anything, but jazz always seems to get away from me. Diana Krall is a noteworthy exception to this for whatever reason, though, and her latest album, a cover record called Wallflower , is both a step in a more accessible direction as well as somewhat less interesting as the smooth jazz takes on some classics are...not great. I love a good cover song, but too many of the tracks here end up being more dirgey than anything else, and that's not always a welcome thing. Worth a listen, but beware. Jenny Owen Youngs - Slack Tide : Most musicians, when repackaging their music for an EP, tend to irritate me. When Jenny Owen Youngs does it, for whatever reason, I keep getting hooked over and over. I listened once for the new song and the curiosity, and I must have replayed it at least 6 times within a few days of that first listen. It's a solid EP anyway, more fun if you're a fan of her...