NPR Music - New Music Friday: The best albums out May 31

Episode Date: May 31, 2024

NPR Music's Ann Powers and Lars Gotrich are your guides to this week's new releases.Featured albums:• Arooj Aftab, 'Night Reign'• Shaboozey, 'Where I've Been, isn't Where I'm Going'• Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Nathan Salsburg & Tyler Trotter, 'Hear the Children Sing The Evidence'Other notable albums out May 31:• Richard Thompson, 'Ship To Shore'• Dos Monos, 'Dos Atomos'• Anna Tivel, 'Living Thing'• Beak>, '>>>>'• Swamp Dogg, 'Blackgrass'• Thou, 'Umbilical'• Chris Housman, 'Blueneck'• Psychic Temple, 'Doggie Paddlin' Thru the Cosmic Consciousness'• John Muq, 'Flying Away'• Robin Holcomb, 'One Way or Another, Vol. 2'See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Just a note for everybody out there. This program contains explicit language. So, Lars, I guess it's summer? Is it summer where you're at? Are you feeling it? It is. It is hot and powers. Yeah, we've been having the cicada invasion and the tornado invasion.

So pretty typical Nashville summer. But what is soundtrack in your summer so far? You've been going out? You've been seeing music? I've been seeing music. I recently went to go see Claire Russey. Oh, nice. We just put out that really great record on a thrilled jockey.

I saw her here in Washington, D.C. at Rizzoam, which is a great little venue, and she's been touring with a version of her bedroom. Oh, yeah, I heard about this. So cool. Yeah, so she, like, folds out this, like, fake wall, and she puts posters and stickers on it that people contribute. There was one segment where Claire said, all right, now, this is the audience participation. portion of the show and did anybody have anything bad happened to them this week? Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. And so like two people sheepishly kind of like raised their hands and then

Claire came up to them and was like, do you mind if I record you telling your story? Wow. And so two people, two people did that and then she airdropped the file to the laptop that she was playing her field recordings from and you got to hear these people's stories. I don't know how she did this, you know, computer wizardry, but they would overlap each other and kind of deconstruct almost in real time. It was, like I said, it was incredibly moving a hell of a way to set the tone for the summer. Right. Wow. Well, I got to see Jolie Holland last night, so I also had an emotional experience, one of the great singer-songwriters

and someone who has made a wonderful record in recent years, sort of on the comeback trail with Buck Meek. And her show was incredible. And Buck also performed. And I have to say he wore a semi-seathru shirt. So not as deep and heavy as what you're talking about. But I'm just saying semi-seath through shirt, that's the summer to me. So I'm glad we're both. I mean, I also spent a Sunday on a Baltimore asphalt at Maryland Death Fest as I do every year. just sweating it out to Abath from Immortal doing his like his kiss black metal stuff. It's it made me extremely happy. I'm Anne Powers, critic and correspondent for NPR music.

And I'm Laura Scott Rich. I'm a producer for NPR music. And it is New Music Friday for May 31st. We're talking about some of the best albums out this week. Later we're going to talk about Shibuzi, who's climbing. in the country charts and Lars has a surprise to pull out for you. I'm not even going to mention what that is. Very interesting album. And then we're going to have a truly monumental lightning round because so many great records are out this week. But first we're going to start with a much anticipated new release from the New York based vocalist, composer, mood creator, visionary

Aroche d'Av Thab. Arochev Thab has been around in the sort of jazz, avant-garde music scene in New York City for a while. She's actually born in Saudi Arabia. She's Pakistani, and she's a really important person in that scene. But she broke through in 2021 with her album, Vulture Prince. And then she formed a trio with

Vijay, Ayer, and Shazad Ismaili, called Love and Exile. They also made a huge splash. So people have really been waiting for this record. And I have to say, Lars, it has exceeded all my expectations. even though my expectations were so incredibly high. I think they were high for anyone who fell in love with vulture Prince.

And like you said, she had been on the scene for a while. And, you know, it was grinding along, making this sort of like, and this is somewhat reductive, but like East Meets West kind of sound that truly took in sounds from all over the world, but from her own world and from particularly like the melting pot that is, the New York music scene. Yes. And she herself has said that she was shocked by how successful

Fultra Prince was, how well it was received. Now we're here with Might Rain, and Fultra Prince was just a gorgeous record that kind of like brought in her Pakistani roots, but also threw in some reggae, threw in some ambient music and minimalism and everything else. And here's this new record. And I guess the first question I have for you, Anne, has a rouge of Tov's voice always been this hot?

You know what I mean? It's cool. It's so cool, it's hot. I mean, it's a very sexy record, this record. Well, Volta Prince, you know, she described that as like a, almost like a, I think she used the phrase something like a gangster love record. She was connecting with this lineage of poetry written in Urdu and what she described as, you know, these kind of bereft but also tough love songs, you know? And that was an underlying element in vulture prints. But I think what's happened here is that A, she's leaned into that feeling that she

cultivated on vulture prints. And B, she's let go a little bit of the specific focus on a lineage, right? She is coming into her own space, and I feel that she is in this music to a huge extent, and the emotion is so intense. I mean, the Volta Prince was not all, but largely a record about grief. It was about her younger brother. Yes, that's a record about love, certainly because grief is loving. But Night Rain is very, at least the way that. that I am hearing it and understand, because as you mentioned, she mostly sings in Urdu.

And she has original lyrics, but she also is singing ancient Urdu poetry. And there are a couple tracks in English, and we'll talk about them. But the thing that she has said that she's doing with this record is she gave an interview with the quietest and she said something to the effect of like, I feel joy, I feel sultriness,

I feel the celebration of life. And she's glad that she, you know, basically got this lament out of her soul, but now she wants us to be with her in kind of like these different understandings of love. And part of the love that she's thinking about is lust. And so you hear that in this album. And I don't know, I feel like we got, if we're talking about that, we got to talk about Rott Ki, Rodney. Part of what the love we're hearing is also Arruse's love of pop music.

One thing I have to say before we listen to this song for you to think about while we listen, Shadeh. Oh, 1,000%. But that's what I mean by this record going in a more pop direction. Arrug's own phrase is Global Soul. And do you hear that throughout the record, Lars? I think global music kind of like sometimes gets a bad rap because we sometimes have this understanding. where you slap a saxophone on top of like a, you know, a sit-tar. Yeah, exactly.

And it's just like, there it is. We mix two worlds. It has kind of a colonialist. Yes, exactly. A stink about it. But in fact, this is also people of color, immigrants reclaiming the right and the mandate to create a global fusion. And I don't want to harp too much on Shadda, because even though I'm getting

that comparison a lot in this record. The thing that Arrushabab, I think, actually accomplishes with this record thinking about Shadeh has a way of making love songs about complicated love. Totally, and love songs about loss and about distance and about absence. And you can hear that in a song like Bolo Nah. Arouj sings in Urdu, and I read a story of, about this song where she had written Bologna basically when she was a teenager, like originally.

And it was just like a, like a, why won't you love me kind of song, you know, basically. And then she came back to it. And the song transformed because she has transformed since being a teenager. And now the song is more basically about how the world doesn't always love us back. And the song also transformed because of her collaborators.

I want to believe. Feeling is it. That song features More Mother, who lays down a totally awesome rap on the song, and the vibraphonist Joel Ross. And I just want to say throughout this record, a Ruzovtab is working with her usual crew, particularly want to single out the harpist, Meev Gilchrist, who is, um, throughout. out this record adding incredible, more than atmospherics, but also many of her regular pals in the studio, like Vijay Iyer, is on this album.

And some surprise guests, right? Like, who, there, you found a credit I missed at first. Yeah, none other than Elvis Costello plays Whirlitzer on a track. Which, you know, I can just imagine that everyone, you know, kind of like hanging out in the studio. I think Cackey King is on that cautious clay is on that track. It's called Last Night Reprise. It's kind of a fun little improv.

Last night, my, beloved was like the move. And, you know, a lot of the people on this record and a rich herself have connections to jazz or whatever that term means. And I'm fascinated by the fact she included a standard on this record. her version of Autumn Leaves. It's one of two songs in English on the record. And that song for me has always been such a powerful evocation

of both sadness and the acceptance of sadness. And the way Arouge offers it to us with just in a trio, with James Francie's on Keys and the great bassist Linda Mahan-oh, also playing

on the track. Man, it's just like rewrite that song. book girl, you really have it with this. And I feel like this record, I hope it wins all the jazz awards as well as all the other awards because it's showing us a new path for jazz and I love that. I absolutely adore this record and I think she's going to have a second moment with it. Now we're going to take a short break. When we return, we're going to talk about the new record from Shibuzzi and Larza's special pick of the week. So,

Stay with us. And we're back. I'm Anne Powers here with Lars Gottrich. We're talking about some of the best new albums out Friday, May 31st. I brought in this next one. It's by Shaboozy. It's called Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going. My baby Bono Berkey, she's been telling me all night long.

Gasoline and grosses. The list goes on and on. Okay, why the hell do I work so hard? I can't worry about my problems. I can't take them when I'm gone. One, here comes to two to the three to the four. Tell them bring another round, we need plenty more. Two stepping on the table, she don't need a dance floor.

Okay, so, Lars. And? You're with me now. You're with me now on Lower Broadway in Nashville, Tennessee. Okay. A song is pouring out of the speakers at Kid Rock's Big As Hockey Talk. No, no, we've never heard of. No, no, no, no.

I'm not going to go there. A song is pouring out of the speakers at Blake Shelton's Bar, O'Read. Okay. And it is this song. What is the state of country music in 2024? Talk to me. I mean, you're the expert, but from someone who's always curious about country music and kind of like on the outskirts, it has been, it's been well to see how hip hop and country have become more likely bedfellows

instead of like maybe contrarian bedfellows. Yes. That makes sense? Like, because, I mean, I remember early experiments where I was like, I don't know about this. This is fun for like a few minutes, I guess. Right. You remember like white guys rapping or white guys inviting rappers to be on their tracks, right? you know, Jason Aldeen or Florida Georgia Line or whatever.

And black crossover artists like Darius Rucker from Hootene the Blowfish becoming a country star. Let's get to the man of the moment. Absolutely. What we're hearing is Collins Obina Chibuzi, who is from Virginia, and he's been signed to Republic Records since 2017. So he's been around for a while, releasing tracks. But the world got to know him because he made more than one appearance on. Beyonce's album, Cowboy Carter. And that's really what brought Shabuzi in front of a larger audience. And now he has this smash hit. And I was reading an interview with him where he was saying

that this song was totally in the can before Cowboy Carter came out. And then they realized that they just needed to get that out there. And sure enough, it's like, to me, this is redefining country. And it's really showing how the marriage of hip-hop and country can work. you know, more so than, than he who shall not be named Morgan Wallen. You named them. Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I think we have to acknowledge that Morgan Wallen and Post Malone

do have the number one song or have had the number one song in the country for the past few weeks with their song. I had some help. But I think this is the future, well, this is the future I want from country. So this record has won me over. From top to bottom. It takes a few lessons. It takes a few listens.

It takes a few listens to kind of, like, get into Shibusi's world a little bit. Yes. But it's a great way to put it. And you can, like, correct me on this because you listen to more country music than I do. But the thing that I found refreshing about it is that, okay, I'm just going to talk about the music, just purely the musical aspects of it. So Shibuzzi's voice has got this nice bass baritone, which I, that's, okay, that's, okay, that's, Kind of like a checkmark for a lot of country, male country music singers. But his has got a nice little rumble on it that I enjoy.

The production on this record, like the guitar is very out front in a way that maybe I don't hear as much in kind of like the pop-leaning country of country bro music. Especially like this kind of guitar. It's a dirty guitar. It's not like a clean. Yeah. Big, big and gnarly block. chords, which I found very satisfying, but also some, like, ghost riders in the sky style, like, electric atmosphere.

Yeah, and, like, but there are also, like, there are a lot of, like, a lot of, like, spaghetti Western whistling happening. So much Ennio Morricone on this record. That I wasn't expecting, because I don't, I don't associate that sound with what's happening and I know I keep using the term pro-country, but I don't associate that sound at all. No, I totally agree. And that's what's so cool about Shibuzi breaking through. And I really hope it's more than just the single, because this whole album challenges mainstream country in fascinating ways. Like, there's a duet he does on here with his fellow country insider

outsider Noah Cyrus, Miley's sister and also kind of a noted duet partner for a lot of people. that gives a new spin on the kind of the George and Tammy thing. And I love how their voices sound together. And I love what this song does to the idea of a country duet. It's called My Fault. Is it my fault? You're lost. It's hard for me to see you when you try in a bathroom style.

Taking pills, giving up. I'm trying to find your friends. So in the dark, tell me how you're getting home. You took the car. You call me for you passed out in the yard. Feeling low getting high. Where did everything go wrong? You say that...

So in that song, you can hear exactly what you're talking about, Lars. Like, on one hand, it's fairly conventional country, you know, the tale of kind of broken love and romantic failure. and set to this very lilting melody. But there is something about the production and the atmosphere and the grain of Shibuzi's voice in particular that is just as much influenced by, say, future as it is by Garth Brooks or something. The way that Shabuzzi sings on my fault

and a few other tracks, like, this actually takes me back to Young Thug. Oh, yeah, that's a great connection. Totally. Because Young Thug is, like, to me, he has the pinnacle of the hill. hip-pop chameleon vocalist. He knows how to like stretch and warp his voice in ways that I've never heard. And he actually put out sort of a country album called Beautiful Thacker Girls, which

is not all good, but there are some like, there's some decent tracks on it. And like, at certain points on this record, I almost want a Shabuzzi to like get a little bit more wild, but maybe that's not what country music wants or is ready for right now. Well, first I want to say the young thug is totally right on as a comparison. And I wouldn't be surprised if Shibuzi continues to transform and takes us in surprising ways. You know, there's also a record by Swamp Dog, the great country soul elder out this week is called Blackgrass. And maybe Shibuzi is like the inheritor of Swamp Dog. Oh, yeah.

Swamp Dog has gone from Country Soul to doing straight-up R&B to recently playing around with Autotune and now he's doing bluegrass. And I see that kind of inventiveness in Shibuzi's music. I think this record has a definite sound, but the curiosity that these tracks express for pushing boundaries, man, I'm just mixing the metaphors here. But hey, so does Shibuzi, mixing things up. Including just full-on hip-hop, the song Drink Don't Need No Mix, which features the rapper Big X, the plug. Hey, trying to get to my level.

Took four shots of some Kasi and Red. I used it on mix, but this shit is a handful. Trying to see why this room had a standstill. Everyone waits to surprise I can stand still. I don't know, but this drunk I'm spinning. Turned up every day, you can tell that we win. Stay lit off tequila. Shibuzzi won't whiz.

We tipsy and wanting every girl that she's pretty. Keep telling my folks that it's all me and name me. Just pray for you try it. They say trying to give me we living. That's a shot every seat me. We've been rocking that shots getting money and win me. I just went to

get me and get me a grammy or a ice going to whatever come with matter of faith, take a shot, make it straight because the drink don't need no miss. What the fuck is this? I'm trying to get fatted, baby. This ain't going to do shit. The drink don't need no meat.

That could be on any, any rap album. It is country, but it's also, it's the perfect marriage. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, I'm really into this record. It's actually a lot darker. in Stranger than I kind of gave it credit for in the first few listens. You expected pop country. You were expecting, or maybe you were expecting like more

little Nazex, like more theatrical, more spangles. Yeah, but I love how dank this gets. I do too. And the last word we'll say on Shabuzzi before you move on is Nashville, pay attention. This is someone who was not brought up in the system, not quote unquote groomed by the system in any way. This is somebody who came from his own space, and this is what people are responding to. So to me, the most important thing about Shibuzi's album, where I've been, isn't where I'm going, is that it says where he's been. It is where country is going. You see what I did there.

It's like you're unnatural at this end. Oh, my goodness. Pay attention, Nashville. That's my final word on Shabuzi. Lars now from Virginia, we go to Kentucky. The mystery record that I brought was Hear the Children Sing the evidence and it is a collaboration from Bonnie Prince Billy, Nathan Salzberg, and Tyler Trotter. And Bonnie Prince Billy is a name, I'm sure most people know real name Will Oldham. He's been putting out records for literal decades.

Tyler Trotter is a member of the psychedelic rock band Water with two T's. but Nathan Salzberg is the person at the center of this project. Nathan Salzberg is a cool ass dude. Is a cool ass. You know what, that's all I need to say. Nathan Salzberg is a guitarist. He's a folklorist. He probably play a guitar on a record that you like,

but probably on a record by Bonnie Prince Billy or his wife, Joan Shelley. So some years ago, Nathan Salzberg had a little kid with his wife, Joan, And as you do, you need to figure out how to put this kid to sleep. And so he tried a thing where he kind of like sat the kid in one side of his lap, and then he had a guitar on the other side. And he would just kind of pluck little melodies. And then until one day he came across one that he remembered by the Baltimore post-bunk band Lungfish. It was a song called The Evidence.

Judgment, condemnation, trial and tribulation, locks and keys and one-way streets, schedules and game plans, mouth to mouth. And, you know, it's just like a few notes. And I'm sure he just, like, had his guitar and an alternate tuning, and he could just play it. And, you know, the song is only, like, a few minutes long, but it's one of those melodies that you can just play forever. And it would put the kid to sleep. So sometimes, like, it would take five minutes to put him sleep sometimes an hour. Right. As these things go, yeah.

And so years later, they got out of that habit. But Nathan never forgot, like, the power of that melody, and he couldn't shake it. And he asked his friends, Bonnie Prince Billy and Tyler Trotter to basically come into the studio and he wanted to make a 20-minute version of the evidence, and this is what it sounds like. Judgment condemnation, trial and tribulation, locks and keys and one-way streets schedule, mouth-to-mouth and a hand-to-the-hand-to-the,

the systematic disciplines of express, And that's just the And that were all I findings This is the This song And that's just one side of a two-track record. That's the evidence

And it is About 20 minutes long And it's basically The structure of both Of these tracks is that they go through the song once And then they repeat it. it two more times.

But with variation, you know. I have so many thoughts on this record. First off, I just want to say, thank you, Nathan Salzberg and Joan Shelley, for not succumbing to the plague that is the Rockabai Baby series, Lovibai renditions of pop songs. I was wondering if we were going to intend that or not. I mean, my daughter is 20, and those were around when she was a kid, and I just feel like, you know, good on you for doing something different than that. Second, my first reaction to this, before I really sunk into it, was this is such a great representation of how you never know what song is going to lull your child to sleep. Lars, I'm sure you were, you went through this with your daughter, too.

You know, when my kid was little, I thought I was going to be singing certain songs, and I ended up singing. you know, in my room by the Beach Boys or something, something I totally didn't expect to sing. And I think that's a reality that we don't talk about with lullabies. And I love them for doing this record and saying lungfish can be a lullaby. I mean, so I'll tell my story. My kid can't fall asleep to music because I think she's too much like me

because she wants to... She gets too involved with it, right? She gets too involved with it. So I can't, I personally can't fall asleep to music. I did play it. My daughter is now five. I did play this record for her, just to see her reaction.

First time through, nothing. The second time through, second time through, she was patient with me. And I said, Papa, can I put on my music? I was like, yeah, that's fine. And then she put on the exploding hearts.

A little good punk rock to a low music. I can't wait. The thing that I love, about this record is that A, the thing that you said before is that any song we can become a lullaby if it is comforting to you and to your little person. But the thing that I found

sort of fascinating about this particular choice is that Longfish, if folks don't know, they were a band on Discord in the 90s and early 2000s, put out like 11 records. They always kind of presented themselves as the poets and mystics of post-punk. Yes. The bearded poets and mystics of post-punk, right?

I remember seeing them once years ago and just being like, oh my God, I don't think I've ever seen a guy with a beard like that in a hardcore band. I mean, the modern corollary for folks who might not, no lungfish, might be a band like me without you, who started out as kind of like a straight-up,

like, hardcore band. but then became more interested in kind of like these weird tangled melodies. And the intensity comes more from the power of the poetry than necessarily how loud the music is. And that is very much the case here because the lyrics, especially on Hear the Children's Sing, are so cryptic and strange. They're talking about devils coming from clouds and things like that. At the end of Hear the Children Sing the version that Bonnie Prince Billy and all the folks put together, you actually hear the voices of their children at the end of the track. I love that.

I, which, yes, I'm gosh, such a sucker. The singer of Lungfish was Daniel Higgs, and he's always been, it's always sounded like he's singing incantations. Yes. So as somebody, Anne, as somebody I know who has been listening to Bonnie Prince Billy, aka Will Oldham for years, like what do you think he brings to this text and performance? Well, I'm, it's perfect for Will Oldham. I mean, Will Oldham is, is a towering figure in indie music and such a fascinating character,

and he's done so many different things over the course of his career. I don't know if people remember. he actually started as a child actor starring in the John Sales film Madawan. But then he became this perennial, what's the word for, seeker, perennial seeker in indie music. And he's had many versions of Bonnie Prince Philly.

He's done all kinds of projects, collaborated with so many people. You know, his lyrics are basically poetry. He's also one of the great interpreters in indie music. And I think that's why he's perfect. for this project. Aside from the fact that he knows his way around a drone and he knows his way around improvising, he's just amazing at interpreting other people's work. There's a site, if you put in your search box, Will Play as covers, where you'll get an amazing list of all

the covers he's done, whether it's, you know, the misfits, Kesha, John Denver, the cranberries, Memphis Slim, the folk legend John Jacob Niles, just Will can sing anything. And so I think what he brings to this is his very distinctive voice, his very distinctive timbre, but also that ability to just change and inhabit a song in a way that is absolutely connected to what the song started out as, but also takes it somewhere you didn't expect. something I've noticed about the three albums that we're talking about today. It's all night music. Yes, that's very true. I say this is somebody who is not good at being up late. Well, I'm a total, I'm a vulture prince, so I'm always up. We got the sultry of Roche d'Oftab. We got the party in Shibuzi, and then we got the, we need to get the kids the held to bed. since Salzburg. Exactly.

But I also think what happens with this record is that I was going to say it elevates the lullaby, which is kind of unfair because why don't we think of lullabies as elevated? Especially, you know, I love, I also love that it's three men doing this record because lullabies are so often women's work or have been historically. So the fact that it's three men claiming this territory is really beautiful. but I do think, you know, there's a way in which this album, it's rooted in the lullaby, but it goes beyond and it goes to a place where it's evoking the Velvet Underground. It's evoking Raga's, you know, it's evoking all these other forms of drone.

It's evoking Lamont Young and Marian Zazula, RIP, you know, it's evoking drone in all its glory. and I love that about it. You don't have to know anything about lungfish or children or bedtime to appreciate this record. Yeah, this is very much a record that takes you between the wake and dream states and you don't need to be a newborn to get there. Absolutely. So that's Bonnie Prince Billy, Nathan Salzberg, and Tyler Trotter. Here are the children sing the evidence. We've got a bunch more albums to share in our extended lightning round. That's coming up right after this short break. Hey there, I'm Ann Powers. I'm here with Lars Gottrich. We're looking at some of the best music for May 31st on New Music Friday. And Lars, we have a truly epic lightning round. What is going on?

It's just like a beautiful cornucopia of music this week. Ready for it? Ready to go? Ready to lightning? I'm ready to lightning. Ride the lightning. Okay. lightning. I almost wore that t-shirt today. Oh my gosh. Okay. Here we go. Hold on to your house. Out this week, Richard Thompson has a new album called Ship to Shore. This is more expertly constructed,

absolutely bleak and yet totally engaging trad rock from the 75-year-old master. Listen to this song, The Old Pack Mule. It's an absolute evisceration of consumer capitalism in the form of a story of a mob descending on a dead domestic animal. And this album is full of great tracks like this. Dos Manos is an experimental hip-hop trio from Tokyo.

And like a lot of young genre smashers these days, they have a penchant for new metal guitars and abrasive beats. Yet their approach to sampling and production nods to the master, Madlib. Its cybernetic chaos hits the spot for me. DOS Manos second album is called DOS Atmos. One of my very favorite singer-songwriters, Portland, Oregon's Anna Tivel, continues her winning streak this week with the album Living Thing. Anna is evolving her sound from Fokie strumming into beautiful adult-oriented pop with lots of synth flourishes and great arrangements. She is just so great at finding the poignancy in life's daily ups and downs.

This album will help anyone who's finding just the regular stuff hard at times. Just a few episodes ago, we extolled the miraculous solo album by Beth Gibbons, the singer of Porta's Head. Her bandmate, Jeff Barrow, surprise released a new album by his crowd rock band, Beak, just a few days ago. It's heady, it's groovy, it's trippy, it's the fourth album by Beak, its title is just four greater than symbols. We mentioned the 81-year-old country soul R&B artist Swamp Dog a little bit earlier when we were talking about Shibuzi. Swamp Dog has been having a killer late career, releasing album after album. Every single one is adventurous and genre-defying and super fun. For this one, he goes bluegrass and invites a great array of guests from Marga Price to Jenny Lewis to living color guitarist Vernon Reed,

from Noam Pekalney to Sierra Hull and Jerry Douglas. So this is just a fantastic record bringing Swamp Dog's signature humor and heart to bluegrass music. It's called Blackgrass. The Baton Rouge metal band Thoult has been slugging sludgy filth for almost two decades now. I am a meticulous collector of Thou's quite large catalog. But their new album, Unbilical, is maybe their best since my personal favorite summit. It's just as nasty and noisy as anything they've done, but this one goes back to the band's punk roots. The songs are shorter-ish.

The riffs are furious, and there's honest to goodness hooks. If you're new to thou umbilical ain't a bad place to start. Country music is changing. We got Shabuzzi at the top of the charts, but I want to introduce you to an artist who makes absolutely great straight-ahead country in the classic kind of 1990s, Randy Travis, Garth, Dwight Yolkham Vane. His name is Chris Hausman, and his album is called Blue Nick. Houseman is queer, and that is a keyframe of reference for his songs. But beyond that, he's just making beautifully crafted music that any classic country fan would love. I grew up with cornfields in every direction.

That's where I learned all of my lessons about life and living without fences in the land of the free to have opinions. If you work a job, you ought to make a living. George Strait or George Gae. Psycho Temple is the long-running project of Chris Schlarb, a musician and producer who runs Big Ego Studios out of Long Beach. I have followed him from his early moves as a free jazz provocateur to a shape-shifting California rocker

who is equally inspired by Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Frank Zappa, and other adventurous songwriters. This new album is called Doggy Padlin through the Cosmic Consciousness. And really, the title says it all. get ready to Chugel on the metaphysical river of life. Dan Arborx label EasyEye Sounds as having a great year so far. There was a fantastic release from the New Orleans singer Bridie earlier this year and now a gem from the Uganda-born, Austin, Texas residing song crafter John Mook.

I love the way John Mook's music blends African musical elements like the High Life guitar in his song Shake Shake, with roots and even Power Pop elements. His album is called Flying Away and it's so great. it's a perfect summer sound front. And finally, Lars, I just have to talk about an album I'm so excited, so excited about. And this comes from the majestic queen, Robin Holcomb. Do you know Robin Holcomb's music? I'm just curious.

Actually, not at all. Please score me. So Robin Holcomb is someone that I've loved since the early 90s. She is a composer, singer-songwriter, pianist, vocalist, working in a mode that combines Americana, folk, jazz, new music. It really defies category completely. When I fell for her, I thought, oh, this is an artist who's going to just like make records I love for years and every year I'll get a new one. No. She actually spent decades working on other kinds of projects after her early success in the 90s and also raising her family with the bassist Wayne Horvitz out in Seattle.

But recently she's returned to the song form. And this is her second album of songs in recent years, and it shows her in deeply poetic, highly individual, brilliantly moving form. It's called One Way or Another Volume 2. And I urge everyone to listen to it if you like Mary Margaret O'Hara or Judy Sill, for example, or Joanna Sternberg, you're going to love Robin Holcomb. Your life's going to be changed by her music. Little words on the way, turn around and break apart.

Simple white ones for the day, complicating in the dark. Just because the war is nine, just because you break my heart, I take apart the afternoon and lay the bones down in a line. I like all of those artists, so now I will be quickly loading up my streaming service of Joyce. I'm listening to Robin Holcomb. I can't wait. Hey, I can't wait to hear what you think. Well, thank you so much, Lars Gottrich, for talking about this array of albums with me this week. It was so much fun.

Literally, always a pleasure. I'm Anne Powers, critic and correspondent for NPR music, and Lars Gottrich and I want to say, have a fabulous week. If you like this show, tell your friends, please leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. We invite feedback at all songs at npr.org. subscribe to our newsletter at NPR.org backslash music newsletter. Please remember that if you want to listen to this show

sponsor-free, you can support our work by joining NPR Music Plus. Just go to plus.npr.org slash NPR Music or search for NPR Music in Apple Podcasts. This podcast was produced by Joaquin Kotler. We had editorial support from Jacob Gans. I'm Ann Powers.

I'm Lars Gottrich. Thanks for listening. We'll be back next week.