Charlie Marie, Ramble On

The first time I heard Charlie Marie's debut album Rambling On, it just blew my socks off. This does not happen that often with me. But right from the beginning I knew that I was discovering and experiencing something special. 

"I wanted the record to sound like if Patsy Cline and Dwight Yoakam had a child...It doesn't just symbolize everything I'm working toward: it symbolizes where I come from, too."

Marie, who grew up in Rhode Island, fell in love with country music at a young age. By her mid-teens she was fronting a band and playing fairs and festivals in New England...a far cry from the heart of country music land. That all changes when she made her way to Nashville for college. There, Marie honed her songwriting skills. Writing songs about her own experiences, Marie portrayed herself not as some 'guitar-strumming southern belle, but as a proud outsider who had fallen in love with country while living far from the genre's Bible Belt headquarters.' 

You can hear Nashville by way of Rhode Island in Marie's songwriting. While she no doubt pays homage to her musical idols and influences, she is not afraid to step outside their very traditional country lanes. It is how she so perfectly balances the two that sets her songwriting and songs apart from so many others. 

I will say that Marie's debut album is simply a stunner. It's a classic country affair for the times that we are living in today and by far one of best albums that I have heard so far this year.

Birdy, Young Heart

It's a bit wild to think that Birdy is now..and only 24. Since she won the open Mic Uk competition in 2008, at the very young age of 12, Jasmine Lucilla Elizabeth Jennifer van den Bogaerde  has been a tremendously successful singer-songwriter who seems to have no limits to her talents....or success. Yet in 2016, after finishing her Beautiful Lies tour, Birdy hit her own limits in terms of energy, creativity, and feelings of authenticity with her music.

Three years, and a personal breakup later, Birdy escaped to a cabin in Topanga, CA. With it's"kind of Laurel Canyon, seventies-like feel," Birdy found herself listening to Joni Mitchell's album Blue and finding new inspiration. With it came Young Heart, what Birdy describes as a "heartbreak Album" which she used to navigate and work through her own failed relationship. It's a beautiful and mature piece of work and seemingly well beyond Birdy's young age. It once again shows the talent or I should say gift, that Birdy possesses. And I'm thankful that she is sharing it with the rest of us. 

Joe And the Feels, Unsupervised

I'm going to admit that I'm a bit of a pushover for a good story behind a band. So when I ready the 'product notes' for Joe And the Feel's Unsupervised, I was ready to be all in before even hearing a note or chorus. 

"Joe & the Feels is equal parts band and coping mechanism. The only band made entirely of healthcare professionals; their music is dripping with natural, cathartic energy. Staples of the Little Rock music scene, Joe Yoder (vocals, guitar), Dave Hoffpauir (drums), Andy Warr (lead guitar), Steve Blevins (bass), and Gaines Fricke (keys) channel their highs and lows into a loud beautiful noise. Confronted with life's most vulnerable moments, Joe & The Feel's debut record, Unsupervised, offers the musical equivalent of a good cry, a lively cheer, and a warm bearded hug."

After this read and many listens of Unsupervised, I will say that I am ready to be all in. Joe And the Feels brought me back to the college radio days of the early nineties, where alt, Southern, and indie rock fused together into a really cool laid-back sound while thought provoking lyrics made you sit up and think. Joe And the Feels is an incredibly polished band that also exudes genuineness and authenticity, and Unsupervised is a gem of an album. 

 

Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall, The Marfa Tapes

In 2016, after a tough few years, Miranda Lambert, along with Jack Ingram and Jon Randall hit the road to get away and write some new music. Along the way, they 'stumbled' upon Marfa, Texas. Pulling into town at 4am, they were struck by the landscape. Lambert recalled looking up and asking, "Oh my gosh. where are we?" Looking like a National Geographic photo, Ingram has said that that moment is embedded in his brain forever. For his part, Randall said that he has never gotten over that star-gazing stop on their road trip.

 Three years later, the three returned to Marfa. Lambert said that she 'missed music'. And Marfa was the perfect place to re-connect with the pure joy that comes from sitting on a porch or around a campfire with friends, writing and playing music. With two guitars and two microphones in hand, parking themselves where ever it fit their fancy, the three went about playing and recording a handful of new and old songs. Captured mostly on first takes, these field and demo-like recordings are unvarnished and unfashioned or as Ingram has said, 'music that just is what it is.' And what it is is music in its purest form and it's wonderful.

Iceage, Seek Shelter

The evolution of Danish band Iceage has been very cool to watch over the past ten years. But I will say that I was unprepared for their fifth album, Seek Shelter. Wow. What an album! So this is what happens when a band perfectly blends where they have been and what they have done with new ideas and influences, from the Velvet Underground and The Rolling Stones to The Verve and Primal Scream, into one grand cohesive collection of songs.

Lead singer Elias Bender Rønnenfelt explained in an interview that the music that came before served as a kind of 'jumping board', leaping them from where they had been sonically to where they were when they were working on Seeks Shelter. But he said, it was important for the band that their new place didn't seem too familiar, that it actually felt like what they were doing was true to the life and experiences that surrounded them at the time. Most importantly for Rønnenfelt, when working on new music, he always wants to remain very vigilant when it comes to self-awareness. He said that he doesn't like it at all. "I don't want to be too smart or knowledgeable around what I'm doing. But if you can get to a space where you feel like you're just guided by your gut feeling or certain intuition, that's usually a sign that you're on some kind of right track."

That 'gut' has served Rønnenfelt and the band very well. Seek Shelter is Iceage's most adventurous, innovative, creative, and satisfying album to date and one of the best that I have heard this year.

Picks Of The Week

The Raytons and The Lathums are two exciting up and coming British bands that have been on my radar for a while. Both have released a few singles and Ep's over the past few years. Neither one has released a proper album. This past month both released new Ep's. Both are outstanding. My only gripe with both bands is that they keep teasing us with a few new songs here and there, but nothing more. With this said....it is a small gripe. I will take what I can get.

The Raytons, May Seriously Harm You and Others

The Lathums, The Lathums