JD Clayton, Long Way From Home

The pandemic was the worst of times that JD Clayton managed to turn into the best of times, musically speaking. The coffee shop where Clayton worked shut down, so he signed on with a landscape company working on heavy commercial and residential projects. Driving from job to job, Clayton would throw on his headphones and listen to old albums and then write songs. The Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Creedence Clearwater Revival....Clayton became enamored by the production choices and musicality of those records and it helped reframe his own music.

 

"Arkansas, where I’m from, is the natural state. So I felt like I needed to get back to my roots and start making music that felt natural and organic,” he explains. “Production needed to be basic and simplistic with a focus on the story and the song. We would plug in a mic, set it in front of an amp, and let the player share their own story with their instrument. Now, that’s making music.” 

On his debut album, Long Way From Home, JD Clayton's songs and music reflects this simplicity. Clayton is not trying to push any boundaries or create a big bang to attract an audience. He lets his songs and storytelling speak for themselves. In this regard, there is a level of earnestness and genuineness to Clayton's songs that I rarely experience on a debut album. It's a joy to listen to and take in. Now, that's music.

 

The Raytons, What's Rock And Roll?

Less than two months after the release of their debut album, Kids Of The Estate, The Raytons are back with a second, hard hitting one. What's Rock And Roll? more or less picks up where Kids left off. As I wrote back in December, The Reytons sound an awful lot like the Arctic Monkeys. And lead singer Johnny Yerrell sounds so much like Alex Turner...it's hard not to shake comparisons. But I love The Arctic Monkeys and like with Kids Of The Estate, I just kept finding myself coming back to the band and their new album. To once again use the British expression, it's a real banger.

 

Butch Walker, As... Glenn

Billy Joel, Boz Scaggs, Elton John, Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, a little John Melloncamp...'Glen' channels them all as he plays to what appears to be a full house at a local piano bar. That's the concept of Butch Walker's latest album, As... Glenn. Technically, this album came out last year, but it's wide release comes this month so here I am. At first glance, I expected this album to be a fairly cheezy one, but that is not the case. Walker's songwriting is simply fantastic and this collection of singalong songs had me feeling nostalgic for my favorite '70's piano playing singers and albums. Since I'm not sitting at that bar able to applaud with some clapping, I will just say 'Well done, Mr. Walker...um, Glenn, Well done.' 

 

Gaz Coombes, Turn The Car Around

It's been thirteen years since Supergrass split and Gaz Coombes, it's lead singer and guitarist, stepped out as solo artist. He has said that he did not leave the band to go solo. He left because he was not enjoying it and it no longer made him happy. He needed to get himself happy. As a solo artist, Coombes could simply do whatever made him feel good.

But feeling good and being completely open and honest about the ups and downs of life don't necessarily go together. On Turn The Car Around, his forth solo album and first in four years, Coombes' songs finally tackle a lot of subject matter that he says that he's played with and maybe not managed to see through in the past. It's what he's hoped for all along as a solo artist. The idea of evolving through a creative world. 

"I feel like there’s too much to explore to stay still. And all of those experiences I’ve had through my personal life, whether it’s having kids, personal tragedies or incredible moments, this feels like the place to process all that and put it into something.” 

Turn The Car Around plays out like snapshots of Coombes life and headspace over the past few years with musical tones and expressions that are sonically on a different plain than on his past recordings. There is something grand to these songs and this album. It all made me feel good. And I guess that's Coombes whole point. 

 

Top 10 Albums of 2022

2022 was a different year for me. Personal issues pulled me in mulitiple directions and ultimately away from one of my true loves...Sonic Subway...and writing about the music that I have listened to and love throughout the year. With this said, the year would just not be complete without me at the very least sharing/posting my top ten albums of year. Because while I may not have been writing all year...I certainly have been listening! So without further ado...here they are, my top 10 albums of 2022

10. Regina Spektor, Home, before and after

I am not a big Regina Spektor fan. There, I said it. But, I have become a really big fan of Spektor's first album in six years, Home, before and after. While Spektor has no trouble pondering big, weighty questions and ideas on her eighth album, each of her ten songs find a wonderfully tuned balance between ambition, headiness, and light heartedness. Home, before and after just feels like a classic album in the making.

9. Goose, Dripfield

Watching Goose's growth in popularity over the past few years has been eyebrow raising to be sure. This quintet from Connecticut has gone from playing small clubs to selling out multi-day gigs at major music venues across the country. Their amazing live jamming performances are certainly exciting to experience, but the kind of growth that the band has experienced does not come without great songwriting, music, and musicianship. And this band has it all.

The challenge with any jam band when it comes to studio album recording is the ability to capture the essence of the band and what makes them so special when playing live while working in a very structured and limiting format. What Makes Goose's second studio album so good is their ability to do just that. While a listener will not find any long improvisation on Dripfield, they will hear every essential piece of the band that makes Goose so great. 

8. Butch Walker...As Glenn

Billy Joel, Boz Scaggs, Elton John, Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, a little John Melloncamp...'Glen' channels them all as he plays to what appears to be a full house at a local piano bar. That's the concept of Butch Walker's latest album, As... Glenn. Technically, this album came out last year, but it's wide release comes this month so here I am. At first glance, I expected this album to be a fairly cheezy one, but that is not the case. Walker's songwriting is simply fantastic and this collection of singalong songs had me feeling nostalgic for my favorite '70's piano playing singers and albums. Since I'm not sitting at that bar able to applaud with some clapping, I will just say 'Well done, Mr. Walker...um, Glenn, Well done.'  

7. Broken Bells, Into The Blue

James Mercer and Danger Mouse first came together to form Broken Bells in 2010. I thought that it was an odd pairing at the time. But they delivered two strong albums in 2010 and 2014. Eight years later, they're back with Into The Blue. Playing with space and textures in new and intriguing ways, their sound feels fully realized for the first time and make this their strongest and best album to date. Into The Blue has been on high rotation for me all year and has become a favorite of mine.

6. Yard Act, The Overload 

In just 18 months, Yard Act went from an unknown post-punk band from Leeds, UK to being a major label recorded band with debut album that entered the UK charts at number one back in February. Not too bad. 

Since the band released their first single, Fixer Upper, there had been a great buzz around them. Yard Act seemed to have struck a nerve as lead singer James Smith and the band confronted everyday life in a post-Brexit Britain with their acid tongue lyrics and post-punk funk sound. 

So, in a little less then two years since their formation, Yard Act gave the people much more of what they wanted; a full length album of blunt, bruising, compassionate, and witty songs that touched on class identity, gentrification, consumerism, cancel culture, and general discontentment. Combined with their 'skittery-but-muscular post-punk funk' sound: 'punchy disco drums, stabbing, guitar, and melodies driven by the bass that tend to resolve into memorable choruses' (The Guardian), the band landed a one-two punch. The Overload is a super debut album that I have been thoroughly enjoying and it is one that should set Yard Act on a trajectory to great success. 

 

5. The Mysterines, Reeling

Finding its way into the top ten of UK charts in its first week, The Mysterines debut album Reeling has been getting a lot of attention...and rightfully so. It's well deserved. Ask me to pick out one stand-out song and I would be hard pressed to do so. One is just better than the next. Recorded live in the studio without any overdubbing or instrument adding after the fact, Reeling captures the raw energy, intensity, and brooding resting state of the band. This albums goes for the jugular and is just a thrilling listen. 

4. Tears For Fears, The Tipping Point

They're back! It's been 17 years since one of my all-time favorite bands released an album. Asked in an interview why now, after so many years? Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith said, "because we have something to say." 

Both at the age of 61, Orzabal and Smith have done a lot of living. "When we started off..."said Orzabl, "we were adolescents who blamed our parents for everything. And now having been through this as parents, I realize that you can’t cure life, that a large part of life IS tragic, but what you can do is connect, and it’s through that connection you find 99 percent of the answers."It's Orzabal and Smith's searching for answers..on the death of Ozrabal's wife, the pandemic, toxic masculinity, and much of what the world has experienced over the past few years, that has pushed their creative process and music forward.

Forward thinking, moving, and sounding is often challenging for bands that have been together as long as Tears For Fears. But almost forty years on, the band sounds and feels as strong and amazingly relevant as ever.

3. King Hannah, I'm Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me

Quite a few debut albums caught my ear this year. None more than King Hannah's I'm Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me. On it, Liverpool duo Hannah Merrick and Craig Whittle have created a dark and doleful space and mood that's mesmerizing and seductive. 

While there are no intentional themes to the album, Merrick and Whittle have said that childhood and memories and the warmth they bring drove the direction of many of the songs on the album. I guess. Feelings of Nostalgia and sentiment may live in these songs, but they are swirling around in dark waters with strong undercurrents. Perhaps not the best waters to swim in, but waters that I found myself wanting to dive into again and again.

2. Spoon, Lucifer On The Sofa

Michael Hann, who writes for The Guardian, said it best; "There aren't really bad Spoon albums. There are really good Spoon albums and there are excellent Spoon albums."Spoon's tenth album, Lucifer On The Sofa, not only falls into the 'excellent' category, it may be one of their best. 

In an interview with Consequence of Sound, Britt Daniel said that with Lucifer On The Sofa, the band was aiming to break away from the sounds of their recent albums by reconnecting with the identity and culture" of the city that birthed them....Austin, TX. Feeding off the dynamism of the city and honing back in on their live sound, the band has recaptured a level of energy and 'rollicking form' not felt since recording Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga in Austin years earlier. This, says Daniel, is by design. "What I wanted was to make a record that felt good to listen to, that felt right on, that felt kick ass....Post-pandemic, I think the world needs that even more, the record that feels good blasting outta your radio." Yep.

1. Sandre Lerche, Avatars Of Love

For twenty years, Sandre Lerche has been surprising just about anyone who has been listening to his music, as he takes right and left turns with just about everything that he does. Eleven albums in, Lerche has said that Avatars Of Love is without a doubt the biggest, boldest, and most complex thing that he's ever done. I could not agree more. Lerche is one of the best songwriters of his generation, and he has simply never been better than here on Avatars of Love. Clocking in at 85 minutes, this is definitely a sprawling and ambitious album....and it delivers in the very best ways. A brilliant album.

Samm Henshaw, Untidy Soul

"I'm a bit of a scatterbrain most of the time. Creating for me is never a clean and simple sort of process, and it was me learning to accept that and be OK with that....I think for me, genuinely, it's about growth." 

Samm Henshaw

Raised in London in a Nigerian household, Henshaw's first focus was working to earn a degree and go on to teach. Music, making music, and finding a way into the music industry was not a thing. But while in university, with the encouragement of a friend, Henshaw started creating and posting his music on YouTube. This creative outlet did then become his focus and eventually formed the basis of his dissertation. That dissertation then became his first official EP release. And then, upon graduating, Henshaw found himself signing a contract with a record label that was waiting for him. And the rest as they say is history? Well, at least the start of what should be a long history as a recording artist starting with his debut album, Untidy Soul. It's a real gem of an album and one that I have been thoroughly enjoying.