Happy Friday. This weekend we will learn who will compete in the Super Bowl. Will it be New Orleans or LA for the NFC or New England of Kansas City for the AFC? While we wait, let’s check out these great new releases, including new ones from the legendary band The Vegabonds and four-time LA Music Critic Award winner Alice Wallace. Let’s get going.
Artist Name: Izzy Miller
Album Name: Precipice
Label: Self-released
Genre: Americana
Track Listing: 1. Burnin’ Bright; 2. So it Goes; 3. The Cure; 4. Another Drink or Two
Publicist: Self-promoted
Review: Precipice is the follow-up to Izzy Miller’s first EP, American Times, which was released in 2017, and spawned a stay at the #1 position on iTunes and Amazon. This new four-track EP is equally amazing, with a down-home country feel to the Americana vibe. The fourth track was chosen as the first single, but honestly, it could have been any of them. “Another Drink or Two” is the most country track, and would make sense to release it to country radio. All four tracks are great and we think any of them would be appropriate for radio airplay.
Recommendation: Give this one a spin!
Artist Name: A Swarm of the Sun
Album Name: The Woods
Label: Version Studio Records
Genre: Post-rock
Track Listing: 1. Blackout; 2. The Woods; 3. An Heir to the Throne
Publicist: Viral Propaganda PR
Review: A Swarm of the Sun are further proof that some of the best music in today’s indie world is coming out of Sweden. This is their first new music in four years since the release of the critically-acclaimed The Rifts. This time around their sound is majestic, grand and sweeping, creating mental images in the incessant drum beat and the haunting soundscape. Each track is 13 minutes long, and combined they create an auditory stream that will hold the listener from start to finish. The first track is instrumental, while the other two tracks are haunting and spooky, with the perfect vocals to enhance that feeling of despair and darkness. This is music that could easily be placed in television, movies and commercials. If this is what we get from waiting four years, then it was certainly worth it.
Recommendation: Run out and Get this one!
Artist Name: Hedvig Mollestad Trio
Album Name: Smells Funny
Label: Rune Grammafon
Genre: Rock Instrumental
Track Listing: 1. Beastie, Beastie; 2. First Thing to Pop is the Eye; 3. Jurasek; 4. Sugar Rush Mountain; 5. Bewitched, Dwarfed and Defeathered; 6. Lucidness
Publicist: The Syndicate
Review: We introduced you to this amazing band from Norway in our first Monday Mashup of 2019, and have been waiting to review their new EP ever since, which dropped today. They caught our attention with that first single (“Bewitched, Dwarfed and Defeathered”), and we are here to say that the rest of the EP is just as great. As we said when we introduced them, “This one has everything lovers of rock and metal desire, and will also appeal to acid jazz lovers as well.”
Recommendation: If you love great rock instrumentals, then definitely go Get this one.
Artist Name: The Vegabonds
Album Name: V
Label: Blue Élan Records
Genre: Southern Rock
Track Listing: 1. Partyin’ with Strangers; 2. Generation of Happiness; 3. I Ain’t Having it; 4. When the Smoke Clears Up; 5. Everything I Need; 6. Best I Can; 7. Traveling Man; 8. Help is on the Way
Publicist: MSO PR
Review: We gave you a preview last Monday when we debuted their latest single, “Best I Can” in our Monday Mashup. We also shared their music video for “Everything I Need” last month, as well as their first single, “I Ain’t Having It,” last October. Needless to say, we are extremely happy to be able to review the entire album, which dropped today. They have been one of the premier southern rock bands since their debut in 2009, and time has only improved their skills and expertise. Their sound is extremely radio friendly, with every track single worthy. In fact they have already released four singles, and we think they should release every single track. Can’t wait to have the chance to see them perform live.
Recommendation: Drop everything and go Get this one TODAY!
Artist Name: Alice Wallace
Album Name: Into the Blue
Label: Rebelle Road Records
Genre: Americana
Track Listing: 1. The Lonely Talking; 2. Santa Ana Winds; 3. Elephants; 4. The Blue; 5. Desert Rose; 6. When She Cries; 7. Echo Canyon; 8. The Same Old Song; 9. Motorcycle Ride; 10. Top of the World; 11. For Califia
Publicist: Devious Planet
Review: Alice Wallace is a champion and it shows in everything she does. We have loved her music since the first time we heard it, and have interviewed her twice in this Blog, including a recent feature this past Monday. Her new album, the first release on fledgling label Rebelle Road Records, is her best yet, and is perfect from start to finish. She shows her growth from a simple country sound to a more sophisticated Americana one on every track. Her songs are radio friendly and we truly expect them to be huge hits on Americana and country stations, with cross-over potential to college radio. With the release of Into the Blue, we can guarantee that Wallace’s career with continue to blossom, and we expect her to win a lot more LA Music Critic Awards, among others.
Recommendation: Run and Get this one – she’s going places!