Whoops, April is almost over and I missed my monthly music sharing appointment. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Sitting down to write has been a challenge lately, even for something as mundane as an old-school-blog-style album roundup. Shoot, even gathering the focus to listen to a full album was tough. That’s March for you!
But we did it, we got through the long cold winter. Daffodils are blooming and the trees are budding and it’s still off and on chilly where I am but we’re going to be okay. 🌷
I don’t have a great preamble, so here’s a few albums that got me through that last month of winter slog. We’ll get back on track in a few weeks. I’m kind of in a music slump right now, so if you have some spring dopamine albums to recommend, I would love to hear about them in the comments!
Mumford & Sons - Prizefighter
Sounds Like: The banjo-y folky Mumford we loved in 2012, but make it a little bit wiser and little more weathered.
First Impressions: I didn’t connect with this right away when it released in February, because I guess the last few records have been a little hit or miss for me. But then with more time I realized it was actually a record that had to grow on me. The sounds are nostalgic, but the songs themselves feel grown up, lived in, and true in a different way. (You don’t have to be a parent for “Conversation with My Son” to hit you in the feels.)
Discovery Source: I’m a millennial folk girlie that had Sigh No More and Babel on repeat in my Honda Civic’s CD player, so…
Marie Druelsselhuis - A Little Quiet at First
Sounds Like: Wistful, gentle, sad girl piano songs for a rainy spring day (a compliment!)
First Impressions: Sometimes you just need a little singer songwriter folk for company while you work. Marie is a classically trained pianist, which shows up in her music for sure. And these are gentle songs about the emotions and experiences of growing up. Reminds me of artists like Jensen McRae and Lizzy McAlpine. I am here for this new generation of young women songwriters!
Discovery Source: Chris sent me her song “January" and I kept going from there.
Khruangbin - A La Sala
Sounds Like: Groovy 70s psychedelic funk and sun-drenched vibes
First Impressions: This was one of those artists I wasn’t super familiar with, but Chris was playing this album in the background a bit at home until it felt easy and familiar. I wasn’t really deep listening, but one day I put it on while working and really enjoyed a closer listen! It’s a solid work from home album when you need just a little bit of energy to get through the day.
Discovery Source: Also Chris. And we found it on vinyl at the Providence Flea!
Side Notes
ELITE EASTERTIDE MUSIC!
Listen, times are really heavy, and this winter into Lent into spring left me feeling pretty emotionally drained. (One day I abruptly asked Chris, “lol do I seem extra depressed lately?”) I think this might have something to do with the general struggle to sit down and put any kind of writing together.
On Easter morning, I was heading to an early church service and needed something hopeful to listen to, and I remembered that John Mark McMillan’s 2020 album Peopled with Dreams is an elite Easter record for weirdo mystics. I think a lot of his music hits especially well this time of year, but I remembered listening to these joyful songs with their weird lyrics and funky R&B sounds in the early days of the Covid pandemic.
My liturgical friends that like to party will point out that it’s still Eastertide til sometime in June, so it’s not too late to re-discover this gem. It sounds like defiant joy, and who couldn’t use that right now?
Some other great Eastertide albums: underrated hidden gem Death in Reverse by Jeremy Casella and, of course, Andrew Peterson’s much beloved Resurrection Letters Vol 1 and Vol 2.
SWITCHFOOT CONTINUES TO HELP ME COPE!
I have unironically loved Switchfoot since I saw them play a sweaty outdoor festival at Busch Gardens in Tampa sometime around 1998. Most of the CCM stuff I loved in high school, er… doesn’t hold up, but now that I’m in my middle age, “Company Car” makes a new kind of sense, and Nothing is Sound continues to be unfortunately relevant.
Their last few albums have been pretty hit or miss, but this new single “Wake Up, Mr. Crow”? I am seated, as the kids say.
That meme is hilarious! Please make that playlist!!
John is in love with that Mumford record and I echo your rec of JMM for these icky times.
I have also been listening to Prizefighter so much. It's such a sweet throwback to a gentler time (aka 2012).