October Program Titles Released This Week:
Blood Orange – Angel’s Pulse CD/LP (Domino)
Angel’s Pulse is the new mixtape from Blood Orange aka Devonté Hynes. It follows the widely celebrated and critically acclaimed album Negro Swan, released last year. “My new record is called Angel’s Pulse and I performed, produced and mixed the entire thing myself,” Hynes notes. “I’m calling it a mixtape. I have a habit through the years of making records that I just give to friends, or on tape to people on the street, or no one. Usually this material is made directly after the album I’ve just put out. Somewhat of an epilogue to the thing I’ve made before. This time…I decided to release it. I put as much work and care into it as I do with the albums I’ve released, but for some reason trained myself into not releasing things the rate at which I make them. I’m older now though, and life is unpredictable and terrifying…so here you go mates. Hope you enjoy.” Guests include: Toro y Moi, Kelsey Lu, Ian Isiah, Justine Skye, Project Pat, Gangsta Boo, Tinashe, Porches, BennY RevivaL, Arca and Joba. [Indie store exclusive vinyl pressing also available.]
Bonnie Bishop – The Walk CD/LP (Plan B)
The first thing that registers about Bonnie Bishop’s stirring album The Walk is that the seasoned Grammy winner is no longer trying to outrun herself; she owns whatever has come her way, good wind or ill. It’s an uplifting confessional that she dedicates “to all who wander” – laying down searing, emotionally-charged variations to award-winning producer Steve Jordan’s (Robert Cray, John Mayer, Buddy Guy) powerhouse production. She does so in a voice that aches and arches and grabs and never let’s go. The Walk soars as her most honest effort to date. It’s a groove-laden, lyrical lightning bolt from which the tonic of self-revelation pours forth on songs such as the grateful “Every Happiness Under The Sun” and the gut-wrenching “I Don’t Like To Be Alone”. The album’s euphoric closer, “Song Don’t Fail Me Now”, is Bonnie’s heartfelt testament that music can heal the spirit.
City And Colour – A Pill For Loneliness CD/2xLP (Still)
Through a kaleidoscope of lush guitars, ethereal orchestration, and heavenly delivery, City And Colour alchemically transforms life’s turbulence into waves of blissful, bold, and brilliant alternative anthems. Under this banner, singer-songwriter Dallas Green siphons serenity from stress on his sixth full-length studio album, A Pill For Loneliness. Ultimately, these 11 tracks illuminate an entrancing and engaging emotional expanse, balancing two extremes with eloquence and energy. “I wrote a lot of dark songs and wrapped them in the most beautiful sounds we could find,” he explains. Introductory single “Astronaut” lifts off on a dusty rumble of clean guitar and a steady beat. Green’s voice immediately captivates as he carries a divine and dynamic hook before an echoing solo. Elsewhere, “Strangers” hinges on a buoyant riff and hummable groove. It charges towards a ghostly refrain awash in reverb as he pleads, “Don’t wake me when this is over, just let me drift amidst my dreams.” From the slow burn build-up of “Living In Lightning”, which borrows its title from John Steinbeck’s East Of Eden, to the gorgeous last gasp of the piano-driven “Lay Me Down,” A Pill For Loneliness unlocks the catharsis hinted at by the title. [Limited indie store exclusive colored vinyl pressing also available.]
