I hope you’re wearing your favorite “cardigan” and curled up by a window with a cup of warm tea as you gaze contently out upon a mossy forest, because the new Taylor Swift album is here and it has all the indie-folk vibes (it features Bon Iver, after all). Yes, there are other albums out today, too! Several good ones, in fact. Today’s New Music Friday is stacked with great albums from two songwriting heavyweights in the Americana genre (Courtney Marie Andrews and Lori McKenna), plus some quieter musings from Devendra Banhart and Gregory Uhlmann. Find out what else is new and stream-able today below.
1. Courtney Marie Andrews: Old Flowers
“Burlap String” is in no hurry whatsoever. As Americana/folk singer Courtney Marie Andrews paints this heartbreaking picture in soothing pastels, she sounds full of regret, singing, “If I could go back now / I’d pick you wildflowers / Tie ‘em in burlap string / Tell you what you mean to me.” But it’s ultimately a restorative song, as Andrews describes her newfound maturity, even if that means some added cynicism: “I’ve grown cautious, I’ve grown up / I’m a skeptic of love.” The rest of her new album Old Flowers, a follow-up to 2018’s May Your Kindness Remain, is similarly wise, but frequently heartbreaking. —Ellen Johnson
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2. Devendra Banhart: Vast Ovoid EP
Indie-folk songsmith Devendra Banhart has a new four-song EP out today on Nonesuch titled Vast Ovoid. It’s his first new music since his 2019 album Ma. The album features the single “It’s Not Always Funny.” “While writing this song I was thinking about over-consumption, a kind that goes beyond objects, and starts to pig out on emotions … it’s never kindness or joy is it?” Banhart said in a statement. “I was thinking about the touch of your eyes….. and now that eyes have become our faces, I find going to the supermarket the most intimate experience…since the lockdown we have been hyper developing the language of looking into each others’ eyes….”—Ellen Johnson
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3. Gregory Uhlmann: Neighborhood Watch
Singer/songwriter and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann (a member of Perfume Genius, Fell Runner and Typical Sisters) has shared his new album Neighborhood Watch via Topshelf Records. Single “Santa Fe” features vocals from Meg Duffy of Hand Habits, and it followed his lead single “Spice Girls.” “Neighborhood Watch is a cozy portrait of grains of sand, cats, ants, getting colds, letting loose, feeling shy, watching movies and being in love, ” Uhlmann said of the album. —Lizzie Manno
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4. Jess Cornelius: Distance
New Zealand-born, L.A.-based folk pop artist Jess Cornelius today releases her new album Distance on Loantaka Records. The graceful vocalist has been compared to Sharon Van Etten and Feist, and it’s easy to hear the resemblance on single “Here Goes Nothing,” which was released earlier this week. “‘Here Goes Nothing’ is about fantasy, really – the way we unconsciously create dramatic situations as an escape from whatever in our lives isn’t working,” Cornelius said in a statement. “But I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. We need fantasy – you could argue that we’ve built entire lives on it.” —Ellen Johnson
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5. Jessy Lanza: All The Time
A Hyperdub darling, Jessy Lanza provided some of the most definitive and underrated synth-pop of the last decade. Her unique, soulful soprano merged with her eclectic influences (from Timbaland to Ryuichi Sakamoto) to create glittered, R&B-infused dance music, rhythmic with shiny pomp. Today she releases her third LP All The Time, featuring single “Lick in Heaven.” “This song is about being angry with people and not knowing what to do about it,” Lanza said. “I find that when I’m a certain combo of sad and angry I reach a point of provocation where I can’t stop myself from going nuclear.” The track, frenetic as it is, plays with that sense of teetering mood, as if on the apex of an outburst. —Austin Jones
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6. Katie Dey: mydata
Melbourne-based singer/songwriter Katie Dey today delights us with her new album mydata, a follow-up to 2019’s solipsisters. Dey’s compelling arrangements blossom even more on her new record, which finds her exploring the ups and downs of a relationship—a virtual one, that is. “It’s pretty explicitly about an internet relationship, which can be precisely as meaningful as a relationship that’s physical,” Dey said in a statement. “Because a long distance relationship is obviously physical too, in a sense. It’s physically felt in the body.” In other words, whether a relationship is sexual, romantic, or totally platonic in nature, distance doesn’t erase physicality, it changes it. One pang exchanged for another.” —Ellen Johnson
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7. Liza Anne: Bad Vacation
What makes Liza Anne an especially talented songwriter are the many different ways in which she delivers her messages of empowerment and self-realization amid clouds of depression. 2018’s Fine But Dying was one of the year’s sneaky best albums, and Bad Vacation sees Anne flowering out of the dark places she found herself in back then. She’s freely electrifying on “Devotion,” keeps her wits about her on the tongue-in-cheek “I Shouldn’t Ghost My Therapist,” glistens on the sparkling pop of “I Wanna Be There” and stares her darkest demon in the face—herself—on the gorgeous melancholy pop of “Terrible Discovery.” Anne has always come across as carefree, yet impactful, and when addressing one’s own mental health, her music is sure to help others find brighter skies ahead as well. —Adrian Spinelli
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8. Lori McKenna: The Balladeer
As our critic wrote back in 2018, “Every Lori McKenna album has at least one song that will make you cry—and depending on who you are, and where you are in life, it could be any of them that gets you choked up.” In the course of these last 20 years, McKenna has focused deeply on whatever stage of life she found herself in: marriage, family, children, etc. The Balladeer finds her exploring those same themes but with the added layer of even more wisdom. “I’m at the age now where you can see really well where you’re going, because you’re helping your parents and you’ve lived through what your kids are doing,” McKenna says. “It’s this weird emotional time where you’re like a bookkeeper, writing it all down, trying to make sense of it and add it all up somehow.” —Ellen Johnson
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9. Misterwives: SUPERBLOOM
Indie-pop veterans Misterwives today release SUPERBLOOM, the group’s third full-length album. This is an especially tender release for the high-energy festival mainstays, as it was inspired by frontwoman Mandy Lee’s trip to California’s Antelope Valley to see the superbloom. The album also follows Lee’s breakup with drummer Etienne Bowler. “Rock bottom is where I’ve spent most of my time these last couple of years, but this song is about getting up and out that dark and painful place and knowing you never want to get to that lowest low again,” Lee said of single “Rock Bottom.” “Breaking down to break through is the backbone of this song along with a real fun dance groove to make you move and feel as free as I did when I wrote it.” —Ellen Johnson
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10. Taylor Swift: folklore
Surprise! Taylor Swift released her eighth studio album last night at midnight after sharing the news early Thursday morning. Eleven of the album’s 16 songs were co-written by The National’s Aaron Dessner, and the record also features Bon Iver on a track. Jack Antonoff is also once again involved in the production. Folklore follows Swift’s 2019 album Lover. The album arrived alongside a music video for the song “Cardigan” shot by Rodrigo Prieto. —Ellen Johnson
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