Songs You Need To Hear Now #40
New singles from DJ Harrison, Owen, and Albuquerque's Firebird FM. Plus, looking forward to the weekend listening list!
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Happy Friday! It’s nice that 2024 finally gives us some good stuff to listen to. Besides the albums I’ve reviewed, like Future Islands and The Amazing, there’s plenty more I’ve enjoyed. Regardless of the online discourse, I’ve quite enjoyed The Last Dinner Party’s debut, Gruff Rhys’s Sadness Sets Me Free, Cherym’s debut EP (thanks Mallie Hart for ensuring that one is on my radar), and Matt Pond PA’s latest EP, Call and Response, which he recorded with Alexa Rose, and it’s a nice lil duet piece (yeah, Matt Pond can be sappy shit, but I’m an aughts indie kid, and he’s one I still can’t resist!).
For this weekend’s listening list, I’ve got two that I’ve been looking forward to in Helado Negro’s PHASOR, the follow-up to Far In, which placed in my top ten in 2021. The other is New Lost Ages, the fifth album by the Ashville-based singer-songwriter Tyler Ramsey. If you’re unfamiliar with the name, you’re undoubtedly familiar with his work when he was a member of Band of Horses for their albums Infinite Arms, Mirage Rock, and Why Are You OK. I always find this funny because their debut album, Everything All the Time, is a stone-cold classic in my book, and Cease To Begin is a fine follow-up, which I’ve come to appreciate more with the mess that came after that record. All of the BoH albums involving Ramsey are snooze-worthy, and Things Are Great, the 2022 album without him again, still had nothing to write home about.
That being said, as a solo singer-songwriter, I think Ramsey is severely underrated and one of the best in the game, and he’s borderline better with every record, so I’m hopeful for this new one. Plus, he dedicated a heartbreaker of a song on New Lost Ages to Neal Casal, so you know I have to listen to it.
Alright, let’s talk about a few more songs that are on this week’s playlist.
DJ Harrison - “Igy”
I am admittedly unfamiliar with DJ Harrison, but when I receive a Bandcamp email from his label, Stones Throw, any of their releases are an automatic listen for me. “Igy” was the first of the available singles, and it’s like a perfect team-up of Stevie Wonder and Steely Dan, with the latter being evident as DJ Harrison samples “I.G.Y.,” the opening song on Donald Fagen’s Nightfly on this song. Really looking forward to listening to all of Shades of Yesterday this weekend.
Owen - “Beaucoup”
I’m a simple man. I hear Mike Kinsella. I love it.
I did a nice lil dive into my love of midwest emo and all things Mike Kinsella when I reviewed the debut album from his LIES project last year. It placed third in my year-end a few months ago, and I absolutely love American Football, but sad bastard Mike Kinsella with an acoustic guitar billed as Owen has always been my favorite. Yesterday, Owen fans received the welcomed news that Kinsella will return in April with The Falls of Sioux, and “Beaucoup” is the gorgeous lead single. This one automatically moves up my anticipated list, especially because Kinsella is reteaming with Sean Carey and Zach Hanson, who produced the last Owen album, The Avalanche, which was magnificent. Add backing vocals from Now, Now’s KC Dalager (if you’re unfamiliar with Now, Now, drop everything you’re doing and listen to their 2012 classic debut Threads and leave the rest of their discography), and this emo kid can’t wait for April.
Firebird FM - “Blown Fuse”
Another week and another New Mexico band I want to share with you. Firebird FM is an outfit from Albuquerque that can press all the proper seventies and eighties rock buttons. This song is for everyone who says, “They don’t make music like they used to,” which usually has me falling out of my chair from rolling my eyes so hard. Firebird FM is dropping a single at a time, and their newest “Blown Fuse” is an absolute ripper - huge drum fills, crunchy guitar riffs, heady keyboards, and soaring vocal hooks. The only thing missing is the sizzle of the needle hitting the record. What else do you want?
I cannot wait to host them at The Mystic on March 23rd and scorch some big dumb Santa Fe hats.
What are you listening to this week? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for the mention! I've added your suggestions to my "To Be Listened" list!