#NewMusicFriday: Now Streaming with Amythyst Kiah, Lucy Dacus & Cedric Burnside

I’m an artist and I look for recordings that can inspire me while I paint in my studio. I’m not tied to any genre or particular artists and I listen for themes that may push me in a different direction. For my first installment of #NewMusicFriday, I want to focus on some of the new albums on Spotify that I have been listening to while painting into the wee hours.

Amythyst Kiah: Wary + Strange

Release Date: 06/18/2021, Rounder

Her voice is the main selling point, but it’s rare to see Black Power and LGBTQ+ pride on display with this genre of music. The Grammy-nominated single “Black Myself” is so soulful and rich and while the best track on the album, it’s clearly only the tip of the iceberg for this wonderful singer. “Wary + Strange,” and “Sleeping Queen” demonstrate both her power and range and she’s an emerging talent to pay attention to.

Lucy Dacus: Home Video

Release Date: 06/25/2021, Matador Records

I’m going to be the contrarian in the room and admit that that I find her pining for the past; both people and events that clearly didn’t go so well somewhat dull. Her voice is soothing and full of melancholy but nothing about this album rises above background music for the most part. Her use of imagery can be quite vivid but there is a repetitiveness about the music that doesn’t engage me. Her previous albums, No Burden (2016) and Historian (2018), hit a little harder and the overall presentation is brighter and a better representation of her songwriting chops and voice.

Polo & Pan: Cyclorama

Release Date: 06/25/2021, Universal Music

Not a very conventional release but I’m going to suggest that this French duo have something very interesting and unique going on with their music. Polo & Pan’s Cyclorama has a very diverse set of songs that incorporate electro beats as well as French with an eclectic mix of instruments. The opening track “Ani Kuni” is a Native American song similar to a lullaby that was popular when the artists were children growing up in France.

There is definitely a sense of melancholy and a longing for the past; a consistent theme throughout. It’s an electronic/dance album with solid pacing and a catchy tempo. The recording quality could be better but it’s definitely an album to enjoy on a good pair of headphones that can create a very spacious and wide soundstage.

John Grant: Boy from Michigan

Release Date: 06/25/2021, PTKF

I’m not sure if I want to call John Grant’s Boy from Michigan a pop album because it’s rife with layers of electronica and until the uptempo beat cut through the synth work almost two minutes into the title track, I was unsure where he was going with this album.

The Boy from Michigan is a tale of the American dream gone astray from the perspective of Grant who suffered from both addiction and anxiety growing up in middle America. A gay male whose family refused to accept his sexual orientation.

Grant has an interesting style of instrumentation and blending synth pop with his baritone melodies. “The Rusty Bull” could have jumped out of the 1980s with its synth pop but its messaging is definitely darker. I’m not sure Depeche Mode or the Pet Shop Boys would have been as overt about the subject matter or maintained the same slightly ponderous beat throughout the entire album; the pacing is definitely a bit slow.

The blending of the piano and clarinet on “The Cruise Room” creates a unique and rather beautiful backdrop to a deeply personal song that ultimately feels like the background music to a very dark event in Grant’s life; possibly a break-up with his lover. Not every track works but Grant weaves a story that will resonate for many.

Cedric Burnside: I Be Trying

Release Date: 06/25/2021, Single Lock Records

My father played R.L. Burnside a lot growing up so I’m not a stranger to the blues or the grandson of the late bluesman who passed away just as his star was starting to really rise in the world of blues music again. Cedric Burnside has a very different style and while he may not play with the same degree of explosiveness as his grandfather, the grandson has a better command of the vocals and I found myself tapping my foot along with him during “Step In” and turning it up to feel his Delta Blues surge through my headphones.

Burnside is a more polished performer than his grandfather; his melodies almost reek of pop on some tracks and there is a stripped down, minimalist feel to the album that works for the most part. It’s an honest (or conventional) album that is probably more accessible to a wider range of listeners; it definitely lacks the gritty and rather distorted sound that made his grandfather’s music so authentic. It doesn’t electrify your soul in the same way but there’s no question that Cedric Burnside is the grandson of a true hill country bluesman.