Nico Hedley announces a new album, Painterly, out September 3rd via Whatever’s Clever. The first single “Waking Dreams” proves that you can make country record in New York City. With lush instrumentation and Nico’s introspective lyrics, it’s a fresh-sounding spin on classical countrypolitan. Personnel includes Ryan El-Solh on guitar, Carmen Rothwell on double bass, Jeff Widner on drums, and Adam Robinson on horns. Drew Citron adds backing vocals on this particular track. The songs on Painterly were sparked by unsparing self-reflection. Sometimes they took the initial form of a sticky melody, a punchy one-liner, or an uncomfortable memory Hedley couldn’t push aside.…

The amazing Yola announced a new record, out 7/30, and today releases this anthem to sex positivity and liberation. Eschewing conservative social norms, “Starlight” celebrates love, romance, and ultimately the route to self-love through those normative relationships that may not be tied to tradition. Softly lit, Yola’s powerful, towering voice creates a soundtrack to this beautiful piece of film. I wanted to put something into the world that showed people what my dating life is like now. I’m currently single, yes, but I’m not neglected or some soulless sex robot. The volume of media dedicated to showing dark skinned Black…

Nashville label Devil’s Tower Records and Portland’s Groove Family Records have announced a limited vinyl release of Kiss My Ass Goodbye, an official Record Store Day release (7/17) featuring legendary and emerging artists from Nashville, Las Vegas, Athens, Seattle, Chicago and beyond paying tribute to everyone’s favorite songwriter. Proceeds benefit the Nashville Rescue Mission. On Friday, the first single from the compilation was released, Jeff Mix and the Songhearts’ “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness.” “I tried to imagine, ‘What if The Killers were to do a John Prine song?’ The track listing includes Nashville A-listers who have worked with…

The third single from Cameron Knowler’s visionary Places of Consequence premiered today on Deepest Currents and because Places is teed up to be one of our albums of the year, we’re sharing it here too. Places of Consequence by Cameron Knowler Knowler is a highly skilled technical player, academic and focused, but emotion shines through on his arrangement of this song from Congolese accordionist Camille Feruzi and late, legendary fiddler Jon Bekoff. His “Kuyina” is a tribute to his late mother, and like the rest of Places of Consequence, there’s a duality at play in Cameron’s music. There’s the sharpness of discipline, the…

New Orleans band Pony Hunt’s second album, VAR! is out July 23rd via Wing and Wing. Pony Hunt’s celestial retro vibe- self-described as “cosmic doo-wop” reflects upon queerness, gender identity, and self-awareness. Today they premiere their latest single from the album, the dream-like “That Feelin'” with a stop-you-in-your-tracks opening beat and singer and songwriter Jessie Antonick’s devastating voice, singing straight from her heart to yours. Born in California and raised in Chicago, Jessie followed inspiration from Oakland to New Orleans where she continued to refine and define her voice. As Pony Hunt, VAR! explores this concept of home – whether…

Damon and Naomi are back with A Sky Record, releasing July 22nd. Today they premiere the first single from the album, “Sailing By.” A Sky Record by Damon & Naomi “Sailing By” is also the title of a light classical waltz that’s played every night shortly before the 1am end of the broadcast day on BBC Radio Four, followed by the “Shipping Bulletin” (and then “God Save the Queen”!). The Shipping Bulletin is simply the weather forecast for the sea around the UK. But it’s also a mesmerizing list of place names (“Viking” and “Tiree” are examples) and slightly coded…

LA’s Soft Sailors share their video for “What We Live” today, featuring bandleader Geoff Geis being followed by a haunting, human-sized crow played by Jenna Heffernan, who may or may not be a figment of his imagination. Adam Boren Bennett shot the footage during flower season at Deb’s Park on a cheap toy camera with the assistance of Jenna and friend Benton Stephen. The pandemic put a pause on production, but Geoff eventually taught himself to use editing software to complete the project. “What We Live” was released as a single before the pandemic and premiered via LA Record, which…

Sharing a live performance of the Brooklyn-based Evolfo’s “Drying Out Your Eye” days before their album Site Out of Mind drops (June 18th on Royal Potato Family.) Equally jazzy as it is acid-drenched, the 7-piece band set out to ascend from their previous release, the acclaimed 2017 Last of the Acid Cowboys, aiming for the ontological on Site Out of Mind. Inspired by science fiction, psychedelic field trips, and recorded in guitarist and vocalist Matt Gibbs’s Ditmas Park apartment where an exorcism took place years earlier and unexplainable phenomena regularly occurs, Site is reminiscent of Tame Impala meets Meat Puppets,…