Father John Misty – Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)
We don’t get to choose our own name. That’s something J. Tillman, the drummer of Fleet Foxes, noted when he started to release work under the name Father John Misty. It’s a moniker that sounds like it has a message or a deeper meaning, but Tillman says that he just liked how it sounded. There’s no statement or deeper meaning, it just sounds interesting. If you’re picking your own name, you might as well pick a cool one.
Tillman’s second record as Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear, drops this week and there is no reason to believe he’s fallen into a sophomore slump. Chateau Lobby #4 shows him at his best, riding a wave of romantic energy, as he sings about a honeymoon atop a jangly indie folk composition highlighted by flairs of strings and horns. “I haven’t hated all the same things as somebody else since I remember,” he sings, and it somehow sounds sweet.
Incubus – Absolution Calling
Incubus was a premier act in the early 2000s but have been mostly quiet for the better half of a decade, spacing out their albums by almost 5 years. The band announced back in December that they’d be releasing two new EPs, and the first taste has arrived in the form of Absolution Calling. The California five-piece has channeled a trance-infused electric rock sound that is more in line with current trends, but it won’t take long into listening for you to go, “this is definitely an Incubus song.”
JD McPherson – Bridgebuilder
JD McPherson invokes classic rock with the title of his new album due out this week: Let the Good Times Roll. It’s not just the name that does it — McPherson has clearly absorbed years of influential rock artists who laid the groundwork for his own take on their innovations. On Bridgebuilder, a ballad that he wrote with the help of Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, he digs into the roots of rock, pulling influence from 50s era doo wop and pop as he sings.
Charli XCX ft. Rita Ora – Doing It
Iggy Azalea may be the headline getter, but her radio tracks have featured two stars in their own right: Charli XCX and Rita Ora. Now the two are teaming up to take on the spotlight themselves with Doing It, a remix of a track that appears on Carli’s latest album Sucker. With the punk-tinged sound of Charli XCX and Rita Ora’s own unique vocal flairs added in, the two talented singers team up to create a perfect night-out-on-the-town song.
Blackberry Smoke – Let Me Help You (Find the Door)
There are plenty of people who are still nostalgic for the “good old days” of rock and roll, and from the sound of their music, Blackberry Smoke may be a band composed of those types. Let Me Help You (Find the Door) is a track that encapsulates many of the signatures of the pure rock heyday, with soaring, searing electric guitars, a steady kicking drum beat, and lyrics full of themes of being fed up. It’s a track that you’ll feel like you can sing along with on the first listen.
