Dear listeners,
Whenever I put together one of these monthly collections of “songs you should be hearing right now,” selected from our weekly new music playlists, my brain jumps to the “Now that’s what I call music!” font style. Remember those compilations? I suspect so, as a quick scan of the series’ impressively lengthy Wikipedia page tells me they are released all over the world, having started in the UK in 1983. 1983! The ‘Now’ albums didn’t arrive in the States until 1998, but to my surprise they are still being released even though the evolution to streaming means they’ve disappeared from the album charts. Yet they persevere. Now that’s what I call music! Full. 86” was only released a few months ago.
Is today’s playlist a kind of ‘Now that’s what I call music! Full. 87”? No. I don’t think I can legally call it that, and most of these artists, like the indie rock group Pale dogthe Canadian country singer Colt wall and the Detroit hard rock collective the armed – are a bit too under the radar to make such a compilation. But that also means you’re most likely about to trip least an artist you’ve never heard before. That’s what I call exciting.
Listen along on Spotify as you read.
1. Palehound: “Independence Day”
I almost put this one on my Fourth of July barbecue playlist, but I decided it wasn’t quite celebratory enough to fit the bill: I wasn’t sure anyone would want to hear a painfully lively indie rock song about a breakup on Independence Day while grilling burgers, no matter how excellently written it is. But to be sure, this song is superbly written by Palehound leader El Kempner. “Sparkler in my throat, can we just take it all back,” Kempner sings atop a guitar that jingles like change. “Join the neighbors and dance with a rocket and a six-pack?” (Listen on YouTube)
2. Faye Webster: “But don’t kiss”
I have to admit I didn’t give Atlanta singer-songwriter Faye Webster’s 2021 breakthrough album “I Know I’m Funny Haha” a fair shake for one very trivial reason: the first song I heard of it, ” A Dream With a Baseball Player,” is an ode to Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., and as a fan of the team’s rival New York Mets, I can’t stop denying how good Acuña Jr. is. So Good. It’s annoying!) I do like the push-and-pull rhythms of Webster’s latest single, “But Not Kiss,” and the way the whole thing sounds like a strange, fuzzy dream. Whenever Webster confesses to a feeling, she—and the song itself—suddenly back off: “I want to see you in my dreams,” she sings, “but then forget it.” (Listen on YouTube)
