What I'm Listening To: Elbows, Empires, and Extra Excellence
It's been a great week for music, friends. Strap yourself in.
The past week has been wonderful for musical discoveries and new releases, and man did I need it to get me through the slog. I’m grateful for a non-eventful Saturday so I can spend some time sharing golden nuggets of joy with you.
Strap your headphones on. You’re gonna want them for this.
The New Empires
Firstly, a new discovery of an older album (2011 is sort of old, right?). A Facebook post by my friend and comrade John Barber about “obscure songs that only you know about” ignited a slew of comments with various musical wonders, but one of them in particular caught my eye, and then my ear. The fact that it was recommended by one of my favorite singer-songwriter friends Chris “Son of Laughter” Slaten piqued my interest even more. Thus I welcome to in and out of weeks, from Chattanooga Tennessee, The New Empires.
I loved this singular debut album (and its cover art) so much I asked Chris what their story is. He told me: They were a group of Covenant College kids that basically broke up when they graduated. I didn’t go to Covenant but it is here in Chattanooga and I got to see them a few times back when they were active. Many of them make up the band on Son of Laughter recordings. They are all now parents with day jobs that don’t live in the same city, though in the last year they have started getting together to work on a new batch of songs. Matt Brown, the front man and songwriter, is one of my favorite songwriters. I get him to give feedback on pretty much anything I record and he often jumps in with bgvs too.
There’s a tinge of British-ness to their sound, with lyrics pointing to vibes of medieval gallantry and otherworldly kingdoms. One of my favorite tracks is Janitors.
Here’s another track I love. Hard to choose — the whole record is so great.
Many thanks to Chris for letting us know about this. Show him some love by listening to his music too. Invite him to your house and listen to him play. It will change your life, and I’ve been blessed enough to hear him perform at Hutchmoot and elsewhere. Check him out at son-of-laughter.com
Zane Vickery - Hydrangea
While on the topic of friends-I’ve-heard-at-Hutchmoot, my new brother Zane Vickery performed this song there last year (I believe within the same 24-hour-period I met him for the first time — I could tell we were kindred spirits instantly.) Listen to this guy. He’s a wonder to behold and his new album drops this summer. I can’t wait.
Elbow - AUDIO VERTIGO
Highly anticipated was the newest Elbow album AUDIO VERTIGO which dropped yesterday, and O my word do I love it. These guys are huge in the UK and I’ve been a fan for years now, with many thanks to Jeffrey Overstreet at Give Me Some Light for posting about them years ago so I could discover them.
Every album of Elbow’s is special, and their new one is heavier, louder and more bombastic than their last one Flying Dream 1 which is quieter and mellower. AUDIO VERTIGO is a masterwork of new experimental adventures sprinkled with little interstitial blurbs of studio tinkering, which brings a personal touch to the band’s camaraderie of tunes upon which to drink and celebrate life. Lyrically speaking, this fills the gap of letdown I felt from Peter Gabriel’s latest i/o which didn’t thrill me the way I hoped it would. Elbow are like the prophets who answer the call to Gabriel’s fuller sounds of yesteryear with an epic rush of joy and beauty and a dash of Christ-haunted inklings. “Hallelujah, buy us a pint” indeed.
Hard to choose a single track as the whole album needs to be soaked in for the full effect, but try this on for size — and then dive further up and further in.
The Decemberists - Joan in the Garden
My favorite band, guys. Their new upcoming album cover and track listing is upon us. Furthermore, it’s a double album with only 14 tracks. This is because some of the tracks are very long.
They released this one. It’s 19 minutes long, and I don’t have words for it. These guys keep re-inventing themselves while remaining truly Decemberists. This new sonic epic invokes a 1970s prog-rock flavor akin to Pink Floyd or King Crimson — it starts as an ethereal ballad, travels into a tunnel of ambient echoes and strange soundscape, and emerges into a banger of straight-forward electric guitar & synth rock, with a Christ-haunted (there’s that word again) lyrical shout of “Hosanna.”
Seriously, sit down for 19 minutes, plug yourself in and let your imagination run wild.
June 14th. As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again.
I. Can’t. Wait.
Happy listening, friends. I share this music with you because I care for your well-being and your heart.