This Friday is a banner day for new releases.
First up, Jeff Tweedy is releasing Love Is the King, a collection of 11 new, instantly likeable songs. Recorded in April in his Chicago studio, this album is a surprisingly comforting soundtrack to a pandemic, somber, reflective and yet returning often to the familiar.
Columbian artist Ela Minus is the newcomer of this Friday’s featured group with her debut, Acts of Rebellion, an excellent electronic album. Making “bright music for dark times,” the former teen drummer in a hardcore band has made an exciting techno-pop album that you need to hear.
On III, Ty Segall’s band Fuzz delivers eight heart-pounding, skull-crushing songs that draw from the similar stoner, sludge rock influences that’s propelled this trio. There’s little diversion from the band’s previous offerings but that’s just fine.
Big Thief’s frontwoman Adrianne Lenker releases two albums this Friday, Songs and Instrumentals. Like Tweedy, Lenker recorded her new music in April. It was the March cancellation of Big Thief’s tour that lured her to a mountain cabin to write and record these songs. There’s a simple beauty to Songs, which feature Lenker’s voice and her acoustic guitar. Instrumentals adds additional sounds, including the chimes on the second of two long tracks.
All the Young Punks 