San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Hot new music from the 1975, Indigo Girls and Nicki Minaj.
The Chronicle’s guide to notable new music.
New albums
Indigo Girls, “Look Long” (Rounder): The veteran folkrock duo’s latest is the first in almost exactly five years, but it harks back to 1999’s “Come on Now Social,” with the same producer and band of backing musicians in the studio.
The result is a record that, for fans, will immediately conjure mental images of a sunny summer evening, wine and picnic blankets — both contemporary and timeless. “Country Radio,” in particular, is a stunner, with lyrics that both reminisce about the pleasures of love songs and point out whom the genre leaves out from its stories.
The 1975, “Notes on a Conditional Form” (Dirty Hit/ Polydor/Interscope): The Brit rock quartet is back with its fourth fulllength effort — and it sounds like it was worth the wait. The twicedelayed album (first Feb. 21, then April 24) is a monster, weighing in at 22 tracks over 80 minutes.
Like previous efforts, the 1975 sound comfortable in pop (“Roadkill”), hard rock (“People,” which is a call to arms: “We are appalling and we need to stop just watching s— in bed”) and even folk (“Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America”). Singerssongwriters Phoebe Bridgers and FKA twigs make appearances, and the first track is a monologue on climate change from activist Greta Thunberg.
Airborne Toxic Event, “Hollywood Park” (Rounder): The album, named after the nowshuttered horse racetrack in Los Angeles, is the altrock band’s first in five years and first without violist Anna Bulbrook. Songs like “Come on Out” and “All These Engagements” retain the band’s stadiumready, expansive rock.
The album will be followed by frontman Mikel Jollett’s memoir of the same name, to be released on Tuesday, May 26; both were spurred by the death of his father, to the point where Jollett has called the album “the soundtrack to the book.”
Woods, “Strange to Explain” (Woodsist):It’s a cliche, but the new album from the Brooklyn folkrock staple feels a lot like California. And, maybe not coincidentally, it’s the first recorded by the band since multiinstrumentalist band member Jarvis Taveniere relocated to the Golden State. Album opener “Next to You and the Sea” is somewhere on the spectrum between late ’60s sunshine pop and psychedelia, while the instrumental “The Void” veers hard toward the latter.
Steve Earle and the Dukes, “Ghosts of West Virginia” (New West): Seven of the 10 tracks on the latest album from country songwriting legend Steve Earle come from “Coal Country,” a “documentary theater” play about the deaths of 29 miners in West Virginia that was two weeks into its run at the Public Theater in New York before the pandemicinduced closures. Earle has been nominated for outstanding music in a play by the Drama Desk Awards. The music, captured here with Earle’s band (he performed the songs alone onstage for the show), is a straight shot of classic country music with shades of bluegrass, and lyrics from the perspective of the miners.
#ICYMI
Future, “High Off Life” (Epic): Announced on May 12 and released three days later, the superstar rapper’s eighth album features guest appearances from Travis Scott, Young Thug, Lil Uzi Vert, Drake, DaBaby and Meek Mill – a guest list that could fill a day at a music festival.
The record itself is catchy and clubready, which seems particularly cruel during a time when no one knows when we can all party at the clubs again.
Song of the moment
Doja Cat featuring Nicki Minaj, “Say So (Remix)” (Kemosabe/RCA): The collaboration between the relative “newcomer” Doja Cat (though recording for seven years, her first album was released in 2018) and the veteran Minaj (her first album came in 2010) created a neverbeforeseen look at the top of the Billboard charts: The top two songs in the country (for the May 16 listings) were by female rappers. In addition, the track is (somehow) the first time a song either by or featuring Minaj hit the top spot of the Billboard 100.
The electronic danceinspired beat and Doja Cat’s singing on the chorus make this a contender for song of the summer.
For the class of 2020
Mxmtoon, “Prom Dress” (selfreleased): To celebrate the first anniversary of “Prom Dress,” which has been used in more than 100,000 TikTok videos and streamed 30 million times on Spotify, the Oakland musician recruited several other online stars — and, in a memorable moment, Lil Jon — to shoot lipsync videos at home, then stitched those together for a new clip. For those high school seniors mourning the loss of their 2020 prom, the song is a reminder that the riteofpassage dance isn’t always chocolate and roses.
Your stayathome dance break
Kygo featuring Zara Larsson and Tyga, “Like It Is” (Sony): This slice of tropical house is one of several prealbum singles for the Norwegian producer; the fulllength, “Golden Hour,” comes out Friday, May 29. Swedish singersongwriter Larsson handles vocals, with rapper Tyga adding a verse. It’s the type of collaboration that would sound perfect poolside.
Also notable, the upcoming album features Kygo’s mix of Whitney Houston’s “Higher Love,” released last year, for a solid 12 playlist punch.