San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Sister act Tegan and Sara bring the fireworks
The Chronicle’s guide to notable new music.
NEW ALBUMS
Tegan and Sara, “Crybaby” (Mom+Pop) Across more than 20 years of making music, Canadian indie pop twins Tegan and Sara Quin have shared a symbiotic creative streak that’s built into their DNA.
“Sara effectively improves everything of mine that she works on,” Tegan said in a statement, before joking that perhaps she’s the “renovator” or “the house-flipper” of the band.
Now for their 10th album, they tapped indie superproducer John Congleton (Angel Olsen, Death Cab for Cutie) to help finish the build.
“Yellow” is about coming together to heal from the trauma they experienced as teenagers. It beams with a combo of electronic drums and a drum kit, as Congleton’s arrangement grows and explodes like a vibrant firework.
Meanwhile, the twins’ new TV series, “High School,” which premiered Oct. 14 on Amazon Freevee, is based off of their eponymous best-selling memoir.
Tegan and Sara are scheduled to perform in San Francisco at the Fillmore on Nov. 16.
Lee Fields, “Sentimental Fool” (Daptone) While Lee Fields’ storied funky soul dates as far back as 1969, the riveting singer is still solid gold over five decades later on “Sentimental Fool.” Backed by Daptone Records’ illustrious crew of instrumentalists, Fields sings his way through gorgeous love songs that transcend time.
“Forever” is a classic R&B
throwback with epic guitar riffs and bellowing horns as he sings, “I’m gonna hold you
forever.” On the title track, it’s an organ that sits front and center as Fields, backed by a vocal ensemble, feels like he’s kneeling at the church pew, begging the Lord to help his gal forgive him.
Hermanos Gutiérrez, “El Bueno y el Malo” (Easy Eye Sound) The Swiss-Ecuadoran duo is the latest to sign on to Easy Eye Sound, the label founded by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys.
The instrumental music of Zurich-based brothers Estevan and Alejandro Gutiérrez is decidedly inspired by the spaghetti Western scores of Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone films. There’s a distinct Latin flair to their guitarbased work, especially on “Hermosa Drive,” which calls to mind psychedelic Santana
riffs, and on “Tres Hermanos,” featuring Auerbach, who also co-produced the album.
If their songs feel like a journey, it’s because they approach it as such.
“When Alejandro and I play together, it’s like we are driving a car,” Estevan said in a statement. “It’s like we are taking a road trip. Sometimes we’re driving through a desert. Sometimes we’re traveling up the coast. But always we are in nature, and we see the most beautiful landscapes, sunrises, sunsets.”
SONG OF THE MOMENT
The Arcs, “Keep on Dreamin’ ” (Easy Eye Sound) Speaking of Dan Auerbach, his vintage rock supergroup the Arcs recently announced their first album in eight years.
“Electrophonic Chronic” is due out Jan. 27 and features an ensemble of modern soul masters in Leon Michels on keys, Menahan Street Band’s bassist Nick Movshon, Dap-Kings drummer Homer Steinweiss, and influential drummer and producer Richard Swift. Auerbach said that the new album is an homage to Swift, with whom they recorded most of the album before he died in 2018 of hepatitis complications at the age of 41.
The album’s first single, “Keep on Dreamin’,” instantly slots in among the band’s greatest songs. It’s a trippy paean to crate-digging ’60s rock that channels Tame Impala levels of psych rock.
LOCALLY MINDED Madison McFerrin, “Stay Away (From Me)” (self-release)
Born in San Francisco, Madison McFerrin is the daughter of famed jazz vocalist and conductor Bobby McFerrin. Known primarily for her enchanting a cappella works in the past, “Stay Away (From Me)” marks the start of a new chapter for the younger McFerrin. It’s a jazzy futuresoul tune and one of the first songs that McFerrin produced herself.
Her celestial vocals are a salve for the still-bumpy road of post-pandemic life. She even attributes “Stay Away (From Me)” with helping her “let go of some of the gripping anxiety that came with our new reality,” she said in a statement, adding that, “In creating this music, I hope to let others know that they are not going through this moment alone.”