San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Fresh energy in first major music releases of year
The Chronicle’s guide to notable new music.
NEW ALBUMS
Kali Uchis, ‘Orquídeas’ (Geffen)
Born in Virginia, Kali Uchis grew up splitting time between her home state and her parents’ native Colombia. Throughout her career, the Grammy-winning bilingual singer has kept her feet planted in both cultures. In 2023, she released the sultry modern R&B album “Red Moon in Venus,” and now on Jan. 12, returns with “Orquídeas,” her second Spanishlanguage album and fourth overall. Featuring singles like the string-laden reggaeton bounce of “Labios Mordidos” duet with Colombian superstar Karol G, the new album is named after the national flower of Colombia.
“This album is inspired by the timeless, eerie, mystic, striking, graceful and sensual allure of the orchid,” Uchis said in a statement. “With this vast scope of fresh energy, I wish to redefine the way we look at Latinas in music.”
Nailah Hunter, ‘Lovegaze’ (Fat Possum)
When harpist and multiinstrumentalist Nailah Hunter began writing her latest album, “Lovegaze” (out Jan. 12), she settled into a coastal town along the English Channel. Armed with a Celtic harp, the Los Angeles-based singer penned songs that are forged on the strength of the natural world.
“Nature remains; we’re the passing thing,” Hunter observed in a statement. Songs like “Strange Delights” and “Finding Mirrors” have finely constructed atmospheres that indeed feel like surrendering to a higher power.
Sleater-Kinney, ‘Little Rope’ (Loma Vista)
When Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker joined noted producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Sharon Van Etten) to record their 11th album, the wake of a tragedy was sweeping through the trailblazing indie rock band. Brownstein’s mother and stepfather were killed in a car accident in late 2022, and while much of the album was already written, the overarching sense of grief becomes interwoven into the new songs. “Little Rope” arrives on Jan. 19 and features singles “Say It Like You Mean It” and “Hell.” Both songs explode with themes of letting go of our inhibitions, especially in the face of grief.
Sleater-Kinney is slated to appear in San Francisco on March 30-31 at the Warfield.
The Smile, ‘Wall of Eyes’ (XL Recordings)
While it’s been nearly eight years since a new Radiohead album was released, the spinoff group the Smile is returning with its second album since the trio formed in 2022. The group is made up of Radiohead members in singer Thom Yorke and multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood along with drummer Tom Skinner of the erstwhile afro jazz group Sons of Kemet, and its output sounds downright Radiohead-ian.
Out Jan. 26, “Wall of Eyes” has string arrangements from the London Contemporary Orchestra, including on the sinister album-opening title track, which comes to life with an eerie music video by “Magnolia” and “There Will Be Blood” director Paul Thomas Anderson. Later, “Bending Hectic” is a sweeping, symphonic rock sonata, making for one of the year’s most anticipated album releases.
Ty Segall, ‘Three Bells’ (Drag City)
USF alum and former figurehead in San Francisco’s 2010s garage rock heyday, Ty Segall is back with perhaps his most introspective album to date.
Out Jan. 26, “Three Bells” sees Segall in a series of lyrical and riff-loaded conversations with his subconscious mind as he tries to break through introversion and the resulting agoraphobia. “Out there, I’m too dizzy, I’d rather be inside my room,” he sings over a melodious lick on “My Room.” His paranoia builds in verses, but he tries to push through on hooks, singing, “Stop conversation and experience joy and walk outside” on “Void.” There’s a “Clockwork Orange”like arc that the prolific Segall takes us on, never devoid of fuzzy guitar and psychedelic sounds that paint a vivid, if fractured, picture of the album’s vulnerable concept.
Now living in Los Angeles, Segall returns to San Francisco on Feb. 20-21 at Great American Music Hall.
LOCALLY MINDED
Ricky Lake, ‘Tundra’ (Text Me Records)
Text Me Records in the Mission District has some serious momentum as of late. After releasing La Doña’s Barack Obama co-signed EP “Can’t Eat Clout” in September, the label turns its focus to “Tundra,” the new EP by singer/rapper Ricky Lake, out Jan. 19.
Lake is in the midst of a metamorphosis from emo rap to alt-rock, and his self-discovery across these five songs feels pure. “This group of songs speaks to loss, but to beauty in loss,” he says in a statement. The sentiment is boldly felt on “Toss N Turn,” where he sings, “With no signs of going down, going down fast. Please brace for impact, love a good crash. Please brace for impact, we’re going down.” Over up-tempo drums and an alluring guitar, you can’t help but want to bounce and sing along at the top of your lungs.