Looking for some Monday motivation? We’ve got you covered! From tunes inspired by the sounds and styles of the ’70s to a brand new fascinating solo instrument experimentation, here are five new songs that you can listen to right now to start your week the right way.
Durand Jones & The Indications, “Morning in America”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SANEafqL5io
“Morning in America” is the early ’70s soul-inspired new single from American Love Call, Durand Jones & The Indications’ sophomore LP, out on March 1 via Dead Oceans/Coleman Records. The song was penned by drummer Aaron Frazer, who says via a press release: “The lyrics speak to how many of us feel every day in this time of political and environmental uncertainty – flitting between anger, despair, anxiety but ever returning to a sliver of hope that there’s still a path forward.” The video for “Morning in America,” which finds immense inspiration in the song’s message, is directed by Ellie Foumbi.
Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chords, “People Will Talk”
Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chords – led by guitarist Jon Lundbom and featuring saxophonists Justin Wood and Bryan Murray, bassist Moppa Elliott and Dan Monaghan – will release their ninth recording project, Harder on the Outside, on February 1 via Hot Cup Records. The new album opens with “People Will Talk,” a funky tune with a driving groove set in a ’70s 6/4, featuring a rollicking, out-of-time solo by Lundbom played on a Fender Jazzmaster retrofitted with experimental pickups built by Chicago’s Duneland Labs. It represents one of Lundbom’s major goals in recording this LP: to employ and experiment with a wide range of different, non-effected tones from these instruments.
Hugh Marsh, “She Will”
Hugh Marsh’s Violinvocations is no ordinary solo instrument album – it is the product of a longterm project that saw the violinist-composer record and produce at least one piece of music every day for 183 days while living in Los Angeles. Each of these songs was released on the internet that same day, and out of those 183 tunes, eight were selected for the album. “She Will” is the record’s dramatic closing track. It is a stream-of-consciousness tone-poem built from achingly, soaring bare string melodies that beautifully cast a light on the violin.
Claude Fontaine, “Cry for Another”
Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Claude Fontaine recently signed with Innovative Leisure and shared the video for her debut single, “Cry for Another.” The song, which sounds like it came out of ’70s Jamaica, was recorded at Chet Baker’s legendary old studio in Hollywood. Fontaine explains that it “is about the feeling when someone is slipping through your fingers, and even though you know that person may not be right, you’re still pining for more.” The singer-songwriter is currently working on her debut album, which will be released later this year.
Norman Brown, “Free” (feat. Deniece Williams)
Guitarist, singer and producer Norman Brown joined forces with a fellow Grammy Award-winning artist, R&B diva Deniece Williams, for a sultry remake of her ’70s hit “Free,” from her gold-certified 1976 album, This Is Niecy. “My blending and crossing of styles happen organically by allowing the content to reveal its elements,” declared Brown via an official statement. “There are only two kinds of music – ‘good and bad.'” The new rendition of “Free” appears on Brown’s forthcoming album, The Highest Act of Love, out on February 22 via Shanachie Entertainment.
Feature photo by Durand Jones & The Indications by Rosie Cohe.
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