There was so much great music this week, it was agonizing to narrow it down! We’ve got psych-alt-country from Bret Koontz & Truancy Club, indie pop from Sonja Midtune, gospel-folk from Ruthie Foster, ’90s emo from Pohgoh, folk-punk from Sunny War and power pop from King Tuff.
Bret Koontz & Truancy Club, “Lonesome Rambler” – This song is “full of archetypes: ramblers, gamblers, rangers, strangers and fools,” as frontman Bret Koontz describes it. I found this psychedelic country tune so weirdly compelling (I’m always a sucker for pedal steel, so that might be part of it). Koontz is always blurring the boundaries of art and music. His new album, A Sparkle Road Cult (out Nov. 18) will include sheet music, a color art page for each song and a CD. This video has a very Jodorowsky-esque/Lynchian vibe to it.
Sonja Midtune, “Haunt You Back” – Sonja Midtune blew up on TikTok recently with her song “Pretty Please,” but doesn’t consider herself a TikTok artist, as she’s been recording for eight years. One listen to “Haunt You Back,” a tune that’s mellow yet poppy, and you’ll understand right away why her catchy tunes get stuck in people’s heads. Midtune says her new EP, Golden Girl (out Nov. 11), is more upbeat than her previous “sad girl” music on 2020 EP Dreams Melt Away. She says Golden Girl will also have a limited edition candle available to complete the listening experience.
Ruthie Foster, “Feels Like Freedom” – Ruthie Foster has a gorgeous voice and it shines on “Feels Like Freedom,” from her forthcoming ninth album, Healing Time. For many of us, going out post-lockdown feels like freedom, so this song is perfect for our time, although Foster’s gospel-infused blues-folk style is timeless. This song, with its stirring gospel choir, will lift your spirits and revive your soul.
The Go! Team with The Star Feminine Band, “Look Away, Look Away” – There’s just something about this song that grabs a hold of you. For their upcoming seventh album, Get Up Sequences Part Two, British musician Ian Parton and company embarked on a number of collaborations, including this one with The Star Feminine Band, a teen girl group from Benin that expresses positive feminist sentiments in hopes of changing the culture in West Africa. When the Go! Team reached out to them, they wrote the lyrics and delivered a “charging, all-out gang vocal” that Parton said he hadn’t expected but loved.
Pohgoh, “Over/Under” – This Tampa emo band formed in 1994, broke up in 1997 and reunited in 2016. The hiatus was due to singer Susie Ulrey being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. “Over/Under” was written after Ulrey spent a scary three weeks in the hospital dealing with a bad reaction to treatment, and finds her still grateful to be alive. The power-pop chords combined with Ulrey’s confessional lyrics bring back the ’90s in the best way.
Sunny War, “No Reason” – Sunny War is as punk as they come, even when she’s fingerpicking an acoustic guitar. The artist, whose real name is Sydney Lyndella Ward, said that “No Reason” is about “the internal struggle that all people face just trying to be the best version of themselves.” Ward herself once battled substance abuse, so when she sings, “The ones you love most you upset,” you know she’s coming from a personal place. Her new album, Anarchist Gospel, comes out in February and features appearances by Jim James, Allison Russell and Jack Lawrence of the Raconteurs.
King Tuff, “Smalltown Stardust” – The title track from Kyle Thomas’ project King Tuff’s new album (due out in January) was produced by SASAMI. Thomas lives in Los Angeles with Sasami Ashworth and Hand Habits’ Meg Duffy, and they all inspired each other to make music during the pandemic. Thomas has said the song and album were inspired by nostalgia for the small Vermont town in which he grew up. “Tell me I’m the one you want,” Thomas sings. “’Cause I’m holding onto wonder/ Holding something I can’t touch.” This is a different, gentler direction for King Tuff, and it suits him. Check out the bizarro “Sesame-Street”-esque video.
Jill Barber with Slow Leaves, “Joint Account” – Here’s a romantic song about taking the plunge and opening a joint bank account! This gentle folk song from former RIFF cover artist Jill Barber and Grant Davidson of Slow Leaves was co-written remotely during the pandemic, and the video documents their first in-person meeting to perform the song together. I really liked that this is a love song about a real and practical sign of commitment; there aren’t enough of those out there. It’s also Barber’s second time in Tuesday Tracks.
Rachel’s pick: This week, I was really taken with Sonja Midtune’s “Haunt You Back.” She has a lovely voice, and I dig the electronic sound she got working with producer Sean Oakley (CHAMPS, La Roux). And I suppose it’s fitting for the week of Halloween, with lyrics like “Can’t get to heaven with a graveyard key/ Bones go in the ground but your soul stays here” – a little spooky!
English (US)