Your New Music Monday picks for May 9 include phenomenal women, the return of Radiohead and a travelin’ Texas bluesman:
If the name Charley Crockett hasn’t popped up in your music convos as of late, expect that to change here pretty soon. He’s a self-schooled bluesman in the truest sense of the word, and hails from San Benito, the hometown of another beloved Texas artist – Freddy Fender. And yes, he IS a descendant of Davy Crockett. He’s traveled the globe, but lucky for us, he spends a lot of time in North Texas. Crockett’s musical aesthetic reigns in both the best elements of the past and the promise of the future. Our ears perked right up with “In The Night,” the title track from his forthcoming album we’re helping him celebrate the release of, on June 4 at the Granada. But if you can’t wait until then, catch him at Homegrown this Saturday, and check out our recent Q&A with the artist.
https://soundcloud.com/charleycrockett/in-the-night
Speaking of the blues, we’ve got a massive soft spot in our heart for the ever-fabulous and incomparable blues legend Bonnie Raitt, and the way she’s spent her entire 40+ year-career showing the world how it’s done. She’s an American treasure, with the battle scars, stellar discography and Grammys to prove it. We’ve also got a love of covers like no other. “I need you tonight, because I’m not sleeping. There’s something about you, baby, that makes me sweat,” was first coined and crooned by the late INXS frontman Michael Hutchence, but in his absence, it’s tailor-made for Bonnie Raitt’s take-no-prisoners riffs and slinky, sensual delivery, and can be found on her newest release, Dig In Deep.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pBYruHl45z4
The lovely, lilting tones of Laura Mvula first captured our attention – and that of her most famous fan, the late, great Prince – when she released her 2013 debut, Sing To The Moon. Come June 17, she’s back with The Dreaming Room, a collection of 12 new tracks showcasing her next venture, moving from the near-orchestral to the otherworldly and featuring collaborations with one of America’s last great masters of the soundscape, Nile Rodgers, and former Miles Davis cohort John Scofield. But it’s the way she weaves inspiration (and lifts the name) from Maya Angelou’s treasured “Phenomenal Woman” in with a hyper-addictive hook that has us all aflutter. The video is breathtaking to behold as well, shot in and around Cape Town.
Their disappearance from the Internet last week really wasn’t all that much of a Scooby mystery. Rather, it was one of the most cheeky marketing ploys used to generate a solid buzz around an album many wondered was genuinely in the works, or another few years down the road. Sunday’s not-so-surprising soft landing of A Moon Shaped Pool heralded the mighty return of Radiohead, and the 10 million-plus hits on the 1973 British cult classic Wicker Man-inspired claymation video for “Burn The Witch” are evidence that the world was indeed ready and waiting with bated breath.
XOXO
Gini
