Your New Music Monday picks for September 12 include a sonic serotonin booster and blossoming talent:
For any up-and-coming songwriter, having T. Bone Burnett in your corner is a coveted stamp on your musical passport. Fans of the HBO series True Detective might remember the haunting track “Risk” from Season 2, delighting in the fact that this was actually a demo from the L.A.-based singer-songwriter Alexandra Savior – a song she collaborated on with her writing partner, Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys and Last Shadow Puppets. Savior co-wrote the Last Shadow Puppets’ “Miracle Aligner,” and Turner returned the favor by assisting with “M.T.M.E.” – a beats-driven jewel that lives up to its own refrain of “music to my ears.”
Dublin’s James Vincent McMorrow has a solid body of work with three albums, all showcasing his different moods and sounds. For his September 2 release Move, he teamed up with co-producer Nineteen85 (Drake), Frank Dukes (Rihanna, Kanye West) and Two Inch Punch (Sam Smith) to polish up his new R&B-infused grooves. And for that added old school vibe, the late Donny Hathaway’s sound engineer Jimmy Douglass stepped in to take care of the finishing touches, which are on full, seductive display in “Get Low.”
“Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears – it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear.” The late, great Oliver Sacks nailed that sentiment perfectly, while time and time again he’s been proven right – that the healing power of music isn’t just some tired, old cliché, but a scientifically-proven fact. Something tells us that Oliver Sacks would’ve been a big fan of The Strumbellas, the Toronto outfit who brought us the hope-bomb “Spirits,” and now, the equally anthemic “We Don’t Know,” another sonic serotonin booster that’ll round out your fall playlist. Pssst – don’t miss the Strumbellas’ October 8 support slot for Cold War Kids at the House of Blues.
Gentle jams are another guaranteed cure for the Monday blahs. At first, it’d be all to easy to mistake vocalist Ben Rothbard from The Palms for Kristian Matsson, aka The Tallest Man On Earth, but when those billowy piano chords kick in, “Push Off” emerges as its own stylized mix of R&B and psych pop perfection.
Happy listening!
XOXO
Gini.
