Tracklisting:

Restorations – Nonbeliever
Goshen Electric Co. – The Grey Tower
Horse Culture – Follow
Yowler – Where Is My Light?
Desert Liminal – Gauze Cave
Anamon – In 3
Adeline Hotel – Lightning
Lea Thomas – Upstream
Scott Orr – No Phone
Advance Base – Christmas in Nightmare City
Blue Wilson – Golden Eyes
The Sofas – Nothing Major
Lazy Legs – Nosebleed
All Boy/All Girl – Bomb
Strange Ranger – New Hair
Elly Swope – Idea
Dweller – Running
Will Henriksen – Halo
Knuckle Pups – Bottom Baby
Ian Wayne – Guessing
Massage – Crying Out Loud
Recluse Raccoon – Mother America
Interbellum – Ink
Marc Ferrino – Like a Spark
Katie Kuffel – As the Crow Flies
Emily Brown – Sometimes
KASHKA – Holding Steady
Philippe Bronchtein – Me and the Moon
Spencer Segelov – Sacred Songs
Annie Dressner – Fades Away
Belaver – Grave Robber
Of The Valley – Ride Alone
Hour – Give thanks in a special way

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Worried Mind elevates the conventional singer-songwriter sound by fusing acoustic guitar and ponderous piano with analogue synths, resulting in an evocative ambience that carries as much as Orr’s words. It exists in its own atmosphere, a hushed vacuum that excludes the outside world. The effect is something like being adrift in a car during a nighttime snowstorm, sitting in a pocket of comfort and warmth, like a snow globe in reverse.

Opener ‘Sunburned’ approaches from a near hush, barely audible piano and guitar strum backed with fluttering electronics which soon blossom to the forefront and take the place of a chorus throughout the track. When they arrive, Orr’s vocals are delicately cool and considered, delivering lines that explore the ebbs and flows of a long term relationship.

“Remember you, in that picture we took
Sunburned baby, I don’t know
We’re as high as this high can go”

‘A Memory’ is a quiet front porch folk song, the sound of watching a twilit neighbourhood pass-by slowly, while the sincerely romantic ‘Fall Apart’ lilts with an almost tropical sway, Orr declaring his love for his significant other in no uncertain terms.

But things aren’t always so pink and gold and positive. ‘Seasons’ feels like a distillation of Worried Mind, smooth and uncluttered, just simple percussion and honest sentiment. “I feel so lonely, I feel so sad,” Orr sings, “don’t wait to call me, it’s just a bad kind of season.” This changes around the two minute mark as synths add texture, a digital grainy noise that sits behind Orr’s breathy vocals. Perhaps the most difficult song on the record, finale ‘Sometime’ sees Orr reflect on his relationship with his estranged father, a perfectly gentle and minimal end to the album that flutters with very real emotion.

“Thought I was over it this time
I want to tear you apart and see what’s on the inside
I’ll never understand, how did it feel like?”

Worried Mind is out now on Other Songs Music Co. and you can get it on cassette or download via their Bandcamp page.

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The album contains twenty tracks from all your favourite Other Songs Music Co. artists – in no particular order: Timid, The Brave, James Hoffman, Ruby Randall, The Good Hunters, JP Haynie, Best Wishes, Nabi, Benjamin, Matt Paxton and label leader Scott Orr. There are b-sides, demos, live recordings, remixes and previously unreleased tracks. Check out two of my current favourites below:

The digital album is available alongside a smorgasbord of extras, from guitar picks and buttons to custom records and lifetime discount coupons. It’s essentially a Kickstarter campaign run through Bandcamp, which is great news for all of you (us) nerdy Bandcamp collectors. Head to the Other Songs Music Co. Bandcamp page to order.

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Tracklist:

1. Kids Will Be Kids – Praything
2. Do You Have Romantic Courage – Hallelujah The Hills
3. The Shore And The Coastline – Now Wakes The Sea
4. The Corrections – Alphabetical Order Orchestra
5. Give Me Time – Roo & The Howl
6. To Remember – City States
7. Vow – Sales
8. In The Rain – Cut Ribbons
9. Feel What – Jacques Greene
10. Down On My Luck – Vic Mensa
11. Greater Than – Sharpless
12. Tennis Court (Flume Remix) – Lorde
13. Warehouses – Kane Ikin
14. Wild Geese – Small Sur
15. Youth – Best Wishes
16. Early Morning – Eagle Lake Owls
17. Dust To Settle – Rough River
18. Slow Down – Scott Orr
19. Gray Lodge Wisdom – Will Stratton
20. Brother, Do You Know The Road? – Hiss Golden Messenger
21. Something Like That – Wolf Collage
22. Muscle and Bone – John Joseph Brill
23. All Your Promises – Jesse Marchant
24. Echo Tropism – Inventions
25. Veiled Grey – Christian Löffler
26. All I Want – Dawn Golden

If you missed them, we have such mixes for January, February, March and April too.

May Mix from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

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William Thomas Lawrence – Doghouse of Yer Dreams

First we have some laid back summery vibes from New York’s William Thomas Lawrence. I can’t find much info on him, but he has just released an album called Doghouse of Yer Dreams and it’s great. You can get it via Bandcamp for just $4, so what are you waiting for?

Tyler Childers – Live on Red Barn Radio II

Tyler Childers is a 22 year old singer-songwriter from Eastern Kentucky. He makes classic, country-inflected folk songs which will appeal to fans of Joe Pug and John Moreland. His latest EP is a four song live recording on Kentucky’s Red Barn Radio programme. The EP opens with two covers, one a traditional song by Utah Phillips, and the other originally by John R. Miller. There are then two of Childers’s own tracks, one of which I have embedded for you listening pleasure below:

Eagle Lake Owls – Eagle Lake Owls

Next up is the brand new self-titled EP by Winnipeg’s Eagle Lake Owls. The band promise “folk songs about small town life, long winters and endless summers, filtered through a dusty car window”, and that’s pretty much what we get here. Their sound has a dash of Bowerbirds, a splash of John K. Samson and a sprinkling of the Rural Alberta Advantage. I like it a lot. My current favourite track is ‘Tall Grass Dance’, but it’s all really good. Check out ‘Sunday Morning’ below:

You can buy the EP via the band’s Bandcamp page

Small Sur – Wild Geese

Small Sur have released a brand new 7” single as part of this great feature courtesy of Singles Club. Singles Club run a subscription service, so you send some cash and they send four great records (from four different artists). Hit the play button and read the interview with lead man Bob Keal, complete with some really nice photography.

Also, if you’re not familiar with Small Sur, what are you doing?? Check out our review for the last album Labor, and then buy all their records.

Hiss Golden Messenger – Brother, Do You Know The Road?

This lovely slow-burner has been released by Merge Records in anticipation of Hiss Golden Messenger’s upcoming LP. The song won’t feature on the album though, as despite featuring in their live set, it is apparently something of a misfit. It’s a good thing it is seeing the light of day though, even for the refrain alone:  ‘And though the storm’s passed over/And the sun is in its place/Oh, it took a long time/And the rain, how I know it.’

Scott Orr – A Long Life

More than a little late on this one but Scott Orr released an acoustic album back in January that is gentle and mournful and lovely. Released on Other Songs Music Company, you can grab it here.

Best Wishes – Best Wishes EP

Finally, another (newer) release from Scott Orr. Best Wishes sees Orr team up with friends Eric Fusilier and Matt Henderson to produce a rocky, shoegazy collection of songs, a departure from his sparse fingerpicked solo material. Again out on Other Songs, you can buy it here.

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Head over to Bandcamp to buy a CD of the album for $10 CAD (£6.25), which is more than worth it just for the lovely artwork (some hasty research shows it to be an oil painting by Rockwell Kent that was completed around 1925). The album is also available for download for $8 CAD (£5 – which is a steal).

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