As the end of the month of November sets in, and all the way past Christmas and New Year’s Eve holidays, there’s a definite lull in new releases, as if the music gold rush for that year has petered out and the one for the upcoming year hasn’t really begun yet. Practically no new singles or albums…
What the listeners are left with is to sift through their collections or playlists to find something that might interest them or something they love.
These days Spotify users are bound to find it hard to find songs from Neil Young, the man who recorded ‘After The Gold Rush, that all-time classic album. Yet, some versions of that absolutely brilliant title song just creep in anyway, his or by (31) other artists, some of them like the one by the seventies British folkers Prelude, quite brilliant themselves.
Allen Epley - Everything
Epley is the frontman of Shiner, but here, on one of his solo efforts he tries to start the 2023 musical gold rush by latching himself to that late sixties, early seventies AM radio sound, and he does that to quite a good effect.
Dave Herrera - Sunday Chapel
This is also the time of the year when seasonal songs abound, but quite a few are more or less something that can be called run-of-the-mill. Country artist Dave Herrera though catches the spiritual element here without getting corny and some excellent harmonies to boot.
Fantastic Negrito - Highest Bidder
Fantastic Negrito is starting to make some serious waves with his eclectic approach to music, and with this mainly acoustic soulful song from his forthcoming album, he just might start that gold rush all over gain
Will Epstein - Oyster Bay
Epstein will be a new name to quite a few listeners, but with this soul-tinged pop from his forthcoming album of the same name he just might attract the attention his somewhat left-field approach to pop really deserves.
Tape Runs Out - Souvenir
This quartet is a newcomer too, with their debut album around the corner, but they don’t seem to be afraid to go the pop-rock way with some solid energy and good melody(ies).
Jill Barber - Homemaker
Jill Barber is one more artist in the long line of upcoming singer-songwriters, who is not afraid to devote this quiet, sentimental track to her parents without going into the ‘too sweet territory.” A very hard thing to do, indeed.
Polobi & the Gwo Ka Masters - Kawmélito
These days, great new sounds coming from around the world are usually lumped under the tag of Afrobeat. Still, Polobi & the Gwo Ka Masters actually come from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. And their sound is a great (electronic and acoustic) take on the Caribbean musical traditions
Cat Clyde - I Feel It
This Canadian singer-songwriter prefers her piano to acoustic guitar here. Either way, just a solo instrument and vocals (and just a few embellishments) can often be quite a slippery territory, but Clyde glides through here, admirably. Definitely with a feel.