New Mix: Shearwater, Lily & Madeleine, Eskimeaux, More
Clockwise from top: Eskimeaux, Kevin Morby, Lily & Madeleine, Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater Courtesy of the artists hide caption
On this week's All Songs, Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton share songs of power, protest and passion, including a cut from Shearwater's "angriest" record to date, the urgent rock of the Ukrainian band Phooey! and singer Kevin Morby's fervent if exasperated attempt to make sense of police violence.
Plus, we've got moments of pure beauty from the sister duo Lily & Madeleine, singer-songwriter and producer Gabrielle Smith, a.k.a. Eskimeaux. And resident Viking Lars Gotrich pays us a visit with deep cuts from Bandcamp.com, including the twee-pop group Naps, and Robin explains why he's certain he's really just a brain floating in a jar on Bob's desk.
Songs Featured On This Episode
01Power
Eskimeaux
- Song: Power
- from Year Of The Rabbit
Eskimeaux's O.K. was one of Bob Boilen's top three albums of 2015. Now this Brooklyn collective, led by Gabrielle Smith along with Emily Sprague (Florist) and Felix Walworth (Told Slant), has made a lovely pop song which opens unforgettably, with the lines, "Wish I could love you less like a praying mantis / Rip your head off every time this starts to feel right." Ah love!
Year Of The Rabbit will be released on April 15 by Double Double Whammy.
02Be Anything
Brass Bed
- Song: Be Anything
- from In The Yellow Leaf
In The Yellow Leaf is the follow up to Brass Bed's 2013 full-length The Secret Will Keep You, one of Robin Hilton's favorite albums of that year. On this cut, "Be Anything," frontman Jonny Campos considers what would happen if he called his late father's cell phone number.
In The Yellow Leaf will be released on April 15 by Modern Outsider.
Lily & Madeleine
- Song: Hotel Pool
- from Keep It Together
The harmonies from these Indiana-based sisters have always been outstanding. But now on their third album, Keep It Together, Lily and Madeleine have added more texture to their songs, with continued help from producer Paul Mahern.
Keep It Together will be out Feb. 26 on New West Records.
Kevin Morby
- Song: I Have Been To The Mountain
- from Singing Saw
Kevin Morby is best known for his work with the bands Woods and The Babies. On his solo debut for Dead Oceans, Singing Saw, he steps out with a powerful voice and bold sound. On this song he takes on all the reports of police violence from the past couple of years, particularly the frustration and hopelessness he felt in the Eric Garner case.
Singing Saw will be out April 15 on Dead Oceans.
04Your Fault
Phooey!
- Song: Your Fault
- from Girl Songs Part Two
Resident Viking Lars Gotrich digs deep into Bandcamp and brings back this cut from the Ukrainian rock band Phooey! Lars says it reminds him of the more accessible, psychedelic work of the Elephant Six Collective from the mid 1990s.
Girl Songs Part Two is out now.
01Social Skills
Naps
- Song: Social Skills
- from Social Skills
Another one of Lars Gotrich's Bandcamp discoveries, Naps is the all-too-perfect name of this twee-pop group from Tallahassee, Fla. "Social Skills" is a lovely, lilting ode to "a generation propped up on pills."
Naps' "Social Skills" single is out now.
Sunflower Bean
- Song: Space Exploration Disaster
- from Human Ceremony
Guitar excursions, great singing and a sense of humor is what Bob Boilen found in Sunflower Bean at a concert in 2014. Finally, the band's debut album has arrived and it delivers all of the above in eleven splendid bursts of pop guitar-driven songs.
Human Ceremony is out now on Fat Possum Records.
Shearwater
- Song: Filaments
- from Jet Plane And Oxbow
Shearwater frontman Jonathan Meiburg calls Jet Plane and Oxbow the band's "angriest" record to date, with songs of protest against greed, corruption and widespread apathy for a collapsing planet.
Jet Plane and Oxbow is out now on Sub Pop Records.