This week’s new music comes from Bell Biv DeVoe, Train, and more. Look for them on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon this Friday.
This week, we’ve got some great comebacks and new releases from long-standing artists as well as a few new ones.
Bell Biv Devoe, Three Stripes
Yes, they’re back. It’s been 15 years since Bell Biv DeVoe released a new album, but Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, and Ronnie DeVoe have still got it. And with The New Edition Story airing on BET this week, the timing is perfect. Bell Biv DeVoe are just as smooth as they were in the 90s, but with a modern spin that proves they’ve only gotten better with age. With Three Stripes, Bell Biv DeVoe will be bringing their career into the 21st century.
Tracklist:
1. Ready (feat. Doug E. Fresh)
2. Find a Way
3. I’m Betta
4. Hot Damn
5. Run
6. All Dat There
7. Don’t Go
8. Finally (feat. SWV)
9. One More Try (feat. Boyz II Men)
10. Incredible
Cloud Nothings, Life Without Sound
Cloud Nothings, the indie rock band from Cleveland, will release their fifth album this Friday, titled Life Without Sound. Vocalist and founder Dylan Baldi described the album as his version of new music, adding that “it’s supposed to be inspiring.” Life Without Sound was recorded with producer John Goodmanson, known for his work with Sleater-Kinney. It’s the first album on which Cloud Nothings’ new guitarist, Chris Brown, will appear. For now, the entire album is available for streaming on Hype Machine.
Tracklist:
1. Up To The Surface
2. Things Are Right With You
3. Internal World
4. Darkened Rings
5. Enter Entirely
6. Modern Act
7. Sight Unseen
8. Strange Year
9. Realize My Fate
Julie Byrne, Not Even Happiness
New York-based folk singer Julie Byrne releases her second album, Not Even Happiness, this Friday. Byrne brings back her soothing, uncomplicated vocals accompanied by soft guitar accompaniments. Much of the album’s tracks were inspired by her travels during a recent two-month tour. In an interview with NPR, Byrne describes a stay in Boulder that inspired the single, “Natural Blue.”. She speaks of staying at the foothills of the Rockies and passing through a town that had been wrecked by recent storms. The morning after an all-night party, Byrne stepped outside and gazed at the Colorado sky. “At that time in my life, I had given up home in service of something I longed for and there was a real freedom in knowing that no place waited for me,” she said. “I lived where I stood at that moment and I traveled thousands of miles with that longing as my guide.” Not Even Happiness is also available to stream on Hype Machine.
Tracklist:
1. Follow My Voice
2. Sleepwalker
3. Melting Grid
4. Natural Blue
5. Interlude
6. Morning Dove
7. All The Land Glimmered
8. Sea As It Glides
9. I Live Now As A Singer
P.O.S., Chill, dummy
Stefon Alexander, also known as P.O.S., is releasing his fifth full album, Chill, dummy, on Doomtree Records. It’s the rapper’s first album since he underwent emergency surgery in 2012 that led to a kidney transplant two years later. Alexander kept up his tradition of working with other artists, and Chill, dummy has an impressive list of collaborations. Among them are Justin Vernon, Kathleen Hanna, Allan Kingdom, Open Mike Eagle, and Busdriver. P.O.S. blends rap with punk, rock, and a bit of electronic with hard-hitting rhymes. In spite of being nearly nine minutes long, the track titled “sleepdrone/superstition” is outstanding. The much shorter first single, “Lanes,” is intense and unforgettable.
Tracklist:
1. Born A Snake
2. Wearing A Bear
3. Bully
4. Faded
5. Pieces/Ruins
6. Get Ate
7. Roddy Piper
8. Thieves/Kings
9. Infinite Scroll
10. Lanes
11. Gravedigger
12. sleepdrone/superposition
Train, a girl a bottle a boat
Train is releasing their eighth album which also happens to be their first album without founding member and lead guitarist Jimmy Stafford. Frontman Pat Monahan called the album, titled a girl a bottle a boat, “the most fun and fulfilling of all the Train albums.” The first single from the new album, “Play That Song,” is already in rotation as the band has performed it live during several appearances. It’s an upbeat song that uses the same melody as the piano classic “Heart and Soul.” It’s as catchy as Train’s big hit, “Hey, Soul Sister.”
Tracklist:
1. Drink Up
2. Play That Song
3. The News
4. Lottery
5. Working Girl
6. Silver Dollar
7. Valentine
8. What Good is Saturday
9. Loverman (feat. Priscilla Renea)
10. Lost and Found
11. You Better Believe
