New Music Friday: 13th Floor New Album Picks: August 23, 2024

New Music Friday is upon us once more! Today we’ve got two new Kiwi releases for your consideration along with three others that might otherwise fall under the radar.

The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda picks these five new releases for your consideration:

1. Louisa Nicklin – The Big Sulk (self) Its the second album from this Auckland-based singer-songwriter who has performed with Dimmer and The Mermaidens. Indeed, none other than Shayne Carter is on board as producer. “This album is a development on what I’ve released previously,” Nicklin notes. “There’s more patience and consideration in these tracks; everything is very purposeful.” Watch for a 13th Floor interview with Louisa in the very near future.

2. Zed – Future Memory (August Avenue) 21 years after their second album, Zed finally comes up with album #3. ‘To get back in the studio with my musical brothers after all this time has been incredibly special,” said lead singer Nathan King. “The process of crafting and refining songs that we’ve all shared in creating has brought us closer together than ever before.” And yes, be on the lookout with Zed here at The 13th Floor…coming soon!

3. The Softies – The Bed I Made (Father/Daughter) Here’s another long-brewing reunion. Rose Melberg and Jen Sbragia first got together in 1994 and last released an album in 2000. 24 years later, here they are sounding as sweet as ever. The Softies sprang out of the Riot Grrrl movement and toured with Elliott Smith in 1996. You can hear all about those exciting times in the 90s and now when you check out The 13th Floor interview with both members of The Softies.

4. Malice K – Avanti (Jagjaguwar) Malice K is a New York-based project helmed by visual artist and songwriter Alex Konschuh. Alex moved from the West Coast to the East, lured by a major label deal which he ultimately turned down. Now, here he is on the much hipper Jagjaguwar.   AVANTI acts as a diary of the last two years of his life. The album title offers a double meaning, named for both the formative alternative performing arts high school Malice K attended and the Italian adverb, which, translated to English, means “to go forward.” Check out The 13th Floor interview with Malice K to get a keener insight on this unique artist. 

5. Gillian Welch, David Rawlings – Woodland (Acony) Last, but certainly not least on our New Music Friday rundown comes new music from Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Welch and Rawlings recorded their new album at their own Woodland Sound Studios in Nashville. “Woodland is at the heart of everything we do, and has been for the last 20 some years,” the folk artists said in a press statement. “The past four years were spent almost entirely within its walls, bringing it back to life after the 2020 tornado and making this record. The music is (songs are) a swirl of contradictions, emptiness, fullness, joy, grief, destruction, permanence. Now.”