New Music Friday: 13th Floor New Album Picks: June 16, 2023
New Music Friday is here once again. Some crusty old veterans come out of the woodwork to make new music once more. Here are the five new albums that we think deserve your attention.
Sure, there’s a new Queens Of The Stone Age album out today. But here are Marty’s picks for your discerning ears:
John Mellencamp – Orpheus Descending (Republic) It’s the 25th album from Mr. Mellencamp. Following last year’s acclaimed Strictly A One-Eyed Jack, Mellencamp is on a roll. One of his most personal records to date, standout tracks Hey God and The Eyes of Portland focus on social issues Mellencamp continues to passionately advocate for.
2. Pickle Darling – Laundromat (Father/Daughter) Pickle Darling is Christchurch artist Lukas Mayo who has this to say about the new album: “I wanted to capture the feeling of making music that’s out of step with everything around it,” they explain. “I wanted it to be a lot more immediate.” Mayo recorded a lot of Laundromat’s ideas onto their phone, giving themselves permission to allow those ideas to be the entire song.
3. Yusuf/Cat Stevens – King Of A Land (Cat-O-Log/BMG) Cat’s 17th album, Stevens began working on King of a Land way back in 2011, recording with longtime producer Paul Samwell-Smith in bits and pieces at studios in Berlin, Brussels, London, and the South of France. “Looking at the jagged journey of my music, beginning as I did in the 60’s, I would say this new record is a mosaic,” Stevens said in a statement. “A very clearly defined description of where I’ve been and who I am.” Features Kiwi bassist Bruce Lynch!
4. Bettye LaVette – LaVette! (Jay-Vee) The 77-year-old r&b veteran has this to say about her latest offering: “It began with me falling in love with the writing of Randall Bramblett. I was able to go forward because my producer Steve Jordan and his record label and team at Jay-Vee Records believed in it as well. I think it’s wonderful, and I’m thrilled about it. I hope that people will have more of an insight into me when they hear the lyrics because they are pretty much what I mean.”
5. 
The Teskey Brothers – The Winding Way (Glassnote) The group’s third album. “A classy record,” says Sam Teskey. And while it’s a more poised approach, each track is bursting with life in a way that simply can’t be denied. It’s a record that will sit comfortably amongst the songbook greats and propel The Teskey Brothers onwards to their inevitable place in the canon…or so they say.
