New Music Friday: 13th Floor New Album Picks: March 21, 2025
With our big move (almost) complete, we resume our New Music Friday feature…how can we not when there is such a lot of fine music being released today…Japanese Breakfast, My Morning Jacket, Mim Jensen…the list goes on.
The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda picks these five new releases for your consideration:
- Japanese Breakfast – For Melancholy Brunettes (and sad women) (Dead Oceans) Our pick of the week is a beauty. For Melancholy Brunettes follows a transformative period in front woman Michelle Zauner’s life during which her GRAMMY nominated breakthrough album Jubilee and her bestselling memoir Crying In H Mart catapulted her into the cultural mainstream. “I felt seduced by getting what I always wanted,” she says. “I was flying too close to the sun, and I realized if I kept going I was going to die.” Instead she made this record and be sure to catch Japanese Breakfast in concert. Coming to NZ soon!
2. My Morning Jacket – is (ATO) The 10th studio album from this veteran band and first to be produced by an outsider. Jim Jones has handed over the production duties to Brendan O’Brien who has worked with Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Rage Against The Machine...among many others. The band explores new musical terrain, so be advised. And be sure to check out The 13th Floor MusicTalk Interview with MMJ’s Carl Broemel.
3. Mim Jensen – Shadow Of A Gift EP (Self) A stunning young Kiwi talent, Mim Jensen boldly showcases her vulnerability through her beautiful music and finely-crafted lyrics. With her fearless ability to do emotional deep-dives. The EP title refers to shining light on the dark parts for the ‘gift’ to reveal itself, and how everything we experience is interconnected and an integral part of the process. Jensen explains: “A huge part of healing involves being brave enough to go to those dark places, but the irony is that the darkness isn’t good or bad, it is simply parts yet to be welcomed with love. If you flip Shadow Of The Gift, it reads Gift of the Shadow – a non-dualistic portrayal being the essence of this body of work. It means so much to me, and I can’t wait for her to be yours!” Click here to read the 13th Floor EP review.
4. Lonnie Holley – Tonky (Jagjaguwar) Tonky is produced by Jacknife Lee and features Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse), Angel Bat Dawid, Jesca Hoop, Mary Lattimore, Alabaster de Plume, Saul Williams, Billy Woods and more. Tonky is an album that takes its name from a childhood nickname that was affixed to Holley when he lived a portion of his childhood life in a honky tonk. Lonnie Holley’s life of survival and endurance is one that required – and no doubt still requires – a kind of invention. An invention that is also rich and present in Holley’s songs, which are full and immersive on Tonky, an album that begins with its longest song, a nine minute, exhaustive marathon of a tune called “Seeds,” which begins with a single sparse sound and then expands. Watch for a 13th Floor MusicTalk interview with Lonnie coming soon!
5. David Ramirez – All The Not So Gentle Reminders (Blue Corn) All The Not So Gentle Reminders may be the most liberating album in Ramirez’s body of work. The album, the Austin-based songwriter’s sixth LP, is a creative revelation. “I love all the records I’ve made in the past,” says Ramirez. “But in making them, there was always the thought in the back of my mind of where and what it could get me… this time it was all about just the joy of making it, about having fun with it.” Watch for more David Ramirez coming on 13th Floor.
