New Music Friday: 13th Floor New Album Picks: March 3, 2023

New Music Friday is here again. The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda presents this week’s 5 new albums for your consideration including three Kiwi artists!

Count ’em, three! The Loving Arms, Tattletale Saints and The Veils all have new albums out today!

The Veils – And Out Of The Void Came Love (Grapefruit Records)

It’s been seven strange years since The Veils’ last studio album Total Depravity, and Finn Andrews has a new double LP to show for it. …And Out Of The Void Came Love is the result of this tumultuous period of injury, isolation and new life…  Quoting Finn, it sounds like we’re in for a fun album: “I speak to the darkness and I vent to the void I fill in the sad bits with the parts I enjoyed” Watch the 13th Floor interview with Finn Andrews here.

The Loving Arms – Dreaming Over You (Ghost Records)

Former Ghost Town and Dean Savage members make up this Tāmaki Makaurau quintet serve up a distinctly Antipodean take on alt-country-soul, and their audiences revel in it: they’ve played to adoring houses at Anthology Lounge, Freida Margolis and the Pumphouse, just to name a few. If ‘Best Kept Secret’ was a genre then The Loving Arms are that. Watch for a Loving Arms interview soon!

Tattletale Saints – In the Summertime (Self released)

Expat Americana duo Tattletale Saints return home in March to celebrate the release of their new album, In the Summertime. On the 2023 release, Cy Winstanley (vocals/guitar) and Vanessa McGowan (vocals/bass) dive deep into old set lists, with fresh takes of everything from old country traditionals and bluegrass to reggae and 70’s pop.  Quoting Vanessa: “I’m still not as confident about singing as playing bass, but it’s become something I really enjoy doing and I’m grateful Cy pushed me to try it. Recording this cover of Wayfaring Stranger gave me an opportunity to lean into the fragility of my vocal tone and the emotion of the lyric.” Click here to watch the 13th Floor Interview with Tattletale Saints.

Morgan Wallen – One thing at a Time (Big Loud Records)

With over 12.3 billion on-demand streams, multi-platinum certifications and seven chart-toppers at Country radio, it’s no wonder The New Yorker dubbed Morgan Wallen “the most wanted man in country.” Opening with confessional “Born With A Beer In My Hand” and closing with poignant “Dying Man,” Wallen takes the listener on a very personal journey throughout the expansive project.. Quoting Morgan: “This record represents the last few years of my life, the highs and the lows, It also brings together the musical influences that have shaped me as an artist – country, alternative and hip-hop. There are 36 songs on this album because we just kept exploring with fresh lyrics, music and production ideas and these are the songs that felt right to me. It was a blast to create, and I was so grateful to be back in the studio to lay this out for my fans.

Marc Broussard – S.O.S. IV: BLUES FOR YOUR SOUL I(Joe Bonamassa’s blues label)

It’s hardly surprising that Marc Broussard would tap “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination,” a cover of a Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland soul standard, as the new single from his forthcoming studio album S.O.S. 4: Blues For Your Soul. Given his seminal roots in Louisiana and a distinctive southern sound mined from funk, blues, rock, and R&B — he easily conveys a similar sensibility while giving his own unique spin on this classic track penned by the legendary Gerry Goffin and Barry Goldberg. Quoting Marc: “He [Bland] was the first blues singer that I really responded to, that howl that Bland did, that bark that he does in his songs, really got me. His recordings are all up in my heart. I just have to dig into them to try to do them my own way, but I still listen to his music to get true inspiration for what a singer can share.”