New Music Friday: 13th Floor New Album Picks: May 19, 2023

New Music Friday is here and there’s a new Paul Simon album out today. There are plenty of other musical delights for your consideration. Here are five new albums we think should check out.

The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda has chosen these 5 new albums for your consideration released today:
  1. Paul SimonPaul SimonSeven Psalms (Legacy) Simon’s 15th solo album and first new material since 2016. The album consists of one 33 minute track, 7 ‘pieces’ meant to be heard as a single listening experience. Its a mostly solo acoustic affair with a little help from Wynton Marsalis and Edie Brickell.

2.Robert Ellis Robert EllisYesterday’s News (Love Police) Ellis’ new album is another study in quiet beauty. Say’s Robert, “I’ve spent my entire career trying to make records that I thought would be ‘exciting’ to other people,” said Ellis, “but the albums I’ve always been most drawn to are small and gentle and soft. The more I sat with these new songs, the more I realized that their stillness was their strength.” Watch the 13th Floor interview with Robert Ellis here. 

3. Coast ArcadeCoast ArcadeNext To Me (Lil Sister) At least one Kiwi band is releasing new music today!  “I think this EP is an insight into where we’re at currently – a band of four friends who are 17-19 years old – and will be cool to look back on,” says Bella Bavin (vocals & guitar). “The meanings behind each song vary from struggling friendships, love, a reflection on yourself and trying to find your way as a young person in the world today.  I feel like these are ideas relevant to anyone but specifically kids our age.”

4.Milk Carton Kids The Milk Carton KidsI Only See The Moon (Thirty Tigers) Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan chime in with their own songs of quiet beauty. “Both of us have now lived enough life to understand that maybe one of the purposes we were put on Earth for is to sing together, to write songs together, to make music together,” Pattengale says. Ryan adds that the musical partnership is “like a successful marriage” that neither musician has ever taken for granted.

5. The RefugeesThe RefugeesCalifornia (Wabuho) Nothing wrong with a little shameless nostalgia. Wendy Waldman, Cidny Bullens and Deborah Holland combine their voices to sing California classics like Sail On Sailor, Monday Monday and Sin City. Watch the 13th Floor interview with all three of them here.