The Detectorist: new songs I'm playing on February 11
Need some rays of light on this February day? I do. And this is what's breaking through the clouds.
Has it really been eight months since I posted one of these?
Strolling through the fields today with my headphones and my metal detector sweeping the earth, I found the following evidence of good things to come…
Leon Bridges, covering Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song”
I hope I never see the trailer for this Bob Marley movie again. But this is a lovely cover.
Little Simz, “Mood Swings”
I’ve never noticed just how much fun it is to say “mood swings mood swings mood swings….”
Iron and Wine, “You Never Know”
I’m delighted — and more than a little relieved — that this doesn’t sound like just another Iron and Wine song. There’s some surprising new creativity here.
Beth Gibbons, “Floating on a Moment”
Didn’t realize how much I’ve missed Gibbons until I heard her voice here. Can’t wait for her solo debut.
Elbow, “Audio Vertigo”
My favorite arena rock band going today has yet another big record coming out, and I can only hope that means a tour might bring them back to the U.S. (On Tteir last visit to Seattle, they gave one of the most joyous live shows I’ve ever seen.)
Is this album going to be full of songs that reference Hitchcock’s classic? The lyrics in this track suggest that might be the case!
Waxahatchee, “Right Back to It”
This is MJ Lenderman’s year. He has solo albums, he’s lead guitar for the indie rock juggernaut Wednesday, and here he is featured with Waxahatchee.
Paramore, covering Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House”
I’m looking forward to this tribute album. I suspect David Byrne will love the most ambitious and experimental of the covers that show up there. This one? It’s fun, but it’s best when it innovates a little.
Kasey Musgraves, “Deeper Well”
Is this song a reference to Emmylou Harris’s “Deeper Well”? The lyrics make me think that could be the case. The wisdom in these lyrics makes me curious. I’ve admired Musgraves’ songs in the past, but this song makes me think this could be the record that makes me a fan.
Maggie Rogers, “Don’t Forget Me”
“When it comes down to it, our memories and relationships are all we have. I don’t have a lot of asks, but I want my time spent on this earth to add up to something. For it all to be worth it in the end.
“I think remembering someone can be the greatest form of loving because when we remember, the love lives on. When I’m standing at the end of my life, I hope a lifetime of accumulated love is what I’m left with.” — Maggie Rogers in Rolling Stone
The Black Keys, cover of William Bell’s “I Forgot to Be Your Lover”
The Black Keys’ new album Ohio Players arrives April 5, and a new documentary about them — This Is a Film About the Black Keys — is scheduled to screen at South by Southwest.
Helado Negro, “Colores Del Mar”
Thanks to my friend and colleague Dr. Traynor Hansen (on Substack as The Public Romanticist) for walking into my office and recommending this warm bath of sound while already wearing a t-shirt with this album cover on it! That’s some persuasive and even aggressive promotion!
Let’s close with this summons to women across America… as an election year drags our democracy to the edge of an abyss.
Aoife O’Donovan, “Daughter”
There are those who are willing to vilify
Their sisters ‘cross the land — they declare them too quick to cry
Saying don’t trust them with the privilege
Don’t even try
Will we ever be ready for a victory?
Or sit and watch the country as it bleeds?
The enemies of our cause they try to stop us
But before the vote is won,
We can’t leave the fight to the daughters of our daughters
So we go into the fray, shoulders bare, feel the fire and liberate.