At long last, today marks the release of Father of the Bride, Vampire Weekend’s fourth studio album. This is one of my most anticipated records of the year given the band’s stellar track record to date.
Early song releases have been promising, though a few of them were more like filler than actual songs. That’s fine with me. I don’t like hearing much of an album before I can hear the whole thing.
On a recent trip down a YouTube rabbit hole, I stumbled across this clip from the rehearsals of the 2017 hit musical The Greatest Showman. I’m surprised I haven’t encountered it before as it has amassed more than 40 million views already.
Apparently this was a presentation to the studio brass, the first time the cast had performed any of the songs for somebody outside of their inner circle. Keala Settle, who plays the bearded lady, was incredibly nervous about singing the film’s signature tune, ‘This is Me,’ in that setting.
Yesterday I wrote about the impressive debut album by Jade Bird. Two years ago, El Paso-based singer-songwriter Khalid put out an even better one in American Teen.
That album was fresh and exciting and sounded like nothing else I’d ever heard, due to Khalid’s youthful perspective (he was 17 at the time), his low-key delivery, and sparse, lovely musical landscapes.
I’m pretty sure Lizzo is going to be a big star. I don’t know if that’s true for Jade Bird, but she absolutely deserves it.
Bird is a 21-year-old English singer-songwriter whose self-titled debut album dropped just last week. She is the sole songwriter on every track, which vary from gentle piano ballads to country-folk songs to blues-rock jams. Her gritty vocals sound like they could come from somebody twice her age.
If you haven’t heard of Lizzo yet, that’s about to change. The Houston-based rapper/singer/flautist just released her third album, Cuz I Love You, and pop culture has finally caught up with her unique brand of sass, humor and positivity. And once you’re exposed to her infectious personality, it’s hard to look away.
I first heard about Lizzo late last year when my daughter started working her songs into her ‘family drive’ playlists. The opening line of one song, ‘Truth Hurts,’ sums up the funny, frank style that makes Lizzo so refreshing: “I just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100% that bitch.”
Meet Me In Montauk 