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.”
Here’s a track from The Third Eye Center, a collection of previously unreleased tracks Belle and Sebastian put out in 2013.
This is a mostly forgettable collection. There’s a reason these songs weren’t put on official album released in the first place. But it’s worth a listen for completists.
I’m temporarily pausing Random Weekends in order to offer up a quick, completely spoiler-free appreciation of Avengers: Endgame, which opened yesterday.
Directors Joe and Anthony Russo, with screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, have delivered what may be the best Marvel movie yet, one that builds on the careful world-building and character development of the series’ previous 21 films. Pop culture has never seen a project of this scale and magnitude executed over so long a period of time, let alone one that sticks the landing this effectively.
Meet Me In Montauk 