Quick Picks | May 2023

Quick Picks

Album | EP | Single

The Sound Cafe Rating

5 star = essential, 4 star = excellent, 3 star = good, 2 = fans/collectors, 1 = for completionists only

Matthew Holtby: Big Mouth (Single & Video)

Matthew Holtby, hailing from Warkworth, Ontario, Canada, has been honing his craft as a songwriter and performer for nearly two decades, producing original and emotive music that strikes a chord with audiences. Holtby is excited to announce his latest single, “Big Mouth.”

www.matthewholtbymusic.com

Cinder Well: Cadence (Album)

Oceans flow through the centre of Cinder Well’s music. Cadence, the new album from Amelia Baker’s experimental folk project, drifts between two far-flung seas: the hazy California coast where she grew up, and the wind-torn swells of Western Ireland that she’s come to love.

cinderwellmusic.com

Jen Miller: Throw Me In The Lake (Single)

Jen Miller found her passion for songwriting and producing at Grammy-winning House Studios and began developing her unique sound as an artist. She’s shared the stage from Ohio to Edinburgh with Twenty One Pilots, Ed Sheeran, Passenger, Young the Giant, and Shovels & Rope, and her music has been featured in the Washington Post, NPR, Women’s Health, and Modern Luxury.

https://jenmillermusic.com/

Morganway: Back To Zero (Album)

Back To Zero – an album captured over a wild period in the band’s recent history. Writing and recording took place during 2020s lockdowns and then later fitted around a relentless touring schedule; from forced resets and sudden restarts, its title track served as an appropriate name for the latest body of work from this resilient band.

www.morganway.co.uk

Leroy From The North: Toughen Up (Album)

Toughen Up is a soundtrack for road trips with the radio cranked high, the FM dial caught somewhere between the country and classic rock stations, the sounds from both channels bleeding together into some new frequency. It's a sound rooted in California cool and old-school southern stomp, like a velour tracksuit with a cowboy hat. Some people call it Americana. Others call it country rock. Leroy From The North just calls it music.

Although not out until June, the band are already on the road promoting the release.

www.leroyfromthenorth.com

Damian Lewis!: Mission Creep (Album)

Damian Lewis’s debut album, entitled Mission Creep, will be released on 16th June, with his first single, the soulful "Down on the Bowery", out now. Mission Creep is a thoughtful collection of rootsy, rock and jazz-tinged songs that reveals a deep love of music, and a deep need to communicate.

www.damian-lewis.com

Ears of the People: Ekonting Songs from Senegal and Gambia (Album)

The first album of West African ekonting music, Ears of the People: Ekonting Songs from Senegal and Gambia is a testament to the endurance of music and tradition across the gulf of centuries and some of the most brutal history imaginable. It’s also a showcase for living traditions in West Africa, and for the wealth of stories and beauty that a humble, handmade instrument can hold.

smithsonianfolkways.bandcamp.com/album/ears-of-the-people

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Quick Picks For June 2020