"Material Flats"
Bethany Thomas & Tawny Newsome
Fine Alpinist Records
Bethany Thomas and Tawny Newsome have been singing together for 15 years, and are released "Material Flats," their debut(ish) album together, on Oct. 9. Blending garage-punk, soulfully sung folk and influences as diverse as Talking Heads, The Pixies, Bonnie Raitt and Billy Preston, the album is a now-or-never plunge into the unknown with two performers who've been everywhere else. Born out of the pandemic, protests and a fierce desire to learn to do things for themselves, "Material Flats" is a chance for them to lead together.
The album's eight tracks explore themes of isolation, unrest, self-realization and reassessing one's surroundings, which are certainly prevalent during any era but were not ignorable and easily synthesized while Newsome and Thomas wrote/recorded.
"Dream Violence"
Michael Beach
Goner Records
Michael Beach is an architect of a sound that's both well-built and ramshackle, straightforward and indeterminably complex, out of the norm yet familiar in all the best ways. The Australian sing-songwriter released new album, "Dream Violence," March 19, which explores the duality of the human condition. It encapsulates human futility, passion, desire, anger, frustration and the struggle to maintain hope in a somewhat hopeless time.
"Dream Violence" unfolds like a revelation, filled with sonic tumbleweeds that reference myriad influences where Beach distills the best of his early albums and adds sharpened intent.
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This spot will continue to be filled by news and reviews of new albums, both local and national. Send information about your new releases to Jocelyn Murphy at [email protected].
