Sometimes i jump the gun on putting albums into the Playlist/Album folder on our family-shared Drive. (I generate a playlist for each year–mostly my own selections but with input or feedback from others.) On some days every bit of music i hear sounds fantastic and on others everything sounds flawed, not quite good enough.
So, at the risk of finding out i’ve just had one of those all-good days, i’ve uploaded two albums in rapid succession that seem to highly warrant more than one listen. I would not add albums if i didn’t think the music itself has something to offer–perhaps not always beautiful but maybe new or different in one way or another–but these two achievements combine musical and lyrical invention in intensely personal, emotional ways. They also make a serendipitous, fascinating pair because they each address very pertinent social/political topics, different in obvious ways but similar in their ultimate focus on what’s most personal and integral and important to us humans. I’m not sure how much these two artists have in common personally or professionally, but that doesn’t mean both can’t move us.
FOREVER, YA GIRL is a long-time-coming first album by KeiyaA, a triumph of personal and musical perseverance by an artist that it seems both Chicago and New York now want to call their own. It was released in March but it addresses so many issues which are now causing fires and rioting in the wake of George Lloyd’s murder, with almost eerie specificity (“get your boot off my neck, so we can both progress…”). While the album is directed towards issues of being a black woman (in America), it ultimately deals with universal issues such as coping with loneliness or finding one’s own strength and purpose; in doing so it also becomes especially relevant during a time of isolation for so many. There’s also a nice touch of humor in the album!
ISLAND is just out from Owen Pallett. This work is largely a specific, introspective response to Life in the Time of Virus. The video for the lead single, A Bloody Morning, was shot during quarantine following social distancing rules and is receiving praise for brilliant realization or integration of music and visuals. This is Pallett’s first solo album in six years and it’s not a continuation of the looping he was doing before (which i, for one, loved–but so did Brian Eno!). Here he’s generally working with a live orchestra or fellow musicians–in Abbey Road studios, no less. The chapter structure of the album is interesting, and somehow makes listening sense. I was struck by one reviewer’s accurate comment (at clashmusic.com) that the instrumental numbers are the most emotionally powerful ones–just one of the things that makes me want to go back for another ear-spin.