The Regrettes have written a manual for living in these times. “That phrase, ‘further joy,’ summarized what it meant to be on the hamster wheel of constantly chasing happiness, but in turn, that’s what makes you unhappy.,” singer Lydia Night shares. The desire to break free of that cycle is what this album is all about, a joyous and self-aware soundtrack for those interested in what Lydia refers to as “dancing the pain away.”
Red Balloon was born out of a pandemic-ordered break from the band’s rigorous touring schedule. The hiatus gave the band space to grow, allowing them to reunite as a more unified group. This new work pushes the band to a new level, shedding light on their unique observations and reflecting on the ills of America while also celebrating the beauty of Black life.
Featuring the hit “Toxic,” which was on the U.S. & Global Viral Charts and reached the Top 10 at Alternative Radio, BoyWithUke’s new album, Serotonin Dreams, includes 11 tracks and features collaborations with blackbear, Powfu, and mxmtoon. BoyWithUke will embark on a global headline tour and is featured on Artists to Watch in 2022 lists including Sirius XM & Ones to Watch.
Hot on the heels of her recent 2022 Academy of Country Music Awards win for Entertainer of the Year, Miranda Lambert is set to release her ninth solo album, Palomino. Featuring the low-key, 70s rock-tinged "Strange," the album includes many influences such as Little Feat, Bruce Hornsby, the Range and Emmylou Harris.
Wade’s full-length debut Reckless is a confident rock-and-roll record that introduces a young singer-songwriter who is embracing her strengths and quirks as she continues to ask questions about who she is, and who she wants to be. Her voice, a two-ton barbell raspy soprano that can soothe liltingly or growl, is on brilliant display. Double vinyl pressing.
Bill Withers' "Lovely Day" and The Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun" are expertly reimagined here, with classic standards "Waters Of March" and "Sorri" (a Portuguese take on "Smile") shining with the relaxed Bossa Nova feel that permeates the entire album. Herb Alpert co-produces and lends his unmistakable trumpet to the proceedings as well. Seasons Of Love is a can't miss effort from one of music's most enduring voices.
On her new album In Real Life, Mandy Moore shares a window into her world and all that illuminates it: the quiet heartaches and ineffable joys, crushing setbacks and life-changing leaps of faith. The Los Angeles-based artist’s seventh full-length brings a new level of self-possession to her songwriting, imbuing each track with both detailed storytelling and lucid self-reflection.
Eli 'Paperboy' Reed pays homage to country legend Merle Haggard by putting a soulful spin on some classic tunes. Reed taps into all the heartache of Haggard's iconic catalog and channels it into explosive, high-octane performances that blur the lines of genre, geography, and race to reveal the common, distinctly American threads tying them all together.
Inspired by the desire for freedom that we all shared over the last 18 months-- the near-animalistic desperation to socialize, and a longing to dance again, Foxes pivoted the sonics to feed that escapism and create a record that simultaneously feels close to their euphoric, dancefloor-filling pop roots that brought us hits like "Let Go For Tonight" and "Youth," while still feeling completely fresh.
With Fierce Bliss, the legendary Rock And Roll Hall of Fame inductee has created a supremely lavish, warm and seductive slice of rock 'n' roll which provides an instant soundtrack whether on the freeway or in front of the fireplace. It’s destined to be the American rock 'n' roll classic album that speaks to millions of people and provides them with quality, power and good ol' goddamn comfort in these turbulent times.
For avid creators Bud and J.D., the shutdowns were a time to start planning and writing for the day that the studios would open again and what would emerge. Over the course of 2021, TheBoxmasters would record three new albums. A very personal album called Nothing Personal which is yet to be released, Christmas in California which was released in November of 2021 and Help...I'm Alive.
Nearly sixty years after they first played together, Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal reunite with an album of music from two Piedmont blues masters who have inspired them all their lives: Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.Featuring Taj Mahal on vocals, harmonica, guitar, and piano, Cooder on vocals, guitar, mandolin, and banjo, and JoachimCooder on drums and bass.
Cry Mfer is, true to the band's vision, a beautiful mess of different sounds, completely and effortlessly genreless. While a milieu of myriad styles, from folk to dance, the album's main through-line is truth, regardless of how much the expression thereof may hurt. It's a reaction against the self-seriousness that runs rampant throughout indie music. This is a punisher, to be sure, but it's also a banger.
These 12 tracks were sparked from Stephen McBean's curiosity for a wild expanse of cultural artifacts: Cronenberg, Disney Read-Along Records, early Pink Floyd, mid-career Gary Numan, John Carpenter movies, Ornette Coleman live videos. Featuring counterculture icons like Steven McDonald (Redd Kross) and Dale Crover (Melvins), Peacock Pools alchemize those obsessions into a body of work with its own enchanting power.
The Gods We Can Touch is an elegant and celestial but provocative album about shame, desire and morality, all seen through the narrative prism of Greek mythology. In each of the album's fifteen songs we meet a different god. Featuring lead single "Cure For Me," the album is ultimately "a celebration of being human, and what makes us human."
Dorothy Martin’s third studio album is the album she’s always wanted to make. Born from a sense of diving urgency, it’s their most bombastic rock n’ roll work yet. While their debut album was made on a combination of whiskey and heartbreak, Gifts was built on sobriety, health, and spiritualism, in a way that reverses the clichéd “good girl gone bad” narrative.
Spell 31 is the French Afro-Cuban twin sisters’ boldest offering yet, an antidote to apathy in a divided world. Ethereal, crystalized signature Ibeyi harmonies are fused with gospel, persuasive percussion, momentous deeply resonant bass, and electronic neo soul expressions, transporting us into a sublime rawness that is refined by Richard Russell's precise hand and synthesized into astonishing clarity.
Just Like That..., the lifetime Achievement Grammy Award winner’s first new studio album in six years, is both one of the most heartfelt and most daring works in her storied 51-year recording career. Raitt’s always-expressive singing is more soulful and nuanced than ever, while her songwriting achieves new levels of craft and sophistication.
The Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) is a national level organization comprised of the best independent record stores in America. CIMS was founded in 1995 with the goal of uniting like minded independent store owners, giving them a more powerful voice in the music industry. The stores that make up CIMS are all very different, but we share the same desires – to be the heart of our communities, to super-serve our customers, to support and develop artists, and to share our love of music.
For more information about CIMS and the stores in our organization, please visit cimsmusic.com or find us through social media with the #cimsmusic hashtag. And please remember to always shop local by supporting your neighborhood record store.
