INDISPENSABLE NEW MUSIC PICKS
August 2022
Kristine England
August 31, 2022 at 4:00:00 PM
Kyle Kidd
Soothsayer
Deep in the first Covid winter, Kidd was fighting off depression and enlisted the help of fellow Mourning [A] BLKstar collective member, bassist (and co-founder) R.A. Washington. After a week in the studio, the two had crafted a draft of Kidd’s solo debut, Soothsayer. Featuring Kidd’s haunting vocals, Cleveland Magazine notes “the record reads like a diary, raw and without a censure…”
FEATURED TRACK: “Scars Alight”
Windhand
Live At Levitation
Doom metal band Windhand hail from Richmond, VA has released a live studio recording with songs spanning its 14 years together. They call their sound “heavy psychedelic,” but whatever label you want to apply, it’s powerful music. Recorded at Levitation in 2020, the set has been released as a double vinyl LP set along with a digital version.
FEATURED: Full Session
Amythyst Kiah
Pensive Pop
To call Kiah’s latest a collection of covers does a disservice to the singer-songwriter. She truly reinvents each song, including an acoustic rendition of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” as well as Katy Perry’s “Chained To The Rhythm, and Tori Amos’s Sugar reimagined as a synth-laden rocker. Her performance of Green Day’s “Hitchin’ A Ride” is powerful and haunting. You’d never guess someone else wrote it.
FEATURED TRACK: “Hitchin’ A Ride”
Russian Circles
Gnosis
Russian Circles is an instrumental metal trio from Chicago. The pandemic period presented the group with an unusual opportunity to create its next record in a unique way. Working separately in home studios, the band members brought fully realized compositions to the studio together once it was time to lay down the tracks. “As dauntless as it is electrifying, Gnosis is also efficient and lean…” (Pitchfork)
FEATURED TRACK: "Gnosis"
Muse
Will of the People
Muse is back with its ninth record, a dark and dystopian concept album that NME calls “their best music in years…Bellamy’s ire here locks in step with a growing public mood, bubbling with a very relatable anger toward those who stand in the way of us tackling humanity’s overwhelming crises.”
FEATURED TRACK: "Will of the People"