Brian Q. Newcomb 
Adia VictoriaA Southern GothicCanvasback Music [2021] The third album from Nashville-based singer/songwriter Adia Victoria, A Southern Gothic embodies everything that title suggests. Vibrating thanks to the deconstructive approach of executive producer T Bone Burnett, Victoria sings through her stories of life in a geography haunted by what the Oxford Encyclopedia describes as the paradox of … Read more
Dion Stomping GroundKeeping The Blues Alive Records [2021] It was quite a surprise in 2020 when the then 80 year old Dion Dimucci, who had pop radio hits in the late 50’s with his street-corner harmony crew, the Belmonts, and solo rock & roll classics like “Runaround Sue” and “The Wanderer,” showed up with a … Read more
ElbowFlying Dream 1Polydor Records [2021] The ninth studio album from acclaimed British band, Elbow, has the gentle, dreamy feel of a long, reflective quarantine nap. Largely composed separately, the band came together for more fully realized recording sessions at Brighton’s Theatre Royal, left empty due to the pandemic. Absent are the big, bombastic anthems of … Read more
Snail MailValentineMatador Records [2021] As the “best of year” lists – here at The Fire Note, and everywhere music fans and music critics connect – 2021 may have been a rough year due to the pandemic, but it was a great year for new music. At year’s end we saw a flurry of new releases, … Read more
Liam KazarDue NorthWoodsist Records [2021] Before moving to Kansas City in 2019, Liam Kazar had built a hefty reputation around Chicago as a band member, dating back to work with the band Kids These Days, and more recently as support player with a variety of local artists, from Tweedy (Wilco leader Jeff Tweedy with his … Read more
HushdropsThe StaticPravda Records [2021] Chicago-band, Hushdrops, are considered a supergroup around those parts, the trio perhaps better known for the folk they support in other settings. Guitarist and vocalist John San Jaun has played with Material Issue, Josh Caterer, The Webb Bros. and more, bassist Jim Shapiro was the original drummer with Veruca Salt, where … Read more
Aimee MannQueens Of The Summer HotelSuperEgo [2021] Over the course of her nearly 40 year career, Aimee Mann has pretty much done it all. In the 80’s she led the new wave band ‘Til Tuesday, composing their biggest hit, “Voices Carry,” and even sang a rare duet with Rush’s Geddy Lee. When she went solo, … Read more
Damon AlbarnThe Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream FlowsTransgressive Records [2021] In many ways, Damon Albarn’s official second solo album is as influenced by his physical surroundings in Iceland, as his early breakthrough albums with the band Blur – Modern Life Is Rubbish, Parklife, and The Great Escape – offered a window into the … Read more
Robert Plant | Alison KraussRaising The RoofRounder Records [2021] The huge success created by the first collaboration by Led Zep rock howler Robert Plant and Americana/bluegrass darling of the Grand Ol’ Opry Alison Krauss was so counterintuitive that once they’d picked up their 6th Grammy Award for Raising Sand, “Album of the Year” for 2008,” … Read more
Gary Clark Jr.: Express LIVE; Columbus, OH; Tuesday, November 9, 2021 Before the lights went down and Gary Clark Jr. led his band to the stage of Express LIVE in Columbus on Tuesday night, it became clear as the roadies were setting tuned guitars into stands, turning on the guitar amps, checking levels on drums, etc., … Read more
Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De AugustineA Beginner’s MindAsthmatic Kitty Records [2021] Just as Sufjan Stevens turned to video game culture to inspire the music of his triumphant 2020 release, The Ascension, often echoing the genre’s use of electronic sounds and fast beats, here in collaboration with Angelo de Augustine, they turn to a variety of … Read more
Courtney BarnettThings Take Time, Take TimeMilk!/Mom+Pop Music/Marathon Artists [2021] Aussie indie/rock singer/songwriter Courtney Barnett’s third album, Things Take Time, Take Time, is the kind of intimate reflection on the small moments that combine to give shape to a person’s life that you might expect coming out of a pandemic lockdown. The chorus of “Rae Street,” … Read more
Laura Jane GraceAt War With The Silverfish (EP)Polyvinyl Records [2021] By now fans of Laura Jane Grace are well acquainted with her transitional journey, the physcial culmination of her songs on Against Me!’s 2014 album, Transgender Dysphoria Blues. While it’s not entirely clear what the future holds for Against Me!, Grace has been busily producing … Read more
My Morning JacketMy Morning JacketATO Records [2021] From all reports, there was a pretty good chance that the last music recorded by the members of My Morning Jacket playing together could easily have been the sessions that gave us 2015’s The Waterfall, and 2020’s leftovers, The Waterfall II. In the downtime following that tour, singer/songwriter … Read more
Lilly HiattLatelyNew West Records [2021] Nashville singer/songwriter Lilly Hiatt had the misfortune to release her last album, the Lincoln Parish (formerly of Cage the Elephant) produced Walking Proof, in March of 2020 just as the country was shutting down due to the pandemic. It was the kind of record you’d have expected the alt country/Americana … Read more
Mac McCaughanThe Sound Of YourselfMerge Records [2021] One of the perks of owning a record company would have to be that you get to make an album every now and then for your own pleasure, following your own muse without too much concern about marketing trends and commercial viability. Mac McCaughan, of the band Superchunk … Read more
Ada LeaOne Hand On The Steering Wheel The Other Sewing A GardenSaddle Creek Records [2021] All of the songs Ada Lea wrote for her follow-up to her 2019 release, What We Say In Private, describe events that have a deep connection to points in the neighborhood where she grew up in her native Montreal. While … Read more
The War On DrugsI Don’t Live Here AnymoreAtlantic Records [2021] It’s hard to imagine a new release with more anticipatory buzz than this new studio album from The War on Drugs. Following the band’s break out 2014 album, Lost in the Dream, which solidified the bona fides of Adam Granduciel’s songwriting, the band’s cohesion, and … Read more
Allison RussellOutside ChildFantasy Records [2021] In her solo debut album, Outside Child, Allison Russell finally gets around to telling her own story, in her own unique way. Previously in the Vancouver roots music group Po’ Girl, Russell migrated to the American midwest where she formed Birds of Chicago with her now husband JT Nero, mixing … Read more
Pokey LaFargeIn The Blossom Of Their ShadeNew West Records [2021] Anyone familiar with the work of Pokey LaFarge will tell you that his music is deeply rooted in the music of the past, think the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, before rock got to rolling, when pop on the radio mingled jazz, country and lots of … Read more
Madi DiazHistory Of A FeelingANTI- [2021] If there are actually five stages of grief, Nashville singer/songwriter Madi Diaz may have stumbled on a few more levels of pain on her ANTI- Records debut, History Of A Feeling, where she explores her sense of loss at the ending of a significant relationship. Diaz left the Berklee … Read more
The Wild FeathersAlvaradoNew West Records [2021] As Nashville’s Wild Feathers entered their second decade as a band, they were more or less forced to pause and reflect on their early successes, like when their 2013 Jay Joyce produced debut rose to number one on the Billboard magazine’s Heatseeker’s chart of up-and-coming acts, and the band’s … Read more
Steve GunnOther YouMatador Records [2021] Steve Gunn may have started out as a go-to sideman who worked with Kurt Vile, desirable for his estimable guitar chops, here on his sixth solo album the singer/songwriter has created a potent collection that allow all his musical gifts and influences to coalesce. Recorded on the left coast, the … Read more
The BethsAuckland, New Zealand, 2020Carpark Records [2021] Power pop/rock band The Beths are easily the best thing to come out of New Zealand since Crowded House. With two strong studio albums under their belt – Future Me Hates Me in ’18, and Jump Rope Gazers in ’20 – the band took advantage of their nation’s … Read more
José GonzálezLocal ValleyCity Slang/Mute Records [2021] Swedish folk singer/songwriter and guitarist, José González brings his unique finger picking approach and take on world music to his fourth studio album on Local Valley, drawing on influences from Latin America and Africa. His fluid, often groovy approach to folk is enhanced by his six nylon stringed Spanish … Read more