Although it's been out for purchase on their official website for a week already, Alberta Cross's newest, five-track release, “The Rolling Thunder EP,” is now officially out. After debuting a few teaser singles, "Money For the Weekend" and "Get Up, (not on the EP)," both featured on ads for Ketel One Vodka and Verizon's Droid Bionic "Ring," and "Wait," the quintet delivered a beautifully crafted series of songs that blend signature howling vocals, mysterious echoing effects, bluesly, bassy sultriness, rocking slide guitar, and the touching elements of folk. The EP opens with the fiery "Money For the Weekend," and follows with the seductive "Ramblin' Home," eerie "Wait," (streaming below) bossanova-rock-infused "Driving With Myself," and finishes with the poignant, piano-driven title track. You can check out Alberta Cross on tour with Portugal.The Man over the next couple of months. They'll be in New York on October 20 at Terminal 5. –Meijin Bruttomesso
We've always been big fans of Luke Temple, and it's good to see that, together with the Here We Go Magic crew, the man is keeping at it with increasingly beautiful records and videos. The band's new album "A Different Ship" (stream it here) will be out on May 8, and betrays at least a partial return to Luke Temple's more intimate and melodic sound from his solo repertoire - in this regard, lend a ear to "Hard to Be Close," "Alone but Moving" and "Over the Ocean". This is welcome news for fans like us who always thought that in most HWGM material Luke's noteworthy songwriting skills seemed a little sacrificed on the altar of textural experimentation. This doesn't mean that the band's signature hypnotic, impressionistic sound is lost - it's just that these two elements work together better than they did in past records, and this is what makes this album one of the NYC highlights of the year so far. Indeed, this collection also features songs more in line with the band's past releases ("Make Up your Mind", "I Believe in Action"), which follow on the steps of brainy-pop icons like Brian Eno and The Feelies, but there's definitely a balance here, also betrayed by the almost perfect alternation of melodic songs and less traditional ones.The just released video of "How Do I Know," telling the story of a rejected dancing robot that ends up revitalizing an older man's appreciation for life, seems to reflect on this brain/heart, mechanic/organic dichotomies and somehow bring them to unity. - PDG
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