ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
September 13, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!!
Joan Shelly, "Mood Ring" Mood Ring EP (No Quarter, Oct 4)
The Kentucky folk singer-songwriter's gorgeous new song is a seemingly simple statement about our place in time, our spot in the universe. Shelley reportedly wrote "Mood Ring" as a response to a pair of momentous events: the birth of her daughter and moving away from her rural Kentucky home. Backed by longtime collaborators Nathan Salsburg, James Elkington, Julia Purcell on harmonium, it delivers a heady lyric couched in a homey, organic arrangement, a lovely gift.
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Wussy, "Great Divide" Cincinnati Ohio (Shake It, Nov 15)
Remember a couple weeks ago when we featured a Bill Fay cover from Wussy Duo and wished for a full-length from the band? Remember? Turns out dreams do come true, in the form of this fuzzy Wussy anthem with Lisa Walker on lead vocals. "Great Divide" introduces the band's first album in over six years, and their first since the passing of guitarist John Erhardt: I don't know what to do with this old drive / It's got your initials sharpied on the side. Walker's voice reaches through the noise with such a longing on the song that reflects on the small thing that remind us of those who have passed across the great divide. Because we asked, an EP from Wussy Duo (Lisa Walker and Chuck Cleaver) will be released on November 15 as well, Cellar Door. Dare we wish for more?
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Merce Lemon, "Crow" Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild (Darling, Sep 27)
We've included at least a couple of the pre-release singles from Merce Lemon's forthcoming record in our weekly track roundups, suitably drawn to the Pittsburgh native's work. Watch Me is produced by Alex Farrar, who also worked with MJ Lenderman for Manning Fireworks, and much the same band backs Lemon as well. "Crow" is inspired by the image of a migration of crows over the city, just a mass of creatures that somehow all know to go to the same place and organize themselves in the sky ...
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Wild Pink, "Eating the Egg Whole" Dulling the Horns (Fire Talk, Oct 4)
Another project bearing the fingerprints of Alex Farrar, who mastered John Ross' new Wild Pink set. After a couple albums featuring more studio polish and audio tricks, Ross sought to cut back to basics on Dulling the Horns, recorded largely live in hopes of capturing the band's on-stage urgency. The stream-of-consciousness lyrics are delivered in a scattershot recitation, a heartbeat accelerating beneath guitar and drums: The Bullets became the Wizards / The year that Jordan wore the black beret / He left the earth each night / And turned the night back into day.
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Erisy Watt, "Sandhill Crane" not either or but everything (First City, Oct 4)
Yet another in my growing list of quiet female folk songwriters whose forthcoming albums we're very eager to hear. Tracked with Luke Temple, the hushed, reverent cut recalls time Watt spent in Indonesia and then in Florida: No sound from my mouth will sum up the worth / Of the sandhill crane, the hard rain on the roof / Or the call to prayer, but you're looking for proof / And it's all there in the wings / The flight, the fall, the landing / The magic, the tragedy / Not either or, but everything.
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