ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
September 20, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!!
Julianna Riolino & Adrian Underhill, "Against the Grain" single (Riolino, Sep 13)
Don't let no one tell you how to speak or how to love / Cause I was made to go against the grain / So don't tell me to fall in line again / The common life was never meant for me. We celebrated Riolino's 2022 All the Blue collection on R&B, and are happy to see new stuff from the singer-songwriter and instrumentalist. Of all things, "Against the Grain" began as a snippet for a Subaru commercial some time ago. Riolino and co. fleshed it out in response to a wave of popular demand. A breezy retro pop throwback, the tune features a stellar vocal from Riolino, and though it might get lodged in your ears for a time, we promise it won't make you think of family sedans.
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Yola, "Future Enemies" My Way EP (S-Curve, Nov 15)
Yola's new EP was initially announced for a May release, so we're happy to see it's finally on its way. Her 2021 Stand For Myself stood as our second favorite album of the year, only behind Allison Russell. The EP arrives with some warning/guarantee that Yola will continue to explore her artistic range on the new songs, which we definitely hear on "Future Enemies", which the singer says is about being vigilant and choosy with the time we devote to our relationships. The British singer delivers a undeniably powerful, melodic chorus, surrounded by studio electronics and a resonant pulse.
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Wussy Duo, "Cellar Door" Cellar Door EP (Shake It, Nov 15)
We usually prefer to share the space for WSGATW, but we can't help continuing to feature new stuff from Lisa Walker and Chuck Cleaver, here 'neath their Wussy Duo moniker. From one of a couple of projects being released on November 15, "Cellar Door" sounds like a lost Low track, with a ghostly Walker lead and a shared chorus that catches us in its whoosh! Plus, if nothing else we can get lost in this fascinating late 80s dance footage, something we can't say much here at R&B.
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Haley Heynderickx, "Foxglove" Seed Of a Seed (Mama Bird, Nov 1)
We grow tired over the days / We grow tired over and overthinking. Here's where we get the week's fix of bucolic folk, the second single from Haley Heynderickx's November LP. With an insistent strum and romping drums, "Foxglove" features the songwriter's enigmatic lyrics and a lovely, ecstatic vocal on a daydream tune craving a slower and simpler pace of life.
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Hearts Of Oak, "A River Why" Valley Of Dark Hills (Deer Lodge, Oct 4)
More than six years since Nate Wallace and Ezra Meredith's last Hearts Of Oak project, we're happily surprised to hear news of a forthcoming double record. This one meanders nicely with Wallace's slow-drawn vocal and some nice resonator slide guitar from Drunken Prayer frontman Morgan Geer. The ambitious album comes together around the real-life unsolved murder of a former bandmate, guaranteeing a definite darkness to the set.
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