ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
October 4, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!!
Waxahatchee, "Much Ado About Nothing" single (Anti, Oct 1)
At this point, it's a foregone conclusion that Waxahatchee's March Tigers Blood will be high on a bunch of year-end lists. It's just a matter of how high. And ahead of or behind MC Lenderman? Katie Crutchfield shares this new track, perhaps as an encouragement and a reminder that Waxahatchee walks that indie/country line as well as anyone nowadays. And hey, MC Lenderman plays guitar on "Much Ado", so it's a win-win. I sweat and I swear, say a prayer, stare at a picture, it's visceral / And it's crushing.
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Hunger Anthem, "Patron" Lift (Cornelius Chapel, Dec 6)
Sometimes we're drawn to an artist for the simple fact that they're on a label we admire. Case in point with Athens, Georgia's Hunger Anthem, from their end-of-year release with the mighty Cornelius Chapel label. "Patron" is an earful of jangle guitar, sounding like a lost cut from Sugar or New Pornographers. At 2:12, it's here and gone before just as you realize how sweet it all is. So maybe just play it twice.
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Lone Justice, "You Possess Me" Viva Lone Justice (AFAR, Oct 25)
Lone Justice's first album in thirty-eight years delivers a bit of everything, from rarities to unreleased originals and covers (including a take on Dolly's "I Will Always Love You"), most set to tape during the sessions for Maria McKee's 1992 You Gotta Sin To Get Saved. Guitarist Ryan Hedgecock polished the demos and ran them by McKee for their approval. The Marvin Etzioni track "You Possess Me" is a gorgeous showcase for their generational voice, backed solely by a couple string played by Tammy Rogers.
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Kasey Chambers, "Love Like Springsteen" Backbone (Essence, Oct 4)
We'll get to a fuller review of Kasey Chamber's first record in seven years, but for now we can enjoy this final single shared before Friday's release (and hey, don't forget her memoir, Just Don't Be a Dickhead: And Other Profound Things I've Learnt, due later this month). Featuring Sam Teskey's guitar, this simple tune drops names of Springsteen songs throughout, but succeeds on the sweetness of Chambers' delivery as opposed to getting dragged down by a potentially over-clever songwriting tactic: I wanna live out a daydream where I / Don't mind if I'm on fire ...
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Simon Joyner, "There Will Be a Time" Coyote Butterfly (Grapefruit, Nov 22)
Joyner's new collection is a tribute to his late son, closing with this meditation on a future where such suffering, both personal and universal, might be softened by understanding. "There Will Be a Time" is almost unbearably fragile, a hymn set to piano and acoustic fingerpicking, held aloft by a subtle drone. Joyner hasn't made his music available on the usual streaming services, aside from Bandcamp, but one always hopes he will make an exception for something like this. I dreamt a ghost, he led me to the water / And he shared the sorrows that marked his brief life / He said, 'Look for your reflection in the waves and be delivered'.
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