Don’t Miss New Albums From Father John Misty, Kim Deal, Michael Kiwanuka, Elvis Costello & T Bone Burnett + Others

Father John Misty issued a new album, Mahashmashana, via Sub Pop Records. The sixth album released by singer-songwriter Josh Tillman was executive produced by his frequent collaborator Jonathan Wilson who was part of the team of supporting musicians. Mahashmashana was recorded at Wilson’s Fivestar Studios and at Erickson’s home, as well as EastWest Studios and United Studios. The eight-song follow-up to 2022’s Chloë and the Next 20th Century was co-produced by Tillman and Drew Erickson who also performed on the album. Other contributing musicians included Dan Bailey, Eli Thomson, David Vandervelde, Chris Dixie Darley, Jon Titterington and Kyle Flynn. The track “Screamland,” features guitarist Alan Sparhawk of labelmates Low.

Kim Deal released her debut solo album, Nobody Loves You More via 4AD. The former Pixies bassist composed and produced each of the 11 tracks featured on Nobody Loves You More. The album was recorded over an 11-year period spanning 2011 through 2022. Deal enlisted her close friend and renowned engineer Steve Albini to record the final sessions at his Electrical Audio studios in Chicago. Albini died at age 61 this past May. Deal, who also co-founded The Breeders, recruited collaborators from the band’s past and present to appear on her debut solo album, namely her twin sister Kelly Deal, Mando Lopez, Jim Macpherson and Britt Walford. Others who contributed to Nobody Loves You More include Michael Mavridoglou, Raymond McGinley, Jack Lawrence, Fay Milton and Ayse Hassan.

British singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuka returns with his first studio album in five years, Small Changes, arriving via Polydor. Small Changes follows Michael Kiwanuka’s 2019 self-titled album, which garnered the singer-songwriter the prestigious Mercury Prize as well as a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album. Kiwanuka teamed back up with Danger Mouse and Inflo, the same production team on KIWANUKA, to co-produce Small Changes. The record also sees contributions from renowned musicians, bassist Pino Palladino and Jimmy Jam.

Elvis Costello and T Bone Burnett revived their Coward Brothers personas for a three-part, Costello-scripted Audible series, The True Story of The Coward Brothers. The acclaimed musicians also recorded an accompanying album, The Coward Brothers, which was released through New West Records. Costello and Burnett, portraying Howard Coward and Henry Coward respectively, originally brought The Coward Brothers to life 40 years ago. The new True Story of The Coward Brothers was directed by comedy legend Christopher Guest and co-stars Guest’s longtime collaborator Harry Shearer as well as Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul), among others. The Coward Brothers album invites “listeners to indulge in the musical library, the forgotten hits and demos of the imagined brothers … The album [features] tracks also in the Audible Original including ‘Pure Bubblegum,’ “Like Licorice,’ ‘World Serious’ and more.”

Audible’s The True Story of The Coward Brothers follows two musical brothers – one English, one American, both the illegitimate sons of dubious parentage who may, as they claim to be, “one and half-brothers” – perhaps a reference to the disparity in their height and relative talents…

In this satirical audio series Henry and Howard Coward are lightly grilled by radio host, Sterling Lockhart (Harry Shearer) as they bitterly retrace the story of being duped out of their royalties and rightful place in pop history by their cutthroat manager who, among other things, persuaded them to fake their own deaths. Their sometimes poignant and heartrending story reveals an improbable love triangle involving their publisher’s secretary, Phyliss Dandy (Rhea Seehorn), as well as entertaining listeners with tales of their lost music, unsupportable claims of having written titles curiously adjacent to more famous songs, such as “A Lotta Money,” “Tipsy Woman” and their failed attempt at Cold War topicality, “My Baby Just Whistles (Here Come The Missiles).”

My Morning Jacket shared the next installment of their MMJ Live series featuring the first show of their memorable five-night October 2010 residency at New York City’s Terminal 5. MMJ Live Vol. 4: Terminal 5 – NYC – The Tennessee Fire 10/18/10 was recorded during the band’s October 18 – 23, 2010 run at Terminal 5 saw the band perform each of their five studio albums in their career to date throughout the residency. Additionally, My Morning Jacket devoted each extended encore to period-appropriate rarities and covers. On opening night, MMJ played their 1999 debut album, The Tennessee Fire, in its entirety. The seven-song encore featured LP outtakes “I Just Wanted To Say,” “Weeks Go By Like Days” and “Lil Billy” alongside covers of Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” Erykah Badu’s “Tyrone,” Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” and Rod Stewart’s “Hot Legs.”

“Folks have been asking us for these T5 shows for quite a while and we finally had time to dig in and begin!,” exclaimed My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James in a press release announcing the upcoming release. “it’s been such a beautiful DOUBLE BLAST FROM THE PAST listening to this show- taking us back to the good times we had at T5 so many years ago and at the same time taking us EVEN FURTHER back in time AGAIN to the EARLY days of the band even longer ago!”

The Greyboy Allstars issued their eighth studio album, Grab Bag: 2007-2023, through their Knowledge Room Recordings imprint. For Grab Bag: 2007-2023, the renowned quintet featuring saxophonist Karl Denson, keyboardist Robert Walter, guitarist Elgin Park, bassist Chris Stillwell and drummer Aaron Redfield, mined their vault for nine previously unreleased recordings from the past 17 years. The Greyboy Allstars assembled in December of 2023 to record new material. When the five musicians needed to return to their other projects, they used the opportunity to comb their archives for the forthcoming compilation.

​”We are always trying to move outside of the basic parameters of the initial soul jazz construct that we based the group on when we first started 30 years ago. We know those basic ingredients will be the staples and what we pepper in there will break through the boundaries, however subtle,” noted Elgin Park. “Be it synths, or slowing down, relaxing the grooves, opposing genres, mixing folk and funk or ‘60s boogaloo and new wave. We embrace that we are in the modern world and have access to everything that has come before us. The point is to have fun creating music that makes us laugh and dance.”

“We were deep into recording a set of brand new music, but we had to pause because Robert had to leave for a tour with Roger Waters and Karl had limited time due to his obligation with The Rolling Stones,” added Park. “We knew we had these tunes in the vault that we loved and have always wanted to release and this seemed to be the perfect time.

“It made sense to go back into our archive and put out some of our favorites from the past several years,” explained Robert Walter. “A lot of these songs on Grab Bag are more experimental and representative of the edges of what we would normally do stylistically. I think it shows our range in a great way.”

Body Count released their first album in four years, Merciless, today through Century Media Records. The heavy metal band fronted by veteran rapper Ice-T earned the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for their 2020 album Carnivore. The group’s lineup is composed of original members Ice-T, Ernie C. and Sean E Sean, along with bassist Vincent Price, drummer Will “Ill Will” Dorsey, guitarist Juan “Juan of the Dead” Garcia and backing vocalist Little Ice. Guests appearing on Merciless include George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher (Cannibal Corpse), Joe Bad (Fit For An Autopsy) and Max Cavalera (Soulfly). The album also features Body Count’s cover of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” with updated lyrics by Ice-T and featuring Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.

“Body Count’s version of ‘Comfortably Numb’ is quite radical, but the words really struck me,” Gilmour said of the song whose lyrics were originally written by Roger Waters. “It astonishes me that a tune I wrote almost 50 years ago is back with this great new approach. They’ve made it relevant again. The initial contact from Ice-T was for permission to use the song, but I thought I might offer to play on it as well. I like the new lyrics, they’re talking about the world we’re living in now, which is quite scary. Ice-T and Body Count played in London recently, sadly I couldn’t make it, but if another opportunity came up to play with them, I’d jump at it.”

Over 100 artists contributed to the new Red Hot Organization’s compilation album, TRA​И​Ƨ​A. The project was started 2021 by Red Hot producer Dust Reid and artist/activist Massima Bell, who bonded over a shared admiration of Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s music. The death of electronic producer SOPHIE in January 2021 served as inspiration to Reid and Bell to pursue the project, whose proceeds will go toward LGTBQ+ organizations.

“We started talking about all the gifts that trans artists have been giving to the world, and wanted to create a Red Hot project that centered and celebrated those gifts,” said Reid. “We hoped to create a narrative that positions trans and non-binary people as leaders in our society insofar as the deep inner work they do to affirm who they are in our current climate. We felt this is something everybody should do. Whether you identify as trans or non-binary or otherwise, if you took the time to explore your gender, get in touch with the feeling side of yourself, maybe we would have a future oriented around values of community, collaboration, care, and healing.”

Adrianne Lenker, Alan Sparhawk, Allison Russell, André 3000, Anjimile, ANOHNI, Bartees Strange, Bill Callahan, Blake Mills,Caroline Rose, Cassandra Jenkins, Christian Lee Hutson, claire rousay, Clairo, Dirty Projectors, Devendra Banhart, Ezra Furman, Faye Webster, Fleet Foxes, Hand Habits, Helado Negro, Jeff Tweedy, Julianna Barwick, Julie Byrne, Julien Baker, Kara Jackson, Laraaji, Laura Jane Grace, Lee Ranaldo, Mary Lattimore, Moses Sumney, NYC Trans Oral History Project, Perfume Genius, Pharoah Sanders, Sade Adu, Sam Smith, Sharon Van Etten, Teddy Geiger, Wendy & Lisa of the Revolution, Yaeji and Yaya Bey, are among those who contributed to TRAИƧA.