Don’t Miss New Releases From Foo Fighters, Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Tanya Tucker, Bob Dylan, Neighbor & More
Stream these 13 new releases out today, Friday, June 2.
By Team JamBase Jun 2, 2023 • 5:48 am PDT
Each week Release Day Picks profiles new LPs and EPs Team JamBase will be checking out on release day Friday. This week we highlight new albums by Foo Fighters, Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Tanya Tucker, Bob Dylan, Neighbor, The Revivalists, Ben Folds, Rufus Wainwright, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Sam Blasucci, Beach Fossils and The Sweet Lillies. Read on for more insight into the records we have all queued up to spin.
Foo Fighters – But Here We Are
Out today from Foo Fighters is But Here We Are, their 11th studio album and first since the tragic death of longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins in March 2022. The 10-track record was produced by the band with longtime collaborator Greg Kurstin. Frontman Dave Grohl stepped behind the kit to play drums on each song. Grohl hadn’t received a drum credit on a Foo Fighters album since backing Hawkins on “Cold Day In The Sun” for 2005’s In Your Honor.
“A brutally honest and emotionally raw response to everything Foo Fighters endured over the last year, But Here We Are is a testament to the healing powers of music, friendship and family,” noted press materials heralding the album’s release. The band has since returned to the road with new touring drummer Josh Freese. Opening night included the live debuts of the album’s title track as well as “Nothing At All,” “Rescued” and “Under You.”
Ben Harper – Wide Open Light
Ben Harper returns with Wide Open Light today, the follow-up to his Grammy-nominated 2021 album, Bloodline Maintenence. Haprer’s new record is “a family of songs…where each track is a close relative to the next,” as per a press release. “It’s deliberately minimalist and the songs themselves do as much of the heavy lifting as the production.”
“There was once a time when albums didn’t need an adjacent story or fable,” Harper added. “When the songs were enough.”
Harper previewed Wide Open Light with “Yard Sale,” featuring the next artist on this list, Jack Johnson. According to Ben, the song “follows a man through the final blurred stages of a breakup. With each passing verse the couple grows further beyond reach or repair. By the song’s end, he’s more confused than when the song began.”
Jack Johnson – In Between Dub
Renowned singer-songwriter Jack Johnson released his remix album, In Between Dub, today. In early 2020, Johnson reached out to reggae legend Lee “Scratch” Perry to collaborate on a new project. Sadly, Lee “Scratch” Perry passed away on August 29, 2021. To complete the project, Johnson teamed with Lee’s band Subatomic Sound System. In Between Dub boasts two new Lee “Scratch” Perry dubs, a Subatomic Sound System dub with vocals from Lee “Scratch” Perry, along with dub remixes by Scientist, Dennis Bovell, Nightmares On Wax, Mad Professor, Yaadcore and Monk.
“When I found out [Lee] was up for remixing a few of my songs I was blown away,” Johnson recalled. “The remixes evolved and he ended up adding his voice to my songs. It was like he had done a magic trick to the music. I will be forever grateful for the time, love, and energy that Lee “Scratch” Perry put into this project.”
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Tanya Tucker – Sweet Western Sound
Country Music Hall of Famer Tanya Tucker returns with Sweet Western Sound, a new studio album out today via Fantasy Records. Tucker enlisted Brandi Carlile and Shooter Jennings to produce the 10-track album, in a reprise of their roles on 2019’s While I’m Livin’. The trio collaborated on writing songs for the new record, which also includes contributions from Bernie Taupin, Phil and Tim Hanseroth, JT Nero, Billy Don Burns and Craig Dillingham. Sweet Western Sounds both opens and closes with a voicemail-generated rhyme courtesy of the late great Billy Joe Shaver.
“Sweet Western Sound is another revelation and I’m excited to see what folks think of our new endeavor,” stated Tucker. “It’s ALWAYS a trip working with Brandi and Shooter. I didn’t know if we’d be working together again on a new album after While I’m Livin’!! But we did it! Lots of new things we did this time and I even co-wrote some of the songs, which means a lot to me. Brandi says we’re MAGIC together, and I’m starting to believe her!!!!”
Bob Dylan – Shadow Kingdom
Legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan released the soundtrack to his 2021 Shadow Kingdom livestream concert. The full-length Shadow Kingdom feature film will also be available for download and rental on Tuesday, June 6. Dylan’s Shadow Kingdom premiered on July 18, 2021 and marked his livestream debut. The streaming event was the 82-year-old Minnesota native’s first concert of any kind since December 2019. Dylan was backed by pedal steel guitarist Greg Leisz, guitarists T-Bone Burnett, Ira Ingber and Tim Pierce, bassist Don Was, acoustic guitarist Steve Bartek, electric bassist John Avila and accordion players Doug Lacy and Jeff Taylor. The setlist’s earliest recorded song was “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” off Dylan’s 1965 LP Bringing It All Back Home, with the newest selection being “What Was It You Wanted” off the 1989 album, Oh Mercy. Press materials further detailed the Shadow Kingdom live album release:
Shadow Kingdom presents Bob Dylan performing revelatory 21st century versions of songs from his storied back catalog — including fan favorites like “Forever Young” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” and deep catalog gems like “Queen Jane Approximately” and “The Wicked Messenger.”
Neighbor – Neighbor
Boston-based jam quartet Neighbor has spent the past four years developing a devoted fanbase and building a repertoire of over a hundred songs. The band – guitarist Lyle Brewer, keyboardist Richard James, drummer Dean Johnston and bassist Dan Kelly – grew their following the old fashioned way by sharing CDs of their live shows and avoiding the major streaming services. That all changes today with the release of Neighbor, the group’s debut studio album. Neighbor co-produced the 12-song collection with Matt Wayne and enlisted Paul Q Kolderie (The Pixies, Radiohead) to handle the mix. The LP was tracked last year at Ghost Hit Recording in Springfield, Massachusetts with additional recording at Boston’s Dimension Sound. Richard James spoke about deciding which tunes to include on Neighbor during an appearance on The JamBase Podcast stating:
“We put everything in front of us and we said ‘what would be exciting for a new fan, an old fan, somebody who’s never heard us who might be flipping through Spotify and come across a tune and then go and listen to the rest of the record?’ What is it that really connects somebody to Neighbor? We went with a diverse catalog, because that’s what Neighbor is.”
The Revivalists – Pour It Out Into The Night
New Orleans-based rockers The Revivalists are back with Pour It Out Into The Night, their first new studio album since 2018’s Take Good Care. Produced by Rich Costey in conjunction with the band, work started on the group’s fifth full-length release in 2020 as members of the eight-piece traded ideas with each other. Frontman David Shaw made demos and then collaborated with guitarist Zack Feinberg on fleshing the songs out. After The Revivalists spent countless hours crafting the material, they brought in Costey and decamped to Vermont for two weeks of recording sessions that yielded Pour It Out Into The Night.
“We knew this album needs to be who we are and what we’re about,” explained Shaw. “For us, it was about getting back into a room and playing together. I wrote with Zack a lot for this album. It was so nice to be able to get back into pure Revivalists form. It feels like a coming home kind of vibe.”
Ben Folds – What Matters Most
Ben Folds is back with his first studio album in eight years. The beloved pianist co-produced What Matters Most with Joe Pisapia (K.D. Lang, Guster) in East Nashville. Guests include dodie, Tall Heights and Ruby Amanfu.
“The masterful collection is a bold, timely, cinematic work,” press materials described Folds’ new album. “It is one that examines the tragic and the absurd in equal measures as it reckons with hope and despair, gratitude and loss, identity and perspective.”
“I come from the vinyl era, and this perhaps more than any record I’ve made is a true album,” Folds said of What Matters Most. “There’s a very specific sequence and arc to each side, all building up to this almost surreal positive finale, and that structure was really important to me. More than anything, I wanted to make an album that was generous, that was useful. I want you to finish this record with something you didn’t have when you started.”
Rufus Wainwright – Folkocracy
Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright released his new guest-filled covers album, Folkocracy, via BMG. Participants joining Wainwright across the album’s 15 tracks include David Byrne, Sheryl Crow, John Legend, Brandi Carlile, Nicole Scherzinger, Chaka Khan, Andrew Bird, ANOHNI, Susanna Hoffs, Van Dyke Parks, Madison Cunningham and more. The covers album, release as Wainwright approaches his 50th birthday, also features several of Wainwright’s family members including sisters Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche, as well as close family friend Chaim Tannenbaum playing Wainwright’s late mother Kate McGarrigle’s banjo.
“The older I get, the more I appreciate how valuable my folk knowledge is, to have had it ingrained in me as a child,” Wainwright noted. “I’m from a bona fide folkocracy who mixed extensively with other folkocracies such as the Seegers and the Thompsons. I spun off into opera and pop. Now I’m back where it all began. This album is almost like a recorded birthday party and birthday present to myself. I just invited all the singers that I greatly admire and always wanted to sing with.”
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Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats – What If I
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats new five-sing EP, What If I, dropped today via Stax. Bradley Cook and R.M.B. (Nathaniel Rateliff, the Night Sweats’ Pat Meese and Beach House’s James Barone) co-produced What If I. Bradley Cook’s brother Phil Cook contributed to the title track, while Preservation Hall Jazz Band leader/clarinetist Charlie Gabriel added to the EP’s “Slow Pace Of Time.” The new release is comprised of four previously unreleased songs recorded during the sessions for the band’s 2021 album, The Future along with a newly written and recorded song, “Buy My Round.”
“‘Buy My Round’ is a song about trying to keep a friendship together with someone that keeps pulling away,” said Night Sweats band member Mark Shusterman. “It’s something that had been bouncing around in my head for a while, so I was excited when Nathaniel wanted to help me finish it for this recording. It was great to get to sing together on this one.”
“Mark had been playing this one while we were writing for The Future but we never got a chance to dig into it,” Rateliff added. “This is our first big collaboration on a song together and it turned out great.”
Sam Blasucci – Off My Stars
Mapache’s Sam Blasucci makes his solo debut with today’s release of Off My Stars through Innovative Leisure. Blasucci is one-half of Mapache with fellow guitar-playing singer-songwriter Clay Finch. A piano belonging to Finch’s mother was procured by Blasucci who installed it in his home in Ojai, California. Blasucci got help transporting the piano from Mapache collaborator (a shoeless) Farmer Dave. The piano became the primary instrument Blasucci used when writing the songs that makeup Off My Stars. His time spent during the pandemic in the music-rich New Orleans also influenced the album, which was recorded with producer/multi-instrumentalist Johnny Payne at the familiar confines of Dan Horne’s Lone Palm Studio in Echo Park, Los Angeles. In addition to nine new originals, the record also features Blasucci’s takes on Dido’s “Thank You,” The Cranberries’ “Linger” and Jimmy Fontana’s “Il Mondo,” sung in its original Italian.
“It’s changed the way I think about music, having all the keys laid out in front of me,” Blasucci said of playing piano. “Having that sort of changed everything … There was nothing ironic or gimmicky about wanting to do those [covers]. I just really, really love those songs.”
Beach Fossils – Bunny
After a six-year wait, Beach Fossils have returned with a new studio album, Bunny, out now via Bayonet. The New York City dream pop band consists of frontman Dustin Payseur, guitarist Tommy Davidson, bassist Jack Doyle Smith and drummer Anton Hochheim. The follow-up to 2017’s Sommersault was produced by Payseur with Lars Stalfors (St. Vincent, Soccer Mommy, Lil Peep) mixing. The 11-track Bunny showcases Payseur adhering to a more traditional song structure than on past albums.
“When I wrote the first record, there were no choruses; it was instrumental guitar parts in between verses,” the frontman said. “This is the first record where I’ve consciously thought about writing a chorus.”
The Sweet Lillies – Equality
Equality is the new studio album from Colorado-based string band The Sweet Lillies. Released today through Americana Vibes, the album was produced by The Infamous Stringdusters’ Chris Pandolfi, who also played banjo on the record. Pandolfi joined the band — bassist Julie Gussaroff, violist Becca Bisque, guitarist Dustin Rohleder and drummer/percussionist Jones Maynard — for sessions held at Mighty Fine Productions in their hometown of Denver. Guests who can be heard on the album include The String Cheese Incident keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth and percussionist Jason Hann. Pandolfi discussed his role in recording Equality, stating:
“Every band that makes meaningful music over a long career will go through concentrated moments of evolution where most aspects of their sound and vision take a huge leap forward, seemingly in a moment’s time. Equality, the excellent new album from The Lillies, is a coming of age for this up-and-coming band. From hip-hop-inspired writing to an expansive new sound featuring guest Jason Hann from The String Cheese Incident on drums, this record makes a powerful statement that will surely catch the attention of new ears. Becca, Julie and Dustin all brought their A-game, laying down emotive, compelling live tracks in the studio, exceeding expectations at every turn. It was an honor to produce Equality and I can’t wait to see where it takes The Sweet Lillies.”
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Compiled by Scott Bernstein, Nate Todd and Andy Kahn.
