Don’t Miss New Albums From Neal Francis, Charley Crockett, Nels Cline & More

Singer-songwriter and pianist Neal Francis returns with his third studio album, Return To Zero, out today via ATO Records. Francis tapped frequent collaborator Sergio Rios to co-produce Return To Zero. The Chicago-based keyboardist was joined in the studio by members of his touring band. The album, recorded without digital programming in keeping true to his analog purist approach, is said in press materials to represent his “most extravagantly realized work so far.” Return To Zero marks Francis’ first full-length studio album since 2022’s In Plain Sight. Say She She appear on the first three Return To Zero tracks and the song “Dirty Little Secret” features . Guitarist Eric Krasno can also be heard on the new record.

Charley Crockett today issued a new album entitled Lonesome Drifter, which marks his official debut on Island Records. Shooter Jennings co-produced the album that follows a pair of Crockett 2024 full-lengths. Capturing what was heralded as “the magic of performance on tape,” Crockett and Jennings held the sessions for Lonesome Drifter over 10 days. Recording live at the historic Sunset Sounds Studio in Los Angeles, the sessions yielded the 12 tracks making up the album.

“Shooter and I barely talked about it,” Crockett, who , said. “I just brought all of my guys out, and the album made itself. It was live without a lot of overdubs. There were no inhibitions. I wasn’t being judged, and I didn’t feel self-conscious. Shooter knew how to cut loose and let this thing unfold.”

Consentrik Quartet, the new project led by Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, officially launch with today’s arrival of their self-titled debut album. Issued by the venerable jazz label Blue Note Records, Consentrik Quartet was recorded by Cline, saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, bassist Chris Lightcap and drummer Tom Rainey. Husband and wife team of Rainey and Laubrock lead their own group and also figure into Mary Halvorson’s octet. Finding time between his work with Wilco and other projects, Cline’s Consentrik Quartet has been half a decade in the making. Cline first Laubrock and Rainey along with Lightcap six years ago for an improvisational set at the John Zorn-owned Brooklyn spot, The Stone. The pandemic postponed future plans, while Cline used that time spent in Upstate New York writing for the project.

“Suddenly, we were enveloped in silence,” Cline recalled on moving out of Brooklyn. He also detailed the aesthetic he set out to create with the project.

“Initially, for myself anyway, my sonic palette, I was looking at a more conservative approach — a little more traditional, I guess you’d say. Over time, I found myself looping and writing funkier grooving tunes.”

Porcupine Tree founder Steven Wilson shared a new solo album, The Overview, via Fiction Records. The 42-minute The Overview consists of two tracks. The follow-up to Wilson’s 2023 album, The Harmony Codex, was written, produced and mixed by Wilson at his home studio. Wilson assembled a roster of familiar musicians to help him record The Overview, including drummer Craig Blundell, keyboardist Adam Holzman and guitarist Randy McStine. XTC’s Andy Partridge provided lyrics for the first of two tracks, “Objects Outlive Us.”

Wilson detailed The Overview:

“The Overview is a 42-minute long journey based on the reported ‘overview effect,’ whereby astronauts seeing the Earth from space undergo a transformative cognitive shift, most often experiencing an overwhelming appreciation and perception of beauty, and an increased sense of connection to other people and the Earth as a whole. However, not all experiences are positive; some see the Earth truly for what it is, insignificant and lost in the vastness of space, and the human race as a troubled species. As a reflection of that, the album presents images and stories of life on Earth, both good and bad.”

Country musician Warren Zeiders issued a new double album, Relapse, Lies & Betrayals, through Warner Records. The 21-track, two-part double album was co-produced by Zeiders, Ross Copperman and Mike Elizondo. The follow-up expanding on 2024’s Relapse features Zeiders joined by instrumentalists Craig Young and Aaron Sterling. Songwriters who worked with Zeiders included Connor Mcdonough, Ali Tamposi, Mark Holmon and Feli Ferraro.

Circuit Des Yeux — Chicago based musician, composer, and multidisciplinary artist Haley Fohr — released Halo On The Inside today through Matador Records. Fohr began the songwriting process for the follow-up to 2021’s -io during overnight solitary sessions held in her home studio. The album was completed with producer Andrew Broder in Minneapolis. A visit to Greece led to ancient mythology inspiring the new record.

“Through the process of making this music I was able to rewind myself to a time before fear,” Fohr stated. “And in the absence of fear I found the intimate beat of sex, love, and melody.”

Georgie is the sixth album released by Twin Shadow (Dominican-born American musician, director, producer, and actor George Lewis Jr.). The follow-up to the 2021 self-titled Twin Shadow album was nearly completed when Lewis’ father died unexpectedly after suddenly becoming sick. Twin Shadow’s statement regarding Georgie follows:

“I’m releasing a new album called Georgie. I’ve ditched traditional labels, agents, management, and drums for this record. Georgie is my most stripped down body of work yet – at this point in my life and career, nothing matters more than my deepest, darkest, and brightest feelings.

“The album art features my father George’s signature. I had him scrawl it hundreds of times in a notebook, and I ended up choosing the very first one. At the time, I had no idea my father would pass away just a few months later. Aside from the large drawing we once did together, which now hangs on my mother’s dining room wall, this is my favorite collaboration with him. The album is dedicated to his memory.”