Don’t Miss New Albums From Ringo Starr, Franz Ferdinand, Magic City Hippies & More

The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr released a new solo country album, Look Up, through Lost Highway Records. T Bone Burnett produced and co-wrote nine of 11 original songs making up the Look Up tracklist. Starr and Bruce Sugar co-wrote one of the songs and Billy Swan authored another song. Starr’s drums appear on all of the tracks. The 84-year-old co-wrote the album’s closer, “Thankful,” which features Alison Krauss. Others contributing to Look Up included Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Larkin Poe and Lucius.

Look Up is Starr’s first country album since 1970’s Beaucoups of Blues and his first full-length album since 2019’s What’s My Name. The legendary drummer spoke about bringing the project with T Bone Burnett to life, stating:

“I’ve always loved country music. And when I asked T Bone to write me a song, I didn’t even think at the time that it would be a country song – but of course it was, and it was so beautiful I had been making EPs at the time and so I thought we would do a country EP – but when he brought me nine songs I knew we had to make an album! And I am so glad we did. I want to thank, and send Peace & Love, to T Bone and all the great musicians who helped make this record. It was a joy making it and I hope it is a joy to listen to.”

Franz Ferdinand return with The Human Fear, their first album of new material since 2018. The Scottish band’s fifth full-length follows 2018’s Always Ascending. The Glasgow-native band recorded The Human Fear with producer Mark Ralph, who also produced their third album, 2013’s Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action. Consisting of 11 new songs, The Human Fear was recorded at AYR studios in Scotland by co-founding members Alex Kapranos and Bob Hardy, with longtime member Julian Corrie taking a more collaborative role in songwriting. The pending release is the studio album to feature the newest Franz Ferdinand members, Audrey Tait and Dino Bardot.

Speaking about The Human Fear, Kapranos stated:

“Making this record was one of the most life-affirming experiences I’ve had, but it’s called The Human Fear. Fear reminds you that you’re alive. I think we all are addicted in some way to the buzz it can give us. How we respond to it shows how we are human. So here’s a bunch of songs searching for the thrill of being human via fears. Not that you’d necessarily notice on first listen.”

Magic City Hippies released their new studio album, Enemies. The trio is composed of frontman/multi-instrumentalist Robby Hunter, guitarist/keyboardist John Coughlin and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Pat Howard record the 10-track effort at Jobsite-Skid Rokyo Studios in Los Angeles and at Grandma’s House in Miami. Howard primarily produced the album, which features guests contributions from Kainalu, NoMBe and frequent Vulfpeck collaborator Antwaun Stanley. Others appearing on the album include Victoria Brener, Caitlyn Brandel, Jake Pinto, Alejandro Elizondo and Stratøs.

Astrovan: The Love Song Vignettes is the latest collection of recordings by Humbird. As the title suggests, the 11 tracks making up Astrovan are short sketches centered on one of the most frequently covered songs topics: love.

Minnesota-based singer-songwriter Siri Undlin described the project, stating:

“Eleven songs in about 16 minutes cause why not … They are vignettes on love in ways I’ve seen and felt it. A short, sweet, scrappy offering in these times of so much heaviness and heartbreak. We all create and make beauty in different ways and it’s so vital. However that looks – KEEP GOING. I’m happy to share this music in that spirit. I hope you are able to do the same in the ways you are able … May they keep you company or remind you of loves various forms in your own life. “

Singer-songwriter Early James switched things up on Medium Raw, which is his third album on producer Dan-Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound label. James’ previous two records were recorded at the label’s Nashville headquarters. For Medium Raw, James and Auerbach moved across Music City to the home recording facility called “Honky Chateau,” that is owned by photographer and artist Buddy Jackson. James’ longtime bassist Adrian Marmolejo joined the Alabama-native guitarist. Drummer Jeff Clemens was also at Honky Chateau for the recording sessions. James detailed the process:

“Day of the first session, I had my GPS routed to Easy Eye. We ran into some traffic, and I texted [engineer M.] Allen [Parker] — ‘Hey man, sorry, we’re gonna be about 15 minutes late.’ And he said, ‘It’s OK, we’re still getting set up at the house.’ And I was like, ‘What house?’ ‘We’re recording at this house, it’s really cool.’ It was news to me! It felt unusual in the moment, which I think makes you play the songs differently. But I’m really happy with and proud of the results.”

U.K. post-punk rockers Lambrini Girls issued their debut album, Who Let The Dogs Out, today through City Slang. The Brighton-based band is made up of vocalist/guitarist Phoebe Lunny and bassist Lilly Macieira (and an anonymous, masked drummer they claim is Banksy, who is not Banksy). A description accompanying the album states:

The album rips through a laundry list of social ills. Sirens blare over a heavy distorted bass and a live drum breakbeat. The band dance between upbeat pop punk, dirty grunge tones and discordant post-punk. There’s even some noise-pop cheer for putting yourself first, whether it’s having an autistic meltdown or doing a poo at your mate’s house.