Don’t Miss New Albums From Trey Anastasio, Bright Eyes, Nubya Garcia, Manu Chao & More

Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio released a new solo album entitled Atriums through his Rubber Jungle Records label. The LP features a suite of instrumental guitar compositions he wrote and recorded for Phish’s April run at Sphere in Las Vegas. The music featured on Atriums played in the atrium and public spaces at the technologically-advanced venue, with Anastasio making full use of the venue’s immersive concert experience by using light, sculpture and sound to transform Sphere’s hallways. Proceeds from the album will benefit Anastasio’s Divided Sky Foundation.

“The six-part Atriums song suite was born out of years of experimentation at Trey’s soundchecks, where he explores the capabilities of his ever-expanding palate of effects,” press materials stated. “With Atriums, Anastasio has created atmospheric compositions awash with droning loops, echoes, and waves of tonal feedback layered with gentle, melodic fretwork. Each of the six Atriums compositions takes on a unique sonic hue, but together immerse the listener in a cohesive, expansive whole.”

Bright Eyes return with a new album, Five Dice, All Threes, out now via Dead Oceans. Five Dice, All Threes is Bright Eyes’ — Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Nate Walcott — first album in four years following 2020’s Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was, which was Bright Eyes’ first studio album since 2011. Produced by Bright Eyes, Five Dice, All Threes includes guest spots from Cat Power on “All Threes” and The National’s Matt Berninger on “The Time I Have Left.” So So Glos’ frontman Alex Orange Drink co-wrote several songs on the album and appears on “Rainbow Overpass.”

“For whatever reason, I was born with a brain that’s preoccupied with that kind of thing,” Oberst said of his penchant for darker subject matter. “When I was young, there was a performative aspect to it, which got reflected back at me. Now I’m at a point where I don’t care what the reaction is going to be. Before it was a little out of my hands —- I didn’t know how to write if it wasn’t specific to my actual life. Now I do it by choice.”

“I think [Five Dice, All Threes] revisits the spirit of our older records,” Walcott added. “There is a real quality of chaos and ecstatic urgency in the performances.”

Acclaimed saxophonist and composer Nubya Garcia released a new album, Odyssey, via Concord Jazz. The album follows the London-born musician’s Mercury Music Prize-nominated 2020 debut album, Source. Garcia produced Odyssey with collaborator Kwes and also orchestrated strings for the first time on the new LP. She tapped Esperanza Spalding, Richie Seivwright and Georgia Anne Muldrow to guest on the record.

On the aptly named Odyssey, Garcia said, “It represents the notion of truly being on your own path, and trying to discard all the outside noise saying you should go this way or that way.”

Veteran singer-songwriter Manu Chao is back with his first album since in 17 years, Viva Tu. The 12-song Viva Tu sees Chao singing in his signature multi-lingual format with songs in Spanish, French, Portuguese and English. Chao’s first record since 2007’s La Radiolina, Viva Tu is “inspired by his travels and people’s daily lives, will address the current state of the world, both in factual and virtual terms.” Notable collaborations on the 13-track LP include icon Willie Nelson on “Heaven’s Bad Day” and French singer Laeti on “Tu Te Vas.”

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway issued Into The Wild, a six-song EP available today via Nonesuch Records. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter/guitarist’s band features fiddler Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, mandolinist Dominick Leslie, bass player Shelby Means and banjo player Kyle Tuttle. Into The Wild consists of the title track and two other new songs as well as an alternate version of the City Of Gold cut “Stranger Things” and previously shared covers of Olivia Rodrigo’s “good 4 u” and Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit.” Molly Tuttle shared the following about Into The Wild:

“With this new EP we invite you to come on a journey with us Into the Wild. I wrote the title track with Ketch Secor after a week spent in the redwoods. This song is about getting lost in the wilderness even if it’s just in the forest of your mind. ‘Getaway Girl’ was an unfinished song I had started writing for our last LP City of Gold. It’s about a whirlwind romance set in New York City, kind of like Carrie Bradshaw meets bluegrass. In addition to these two new original songs, we included some of our favorite covers that we’ve woven into the live show, ‘White Rabbit’ by Jefferson Airplane and ‘good 4 u’ by Olivia Rodrigo.

“We paid tribute to one of my favorite California songwriters Kate Wolf with a new version of her song ‘Here in California’ which features my dad, Jack Tuttle, and longtime friend AJ Lee singing with me. I used to play this one with my family band back in the day! On ‘Stranger Things (Down the Rabbit Hole Version),’ I wanted to go for a stripped back ethereal version of this song originally played by the full band on City of Gold. It features a trio with Dominick Leslie on mandolin, and Nathaniel Smith on cello and synth. I hope you enjoy trekking deeper into the woods with us as we pick up where we left off on City of Gold and explore new territory as a band.”

In Waves British electronic musician/producer Jamie xx’s sophomore solo album, out now on the Young record label. The long-awaited follow-up to Jamie xx’s 2015 debut album, Colours, features his The xx bandmates Romy and Oliver Sim. Others appearing across the record’s 12 tracks includes Panda Bear, Robyn, the Avalanches, Honey Dijon, Kelsey Lu, John Glacier and Oona Doherty. Describing his first solo album in nine years, Jamie xx stated:

“It’s been a while… and a lot has happened in that time. Ups and downs, growing up, figuring stuff out and then forgetting it all many times over. Life changing events and world changing events. These waves that we have all experienced together and alone. I wanted to make something fun, joyful and introspective all at once. The best moments on a dance floor are usually that for me. I can’t wait to share it with you.”

The Roots trumpeter Dave Guy goes solo in his new album, Ruby, which arrived today through Big Crown Records. Along with The Roots, Guy’s extensive resume includes performing as a member of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and Charles Bradley & Menahan Street Band. Guy has also performed with Amy Winehouse, Lee Fields, Al Green, Mark Ronson, Pharrell, Phish and many others. With The Roots sidelined from The Tonight Show during the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, Guy utilized the downtime to record Ruby. A native of New York City, Guy held sessions at the renowned Diamond Mine Studio in Queens. Guy recruited his Menahan Street Band bandmates for the sessions, tapping bassist Nick Movshon and drummer Homer Steinweiss for the 12-track effort.

Like All Before You is the third album by the The Voidz — the longtime solo project of The Strokes’ lead singer Julian Casablancas. Released today through Cult Records, he long-awaited album follows the group’s 2018 album Virtue and 2014 debut Tyranny. Consisting of 10 new songs, Like All Before You was recorded by Casablancas, guitarists Beardo and Amir Yaghmai, drummer Alex Carapetis, keyboardist Jeff Kite and bassist/keyboardist Jake Bercovici. The album was tracked at the band’s home studio in Venice, California and at Vox Studios in Los Angeles. Producers Ivan Wayman, Justin Raisen and SAD PONY were enlisted by The Voidz to produce their third LP.

Midland put out their next album, Barely Blue, via Big Machine Records. The trio — lead singer/guitarist Mark Wystrach, bassist/vocalist Cameron Duddy and guitarist/vocalist Jess Carson — tapped nine-time Grammy winner Dave Cobb to produce Barely Blue. The follow-up to 2022’s The Last Resort: Greetings From was recorded at at Georgia Mae Studios in Savannah, Georgia. The country band wanted to employ an old school sound and feel to the eight songs included on the new LP.

“We are all big believers in a certain time and place, a sense of classic country that comes from roadhouses and bad coffee, miles and miles and miles on the road – and the idea that, even though we’re all happy, love and life falls apart, but that doesn’t mean you have to, too,” Duddy explained. “When we were writing these songs, it was a trip into all the things in country music we love. You don’t hear much of this kind of unfiltered, hard stuff that comes with the great guitar sounds, the deep harmonies and shuffles you can tuck into. But that’s the essence of what Midland is – and Dave Cobb brought a new altitude to our sound.”

“Dave Cobb had been a producer we wanted to work with since we first heard Sturgill Simpson’s Metamodern Sounds in Country Music,” Wystrach added. “Dave’s eclectic musical background and the way he approaches recording as an experience and not a task made him the perfect match for us. On Barely Blue, we feel like Dave helped us find the sound we’ve been searching for for a long time.”

Sonic Youth co-founder Thurston Moore released a new solo album, Flow Critical Lucidity, through The Daydream Library Series label. Arranged at La Becque in Switzerland and recorded at Total Refreshment Studios in London in 2022, Flow Critical Lucidity marks Thurston Moore’s ninth solo album and follow up to 2021’s Screen Time. Moore mixed the LP with Margo Broom at Hermitage Studios in London. Joining Thurston on the record is his band consisting of Deb Googe on bass, Jem Doulton on percussion, James Sedwards on guitar/piano and Jon Leidecker adding electronics. The single “Sans Limites” features vocals from Stereolab’s Lætitia Sadier.

Hippo Campus shared a new album, Flood, through Sylvan Esso’s Psychic Hotline label. The band hailing from the Twin Cities area encountered challenges in creating the follow-up to their previous record, 2022’s LP3. Shortly after that album’s release, the band began to process the unexpected death of someone they loved.

“The whiplash of adulthood was amplified by the effects of death, dejection, addiction and anxiety, so they committed themselves to the overwhelming ambition of creating something profound and life-changing,” as per press materials for the album. “They got sober together, maintained their regular routine of group therapy, wrote more than 100 songs, took a step back and suddenly realized they didn’t actually enjoy what they were making.”

Realizing they needed a reset, Hippo Campus — singer/guitarist Jake Luppen, guitarist Nathan Stocker, drummer Whistler Allen and bassist Zach Sutton — scrapped what they had been working on. They then convened with longtime producers Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Waxahatchee) and Caleb Wright (Charly Bliss, Samia) at the renowned Sonic Ranch studio near El Paso. Less than two weeks later, the band had Flood in the can.

Rising Birmingham, Alabama-based bluegrass quartet Mountain Grass Unit released a new EP, Runnin’ From Trouble. Mountain Grass Unit — bassist Sam Wilson, mandolinist Drury Anderson, fiddler Josiah Nelson and guitarist Luke Black — captured Runnin’ From Trouble‘s five tracks at Old Crow Medicine Show’s Hartland Studio in Nashville. OCMS’s Mike Harris produced MGU’s new record with Old Crow’s Morgan Jahnig handling mixing.

The April 12, 1978 Grateful Dead concert at Duke University in Chapel Hill, North Carolina received a standalone release through Rhino. The show is included in a broader box set also released today, Friend Of The Devils: April 1978.

Originally recorded by former Grateful Dead sound engineer Betty Cantor-Jackson, Duke 78 was remastered by Jeffrey Norman who utilized the Plangent Processes for tape restoration and speed correction. The April 1978 run of shows was notable for introducing the second set “Drums” and “Space” sequence. Initially called “Rhythm Devils” by drummer Mickey Hart, the nightly excursion with fellow drummer Bill Kreutzmann persisted through the rest of the band’s career. The April 12 “Drums” at Duke University’s Cameron Indoor Stadium was particularly noteworthy. Author and JamBase contributor, the late Steve Silberman, wrote about that “Drums” in his liner notes accompanying the box set:

“[It] began with Billy thrashing on his kit and using his elbow to change its pitch, making it sound like a talking drum. Mickey, equally engaged, was wearing a Jerry T-shirt. Then the road crew joined the party. What’s that? Steve Parish is playing a cowbell! Finally, the big man himself comes out, strokes his beard, sits down, maybe takes a puff or a toke, and picks up a pair of sticks. Mother of God, Garcia is playing steel drums – and loving it!”

Bob Dylan – The 1974 Live Recordings, a new box set from the legendary singer-songwriter, is out now via Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings. Arriving in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Dylan’s return to the road in 1974 with his renowned collaborators The Band, the massive collection boasts 431 tracks, 417 of them previously unreleased. Following a motorcycle accident in July 1966, shortly after completing his notorious World Tour with the group that would become The Band, Dylan ceased touring but continued to record. Part of his studio output during this period included The Basement Tapes with The Band.

Recorded in 1967, The Basement Tapes wouldn’t be released until 1975 riding the wave of Dylan and The Band’s 1974 studio album together, Planet Waves, and the subsequent tour in support of the LP. Bob Dylan – The 1974 Live Recordings includes every available soundboard recording from Dylan’s first tour in eight years.

Uncle Sam’s is a gem from the vault of late co-founder Gregg Allman featuring a full-length concert performance recorded on July 1, 1983 at Uncle Sam’s in Hull, Massachusetts. In 1983, Allman was 10 years removed from the peak of The Allman Brothers Band’s glory days of performing at huge arenas and massive stadiums and was grinding it out at intimate clubs with a newly formed group. The Gregg Allman Band lineup at the time saw Gregg joined by former ABB bandmates lead guitarist Danny Toler and drummer Frankie Toler. Allman rounded out the band with rhythm guitarist Bruce Waibel, bassist Gregg Voorhees, percussionist Chaz Trippy and a horn section consisting of brothers Donn (sax and flute) and Larry Finney (trumpet).

John Lynskey, Chief Archivist and Historian for The Allman Brothers Band, told Goldmine the following about the show and where it sat on the tour:

They had started in the spring. So they were maybe a third of the way through. The two horn players, the Finney brothers, were only on for the spring and the summer runs. He had known them from Macon, Georgia and it was his desire to have them out on the road with him. That’s one of the reasons we picked this show for release. It was a great performance to showcase the horns, his love of them and how it changed things. There weren’t horns in the Allman Brothers so what’s great about Gregg’s solo years as he put it is that there was only one cook in the kitchen. He got to do his music his way. And, the particularly important thing about this is that this is the “unknown period” of Gregg Allman’s career. The early into the mid-1980s where music had changed and techno-pop had taken over. There was no room for classic rock as we know it now. So he would play anywhere, for anyone, at any time. He was making very little money but he did it because he loved it, and I think it allowed him to get back to his roots. Gregg went from playing in front of 200,000 people to playing in front of 200 people. He didn’t care.

Esteemed singer-songwriter Jesse Malin prepared a benefit/tribute album, Silver Patron Saints: The Songs of Jesse Malin, featuring Bruce Springsteen, Lucinda Williams & Elvis Costello and several others. Along with Springsteen, Williams and Costello, Silver Patron Saints also sees contributions from Billie Joe Armstrong, The Hold Steady, Tommy Stinson, Alison Mosshart with late MC5 legend Wayne Kramer, Tom Morello, Counting Crows, Dinosaur Jr., The Wallflowers, Spoon, Susanna Hoffs, Frank Turner and Rancid. A year ago Malin suffered a rare spinal stroke, paralyzing him from the waist down. Silver Patron Saints proceeds will benefit Malin’s Sweet Relief artist fund.

“I have a lot of anxiety and insomnia,” Jesse said. “Your mind goes into some dark places. But I just have to keep a positive outlook and believe.” Malin is currently undergoing a daily physical therapy regimen and stem-cell treatments.

“I am getting some strength back in my legs, but it moves a lot slower than I would like,” he added. “I don’t want to portray it like I’m ready to do the James Brown splits onstage. I definitely have a long way to go, but I’m blessed and so grateful for the amazing fans and friends that I have.”