Release Day Picks: June 1st New Album Highlights

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 Roger Daltrey, Neko Case, Father John Misty, Nicki Bluhm and Phil Cook. Read on for more insight into the records we have all queued up to spin.

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Roger Daltrey – As Long As I Have You

The Scoop: The Who frontman Roger Daltrey began work on his ninth solo album As Long As I Have You shortly after the release of his 2014 joint LP with Wilko Johnson Going Back Home. The 11-song As Long As I Have You was produced by Dave Eringa who produced Going Back Home and has worked extensively with Manic Street Preachers. Daltrey enlisted his The Who band mate Pete Townshend to play guitar on seven of the album’s tracks. The record mixes Daltrey originals with covers such as “You Haven’t Done Nothing” by Stevie Wonder, “How Far” by Stephen Stills and “Into My Arms” by Nick Cave. “This is a return to the very beginning, to the time before Pete [Townshend] started writing our songs, to a time when we were a teenage band playing soul music to small crowds in church halls,” Daltrey stated. “That’s what we were, a soul band. And now, I can sing soul with all the experience you need to sing it. Life puts the soul in.” Originally recorded by Garnet Mimms in 1964, stream the title track here:

Label: Polydor Records

Producer: Dave Eringa

Number Of Tracks: 11

Running Time: 37:25

Guest Musicians: Pete Townshend, Mick Talbot, Sean Genockey

Tracklist:

1. As Long As I Have You
2. How Far
3. Where Is A Man To Go?
4. Get On Out Of The Rain
5. I’ve Got Your Love
6. Into My Arms
7. You Haven’t Done Nothing
8. Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind
9. Certified Rose
10. The Love You Save
11. Always Heading Home

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Neko Case – Hell-On

The Scoop: It’s been five years since we last got a solo album from Neko Case. The booming-voiced chanteuse kept busy recording albums and touring with The New Pornographers as well as with case/lang/veirs her trio project with fellow singer-songwriters k.d. lang and Laura Viers. Case now returns with Hell-On a guest-laden affair that sonically mixes noir-pop sounds with her familiar confessional lyrics. Case describes the songs as “My best self … they are everything I’ve worked for since I was a kid, whether I knew it or not. I write songs from a feeling of solidarity with folks who feel alone or isolated, I think I’m trying to comfort people in this way. It’s not a forceful way rather, ‘No commitment necessary;’ take it if you want it, take it as you can.” Check out the music video for “Curse Of THe I-5 Corridor”:

Label: ANTI- Records

Producer: Neko Case, Bjorn Yttling

Number Of Tracks: 12

Running Time: 50:00

Guest Musicians: k.d. lang, Laura Views, Beth Ditto, A.C. Newman, Mark Lanegan, Kelly Hogan, Eric Bachmann

Tracklist:

1. Hell-On
2. Last Lion Of Albion
3. Halls Of Sarah
4. Bad Luck
5. Curse Of The I-5 Corridor
6. Gumball Blue
7. Dirty Diamond
8. Oricale Of The Maritimes
9. Winnie
10. Sleep All Summer
11. My Uncle’s Navy
12. Pitch Or Honey

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Father John Misty – God’s Favorite Customer

The Scoop: Josh Tillman’s fourth Father John Misty album God’s Favorite Customer comes quickly on the heels of the third FJM album, Pure Comedy which came out last year. Tillman once again worked with regular collaborator Jonathan Wilson on God’s Favorite Customer, which also features contributions from Haxan Cloak, Weyes Blood’s Natalie Mering and members of the Father John Misy touring band. Tillman wrote the 10 songs making up the new record between summer 2016 and winter 2017 during a stint in New York. According to press materials, the album “reflects on the experience of being caught between the vertigo of heartbreak and the manic throes of freedom … together, these are songs that demand to know either real love or what comes after, and as the album progresses, that entreaty leads to discovering the latter’s true stakes.” Watch the animated video for “Please Don’t Die” here:

Label: Sub Pop/Bella Union

Producer: Josh Tillman, Dave Cerminara, Trevor Spencer, Jonathan Rado, Jonathan Wilson

Number Of Tracks: 10

Running Time: 38:34

Guest Musicians: Jonathan Rado, Jon Titterington, Bobby Krlic, Jonathan Wilson, Elijah Thomson, Gabe Noel, Mark Ronson, David Vandervelde, James King, Natalie Mering

Tracklist:

1. Hangout at the Gallows
2. Mr. Tillman
3. Just Dumb Enough to Try
4. Date Night
5. Please Don’t Die
6. The Palace
7. Disappointing Diamonds Are the Rarest of Them All
8. God’s Favorite Customer
9. The Songwriter
10. We’re Only People (And There’s Not Much Anyone Can Do About That)

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Nicki Bluhm – To Rise You Gotta Fall

The Scoop: To Rise You Gotta Fall documents a turbulent time in singer-songwriter Nicki Bluhm’s life. Nicki wrote the material found on the 11-track effort as her marriage to Tim Bluhm disintegrated. She eventually made the move from the Bay Area to Nashville, where she started working with producer Matt Ross-Spang. The pair went into Sam Philips Recording in Memphis with a studio band featuring drummer Ken Coomer, guitarist Will Sexton, organ player Al Gamble, pianist Rick Steff, bassist Dave Smith and vocalists Reba Russell and Susan Marshall. “The last three years have been full of heartache, growth, setbacks, blind turns and unexpected beauty; a time to hurt and to heal. But in this universe, the light always finds its way to the darkest of places and this new collection of songs is proof of exactly that,” Nicki wrote about the new album. Watch the video for “Battlechain Rose”:

Label: Compass Records Group

Producer: Matt Ross-Spang

Number Of Tracks: 11

Running Time: 43 Minutes

Guest Musicians: Will Sexton, Ron Coomer, Al Gamble, Rick Steff, Dave Smith, Reba Russell, Susan Marshall

Tracklist:

1. How Do I Love You
2. Battlechain Rose
3. To Rise You Gotta Fall
4. Staring At The Sun
5. Something Really Mean
6. I Hate You
7. Can’t Fool The Fool
8. Things I’ve Done
9. You Stopped Loving Me
10. It’s Ok Not To Be Ok
11. Last To Know

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Phil Cook – People Are My Drug

The Scoop: Phil Cook has long been known as MC Taylor’s righthand man in Hiss Golden Messenger as well as an in-demand studio musician and producer. The talented multi-instrumentalist, who has worked with the likes of Brandi Carlile, Amy Ray (Indigo Girls), Matthew E. White and The Blind Boys of Alabama, and is now ready for his breakthrough as a solo artist. Cook’s sophomore release People Are My Drug is an exuberant stew of Southern soul, blues and Americana combined with a heaping dose of gospel music that showcases his love of The Staple Singers. Here’s the video for “Miles Away” featuring Amelia Meath of Sylvan Esso and Mountain Man:

Label: Psychic Hotline/Thirty Tigers

Producer: Brad Cook

Number Of Tracks: 9

Running Time: 35:59

Guest Musicians: JT Bates, Michael Libramento, James Wallace, Tamisha Waden, Chastity Brown, Amelia Meath, Mountain Man, No BS! Brass Band

Tracklist:

1. Steampowererd Blues
2. Tide Of Life
3. Miles Away
4. Another Mother’s Son
5. He Gives Us All His Love
6. Now That I Know
7. Tupelo Child
8. Deeper Kind
9. Life

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Compiled by Jeffrey Greenblatt, Andy Kahn and Scott Bernstein.