1) The Lumineers, “Brightside” / I’ll admit it … I wasn’t crazy about The Lumineers upon their debutante. “Ho Hey” possessed a chirpiness that was never going to win me over. But as the band progressed, I softened. Tunes like “Ophelia” and “Angela” had that good heartache, showcasing the band’s reservoir of soul. That quality is front and center on The Lumineers’ fourth record; the ironically-titled “Brightside” occasionally aims for the triumph of a “Ho Hey,” but the songs major in minor-key emotions and a world weariness that rings ever true.
2) Pedro the Lion, “Havasu” / I’ve always identified, it seems, with the blue-black melancholy of David Bazan’s records, whether leading Pedro the Lion or recording under his own name. Bazan’s suspicions are born of sensitivity, and I’ve always heard him like my slightly more caustic altar ego. That level of identification has increased and deepened with the last two Pedro albums, Bazan’s explorations of growing up in Arizona—my old home, too.
Upon first listen, “Havasu” struck me as among the darkest, bassiest music of Bazan’s career, good but not great Pedro. Upon subsequent listens, I am undone. The detail Bazan threads through these songs—as he narrates experiences as a band kid, or enduring a public-school Valentine’s Day—chips away at any resolve, until your reception of them twines with his. Pure curiosity, pure grief, pure homesickness, pure (but never cheap) sentimentality.
3) The music of Ryan Culwell / The songs of this native Texan have been a sure and welcome companion these past couple years, giving language and form to my own frustration, regret, fear and flickering hope. Culwell has a new album due at the end of this month, and the advance tracks promise some of his best work yet. Particularly engrossing is “Wild Sometimes,” both a recounting of growing up in the shadow of the church and a hymn unto itself.
4) Lance Larsen, “After Reading Song of Songs I Take Out the Garbage” for Image Journal / The appeal of this poem feels evident from the title. This is a wonder of concept well-executed.
5) Whitney Rio-Ross, “Covenant” for Psaltery and Lyre / I’ve been thinking a lot (and writing a little) about what it might mean to be overcome by God, to find the divine a consuming fire—in a refining, not damning way. Rio-Ross’ typically exquisite, wrenching poetry only spurs those thoughts along, shaping and reshaping my own perspective.