1) Leon Bridges, “Gold-Diggers Sound” / When Bridges hit the atmosphere in 2015 with “Coming Home,” he drew (understandable) comparisons to Sam Cooke based on his retro-leaning vibe and smooth vocal assurance. Each subsequent release has expanded the borders of Bridges’ soul music; here, he loses nothing of the timelessness heard previously, but folds in the likes of Robert Glasper and Terrace Martin to get suitably strange at the edges. This one hits the head and heart.
2) Ledisi, “… Sings Nina” / With supple symphonic backing, one of our great R&B voices of the past 20 years takes on the catalog of no less an icon than Nina Simone—and hits home run after home run. Especially resonant are the buoyant blues of “Feeling Good” and the piano-led swing of “My Baby Just Cares for Me.”
3) Mega Bog, “Life, And Another” / Shape-shifting and ever-satisfying, the new one from Mega Bog’s Erin Birgy slips seamlessly between Bowie-esque pop, neo-classical and chamber music and jazz-kissed experimentation. All the colors here are deep and lasting.
4) Fruit Bats, “Siamese Dream” / Take one of the great indie artists of our day—Fruit Bats’ Eric Johnson—and let him stretch out across an album-length cover of an alternative classic. What you have is a stable of terrific Smashing Pumpkins tunes (which comprise my favorite of the band’s records) rendered in wonderful new tempos, tones and colors.
5) Amorak Huey, “My Mother Renames the Colors” for Moist Poetry Journal / The act of naming our surroundings is as old as people themselves. In this brief but fathomless poem from Amorak Huey, the art of renaming comes into play—a way of reckoning with and, ultimately, cherishing all we see.