1) Black Pumas, “Chronicles of a Diamond” / A truly dynamic duo, Eric Burton and Adrian Quesada don’t try to fix what isn’t broken on their latest; rather, they tune the fine details and turn over their classic soul sound to see it from every angle. That affection and attention pays off in songs that hit at a visceral level, yet house wondrous lines, lights and signs of life.
2) Mint Field, “Aprender a Ser” / The music of this Mexican band forms a baptism: into dreams, into colors and waves. Shoegaze and dream pop are the clear genre tags; Mazzy Star and Cocteau Twins a few of the reference points. But don’t assume you know all that Mint Field offers—this is a series of quiet, intoxicating revelations.
3) Erik Truffaz, “Clap!” / If your dreams involving leaving Technicolor life behind and diving through the television into your favorite art film, this is your score. The Swiss trumpeter mingles jazz, rock and the darkly romantic sounds of noir while “substituting his own images for those conjured up by the original soundtracks” of cherished films. In doing so, Truffaz keeps conversations alive with the likes of David Lynch and Serge Gainsbourg.
4) Jessica Kantrowitz, “Open Things” / The humanity stretches wide and runs deep through Kantrowitz’s new collection as the poet pushes past unknowing to celebration; honors the late Sinead O’Connor by naming just a few of the many, many forms of art; tries to turn a Mark Twain notion into a sustainable diet; and makes daily bread from poems.
Kantrowitz’s forever gift is allowing readers to feel seen and understood in her verses, me especially in these:
“… you build up a kind of / structured hopelessness / whose jagged edges and reset bones / bear a faint resemblance / to strength”
5) Martha Silano, “Unambiguously,” for Sixth Finch / Come to this Martha Silano poem for early images such as “manifesting my best rain, my best evening gown of cool.” Stay for the remarkable mix of discontent, empathy, dark humor and elemental connection. Silano considers how we change, how we age in terms that interrupt the narratives that pass for “typical.”