1) Suki Waterhouse, “Memoir of a Sparklemuffin” / Suki Waterhouse’s latest sounds like the desert and the canyons and the cool oases between. This is a pop epic built on sweeping romance and a serious playfulness.
2) Nada Surf, “Moon Mirror” / The killer new Nada Surf record is born, no doubt, of great intention and yet it seems so self-evident; as if these songs were always supposed to exist in this time, in this way. As pure as indie rock gets.
3) Julie, “My Anti-Aircraft Friend” / Right away, this L.A. trio plunges listeners into the dreamy, daring rock vibes of its latest, refashioning the atmosphere in its own image.
4) Andrew Bertaina, “Moonlit Fields” for Literary Namjooning / This gentle, motion-filled gem by Andrew Bertaina is just the sort of moody, bittersweet writing I adore. As he unfolds each word, you sense their pull—as if being drawn into the moonlight—and long to be absorbed.
and the way he used to stay awake at his window, and watch the white orb of the moon hung in the trees, and the sound of the grasshoppers in the wet grass, and nameless insects whirring in the trees and all that was passing now as the train rolled along
5) Jane Zwart + Sarah Sloat, “I Apologize for the Inconvenience” for Psaltery and Lyre / What serendipity in this pairing: Easily one of my very favorite poets (Zwart) with one of my very favorite visual poets (Sloat). Both artists are forever searching for the kinds of miracles that only be classified as coincidence and the kinds of coincidences that can only be described as miracles, and I am a seeker in their stead. How Sloat’s image frames Zwart’s poem here (and vice-versa) is evidence of the graces they chase.