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Saturday, January 18, 2020

Introducing Siobhán O'Brien, Northern Quarter, plus new music by Marcus King, Joywave, Icicle


Siobhán O’Brien - The King's Fool


This singer-songwriter from Limerick, Ireland, moved to the USA in 2017 to pursue music full-time. "A lot of my influences were American - the great songwriters, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, The Band," O'Brien told hometown website I Love Limerick. Now based in Virginia, she spent time in Austin recording her upcoming album, You Can't Run Out of Love, with John Bush and Matt Hubbard (drummer and keyboardist for Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians) as her co-producers. On this lead single, O'Brien compares the struggle to make a career in music to the life of a court jester.

Northern Quarter - Fighting For You


One musical connection leads to another. After adding Elk Run & Riot to our big mix, we caught wind of another Alberta-based indie band that's just released a new single. Kerry Hunter's smoky vocal is backed by a soulful, bluesy arrangement of guitar, bass, drums and organ, and the track has a very "live" sound as though the band is playing right in front of you in a club 'round midnight. The group's next EP is due in the spring. (Photo by Martin Boudreau)

Marcus King - Say You Will


We previously featured "The Well" from El Dorado, King's debut "solo" album following three releases with his band. This Dan Auerbach-produced collection includes quiet, introspective songs that show another side of the guitar wizard's talents. But our pick for the New Music bin this week is this heavy, southern-rock track that American Songwriter calls "tough ZZ Top-styled swamp," with King's electric-guitar chops on full display.

Joywave - Half Your Age


The new single from this Rochester, N.Y., indie-electro band is a bouncy, upbeat, anthemic song about...coming to grips with aging. "Brush it all away / Tell yourself you’ve got some years to waste / Laugh it all away / But all your heroes now are half your age." Thanks, guys, for the reminder that we ain't getting any younger. (Coincidentally, that's also the theme of Tame Impala's "It Might Be Time," the title track from their recent release.) Joywave's third album, Possession, is due in March. (Photo by Mary Ellen Matthews)

Icicle - Talk Talk Talk


Icicle is the project of prolific Montreal-based musician Krassy Halatchev, and this track is from Senescence, his eighth album in a little over five years. Our regular listeners have heard him in our mix and on The Detour, our nightly even-more-eclectic-than-usual show. This track is now crossing over from The Detour to the New Music bin. It's an entertainingly angry breakup song: "I just want to forget it / because I don't need the headache / so please leave me alone!"

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