Chris Staples Releases A Cold New York Morning
There are few artists who really can craft something emotionally moving in the most simplistic form, but Chris Staples feels like one such songwriter. His voice has that familiarity, akin to Sam Beam, and it pulls at you, begging you to be part of something greater than yourself. It’s offered up with a light guitar, occasionally layered with another behind to build in some extra depth. Those little nuances are perfectly placed in the arrangement, maximizing every little emotional pull, like the synth notes in the middle. Honestly, it reminds me of a young college Nathan listening to Pedro in my dorm room, and I don’t mind that one bit. His new album Don’t Worry will be perfect for those seeking musical solace; it drops on August 5th.
I felt like I had to make up for missing out on some key hits the prior week, so I doubled down and the team and I brought you 27 brand new tunes. BGray was in love with the new Nations of Language, who he also caught up at the Kilby Block Party. Me?? Well, I fell in love with the women in the music scene, even getting into some new voices like Star Moles who I hadn’t been acquainted with before new singles hit me. Old ATH faves the Mary Onettes returned with a new single, so that was nice to hear…plus a new Pot Pot record is on its way via Felte. Oh…and did anyone write a better song than the opener from the Jeanines on this playlist? Indulge my friends.
Something in the water has allowed the folks in the UK to seamlessly blend pop punk and emo into this new anthemic sound, and there’s no one doing it better than 
If you just look at last week’s collection in our Album Streams post, you can see it was certainly a busy week out there; there were no fewer than six albums that I adored, whether it was new Gotobeds or High Water Marks or Artificial Go, there was plenty to browse through. But, that was just the albums, and didn’t even cover the great music that popped up on the single side of things. I mean, there was new Jeanines, Ryli, Lightheaded and Whitneys Playland...all of which should have you cranking up your speakers. Some good Austin (and adjacent love) for acts like Little Mazarn, San Gabriel, Gustave Ochoa and Adrian Quesada, so doing our part on the local scene. There’s just too much good stuff out there, thus, you’re required to press play and space out for an hour.