Music Suitcase: Favorite New Albums of May 2023
Welcome to the 65th edition of my monthly blog! It’s a lightning round this month, cause I’ve been traveling, but what a wonderful hodgepodge of albums from all over the musical map May was!
Along with the blog, here’s a playlist with favorite songs from May!
Tinariwen, Amatssou
Subtly augmenting the desert blues of the Tuaregs with bluegrass instrumentation may seem like a wild curveball or a natural fit depending on your musical cosmology, but in any case, Mali’s Assouf-rock progenitors make it sound like destiny, on a particularly fresh-sounding 8th studio album. 40 or so years into their career, the band’s steady, hypnotic rhythms and psychedelic-without-trying guitars roll along wondrously throughout. Highlights: “Kek Alghalm,” “Tenere Den,” “Imidiwan Mahitinam”
billy woods & Kenny Segal, Maps
A master of slow burn and extended-release lyrics that hit harder with each listen, NYC underground rap maverick Woods uses his album’s theme of touring and traveling with a light and subtle touch, using it to focus his thoughts on a wealth of pithy subjects. His second collab with LA beatmaker Segal feels more cohesive; ample guest features give it a more expansive feel, too. Highlights: “Soft Landing,” “Hangman,” “Waiting Around”
Miya Folick, Roach
From moving confessionals to anthems of liberation, this LA-based singer/songwriter’s sophomore album tracks her journey out of toxic relationship patterns towards wisdom and self-empowerment, her vocals soaring with emotion over synth-kissed indie rock. Highlights: “Mommy,” “So Clear,” “Drugs or People”
Gord Downie & Bob Rock, Lustre Parfait
Recorded long before his cancer diagnosis, the Tragically Hip frontman’s 3rd posthumous album finds his innately off-kilter, understated work all dressed up by producer Bob Rock (who has produced Metallica and Mötley Crüe); it actually works, and of course Downie’s lyrics are as profound as ever. Highlights: “The Raven and the Red-Tailed Hawk,” “The Moment Is A Wild Place,” “In The Field”
Bela Fleck, As We Speak
Banjo, cello, tabla, upright bass and the Indian bansuri flute are a match made in Heaven, as the banjo master and his quartet mash up bluegrass, classical music, jazz, traditional Indian music and more on this exquisite double album. Highlights: “Beast in the Garden,” “Tradewinds Bengali,” “Owl’s Misfortune”
Kassa Overall, Animals
Equal parts composer, rapper/singer, producer, and drummer, the Seattle-born, NYC-based artist’s third album pops and sparkles from post-bop to boom-bap, inhabiting a lively intersection between jazz and experimental hip hop. Highlights: “So Happy,” ‘The Lava Is Calm,” “The Scene Was Made”
The Murlocs, Calm Ya Farm
Ambrose Kenny-Smith and company have found their groove, on a breezy, classic-sounding blues-rock album, which functions as an easy-going but also vibrant counterpoint to the thrash metal his other band King Gizzard is putting out right now. Highlights: “Common Sense Civilian,” “Superstitious Insights,” “Undone and Unashamed”
Dropkick Murphys, Okemah Rising
A folk-punk’s wet dream, this second volume of songs born from previously unseen Woody Guthrie lyrics, taps into the American folk legend’s undeniable punk spirit, and the acoustic guitars do nothing to diminish the fire of the band’s performance. Highlights: “My Eyes Are Gonna Shine,” “Gotta Get To Peekskill,” “I’m Shipping Up To Boston”
Paul Simon, Seven Psalms
Released as one album-length, seven-part song with its opening section “The Lord” recurring and reiterating its vision throughout, the legendary songwriter weaves ruminations on mortality and faith on an acoustic suite rendered with vocals and acoustic guitar. Highlights: “The Lord,” “The Sacred Harp,” “My Professional Opinion”
Durand Jones, Wait Till I Get Over
The Incantations’ frontman gets extra personal on a project began a decade ago — before he met his band — a classic R&B album with modern production, centering his heritage in the Louisiana community he grew up in, social justice, and of course romance. Highlights: “See It Through,” “Wait Til I Get Over,” “Lord Have Mercy”
Mega Bog, The End of Everything
Artful, dystopian synth pop with a Kate Bush-esque dramatic flair, Erin Birgy’s 6th album deliberately honors the artist’s newfound sobriety with clearer themes and more well-defined musicality, even as prog-friendly song structures abound. Highlights: “The All and Everything,” “The Clown,” “Love Is”
Bruce Cockburn, O Sun O Moon
Twenty-seven-or-so albums into his career, the Canadian folk legend is still delivering wholesome, earnest, lyrically driven albums full of wisdom and warmth from within the bulwark of his discerning social conscience. Highlights: “On A Roll,” “Orders,” “When The Spirit Walks In The Room”
Sparks, The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte
Perhaps finally transitioning from cult legends into celebrated icons, the duo begin their 6th decade of recording with a colorful batch of sardonic, synth-driven rock and pop songs. Sparks’ knack for delivering darkly comic material in a dramatic style, winking all the way, is on full display. Highlights: “Gee, That Was Fun,” “Not That Well-Defined,” ”“We Go Dancing“
Madison McFerrin, I Hope You Can Forgive Me
Madison McFerrin’s first full-length album still captures the spirit of her father’s legacy by way of showcasing her voice (and on one track, Bobby’s) but, embracing a broader instrumental palate than in her previous offerings her adventures into pop, R&B, funk and neo-soul. Highlights: “Run,” “God Herself,” “Utah”
Arlo Parks, My Soft Machine
A dancier, more versatile and more radio-conscious aesthetic accompanies the singer/songwriter’s departure from the simple folk-pop and mental health focus of her debut album toward a wider array of sounds and themes. Highlights: “Weightless,” “Impurities,” “Devotion”
If you’d like to hear just the best of the best, here’s a playlist with 56 of my favorite songs from May which includes one or a few songs from each album above, and a bunch of great songs from albums that didn’t make onto my list too — Playlist: Music Suitcase, May ‘23
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While we’re here…
Did you enjoy this article? Awesome! It was written by a white guy privileged enough to have time listen to like 40 albums every month and write a blog as a passion project, for free.
If you are white and you are also are privileged enough to have some time on your hands, or some money to donate, please check out some anti-racism resources and help fight the good fight.
Nerding out over music is fun, but let’s not forget that we live in a burning world that needs our help! Black Lives Matter.