THE DELI

New London Fire’s forthcoming record Tired of This Man may at first seem rooted within the zeitgeist of contemporary indie folk, but a closer listening reveals the group’s spiritual connection to the more overtly political Americana of the early 20th Century. “I hope people feel the same kind of kinship with [our] music that they once did with Phil Ochs or Woody Guthrie,” remarks band leader David Debiak (of Sleep Station and Electric Century). “We want to remind people of the importance of unions, of sticking together in protest.”

This connection is most apparent on tracks like “Now I’m Found,” in which Debiak sings about “gazing upon green and sprawling mountains” with nods to Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.” In doing so, Tired of This Man seeks to revive a grounded sense of Americanism, one not bolstered by blind exceptionalism but instead a celebration of America as a sum of its many different and diverse parts, often employing Debiak’s own experiences as testament – contextualized in our current political climate, New London Fire offers a sharp rebuke while invoking the peace loving nature of the American folk tradition.

Tired of This Man will be out October 26th via The Preservation Society. -Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt)

Brooklyn sludge trio A Deer A Horse let listeners read between the lines on their new single, “Double Wide” (streaming). The track is a heavy-leaded five minute foray into a scene with sparse details, yet every meticulously-chosen word creates an atmosphere of oncoming dread, each detail growled by vocalist and bassist Angela Phillips a Chekhovian set piece of extreme importance.

The elements described by Phillips on “Double Wide” – a knot, a shut door, the experience of meeting god – they all compose a tableau of possible final thoughts by a family member of Phillips, who several years ago took his own life. The bleak realness of the track is difficult to confront as a listener, but according to Phillips, the process of writing and performing “Double Wide” allows her relative’s passing to make “more sense, and it becomes a little easier to heal.” A trial by fire of emotional endurance and survival, “Double Wide” is a difficult track to consume, but the raw truth that informs its inception makes it necessary, important listening. –Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt), Photo by Kirsten Theon (@daggers_for_eyes)

Austin’s Thanks Light has released a charming new music video for "Little Pink Fluffy Clouds." It’s a colorful and creative compliment to the song’s jangly, indie-rock vibe, with chord structures and tones reminiscent of bands like Wilco, Why? and Pavement. The video is entirely composed of DIY stop-motion animation: figurines and shaving cream dance and swirl around the screen, while fridge-magnet letters and Lite-Brite spell out the song’s lyrics. It’s clear the indie quartet had fun with the video, and the fun is contagious. Check out the video below! – Ethan Ames

Thanks Light : : Little Pink Fluffy Clouds : : from Enjoy Eyes on Vimeo.

Sometimes the inadvertent paradox of grandiose music is that the bigger it sounds, the less personal it can feel. The archetype of one artist and their guitar making music that everyone can relate to often only applies to sounds that are stripped down. Yet on Dan Knishkowy’s new album as Adeline Hotel, titled Away Together, this pitfall is circumvented. The warm and bare-bones guitar playing is felt immediately on the opener "So Long", but when it builds to a transcendent apex, the same crisp, emotional pointedness can be felt. The album features guitars that paint a hazy picture and pianos that bring back lucidity as Knishkowy’s lyrics push through the gossamer of life: relationships and time passing by as reality blurs. Away Together is a record that furtively slips into your own memories, demolishing the barrier between listener and artist. While songs like "Lightning" and "Plastic Stars" bring a brash urgency to the record, it’s the eponymous coda that cements how versatile Knishkowy can be in creating personal music. Adeline Hotel will be playing a release show at Union Pool this Friday, Oct. 26, but you can stream the album in full below. -Tucker Pennington 

Since the 2016 release of his debut single, Where U Were, indie pop singer/songwriter Quiet Luke has been intriguing music listeners with his peculiar blend of soul, ambient and electronica. As a graduate of NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, this solo artist has learned to express his musical talent in a variety of forms. Whether he is dabbling with synthesizers to produce his soulful, surreal style, or streaming social commentary through his latest performance art EP Your Happy Place (streaming below), Quiet Luke crafts music that intends to be bold. The disparity between his darker, more introspective lyrics and his music’s blissful shell creates a musical experience that’s at once entertaining and thought provoking. – Rebecca Carroll