New Music from the Inbox: Half Moon Run, Christine and the Queens, Janelle Monae, and more!
Artist: Half Moon Run
Song: 9beat
Album: Salt
Half Moon Run’s new album, Salt, is a testament to the remarkable humanity, resonance, and artistry of Half Moon Run. Expressive and yearning, 9beat is only one of many stand-out tracks on a no-skips album. It has engaging rhythms, swelling strings, passionate vocals, and bright acoustic guitar representative of Half Moon Run’s sound, but a very unusual time signature – nine over four, giving the song its name. It was quite the creative process: “For that song alone, Devon went through several hundred different Tascam recordings, mining for lyrical and melodic content. We’ve been working on that song for the better part of a decade, and that’s true of several songs on this record.”
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Artist: Christine and the Queens
Song: A day in the water
Album: PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE
This track is a beautifully understated, introspective, melancholy, and hopeful taste of the new Christine and the Queens album. This captivating, highly personal 20-track album takes inspiration from Tony Kushner’s play, Angels in America, and features guest appearances from powerhouses Madonna and 070 Shake. PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE is out now!
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Artist: Janelle Monae feat. Doechii
Song: Phenomenal
Album: The Age of Pleasure
This bold, free, and sensual, collab with Doechii is a standout from Janelle Monae’s new album, The Age of Pleasure, out now!
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Artist: Becca Mencari
Song: Over and Over
Album: Left Hand
This mellow yet uplifting song, which features Julien Baker on backing vocals, is a reminder to friends that happiness doesn’t need to be fleeting. It’s the first single from Becca Mencari’s album, Left Hand, out August 25!
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Artist: Rufus Wainwright feat. Susanna Hoffs, Chris Stills, and Sheryl Crow
Song: Twelve-Thirty
Album: Folkocracy
This The Mamas and The Papas cover is from Rufus Wainwright’s star-studded album of folk music reinventions, which is out now. Rufus Wainwright explains what draws him to folk music: “Folk music always has a menacing quality. It’s a genre that plays with both the light and the dark and the battle between those two. Unlike disco or most pop music, where you’re trying to create a whole new world that’s about escapism or crafting a fantasy land, folk music is rooted in the real, and therefore it’s timeless. It doesn’t belong to any particular era.”
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