"This was written at a cottage in the English countryside in winter where we had gone on a writing retreat to escape the noise of London," the Staves' Jessica and Camilla Staveley say of their new song, "Sitting By the Fire," out today. "On a cigarette break, Jessica went outside in the dark and could see Camilla through the window, sat at the fireplace writing a song. The song is a photograph of sorts, capturing that moment. We recorded this after we had cut the record [All Now] out in LA. We were back in London and revisited this tune and we felt that it would really be perfect to have [our sister] Emily join us on it to lend her voice to this a cappella recording."

The Way Out of Easy, the first album from guitarist Jeff Parker and his long-running ETA IVtet—saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, drummer Jay Bellerose—since their 2022 debut Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy, which Pitchfork named one of the Best Albums of the 2020s So Far, is out now on International Anthem / Nonesuch Records. Like that album, The Way Out of Easy comprises recordings from LA venue ETA, where Parker and the ensemble held a weekly residency for seven years. During that time, the ETA IVtet evolved from a band that played mostly standards into a group known for its transcendent, long-form journeys into innovative, groove-oriented improvised music. All four tracks on The Way Out of Easy come from a single night in 2023, providing an unfiltered view of the ensemble, fully in their element.