New Releases
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June 25, 2021Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part is an album of songs written and performed by Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion. With Shaw on vocals and Sō filling out this new band, they developed songs in the studio, with lyrics inspired by their own wide-ranging interests: James Joyce, the Sacred Harp hymnal, a poem by Anne Carson, the Bible’s Book of Ruth, the American roots tune “I’ll Fly Away,” the pop music of ABBA, and more. Pre-order to download two tracks now and get a custom climbing pole bean seed packet hand-printed and signed by Shaw.
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Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part is an album of songs written and performed by Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion. With Shaw on vocals and Sō filling out this new band, they developed songs in the studio, with lyrics inspired by their own wide-ranging interests: James Joyce, the Sacred Harp hymnal, a poem by Anne Carson, the Bible’s Book of Ruth, the American roots tune “I’ll Fly Away,” the pop music of ABBA, and more. Pre-order to download two tracks now and get a custom climbing pole bean seed packet hand-printed and signed by Shaw.
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Brad Mehldau’s Variations on a Melancholy Theme features the pianist/composer and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, which commissioned this orchestral version of the work—a theme and eleven variations plus a cadenza and postlude. The album also includes an encore, “Variations ‘X’ and ‘Y.'" "I imagine it as if Brahms woke up one day and had the blues," Mehldau says of the piece, which combines the classical form with jazz harmonies. "While the theme evokes melancholy, I let it be used as a springboard for other happy, wild, violent, and reckless emotions as the variations progress."
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Chris Thile’s Laysongs is his first truly solo album: just Thile, his voice, and his mandolin, on new recordings of six original songs and three covers, all of which contextualize and banter with his ideas about spirituality. Recorded in a converted upstate New York church during the pandemic, Laysongs features the three-part “Salt (in the Wounds) of the Earth,” which was inspired by C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters; a song Thile wrote about Dionysus; a selection from Béla Bartók’s Sonata for Solo Violin; “God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot” based on Buffy Sainte-Marie’s adaptation of a Leonard Cohen poem; and a Hazel Dickens cover. Nonesuch Store pre-orders include a print of the album cover image autographed by Thile.
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k.d. lang’s makeover is a new collection of classic remixes of some of her best-loved songs. The album brings these remixes, made between 1992 and 2000, together for the first time, and includes “Sexuality,” “Miss Chatelaine,” “Theme from The Valley of the Dolls,” “Summerfling,” and the #1 dance chart hits “Lifted By Love” and “If I Were You.” makeover’s cover art features a previously unseen 1995 portrait of lang by David LaChapelle. Pre-order to download “Miss Chatelaine (St. Tropez Mix)" now and get an exclusive, limited-edition print of the album cover signed by lang and a paper doll PDF set to print at home featuring iconic looks from throughout her career.
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The Black Keys' tenth studio album, Delta Kream, celebrates the band’s roots, featuring eleven Mississippi hill country blues standards they've loved since they were teenagers, before they were a band, including songs by R. L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough, among others. Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney recorded Delta Kream at Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville; they were joined by musicians Kenny Brown and Eric Deaton, long-time members of the bands of blues legends including Burnside and Kimbrough. The album takes its name from William Eggleston’s iconic Mississippi photograph on its cover.
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Pianist and composer Tigran Hamasyan's single "Revisiting the Film," featuring drummer/composer Morgan Ågren, is a variation on "Our Film," a track from his 2020 album, The Call Within. "For years I have been a big fan of Morgan and finally had a chance to collaborate," says Hamasyan. "I hope this is going to be the beginning of our dialogue."
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Lianne La Havas's track "Seven Times," a song from her latest, self-titled album, was remixed by her friend Wu-Lu. La Havas says: "So honoured to have you rework the song with all your heart and soul. I love you."
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The original motion picture soundtrack for the acclaimed film Sound of Metal, winner of Academy Awards for Sound and Editing, features a score by Abraham Marder and Nicolas Becker, with music written specifically for the film and pre-existing works. The world-renowned percussionist Evelyn Glennie is featured on three pieces; other performers include Marder and Becker; actors Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, and Mathieu Amalric; Carolina Santana, Arthur H, and Martha Wainwright. “With its immersive sound design and understated storytelling," says Pitchfork, "Sound of Metal feels viscerally real."