Josh Ritter has long established himself as one of the most talented songwriters of his generation, a thoughtful and clever lyricist who works in and out of folk and Americana. After touring with Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit a few years ago, Ritter asked the equally talented Isbell to produce his next record with the 400 Unit as backing band. The result is Fever Breaks, a stunning 10-track collection with political relevance and as many ingenious turns of phrase as the typical Ritter record. There are quiet moments like the straightforward pleading of the protest song, “All Some Kind of Dream,” and the George Saunders-esque monolithic voice of bureaucracy trying to demonize everyone else on “The Torch Committee,” and there are louder, rocking moments where the 400 Unit and Isbell’s guitar playing are let loose, like lead single “Old Black Magic” and “Losing Battles.”
With By Blood, married couple Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent have now released five studio albums as Shovels & Rope. This latest full-length comes immediately on the heels of the birth of their second child, and family (biological or emotional) seems to run through the album’s 10 tracks, including “The Wire,” “Twisted Sisters,” “Carry Me Home,” and the closing title track. Nobody is doing this particular brand of trash can, makeshift alt-country as well as this duo.
Twenty-one year old British singer-songwriter Jade Bird has a very distinctive pronunciation on her songs, which match the raw but potent delivery of her quick-witted lyrics. Her self-titled debut comes on the heels of her EP, Something American. The full album steps things up in every facet, bringing a varied and strong collection of indie folk songs to the table and setting their creator up for an exciting career.
For one of our more recognizable and successful singer-songwriters, Sara Bareilles has taken some fascinating twists and turns. Following the huge commercial success of her 2013 album, The Blessed Unrest, and its lead single, “Brave,” Bareilles wrote a musical adaptation of the 2007 Adrienne Shelly-directed film Waitress, eventually stepping into the lead role and releasing her own versions of the songs. Now, after what has essentially been a six year gap between true studio albums, she has returned with possibly her least mainstream album of the five since her breakout. Amidst the Chaos may lack the large hooks and singable moments that Bareilles is capable of writing, but it is chock full of beautiful moments of defiance. Check out the jazzy single, “Armor,” the “Gravity”-esque Lori McKenna co-write “Saint Honesty,” the bold opener “Fire,” and the John Legend duet “A Safe Place To Land.”
John Darnielle just keeps on going. In League With Dragons is his 17th album as the frontman for The Mountain Goats, and is the third in a series of heavily themed albums that includes 2015’s Beat The Champ, which lent Darnielle’s sensitive writing and nasally direct delivery to the world of professional wrestling, and 2017’s Goths, which focused on the outsider culture of its title. This newest is 48 minutes of dungeons and dragons-themed Mountain Goats songs, with a certain lushness to the instrumentation that hasn’t always been synonymous with their vast catalog, including standouts “Possum By Night,” “Younger,” and “Cadaver Sniffing Dog.”