Following her massive success with her 2017 debut, Stranger in the Alps, and her 2018 collaborative EP, boygenius, 24-year-old singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers kicked off 2019 with a bang, releasing another collaboration, this time with one of indie rock’s elder statesmen, Conor Oberst. The duo, who recorded under the name Better Oblivion Community Center, surprise released their album on Wednesday night following a performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Bridgers and Oberst have toured together before, and although there are currently no dates announced, they are expected to tour in support of this new album.
It appears that the Killers are working on a follow-up to their 2017 LP, Wonderful Wonderful, but lead guitarist and founding member Dave Keuning has stepped out from the band and released his first solo album. Prismism was recorded in Keuning’s home studio in San Diego, where he played every instrument. It’s amusing to me that both this album and Killers frontman Brandon Flowers’ last album, The Desired Effect, has such heavy ’80s influences, while the band’s main output has been moving further away from that sound.
Currently amidst a 25th anniversary tour, Portland indie rockers The Dandy Warhols return with their 10th full-length, Why You So Crazy. Regarding the album, frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor told Billboard: “We’ve always been driven to create art with emotional clarity. That’s what the world needs more than ever right now. I’ve never felt so strongly that people are losing their minds, and it’s more of them than ever before. Local politics, international politics, news programs, sitcoms, and our president all feel like the heat got turned up.”
Texas singer-songwriter Joshua Ray Walker said he has attempted to record a few extended plays, but eventually, they either didn’t work out, or in the most recent case, grew into a complete album. Wish You Were Here is Walker’s full-length debut, released by Dallas-based label, State Fair Records.
We also missed some albums from last week, the first real release date of the new year. These included Rattlesnake, a stage musical-style folk opera about the legend of Rattlesnake Kate by former Lumineers cellist Neyla Pekarek; Heard It In A Past Life, the debut from 24-year-old Maryland folk-pop singer Maggie Rogers; The Unseen In Between, from former Kurt Vile guitarist, Steven Gunn; and Remind Me Tomorrow, the fourth album from New Jersey’s Sharon Van Etten.