Jupiter and Okwess – Ekoya (Airfono)
Seeing Jupiter Bokondji and his band, Okwess International, perform is an invariably thrilling experience. No matter the venue, event, or continent, it’s sure that once Jupiter and Okwess take the stage, the sparks will fly in all the best ways. They play music called bofenia rock, a mix of traditional Congolese rhythms, funk, and rock and roll, and they have nonstop energy and a passion for positive and revolutionary messages.
Coming four years after their last album, Na Kozonga, Ekoya is yet another invigorating offering from the band, one inspired by their recent travels in Mexico and, of course, their own roots in and around the diverse megacity of Kinshasa. – Adriane Pontecorvo
Kin’gongolo Kiniata – Kiniata (Helico Music)
Congolese band Kin’gongolo Kiniata’s name is a Lingala-language reference to the sounds of metal oil barrels being moved down the streets during the power cuts that marked the 2000s in Kinshasa. The group translates it as “the crushing sound”. In some ways, it’s apt; their dense grooves and bold sounds make for a hefty blend. The five members of Kin’gongolo Kiniata approach their music with care, resulting in a finesse that remains fresh and layered.
From this balance of restraint and bombast emerges their debut album, Kiniata. It features rumba-influenced rock played on largely handmade instruments. Powered by the DIY spirit and strong collective chemistry, it’s a strong contender for one of the year’s most exciting records so far. – Adriane Pontecorvo
Alison Krauss and Union Station – Arcadia (Down the Road)
Alison Krauss and Union Station showcase a meeting of minds, as wildly creative professionals reunite to craft yet another sterling work in their estimable discography. Given how wide and reaching Krauss’ work has been in the interim between Union Station albums, it’s remarkable how warm and immediate their latest collaboration feels.
It’s a credit to the act that this record doesn’t feel like a superstar vehicle with session players. It’s a meeting of minds, wildly creative professionals reunited to log yet another sterling work in their estimable discography. Despite the 14-year gap between Arcadia and the group’s previous release, Paper Airplane, Krauss and her collaborators haven’t missed a beat. – Peter Piatkowski
Kronos Quartet and Mary Kouyoumdjian – WITNESS (Phenotypic Recordings)
As a first-generation Armenian-American whose family was directly affected by the Lebanese Civil War and Armenian Genocide, composer, documentarian, and Pulitzer Prize finalist Mary Kouyoumdjian is eminently qualified to use her skills to create an artistic portrait of the horrors of violent conflict. Likewise, the legendary Kronos Quartet have used their considerable compositional and performing brilliance to a variety of genres and subject matter. So, it’s practically inevitable that their new collaboration, WITNESS, is a stunning and profoundly moving tribute to the victims of war and genocide.
Kouyoumdjian splices together recordings of survivors of the Armenian Genocide and the Lebanese Civil War and pairs them with the Kronos Quartet’s stringed harmonies to provide an audio landscape that wisely adds the human element of these atrocities. – Chris Ingalls
The Lathums – Matter Does Not Define (Modern Sky)
While operating firmly within the guitar pop/rock realm, the Lathums have proven themselves adept at creating tunes with a variety of distinct moods. Over the last several months, the group proved this by treating fans to four teaser singles from Matter Does Not Define, showcasing a different side of their musical personality. The record ends on a haunted note with “Long Shadows”, a brooding song, despite lyrics that end with the seemingly hopeful, “We are free, and are free / We are happy tonight, tonight.” The bottom line is that whether you like the Beatles, Squeeze, Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, or any combination thereof, you will find something to enjoy on Matter Does Not Define. – Rich Wilhelm
Clara Mann – Rift (State51)
A ghost moves through Rift. Despite Clara Mann explicitly singing, “I’m still strung out on your ghost” in “Stadiums”, pinpointing the ghost upon a former lover would be missing the broader point: it symbolises the past. Therefore, the past is the phantom that seeps into every nook and cranny of Rift. Even with all the driving (that comprises much of the album’s imagery), spectral shadows trail behind. Essentially, Rift is a car journey on the road to self-discovery, culminating in the narrator finding an inner freedom that no endless highway could provide.
With its homespun folk tunes, Rift is like a tête-à-tête between close friends under a crepuscular sky that leaves you listening to every word with the utmost attention—and wishing for the conversation to continue long into the night. – Jack Walters
Mdou Moctar – Tears of Injustice (Matador)
Tears of Injustice is a companion piece to Funeral for Justice, in which Mdou Moctar and his band perform stripped-down arrangements of each plugged-in piece they release on the latter. In that sense, the two records run in direct parallel, with Tears of Injustice reiterating Moctar’s unwavering commitment to justice and human rights. Tonally, though, the switch from electric to mostly acoustic makes a tremendous difference.
The record is a cause for mourning, for melancholy. It allows for lamentation, recognizing that there is more to sustaining resistance than fighting with fire. Tears of Injustice finds Mdou Moctar following in the footsteps of performers like Abdallah Oumbadougou and Tinariwen. These are the blues, and Moctar can play them with the same nimble care with which he shreds. – Adriane Pontecorvo
Colin Miller – Losin’ (Mtn Laurel Recording Co.)
Asheville, North Carolina-based Colin Miller’s Losin’ was written after the death of his close friend Gary King, who was a father figure to Miller over the past several years. Asheville luminaries Wednesday also paid tribute to King on “Gary”, a highlight of their 2021 record Twin Plagues. That space, the tension between needing to move on and not yet knowing how, is a central theme of this collection. He mentions feeling as if he stays in the place he and King shared, he will die in silence there. This collection of songs is the alternate plan. There’s something hopeful Miller is reaching for here, even in the darkest places, that makes Losin’ endlessly replayable. Put it on and remember the good times with those you have lost. – Brian Stout
Raúl Monsalve y Los Forajidos – Sol (Olindo)
Multi-instrumentalist Raúl Monsalve and band Los Forajidos are in ecstasy on the new album Sol. The group’s third full-length release features some of their highest energy to date. They create music in a vibrant spectrum, with jazz melding into funk and sprinkled with synthpop, all shaped by Monsalve’s home music scene in Caracas and his collaborators’ diverse backgrounds.
With Sol, Monsalve and Los Forajidos add their soulful illumination to a world in which, even in the most difficult and unsettled of times, there are always bright and beautiful moments, music like this among them. Their experiences are vast, and their creative chemistry is outstanding. In a digital world, it’s rare to encounter an album that genuinely feels unlike anything else, but Sol is pretty incomparable. – Adriane Pontecorvo
Moonrisers – Harsh & Exciting (Easy Eye Sound)
Moonrisers’ debut album, Harsh & Exciting, is a stirring invocation, which finds Libby DeCamp and Adam Schreiber utilizing instrumentation as their primary storytelling tool. Relying on DeCamp’s 1930s Slingerland May Bell parlor guitar and Schreiber’s century-old calfskin drum kit, Moonrisers craft a hypnotizing experience.
The contributions of bluegrass musicians Tim O’Brien and Chris Scruggs add subtle layers of mandolin, pedal steel, and banjo, enhancing the album’s musical complexity. Consequently, Moonrisers effectively fuse various musical influences without adhering to traditional conventions or a single genre. This genre-blurring approach combines tradition and innovation to evoke emotional responses and vivid imagery musically. – Elisabeth Woronzoff