This week, we’re sharing new music and performances by artists who have unique ways of expressing sharp perspectives — plus, The Linda Lindas rock out once again in a public library.
Emma Wallbanks/Courtesy of the artist
This week, our team found itself talking about a handful of albums and artists who employ unique ways of expressing especially sharp perspectives. Take, for example, the latest album by New Zealand singer-songwriter Aldous Harding, Warm Chris. On that album, Harding dramatically changes her singing voice from song to song, telling oblique stories that follow unconventional paths. Harding’s vocal approach got freelance critic Sasha Geffen thinking about other women with idiosyncratic singing voices — like Billie Holiday, Joanna Newsom and Kate Bush — and the assumptions listeners and critics make of them. You might expect a pop-oriented songwriter like Harding to give you some linear autobiography in her lyrics, for example; instead, Geffen writes in their review of the record, Harding’s songs become “stages where she can ask: Who are we if not what we are to each other? And doesn't that mean we're always in flux?”
The music of Brittany Davis prompts similar questions about how we relate to one another, with songs that, as my colleague Stephen Thompson describes, “teem with insights about identity, injustice, authenticity, motivation and power,” rooted in Davis’ identity as a blind, Black and nonbinary artist. They gave a Tiny Desk (home) concert with a hard-hitting backing band that captured the energy of a true live concert, with tracks that fuse rock, soul, hip-hop, pop and R&B. There’s a similar expression of strength, introspection and vulnerability in this week’s Tiny Desk (home) concert from Samora Pinderhughes. The setting for the pianist and composer’s performance is his exhibition "The Healing Project,” which explores trauma and healing from structural violence with conversations, film, music and art created by incarcerated artists.
Lastly: Have you heard about NPR’s new podcast, The Limits? Every week, host Jay Williams speaks with artists, athletes and entertainers about what it takes to bet on yourself beyond your comfort zone. Recently, he spoke with rapper Denzel Curry about the role of rage in Curry’s music — and how, on his new album Melt My Eyez See Your Future, Curry channels anger into self-reflection and healing.
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The Linda Lindas went viral last year when the teen punk group performed at a branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. For the band’s Tiny Desk (home) concert, its members returned to the stacks (this time, at the Los Angeles Central Library) for a set of impressive songs from the band’s debut album.
Also from the Tiny Desk this week: We shared an intimate performance from singer-songwriter mehro and a compilation of some of the best desks featured in this year’s Tiny Desk Contest entries.
This week’s All Songs Considered New Mix features tracks by Joan Shelley and The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn, plus a song by Florist that Bob Boilen calls “the most beautiful song I've heard in 2022.”
Drummer, composer and educator Billy Hart was recently accorded the honor of joining the 2022 class of NEA Jazz Masters. On Jazz Night in America, hear a profile of Hart, which includes stories from his upbringing, words from his mentees and a performance from Hart's quartet live at Dizzy's Club.
This week, our friends at WRTI shared a video of the Dezron Douglas Quartet presenting "More Coffee Please" from the Community Education Center in West Philadelphia.
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