Looking back fifty years and digging in my memory for albums I consider classic, naturally leads one to artists of bygone years. But even among new releases there are men and women of considerable age contributing to the last regular blog entry in 2023.

That doesn’t mean you should shy way if you consider yourself young and forward-looking; I promise lots if interesting albums and singles from artists who are still in their sexual prime. And that doesn’t only include Mick Jagger….

I do hope you still enjoy the new look and the slightly altered way of presenting the music to you. The links to Spotify are now found in the text itself.

The Short List: New Tracks

The Long List: Previous Tracks

New Albums

The opening album, The Astronomer’s Dream (fun fact: the title is taken from a live animation silent movie from 1898) by Norwegian artiste extraordinaire Bjørn Tomren, takes us into his peculiar musical universe. Tomren went from obscurity to fame two years ago, when he won the contest The Ultimate Entertainer, thrilling the audience with his mixture of crooning, yodeling and Mongolian throat singing (no, I’m not kidding). The album is less iconic than it sounds, you might enjoy it even if throat singing is not your thing.

Remaining in Norway for a bit more, Team More is a 8 piece band who write and perform well crafted and optimistic pop tunes with strong harmonies and a feel-good attitude throughout. Their new album, Return to the Riverside, does just that: taking them back to their childhood and being raised in a small town.

Harmonies are the trademark of the folk-pop duo Lily & Madeleine as well. The two have created sweet, almost too sweet, pop music before, starting very young. Now they have matured, and Nite Swim is their best album yet.

And finally there’s a proper album from Salvador Sobral, not only random single releases! The Portuguese jazz singer who won Eurovision Song Contest some years ago, has not taken any advantage of the publicity from his strong victory, but have kept touring, recording a single now and then, performing with people he likes. I went to a concert with him a few years back, and it is still among the best stage performances I have ever experienced. But he obviously doesn’t want fame and fortune, and good for him! Timbre is a terrific album, showing off his creamy soft voice and excellent execution. If you enjoy it as much as I do, don’t tell anyone – I don’t think Salvador wants you to do that.

Canadian singer Laila Biali is seeking fame in a more traditional way, releasing an album of covers, mostly, naming it Your Requests. There are some original and interesting takes on songs you probably know. I have picked a bouquet for you.

Can you believe old fogey trumpeter Herb Alpert is 88 years old? This energetic and craftful Wish Upon a Star certainly isn’t giving his age away. The smooth trumpet sound that gave me such delight back in the 70s, is still there, and he has brought other brilliant musicians with him into the studio, plus The American Songbook.

Joe Hisaishi, the brilliant Japanese composer and orchestra director, is a young man compared to Alpert, with his 72 years. He has just released a collection of his compositions for Animé cartoon films together with The BBC Concert Orchestra, and what a thrill it is. It is almost impossible to pick only a section of this album to do it any justice. There are few if any contemporary composers who can rival him.

The Lilac Time (fun fact: name taken from the lyrics to a song by Nick Drake) with the Duffy brothers Nick and Stephen at its centre, seem to aspire to join Salvador Sobral’s club of brilliant unknowns, which they can never be. The dark and poltically heartfelt lyrics and music dominate their latest album Dance Till All the Stars Come Down. No pretenses, just pure audience communication and strong beliefs.

Liverpool’s folk-rock band The Coral has a new album out, Sea of Mirrors, bursting with British folk guitar-based music, lovely songs down to earth, no frills, timeless and mature music.

One ought to leave some space between album releases. Cleo Sol definitely seems to disagree. Not only did she release a new album completely out of the blue in September, two weeks later she released another one, Gold. I blinked, so I missed the first one, thus it is the latter I have added to this month’s playlist, an amazing soul album, eerily beautiful. Now it’s time to «go back» and listen to her previous release, Heaven. Can’t wait. 

Madison McFerrin‘s claim to fame is of course her father, Bobby, (Don’t Worry Be Happy), but more troublesome: a rendition of The Star-Spangeled Banner during a political rally in 2016, supposedly out-of-tune (I have heard it and it is not that bad, but rumours stick). She’s in no way out-of-tune on her new album I Hope You Can Forgive Me, sophisticated pop and soul, lush and with an amzing range in style. Bobby makes an appearance as well.

New Singles

The most talked about single – by far – is the AI-aided Now and Then, labelled a single by The Beatles. And it’s very close so: This is a demo Lennon made but never finished, Harrison did some overlays but left it at that, and McCartney and Starr finished it. The result has all the characteristics of The Beatles, and I’m glad they did it despite the artificial method.

The Latvian band Sudden Lights has released a great Coldplay-like new single, musu milestiba (Our Love).

Three interesting two-person teams this month: Sam Ryder brings us a power balled together with Queen- guitarist Bryan May, and Lady GaGa teams up with Mick Jagger and Rolling Stones on Sweet Sounds of Heaven, while Lucy Schwartz teams up with rising star Jared Palomar on Ghost In My House.

Winner and runner-up in this year’s Ultimate Entertainer in Norway, Odd Renée Andersen and Mari Bella are in the list, a young very promising talent in Bella with a decent pop single, and one of the best blues/rock-voices anywhere on the planet in Andersen, performing My Girl.

Maria Kannegaard would probably have been considered one of the world’s finest jazz pianists if it hadn’t been for a debilitiating psychological disorder. A podcast (in Norwegian, sorry, some of you…) out about the brilliant musician has introduced many to the horror of schizophrenia, but also to the wonderful universe of her piano compositions. A single from her hopefully forthcoming album, Bortimot, is out.

Other interesting singles I want to bring to your attention this month are from Rufus Wainwright, Deacon Blue, Mirändä, The Polyphonic Spree, Julia Jacklin, The Bygones, Emma Schneider and Keaton Henson. Enjoy!

The Classic

Francis Ford Coppola rarely bombed as a director, but «One From the Heart» got a severe beating by most critics when it was released in 1982. It was not a particularly great film, so I think there were some truth to the reviews. The soundtrack, however, was a different matter. I consider it one of Tom Waits‘ best albums, even though it take some getting used to his duets with country singer Crystal Gayle. But when you do get used to it, you might also accept that it is a brilliant choice. The two of them create a peculiar atmosphere together almost like being in a seedy bar somewhere in a big city. I have never heard anything like this before, and never have since.

1973

When Elton John released his album, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, he was already one of the greatest stars on the planet. It was hard to image he would undo himself after his first albums, but when this double album came out in 1973, it became very clear that he had done just that, and had created something close to a pop masterpiece. I never tired of it, still haven’t, but some of the tracks are so much played even today, that I have tried to focus on the less known songs. But if it is a trip down a yellow memory lane you’re craving, go for the whole album as I did preparing for this blog. Oooh!

Well, next stop is the annual countdown of this year’s best albums. Then, see you over in 2024 for what hopefully will be a great new music year. Fingers crossed!