Cassandra Jenkins
My Light, My Massage Parlor
(Dead Oceans)
HHHHI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8byY_fORB7s 

A companion album to 2024’s critically acclaimed My Light, My Destroyer, on My Light, My Massage Parlor Cassandra Jenkins conjures a wonderfully calming set of instrumental music/field recordings.

Rather than a move away from her comfort zone, it feels like a continuation of a key aspect of the New York City-based singer-songwriter’s craft – for me her standout tracks are spoken word soundscapes such as the beguiling Hard Drive from 2021.

Michael Coleman’s wonderful piano playing and the sound of crickets are a near constant, and there are some beautiful strings, woodwinds and horns, along with a couple of very brief instances of Jenkins speaking.

Jazzy and meandering – check out the breathy saxophone on Betelgeuse Massage – it brings to mind David Darling’s new age cellist work, though comes across as meditative and even daring rather than middle of the road.

Ryan Davis & the Roundhouse Band
New Threats From The Soul
(Tough Love / Sophomore Lounge)
HHHHI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD7FuWiJH5Ehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCixBqj5YpU&list=RDDCixBqj5YpU&start_radio=1 

“I LEFT my wallet in El Segundo/ I left my true love in a West Lafayette escape room.” From the opening verse of Ryan Davis & the Roundhouse Band’s new album you know you are in for something special... and a little weird too.

Coming out of Louisville, Kentucky, Davis has constructed an epic set of alternative country music, with three tracks clocking in at over nine minutes. It never gets boring though, with the freewheelin’ music and his deadpan humour bringing to mind enigmatic greats like Will Oldman (who contributes backing vocals), Kurt Wagner and the late David Berman.

The lyrics sheet reads like surreal short stories, with Mutilation Springs referencing, among many other things, Jesus Christ, beauty queens, pushing a lawnmower down Broadway and a sex tape.

A glorious, rambling record to get lost in.

Case Oats
Last Missouri Exit
(Merge)
HHHHI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bRDQlfGPho&list=RD-bRDQlfGPho&start_radio=1 

WHAT an endearingly dazzling debut this is.

Singer-songwriter Casey Gomez Walker set up Case Oats in Chicago with drummer Spencer Tweedy, cutting most of the record in a basement over two days.

The lo-fi altcountry story songs that make up the short 35-minute set make sense when you know Walker is a recent creative writing graduate, and Tweedy the son of Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy.

While Neil Young and Gillian Welch are mentioned as influences I hear stronger echoes of indie artists like Laura Veirs, Frontier Ruckus and Girlpool in sweet-sounding relationship songs like the jaunty Nora (“a love song for your lover’s ex”) and In A Bungalow, about a former partner crumbling after the end of the relationship.

Confessional and full of earworms, you’ll be hard pressed to find another album that nails youthful Midwestern angst so well.