Harvest season is in full swing, Nashville musicians keep right on churning out records you’ll want to get to know, and the Scene’s music writers have seven new recommendations for you. Add ’em to your streaming queue or pick them up from your favorite record store. Many of our picks are also available to buy directly from the artists on Bandcamp; the platform’s Bandcamp Friday promotion, in which they waive their cut of sales for a 24-hour period, returns Oct. 6.
Mitski, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We (Dead Oceans)
For an artist with such consistent work, critical favor and avid fan base, Mitski — you would think — might be a household name. She has yet to become such, and her newest work, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, is unlikely to change that. The album is both intimately acoustic and expansively orchestral, with songs reflecting on love and memory. Recorded in part at The Bomb Shelter studio in East Nashville, standout tracks like “My Love Mine All Mine” and “I’m Your Man” exhibit Mitski’s versatility and remind us why she is one of the most prolific songwriters of our time. The Land Is Inhospitable may not crack the pop-culture sphere, but it is Mitski’s best work to date. HANNAH CRON
Album art: Reset for the Rejects, Six One Trïbe
Six One Trïbe, Reset for the Rejects (Trïbe Over Everything)
You might say Music City hip-hop collective Six One Trïbe has been firing on all cylinders this year, with tons of releases from individual members — stretching the metaphor, their engine has a lot of cylinders — and many shows, including visits to SXSW and Bonnaroo. Even with all that in the works, the Trïbe has released their second album as a unit. The mic gets passed often throughout Reset for the Rejects, and there’s a kaleidoscopic array of styles tailored to each song, but they’ve taken great care to let every MC shine when it’s their turn. STEPHEN TRAGESER
Find Reset for the Rejects on your favorite streaming service with this handy link, and follow Six One Trïbe on Instagram for more.
Allison Russell, The Returner (Fantasy)
Allison Russell’s 2021 solo debut album Outside Child is a tough act to follow. That LP notched Russell a slew of awards and nominations the following year, including three Grammy nods and an Americana Music Honors and Awards Album of the Year win. If the pressure was on as Russell crafted its follow-up The Returner, you certainly can’t tell by listening. The Returner is loose and buoyant, expanding upon the thoughtful folk-rock of its predecessor with elements of funk and vintage pop. Highlights include the warm and liberated title track, as well as single “Stay Right Here,” a groovy rocker with Donna Summer vibes. BRITTNEY McKENNA
Thelma and the Sleaze, Holey Water (Dryerbaby)
On her third LP, Thelma and the Sleaze prime mover Lauren “L.G.” Gilbert makes her most mature album yet. And by “mature,” we mean “adult,” and by “adult,” we don’t mean she’s paying her bills and making it to work on time. Holey Water gets lusty and lascivious as Gilbert expands her rock ’n’ roll palette, invoking glammy atmospheres and prog-rock ambitions. TATS’ most accomplished songwriting yet underscores the hip-thrusting, ass-rocking swagger that comes from more than a decade of grinding it out in the dark corners and dives of the rock underground. SEAN L. MALONEY
Jess Nolan, ’93 (Jess Nolan/Righteous Babe)
Top-notch multi-instrumentalist Jess Nolan’s new solo LP ’93 trains a spotlight on her keyboards and gentle voice. She’s grounded in her own groove, but you might notice some commonalities with Joni Mitchell or Natalie Prass; the R&B-inspired rhythms scan as gentle too, but they’re sneakily kinetic. You can say something similar about her lyrics. In standout “Sweet Like a Peach,” also released as a single, Nolan meditates on love at first sight, and the lilting refrain of “You could be anyone / Can we fall in love with anyone? / I wanna know” invites you to consider that question from many angles at once. STEPHEN TRAGESER
The Heartsleeves, So Far, So What (Flimsyrecords)
After a 15-year hiatus, former Shadow 15 frontman Scott Feinstein returns with The Heartsleeves, a loose collection of musicians that includes bassists Preach Rutherford and Matt Swanson and drummers Brad Pemberton and Jonathan Bright. The group’s debut EP So Far, So What, which Feinstein co-produced with Bright, features five infectious, hard-hitting tracks that land somewhere between punk-influenced hard rock and power pop. Feinstein intended So Far, So What to be a preview of more music to come, and he shines throughout, singing lead and playing all the guitar parts on three of his own songs and two covers. The group’s ballsy interpretations of The Icicle Works’ “Understanding Jane” and Olivelawn’s “Hate” surpass the original recordings. DARYL SANDERS
Album art: A Break From the Trap, S-Wrap and Rashad tha Poet
S-Wrap and Rashad tha Poet, A Break From the Trap (Be ECLTC)
If you’ve listened to T.I. in the past 20 years, you know drug-trade hotspots are “the trap,” and the trap contains multitudes. However, there are lots of ways to get trapped and be trapped, by external circumstances and by what’s going on inside you. Either sidestepping or finding your way out of all of these traps is the main thread of the new spoken-word collaboration from S-Wrap and Rashad tha Poet. It’s the third in an ongoing series of releases marked by insightful and uplifting verses and fantastic psych-funk music that’s integral to the poems. Any time more of our spoken-word poets make records like these, I’m here for it. STEPHEN TRAGESER
Find A Break From the Trap on your favorite streaming service, and follow S-Wrap and Rashad tha Poet on Instagram for more.
