Spring is rocketing on by, and great records just keep coming from musicians in Nashville. The Scene’s music writers have eight new recommendations for you: Add ’em to your streaming queue or pick them up from your favorite record store. Some of our picks are also available to buy directly from the artists on Bandcamp, whose Bandcamp Friday promotion — in which the platform waives its cut of sales for a 24-hour period — returns May 3.
Gee Slab, Expect to Win (TrĂŻbe Over Everything)
Thankfully I don’t have to name just one artist who embodies rap in Music City, but if I did, I’d point to Gee Slab. He’s a founding member of Six One Trïbe, and his laid-back Southern voice sounds like it could only come from Nashville. Expect to Win, his first solo full-length since 2018, is another example of the artist’s ability to patiently build tension and withhold the release, a skill few MCs can boast. His latest explores new sonic territory; “Trending Topic” is built around New Age sounds. Though a few of his Trïbe teammates show up on the new album, Slab handles the mic on the lion’s share of it. And if you want to get a jump on the front-porch anthem of the summer, check out ”Drinking Uncle Nearest.” P.J. KINZER
Find Expect to Win on your favorite streaming service, and follow Gee Slab on Instagram for updates.Â
Candi Carpenter, Demonology (A Frame)
Candi Carpenter’s first alt-pop album is all about a person coming to terms with adulthood and finding themselves at odds with their upbringing: “I didn’t ask to join, it wasn’t my fault / Growin’ up is like leaving a cult.” Carpenter’s history is in Americana, but they leave behind the twang on this album for harder guitar riffs and wailing vocals. In fact, the only similarity between Demonology and their earlier Brandi Carlile-produced songs is Carpenter’s powerhouse voice. Vivid storytelling celebrates exorcizing their demons — from disordered eating to religious trauma and the universal experience of disappointing your parents. ELIZABETH JONES
Find Demonology on your favorite streaming service via this handy link, and keep up with Carpenter on Instagram for more.
The Black Keys, Ohio Players (Easy Eye)
The Black Keys’ 12th studio album Ohio Players may be their best album ever. That’s in part because of its excellent collection of songs, but also because Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney clearly had a blast making the album. You can hear the joy in the grooves, and this record is all about the grooves — fat, funky ones that swing like a mutha. With help from a number of their musical friends, the Keys broaden their sound on the record and embrace a wider selection of their musical influences. There are superb performances throughout, and Auerbach impresses with his soulful lead vocals. Half of the 14 tracks feature Beck on vocals and multiple instruments, and three others include performances by Noel Gallagher; Lil Noid and Juicy J are among the other performers on the album. DARYL SANDERS
Sarah Jarosz, Polaroid Lovers (Rounder)
Sarah Jarosz’s seventh studio album pairs her with Nashville producer and songwriter Daniel Tashian, and Polaroid Lovers is the singer and multi-instrumentalist’s most assured foray into pop-folk-rock to date. Tashian’s keyboards add a subtly futuristic edge to tracks like “Take the High Road” and “Jealous Moon.” Polaroid Lovers also benefits from the work of a collection of smart co-writers that includes Natalie Hemby, Ruston Kelly and Tashian himself. Jarosz recorded Polaroid Lovers at Nashville’s Sound Emporium mostly live over eight days with Tashian and a crack band. It’s a gloriously widescreen post-folk album that evokes the approach of greats like Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell. EDD HURT
Brauninger McDaniel
Braunzie Gurl, “Wish You the Best” and “Little Lady” (MC1/DKM)
Award-winning singer-songwriter Brauninger McDaniel has built a passionate, devoted local following since relocating to Nashville from Louisiana, cultivated through her ability to effectively explore and merge multiple idiomatic references in her work. “Little Lady,” her most recent single as Braunzie Gurl, is an exuberant number saluting the joys of a successful relationship that emphasizes McDaniel’s soulful side. By contrast, “Wish You the Best” puts the best face on a once-great experience that’s gone bad; its tone is contemporary blues, but it also expresses the hope both parties can ultimately find a fresh start and happy resolution. RON WYNN
Find Braunzie Gurl on your favorite streaming service and follow McDaniel on Instagram for updates.
Tower Defense, “Friendly Factions” backed with “U Got the Look” (YK)
Tower Defense’s latest single — the third in a series of digital releases pairing an original song with a cover — owes way more to three-chord punk rock than usual for the quartet. This back-to-basics approach defangs neither the band’s unrelenting wall of sound nor their cryptic, politically charged storytelling. Per the accompanying release, the song tells a post-apocalyptic tale about travelers en route to Memphis from Nashville after the fall of the state Capitol. The B-side is a cover of JEFF the Brotherhood’s “U Got the Look.” Tower Defense’s two bassists and their coed vocalists inject the local garage-punk benchmark with equal doses of brawn and finesse — all without tempering the 2009 original’s psychedelic mood. ADDIE MOORE
Sun Seeker, House of Gold (Goofy Guy)
Sun Seeker’s House of Gold dives into the complexities of millennial life and the ever-present question of self-worth with raw honesty. Announced seemingly out of the blue, the album showcases Sun Seeker’s signature blend of energizing punk and dreamy indie-pop melodies. Reminiscent of their acclaimed 2017 Biddeford EP, the album contains music spanning the past 10 years of their musical journey. Songs like “So Excited” and “A Dirty Bath of Everything” visualize the simplicities and disorder of daily life. Themes of losing control in “Still Waste My Time” and love’s phases in “The Wake of You and Me” are underscored by guitar-driven melodies and introspective lyrics. In many ways, House of Gold serves as a sonic time capsule, filled with the band’s highs and lows of the past decade. JAYME FOLTZ
SPKN, SPKN EP1 (self-released)
SPKN is a collaboration among a cast of top-shelf players from across Music City’s experimental and experiential music scenes — including two you usually see fronting their bands, namely Kyle Numann from Cloudmouth and Steve Poulton of The Altered Statesman. But the project is all about creating evocative instrumental soundscapes, with contributions from Ceclia Wright on cello, longtime John Prine bassist David Jacques, Scott Mattingly and producer-engineer Joe V. McMahan on guitars, synth work by G. Seth West (aka Gray Worry), TJ Larkin on guitar and bouzouki, and percussion maestro Robert Crawford. Their debut EP may end up being a one-off, but it’s a fascinating listen, and all proceeds go to a very worthy cause: long-standing nonprofit Nashville Launch Pad, whose goal is ensuring that area youth experiencing homelessness have a safe place to sleep. STEPHEN TRAGESER
