Top Ten Songs of the Week
Written by Gala Albo
1. Big Thief is the musical creation of singer-songwriters and guitarists Adrianne Lenker and Buck Meek, bassist Max Oleartchik, and drummer James Krivchenia. The band dropped their double album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, this month! Three of the band members also recently released solo albums; James with A New Found Relaxation in 2020, Two Saviors from Buck and Adrianne’s release of the album entitled songs. The quartet is currently on tour and stopping in Los Angeles for two nights in May, the 10th and the 11th at The Wiltern. “Simulation Swarm” was debuted by the full band on tour in 2021.
2. World-renowned artist Adele released the song “Oh My God” as a single from her fourth studio album 30 last year. The song peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October. “Oh My God” was given a beautiful music video this January. Late last year, Adele put on a secret intimate performance called “Adele One Night Only” that you can now watch on Paramount+.
3. Musical trio Khruangbin and singer-songwriter Leon Bridges announced their joint EP Texas Moon, scheduled for release on February 18th. “B-Side” was released as the EP’s first single and below is the music video for the song. This isn’t the first time Bridges and Khruangbin collaborated on a project. In 2020, they released Texas Sun. You can stream both albums and even order Texas Moon on vinyl, CD and cassette.
4. External Combustion is the upcoming album by Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs. The first song to be released, “Wicked Mind” was accompanied by a music video last month. The band is the project of former Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers member Mike Campbell. You can listen to External Combustion on March 4th and see the band live at The Troubadour in April.
5. This song is not a new release but that doesn’t mean it deserves any less attention. “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings” is on Caroline Polachek’s third studio album Pang. Polachek has had a couple of new releases since the aforementioned song. The artist released two singles this month, “Billions” and “Long Road Home,” a collaboration with Oneohtrix Point Never.
6. “Living My Best Life” is track three off of Ben Rector’s new EP The Joy of Music. A full album is expected to be released soon, with Rector going on tour with the album in May. Rector is an American singer-songwriter from Tennessee. The Joy of Music is going to be his ninth album.
7. Tank and the Bangas is the collaboration of Tarriona "Tank" Ball, Norman Spence II, Albert Allenback and Joshua Johnson. The incredibly successful group is coming out with their newest album Red Balloon on May 13th with “No ID” as their latest single. The band has released two studio albums so far, Thinktank and Green Balloon. They also won the NPR Tiny Desk Contest in 2017 and since then have been known worldwide.
8. Jack Antonoff’s project Bleachers is coming to The Forum in June! “How Dare You Want More” is off his latest album Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night, released last year. The album features artists Lana Del Rey and Bruce Springsteen. Jack Antonoff is also known as a prolific record producer. He is responsible for Lorde’s newest album Solar Power and St. Vincent’s recent creation Daddy’s Home.
9. Legendary artist Elvis Costello and his band The Imposters released the critically acclaimed album The Boy Named If this year. “Magnificent Hurt” was released as a single last year. Now, Costello and The Imposters are going on a summer tour to accompany the release of their new album! The group is expected to come to Santa Barbara, Thousand Oaks, and Anaheim.
10. Last but certainly not least, American rock band Parquet Courts has two new singles out. One of them being the song “Watching Strangers Smile.” Parquet Courts is the collaboration of musicians Andrew Savage, Austin Brown, Sean Yeaton, and Max Savage. Their latest album was recorded at 11 different live events around the world, each track being recorded at a different location. The band is going to be stopping by at the Wiltern Center on April 28th.
