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| Photo - Shervin Lainez |
Brooklyn legends They Might Be Giants proudly announce the arrival of their highly anticipated new LP, “The World Is to Dig”. The 18-song album arrives April 14 in all formats at TMBGshop.com and on streaming services; plus an exclusive 180-gram vinyl color variant will be available at indie retail shops on April 17. This is the band’s first full-length album since 2021’s Grammy-nominated “BOOK”, and the project blends sharp songwriting and bold experimentation into a refreshingly original collection.
The album’s lead single, “Wu-Tang,” is out now. While the song’s lyrics celebrate the power of Wu-Tang Clan over a fan as a transformative force, TMBG’s trademark melodicism sweetly buoys the listener along with waves of ‘60s-style pop hooks.
John Linnell says, "Many years ago, we discussed the idea of celebrating an artist or a style of music, but in the form of a completely unrelated genre of music. The original idea was a Tin Pan Alley-style song extolling the greatness of heavy metal. ‘Wu-Tang’ was written more or less along those lines, partly inspired by their TV biopic, but void of any musical reference to the great hip-hop collective. Are we fans? Sure! Would we ever attempt to emulate their sound? Not publicly."
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Em Spel - The Tide.
We have the second single "The Tide" from the always challenging and delightful Chicago artist Em Spel, from her forthcoming new album Bird or Snake. "This song shares DNA with the love song on the album, “Sea Wall.” It’s the same guitar hook, upside down. It’s the same instrumentation, but wilder, shifting, all mixed up. The flute becomes a bass flute.
The saxophone loses its melodic direction, becomes gnarly and shrieking and unstable. The Tide is a climate apocalypse song, yes, but it’s also an inverted love song. Man-made walls feel stable, but crumble over time. The sea is ever changing, but it is vaster, incomprehensibly older, and it’ll be here when we’re all long gone.
One inspiration for the sound-world of this song was P.J. Harvey’s The Nether-Edge. I was obsessed with that album when it came out, and that song in particular. There’s a little bit of homage in there, in both the sound effects and subject matter." Em Spel is the solo project of Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist Emma Hospelhorn.
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“Wildflowers” leans gently into Americana and folk influences, bringing a quiet, sweet joy that lingers long after the song ends. A steady, classic-leaning country duet, it keeps the focus on connection over spectacle, built around familiar imagery and grounded, heartfelt performances. The song celebrates a love that grows naturally through shared moments, patience, and presence rather than grand declarations.
The chorus anchors the track: “Young love blooming in the sun / two hearts beating as one / talking ’bout forever / how we’ll always be together…” There’s a kindness to the way Lenahan and Phillips trade lines, giving each other space and meeting in the middle. It feels warm, conversational, and genuine — like a story being told softly, just for you.
Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and now based in Nashville, Dave Lenahan is a veteran songwriter influenced by Michael Stanley, Dan Fogelberg, and The Eagles. He began playing guitar at age 11, developed his instincts through church choirs and worship bands, and spent over four decades in radio before turning his full attention to songwriting. As the Cincinnati coordinator for NSAI, Lenahan has established himself as an icon in the scene. He has co-written hundreds of songs and performed sold out shows at venues including The Bluebird Café and The Listening Room.
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| Photo - Roeg Cohen |
Award-winning vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa makes her artistic arrival with the May 1 release of her Blue Note debut, Diavola, an album that unveils her range as a band leader, a songwriter, and a fearless song interpreter who treats each gesture with subtlety and reverence. Co-produced by Joshua Redman and Don Was, Diavola is a collection of original songs and luminous arrangements that features an extraordinary cast of collaborators with Jeff Parker on guitar, Larry Grenadier on bass, Brian Blade on drums, Paul Cornish on piano, and Redman on tenor saxophone.
“I really respect songs and I really want to honor them in the best way,” says Cavassa. Admittedly a “huge” Billy Eckstine fan, Cavassa swings slow and steady on the album’s lead single “Prisoner of Love.” Each lyric she charms with deliberate long tones and thoughtful dynamics. “Modernity is important to me,” she says, “but the truth is I really am coming from a tradition. And I really love singing those songs.”
At once intimate and anthemic, Diavola subverts the self-portrait. The album explores coexistences of the angel and the devil — a dynamic central to Cavassa’s artistry and personal identity — engaging a dualism of possession and surrender, of urgency and repose. “I’m not willing to let go of either,” says Cavassa, “or I haven’t been able to.”
The album also spotlights Cavassa’s pivotal association with Redman, who invited her into the studio and on the road as a collaborator for his own Blue Note debut where are we, released in 2023. “It’s kind of a Cinderella Story,” says Cavassa, who began working with Redman after his manager heard her perform at a wedding in New Orleans. “That was such a shocking life change,” she says. “It was such a rare opportunity as a singer to be able to tour on that level as a sideman. And in jazz, it’s a rite of passage.”
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