EMILY KWONG, HOST:
OK, so I know springtime is the season of flowers, but it is also a time for new music. I'm talking about album releases from artists having a breakthrough moment or those just trying something new. So we're joined by NPR music critic Ann Powers to talk about three artists who are making an impression at different phases of their careers. Ann, Hi.
ANN POWERS, BYLINE: Hey, Emily. Thanks for having me.
KWONG: OK, Ann, so there are a lot of artists releasing music right now - not huge pop stars, but ones with, like, an avid following who are making long careers for themselves. I'm thinking of Lucy Dacus, who's getting a lot of attention right now, or even a band like Mumford & Sons. What records did you pick to bring us, along these lines?
POWERS: Well, Emily, I brought three albums from artists who are at different points in their life's journey. As it happens, one is 33, one is 43 and one is 53, so we're kind of, like...
KWONG: We love numerical symmetry.
POWERS: (Laughter).
KWONG: We love numerical meaning, yeah.
POWERS: We're moving through the seasons of life. Appropriate for spring, right (laughter)? But let's start with the youngest artist, Chrystia Cabral. She records under the name Spellling. That's Spellling misspelled with three Ls in the middle of it. I've been a fan of Spellling since 2021, when she put out her fantastic album "The Turning Wheel." But Chrystia is back now with "Portrait Of My Heart." That's her new album. And, man, she has really grown. She has grown into her voice. The sound of this album is just huge, and I feel like it could be a breakthrough. I mean, like, seriously, I want to put her on a stage with Chappell Roan this summer. I want her out there (laughter). I think she deserves it.
KWONG: That would be - let's manifest that for Spellling, and listen to one of her songs. Which one do you want to hear?
POWERS: Let's hear "Alibi." I think it really gives a great sense of the vibe on this, which almost gives me, like, I don't know, Pat Benatar feelings.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALIBI")
SPELLLING: (Singing) Yeah, I won't take you back. Yeah, I won't take you back this time. Caught up in your alibi. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whoa, this time. Whoa, this time.
KWONG: Oh, yeah. You can definitely hear a kind of Pat Benatar energy.
POWERS: Right? Right? Like, operatic arena rock feeling - and that - you know, that song has that great big guitar riff...
(SOUNDBITE OF SPELLLING SONG, "ALIBI")
POWERS: ...Played by Pat McCrory, who is a member of Turnstile, which is, I don't know, maybe the biggest hardcore band out there. But Spellling goes a lot of places on this record. She also has a bit of an R&B feel on some of the songs. Just really expanded her sound, and I really love that.
KWONG: Another longtime indie favorite you've brought us is Perfume Genius.
POWERS: Yes.
KWONG: He's releasing his seventh album this week. You're a longtime fan of Mike Hadreas, the musician behind this project. What do you hear in his new album, which is called "Glory"?
POWERS: Well, you know, I just - I luxuriate in the music of Perfume Genius. It's huge. It's decadent. It's complicated. It sometimes even feels cruel. The intensity of his songs and his delivery have really drawn me in over the years. But on this album, he does something different, which is that instead of working mostly in isolation or with his partner, Alan Wyffels, he actually worked with a band in the studio, and it really expands and just, like, enriches the Perfume Genius sound. You can really hear it on the song "Full On."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FULL ON")
PERFUME GENIUS: (Singing) I saw every quarterback crying.
KWONG: Hadreas is 43 now, and he really made a name for himself singing about loneliness, about isolation in these very honest ways that won him a wide fan base. What does playing with a band do for him?
POWERS: Yeah, well, he - you know, he's still doing these little vignettes, creating these character studies that are mysterious and a little weird. Like, you don't always know what's happening in a Perfume Genius song. But the bigger sonic palette on this album lets Mike build out his scenes more richly. And I'm particularly struck by the way the bigger sound frames his voice. Like, his voice has never sounded as beautiful as it does on these tracks.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FULL ON")
PERFUME GENIUS: (Singing) Folded on my lap and counting out the damage done.
KWONG: The third selection you've brought us is a very different kind of album. It's a new one from a reunited Alison Krauss & Union Station. And the samples from the two albums we just heard are very maximalist, very pushing the boundaries of indie rock. I kind of think of Alison Krauss as the opposite. She's a very quiet singer with an elegant, stripped-down sound. Has that changed?
POWERS: Well, I mean, I actually brought this album in, Emily, partly to make an argument about Alison Krauss in general, which is that even though we know her as this very tasteful artist, you know, who made these beautiful soundtracks for your lovely dinner (laughter)...
KWONG: It's true.
POWERS: ...You know, like the soundtrack to "Cold Mountain" or...
KWONG: "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
POWERS: ...Right, right, right, or...
KWONG: I had that on repeat in high school.
POWERS: ...Right, or the work she did with Robert Plant, right?
KWONG: Yeah.
POWERS: Beautiful stuff, but sort of maybe you often hear it in the background - but working with her longtime band, Union Station, with whom she's reunited here, we can hear her roots in bluegrass. And honestly, it's just a huge record in its own way. It's going to really sweep you away if you let it.
KWONG: There has been a big change in the band, too - right? - in Union Station?
POWERS: Yes. I mean, Union Station still has these incredible virtuoso players like Jerry Douglas on the Dobro and Ron Block on the banjo. But Dan Tyminski, who was Alison's co-vocalist in the band - he didn't sign up for this reunion. Instead, they've enlisted a guy named Russell Moore. He's from a much-loved bluegrass band called IIIrd Tyme Out.
And now, Moore has this big, sharp voice that's, like, classic high lonesome kind of bluegrass voice. And the songs he takes the lead on intensify the impact of this album. He sings a song that I absolutely love. It's called "North Side Gal." It's by an artist named JD McPherson, originally. In JD's version, it's rockabilly, but check out what happens to it when Union Station performs it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NORTH SIDE GAL")
ALISON KRAUSS AND UNION STATION: (Singing) I got some good talk, but not enough game. Wooing a sweet thing, oh, ain't it a shame? Every time I try, crazy about a north side gal. Well, she gets colder every time I try to hold her. Pleasantly saying no to bolder and younger gentleman.
POWERS: It's fun, right?
KWONG: Yeah.
POWERS: That's very up tempo and fun, you know?
KWONG: That's really fun.
POWERS: But you can still, like, sink into it.
KWONG: That's Ann Powers, NPR music critic. Thank you so much for talking to me.
POWERS: Thank you so much.
(SOUNDBITE OF ALISON KRAUSS AND UNION STATION SONG, "NORTH SIDE GAL") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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