by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)

Welcome to FUZZY MEADOWS, our weekly recap of this week's new music. We're sharing our favorite releases of the week in the form of albums, singles, and music videos along with the "further listening" section of new and notable releases from around the web. It's generally written in the early hours of the morning and semi-unedited... but full of love and heart. The list is in alphabetical order and we sincerely recommend checking out all the music we've included. There's a lot of great new music being released. Support the bands you love. Spread the word and buy some new music.

*Disclaimer: We are making a conscious effort not to include any artist in our countdown on back-to-back weeks in order to diversify the feature, so be sure to check the "further listening" as well because it's often of top-notch quality too.

AOIFE NESSA FRANCES | “Protector” LP

We’re late to the Aoife Nessa Frances party, but as we always say, it’s never too late. The Dublin based musician released Protector, her second album, last week via Partisan Records (The Black Angels, Just Mustard, Chubby & The Gang), a stunning collection of psychedelic folk music and stunning indie pop. With hypnotic references that seem split between 60’s Laurel Canyon folk and the experimental dream pop of Broadcast, Frances glides between the past, present, and future, creating a sound intimate and lounge-y but intricate and full of personal expression. Her words sink with great impact as she explores desolate emotion (“Emptiness Follows”), a crumbling sense of community (“Chariot”), and a sense of longing (“Soft Lines”). Synths warble into the landscape, softly brushed drums keep time, and Frances’ gorgeous voice grounds us from drifting away on a gentle breeze.

FAKE FRUIT | “Over Ice”

In an interesting turn of events, director/producer Adam McKay (you know… the director of Step Brothers and the less acclaimed Don’t Look Up) and podcaster/producer Matt Dwyer have teamed up with Sub Pop Records to release The Eleventh Hour: Songs For Climate Justice, a charity compilation raising money for Climate Emergency Fund. The record features new songs from Deerhoof, Finom, Frankie Cosmos, Mudhoney, Mamalarky, Cloud Nothings, Oceanator, Guerilla Toss, and Shannon Lay among others, with the stand-out opener courtesy of the great Fake Fruit. Fate would have it that the Oakland quartet happened to have a song about climate change recorded and ready to rip, and rip it does. Hannah D’Amato’s vocals feel commanding as she laments about warming temperatures, “this country’s on fire, i mean that as its light, so I put all my hope and my dreams on ice.” The band play knotted progressions with dreamy harmonies, creating post-punk thats both brilliantly tangled, raw, and swooning.

MARLOWE | “Marlowe 3” LP

Marlowe, the North Carolina based duo of Solemn Brigham and L’Orange return with third album, fittingly titled Marlowe 3, proving their blend of hip-hop noir beats and chameleonic flows sounds more impeccable than ever. Out now via Mello Music Group (Homeboy Sandman, Apollo Brown, Quelle Chris), the pair expand upon their first two albums by embracing loose structures and a knack for good times hip-hop, lacing L’Orange’s creative production with Brigham’s ceaseless delivery, whether he’s expanding syllables to hit the beats or rhyming in triplets over them. Everything they’ve been working for lands, from the triumphant wordplay and surf noir beat of “My People” to the fiery looped futurism of “Godfist,” the whole record feels like a playground for both MC and producer to dive into subconscious and flood the album with their creative spark. The beats are astounding. The rapping is astounding. Long live Marlowe.

QUASI | “Queen of Ears”

Next year marks 30 years of Portland’s Quasi, the legendary duo of Janet Weiss and Sam Coomes, and in grand fashion, they’re releasing their tenth album (and their first in ten years), Breaking The Balls of History. After releases on Up Records, Touch & Go, and Kill Rock Stars, the band have made the move to Sub Pop Records, with their new album due out February 10th. While ten years away can be detrimental to many bands, Quasi’s radiant connection never dims, and it’s great to hear Coomes and Weiss back at it. Lead single “Queen of Ears” is full of the grandiose pomp rock they’ve been steadily warping for all these decades. There’s doom and gloom to be found in the lyrics, but you’d never know it from the composition, a trait that Quasi has long mastered, bringing a bounding energy to the bleakest of times. Quasi don’t need to make music, they want to, and there’s a major distinction in that freedom.

SOUR WIDOWS | “I-90”

The way that Sour Widows pull at your heart strings isn’t just with lyrical heaviness but in the way they write music, the emotions flood your perception. It’s the trio’s unflinching dynamics that allow you to feel every word, every sentiment, every vivid memory as though you were experiencing it yourself. Since the release of their “Witness” single, the band has toured the east coast with Living Hour and played dates throughout California with Duster, and now they’ve shared their latest, “I-90”. Recorded once more with Spacemoth’s Maryam Qudus, the Bay Area band continue to take inspiration from profound loss, the heartbreak informing memories that feel glued to a specific time, mundane details that become anything but mundane as a result of circumstance. “I-90” is a look back at hard times in snapshots, conversations, and impossible answers to questions asked in passing. The band capture the ups and downs of grief with strength in structures, pulling out and diving like the ebb and flow of mental anguish in the face of loss.

Further Listening:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (October 24th - October 30th)