Hi Gigantic gang,
Guess what? It’s another Bank Holiday weekend and the sun is shining! Looks like the good times are here so what better way to celebrate than checking out the latest tunes you need to know with the Gigantic #NewMusicFriday blog and playlist!
We’ve got all the brand-new music you need to know plus the tickets to hear it played live. You want excitement? Then stick with Gigantic.
Albums
JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE – ‘The Saint Of Lost Causes’
‘The Saint Of Lost Causes’ is the eighth studio album from earthy alt country singer Justin Townes Earle. It sees the Nashville singer adopt a rockier approach as he addresses the ever widening political and social gulf that threatens to tear the US apart;
“I was trying to look through the eyes of America. Because I believe in the idea of America - That everybody’s welcome here and has a right to be here.”
Pained by the intolerance shown by those in office and the MAGA cap wearers screaming in the street, Earle confidently expresses his heartbreak across twelve achingly beautiful songs addressing everything from the economic black hole swallowing even the working poor to the subsequent opioid crisis it has kicked off to the poisoning of public water supplies. Vitriolic but compelling, Earle has written a record that demands attention.
Justin Townes Earle tickets are currently available.
CATE LE BON – ‘Reward’
When Welsh folk Avant-pop songwriter Cate Le Bon release something new, the discerning listener sits up and pays attention. While she can hardly be described as flippant on her previous releases, the polymath from Penboyr is particularly pensive on her new LP ‘Reward’. This is a result of a period of isolation in the Lake District where she was able to engage in lengthy introspection which she could their pour into her music;
“There’s a strange romanticism to going a little bit crazy and playing the piano to yourself and singing into the night”
Though the record still exhibits her playful experimentation with sound and song structure, tracks like ‘The Light’, ‘Sad Nudes’ and ‘You Don’t Love Me’ feel more vulnerable for being so direct and not hiding behind any obscurity. The singles ‘Daylight Matters’ and ‘Home To You’ prove that she is perfectly equipped to strike the balance between crafting truly novel songs which never fall into the realms of bizarre for their own sake.
Cate Le Bon tickets are currently available.
EP
MIDDLE KIDS – ‘New Songs For Old Problems’
Australian indie wunderkinds Middle Kids are coming out to play bringing with them their bright and shiny EP ‘New Songs For Old Problems’. Six tracks of gorgeous melody with a strong sense of triumph throughout.
‘New Songs For Old Problems’ was recorded in the bands very own studio in Sydney and saw them recruit Tim Fitz for production duties. It includes the heartfelt single ‘Real Thing’ which singer Hannah Joy describes as “the quiet, persistent voice in the stillness that constantly checks to see if you truly think you've found the thing you're looking for."
Middle Kids joined Gigantic for The Moonshine Sessions! They came into the studio to play ‘Salt Eyes’, taken from their new EP, plus their unique take on the classic Cyndi Lauper song ‘Time After Time’.