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New Music Friday: June 23, 2023

Ben Pagani

This week brought the summer solstice and new songs from returning superstars and newcomers. These fresh finds no doubt were added to summer playlists worldwide and are ready to be heard by the pool, at the cookout and sand volleyball hangouts. Some tracks may even be heard while wanting to sleep in someone’s arms…

Faye Webster – “But Not Kiss”

Atlanta’s favorite blue shirt wearing Pokémon fan returns with a new single, complete with a run of fall tour dates across North America.

“But Not Kiss” is Webster taking left turn after left turn. No, the sound isn’t quite different–it’s the lyrics jerking the wheel.

I want to sleep in your arms // but not kiss

I long for your touch // but don’t miss

I want to see you in my dreams // but then forget

On her 2021 LP I Know I’m Funny, Haha, Webster played matchmaker with humor and emotion. Now she’s serious and her band plays to that concept. Where the slide guitar once faded in and out, it sharply cuts off with the strings she introduced on 2022’s EP Car Therapy Sessions.

It’s a subtle evolution. Webster’s soft-spoken deep voice can hit higher notes with ease. Where her words once breathed, they now choke with purpose. They’re not suffocating though, only sharper, adding a more noticeable beat than she’s put on before. New Faye Webster? Yeah, yeah.

Geese – 3D Country

Geese are a wild group of young Brooklynites whose debut record was noisy. Now they’re a group of young Brooklynites whose second record is noisy and twangy.

First track “2122” sounds like a cow being sucked up into a spaceship. If you thought country vocals and cowbell were neurotic, wait until the pedalboards get fuzzy. 

The presence of backing choral vocals that sound like they were rehearsed in a wheatfield are there too. So are the “Chicka-chicka-chicka-cha’s.”

But 3D Country isn’t all lost in its grassroots, there are strings of pure loudness sprinkled like sugar in a horses mouth throughout.

There’s never been a record like this. Many regular rockers have gone noisy. Never has noisy gone country.

Anna Shoemaker – Hey Anna

This girl has played and lived all over. Anna Shoemaker’s new EP is the follow-up to her 2022 debut album Everything is Fine (I’m Only on Fire) and tells the story of a girl bouncing back and dealing with the aftermath of trauma, heartbreak, and the way the dust settles (or doesn’t) in the months and/or years later. 

Anna has spoke of her influences. Now they have been heard.

Anna Shoemaker
Anna Shoemaker poses with the LED sign at the Basement Lab in Minneapolis, MN

She’s also found herself in a thriving east coast scene filling clubs from Philly up the coast and over the harbor.

Want to know how well she draws a crowd? Go to a show and see it with your own eyes.

Which of these tracks from New Music Friday will you be adding to your favorite playlists today? Any we missed? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!

 

Ben Pagani
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Ben Pagani

Ben is a music journalist living and working in Chicago. They joined Beyond The Stage as an intern and have stayed on the staff for several years. Now serving on the editorial board, Ben is proud to be BTS' Music Projects Manager, coordinating coverage between international record labels and our staff. Ben has interviewed, photographed and written about bands from across the world. Ben has lived all over the United States working in television and media. They are an Emmy Award-winning writer. Ben can be found spinning records as 'DJ Wearing Sunglasses' in clubs and basements across the US.