Adrian Spinelli March 11, 2021Updated: March 14, 2021, 6:51 pm
Valerie June performs at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 2019. June’s latest album, “The Moon & Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers,” draws dreamy scenarios. Photo: Bobby Bank, Getty Images
The Chronicle’s guide to notable new music.
NEW ALBUMS
Valerie June, “The Moon & Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers” (Fantasy)
The fifth album from the Memphis singer-songwriter is more than just a roots music release. Blending the gospel and Appalachian folk sounds June has come to be known for, her latest release brings in imaginative producer Jack Splash (who has worked with Alicia Keys, Kendrick Lamar and St. Paul & the Broken Bones) for a richer treatment of these often psychedelic soul songs. Standout track “Call Me a Fool” features Stax Records legend Carla Thomas on backing vocals and is a perfect example of the dreamy pictures June paints throughout the album’s 14 tracks. She summed up her creati
04.02.21
Ten-strong jazz group Nubiyan Twist have spent the past five years honing themselves as a creative vehicle for collaborative expression. Having previously combined forces with Afro-jazz luminaries such as Tony Allen and Mulatu Astatke, the band have carved out a high-energy sound that meanders from the frenetic melodies of Ghanaian highlife to the funk-inflected jazz exemplified by Donald Byrd and to a languorous West Coast hip-hop production style.
Their latest album,
Freedom Fables, finds Nubiyan Twist at the height of their cooperative powers, enlisting the likes of highlife veteran Pat Thomas, saxophonist Soweto Kinch and singer Ego Ella May across its nine tracks.
Nubiyan Twist take a leap out of the densely packed crowd of UK jazz, soul and folk music collectives with
Freedom Fables, a summation of the group’s talent that sees them elevated into the highest tier of their cohort.
The Leeds-conceived, London-based project’s third album traverses musical and social histories with lightness and dexterity, weaving nine tales of personal memoir into one long call for unity. ‘Buckle Up’ sees Soweto Kinch, the UK sax player and rapper, and Nubiyan’s resident vocalist Nick Richards communicate the importance of looking inwards to find the answers you need, while Kinch’s alto noodles rather than parps, as if rifling through his subconscious while millions of memories flash by at a speed too fast for his mind’s eye to keep pace with.