Chris Thile presents a truly solo album,
Laysongs, on which his voice and mandolin are the sole contributors. Released by Nonesuch Records, the album contains six originals, including “Salt (in the Wounds) of the Earth,” a three-part suite inspired by C.S. Lewis’
The Screwtape Letters, and three covers and was co-produced by Thile’s wife, Claire Coffee. “[Coffee] has incredible taste and narrative intuition,” Thile said. “She was able to help me weave the original and non-original material together.” Engineer Jody Elff recorded
Laysongs with Thile at Future-Past, a recording studio in Upstate New York built inside an old church. The album’s content was informed by Thile’s Christian upbringing, spurred by Nonesuch’s Chairman Emeritus Bob Hurwitz, who told Thile he, “should do a God-themed record of some kind, it’s all over [Thile’s] work.”
This Friday (June 4), Crowded House drop the new album "Dreamers Are Waiting," their first since 2010’s "Intriguer," which led Australia’s albums chart following its release.
Crowded House’s best songs are masterclasses in pop songwriting, belying their depth and emotion. This introduction points to some of their finest moments.
Key track: Love Isn’t Hard At All.
Through all of its various formations, Crowded House has always had one consistent fixture in singer/songwriter Neil Finn.
A master of penning near-perfect pop songs dating back to his early years in Split Enz to the brilliant 7 Worlds Collide group projects and his solo work, Finn always seemed to reserve a few of his best tunes for the band he founded with bassist Nick Seymour the only other constant member of the group and drummer Paul Hester in Melbourne, Australia, in 1985. This is still the case in the latest version of the on/off again project.