Nine New Albums I'm Recommending Right Now

I share tracks of distinction from all corners of the world

Here’s my latest roundup of swell new music.

As always, I dig into the hidden crevices and crannies of the music business to find good stuff others don’t know about. A few of these are recordings you will only hear about from The Honest Broker.

But each of these albums is playlist-worthy and will not disgrace even the most exclusive turntable. Most of them are likely to show up on my Best of Year list.

Happy listening!

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Am I really recommending a J-Pop singer who poses with stuffed animals? Yes I am.

Mei Semones: Kabutomushi
Japanese Indie Pop from Brooklyn (with Lots of Sweet Guitar)

I’ve always liked extreme examples of the cool aesthetic—especially those susurrating vocals that sound like a seductive stranger whispering secrets in your ear. So while others of my generation were body slamming in smelly nightclubs of low repute, I was often back in my dorm room daydreaming to Astrud Gilberto records.

I loved those old Chet Baker vocal tracks, too, and even his pop-oriented acolytes. (Anybody else here up for a Kenny Rankin or Michael Franks revival?) I didn’t even need to understand the words—just let João Gilberto sing out the contents of the phone directory or daily news (as Miles Davis famously asserted), and I’m as content as a Copacabana clam.

Which is a long way of saying that I love Mei Semones and her understated vocals, even when I don’t know what she is singing about. This Alt J-Pop artist resides in Brooklyn, and sings in both English and Japanese. She also mixes in subversive bits of jazz, especially in her guitar playing. I’d listen to her even if she was just doing instrumentals. But those vocals are the main course—and they’re so delectable that I’m even willing to ignore the pink stuffed animals.

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Glass Beams: Mahal
Masked Indian Psychedelic Groove Trio

Not long ago, you wore masks on just three occasions: pandemics, Halloween, and bank robberies. But now they are de rigeur for music careers, enhancing the mystique of everybody from Daft Punk to The Masked Singer.

Glass Beams has the hippest masks of all, definite fashion statements although perhaps not N95 compliant. But I’m more into their slow groove, which is both psychedelic and cinematic, infused with a taste of surf guitar. If Ennio Morricone had worked in Bollywood, he might have conceived of music like this.

With all due respect to the band’s disguises, I’d like to blow their covers and give these artists some individual credit. But so far, only one member of the trio has been identified, founder Rajan Silva. So some masked mystery remains, but this band, with its growing following, is no longer a secret.

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Fred Hersch: Silent, Listening
Solo Jazz Piano

There’s a special excitement when great creative minds join together in partnership. So I’ve been eagerly awaiting this album from the moment I learning that pianist Fred Hersch was working with record producer Manfred Eicher. Eicher, founder of ECM Records, has a magical touch—there’s no living record producer I trust more. And Hersch has a magical touch, too, but in a different way. He demonstrates it a the piano keyboard, where he has delivered a body of work that stands out for its exceptional emotional depth and conceptual intelligence.

The results are everything I could have wanted. Let’s hope they do it again.

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Up Next: Two New Albums of Wedding Music

Before my son’s recent wedding, I took him aside for some fatherly advice. “Strange things happen at weddings,” I warned, “so don’t be surprised by bizarre scenes and outbursts. If anybody causes a ruckus, just try to ignore it.”

That probably sounds crazy to you. But I’ve attended too many Sicilian weddings in my time, and know the score.

As it turned out, everything happened smoothly. Maybe people are tamer nowadays. Nobody pulled out a gun (as happened when my aunt got married). Nobody tried to escape by hiding under a table (as happened at my wedding). Nobody interrupted the ceremony (well, except the photographer).