Khruangbin

Khruangbin/ ‘Mordechai Remixes’/ Dead Oceans

Patricia Barber/ ‘Clique’/ Impex Records

Patricia Barber, the performer known for boldly blurring the lines between poetry, jazz, and art song, has announced the forthcoming release of a new all-standards album Clique (Impex Records), due out August 6th in breathtaking hi-fi. The long-awaited successor to Nightclub, her critically acclaimed and fan-favorite first all-standards album, Clique features a tracklist of tunes that Barber has frequently performed as encores throughout her illustrious career, including classics by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stevie Wonder, Lee Hazlewood, Lerner & Loewe, Thelonious Monk and more. After growing an international cult following, earning the first-ever Guggenheim Fellowship awarded to a non-classical songwriter, and becoming an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Patricia Barber is back with a “silk, velvet, languid, warm” journey through music history as she “respects traditions, bends them to make her own points, and freshens them into something new,” as noted in the album liner notes by NPR’s Susan Stamberg.

Matthew Whitaker/ ‘Connections’/ Resilience Music Alliance

At just 20 years old, Matthew Whitaker has already shared his powerful story and ascent to the biggest stages in jazz with 60 Minutes and The Today Show; but on the young star pianist’s new album Connections (out August 13 via Resilience Music Alliance), he takes a bold step forward in defining for himself, on his own terms and in his own words, what it truly means to be Matthew Whitaker. This shines through in his collaborations with the genre's present day stars, like Jon Batiste and GRAMMY-winning producer Derrick Hodge (Robert Glasper, Q-Tip), in songs that signal “a new direction in his artistic expression” as NPR’s Nate Chinen notes, and in arrangements that transcend traditional jazz and draw from R&B, Latin, Gospel and so much more. 

Watchhouse/ ‘Watchhouse’/ Tiptoe Tiger Music/Thirty Tigers

Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz of Watchhouse – the critically acclaimed roots music duo who until recently were known as Mandolin Orange – announce their new self-titled album Watchhouse, out August 13 on Tiptoe Tiger Music / Thirty Tigers. With the change of name comes an artistic rebirth: While still firmly rooted in poetic Appalachian folk, there’s a sonic adventurousness informed by American primitivism and ambient soundscapes that gives Marlin and Frantz’s songs a new, unknowable allure. Watchhouseis audacious, spectral music that wrestles with and finds magic in the relationships we build with our families, our society, our planet, and ourselves.

Switchfoot/ ‘interrobang’/ Fantasy Records

GRAMMY Award-winning rock band Switchfoot confirmed their new album interrobang will be released on August 20th, 2021 via Fantasy Records. interrobang is the follow up to 2018’s Native Tongue and last year’s Covers EP.  Brimming with child-like imagination and a futuristic mindset, Switchfoot reaches a bold new creative peak on interrobang, the 12th full-length album of the multi-platinum selling rock band’s 20+ year career. Working with producer Tony Berg (Paul McCartney, Phoebe Bridgers, Andrew Bird) at both Sound City studio in Van Nuys, CA and the band’s own studio in Carlsbad, CA, Switchfoot: Jon Foreman, Tim Foreman, Chad Butler, Jerome Fontamillas, and Drew Shirley recorded the album in a burst of pent-up mid-pandemic creativity throughout last year and into 2021. Fearlessly marrying 60’s experimentalism and synth-driven new wave swagger, the band pushed past its comfort zones and retooled its sound.

Debbie Gibson/ ‘The Body Remembers’/ Stargirl Records

Singer, songwriter, producer and actress Debbie Gibson will release her long- awaited new pop album on August 20th—her first in 20 years. THE BODY REMEMBERS her 10th studio album (STARGIRL RECORDS), features 15 new tracks written or co-written by Gibson, along with a studio version remake of her 1989 hit power ballad “Lost in Your Eyes”---now a duet with Joey McIntyre.

“I’m in the zone musically on this album like never before,” says Gibson. “There’s a flow happening and it’s very exciting. I’m excited to be releasing an album that people of my generation can relate to that also feels modern.”

Judy Collins

Judy Collins/ ‘JUDY COLLINS - LIVE AT THE TOWN HALL, NYC’

Collins will release a new album on August 27. She recorded it live at the Town Hall in New York City with a full band in February of this year, when she hosted a livestream concert from the historic and otherwise empty venue due to the pandemic. This new live recording revisits her legendary 1964 performance at the Town Hall, which was her solo concert debut in NYC. The recording of her performance was subsequently released as The Judy Collins Concert. In February, Collins revisited nearly the same set list as her 1964 concert, including “Winter Sky,” “Both Sides Now” and “Cruel Mother.” Collins’ setlist reflected the need for comfort and protest in light of the turmoil that beset the nation, both then and now.  

Evann McIntosh/ ‘Character Development’/ Mom+Pop Music

Rising 17-year-old singer-songwriter Evann McIntosh (they/them) announces their new album ‘Character Development’ out August 27th via Mom+Pop Music. 

Written and recorded primarily in the breakout star’s suburban Kansas bedroom, the 13-track collection mixes dark alt-pop and dreamy R&B with streaks of hip-hop, jazz, and funk, calling to mind everything from Prince to Billie Eilish as it grapples with growth and evolution, gender identity and sexuality, freedom, and self-expression. The album is a work of pure intimacy, a poignant and revealing portrait of modern adolescence from an artist unraveling the mysteries of their psyche one song at a time.  

Diane Warren/ ‘The Cave Sessions Vol. 1’/ Di-Namic Records/BMG

Iconic songwriter Diane Warren announces her debut album Diane Warren: The Cave Sessions Vol.1, available for pre-order today and set for worldwide release on August 27 via Di-Namic Records/BMG. Warren makes her mark yet again on the modern music world with this diverse album.

This collection of new original songs includes some of the biggest worldwide artists, including Ty Dolla $ign, Maren Morris, John Legend, Luis Fonsi, Jon Batiste, Pentatonix, G-Eazy, Carlos Santana, Rita Ora, Sofia Reyes, Reik, James Arthur, Lauren Jauregui, Jimmie Allen, LP, Celine Dion, Darius Rucker, Paloma Faith, Leona Lewis and James Morrison.