New Release of the Week:

Crowded House - Dreamers Are Waiting

Dreamers Are Waiting, and so are the fans of Aussie rock band Crowded House as they get ready for the band to release their first album in over a decade this Friday.

After a surprise stint on Fleetwood Mac’s world tour in 2018-19, frontman Neil Finn was inspired, compelled even, to reunite Crowded House for a more propulsive album.

With audience applause still ringing in Finn’s ears, rehearsals for Dreamers Are Waiting, the band’s seventh studio album, started the day after the thirteen-month tour ended.

The result is a bombastic and absurdest record reflecting on the state of the world and the dualities of Finn’s native New Zealand: on one hand, a beacon of Covid-less freedom, on the other, a small island facing housing crises, isolationism and fear of immigration (sound familiar?).

Thankfully, though Dreamers Are Waiting lives in global anxiety, the record still retains an un-waivering sense of hope.

Sound Pick: Black Pumas - Capitol Cuts

After an explosive introduction to the scene with their self-titled debut album back in 2019, the Texan group took us by storm with a familiar sound that could have been ripped straight from the 1970s soul scene; except it was fresh, new and had an exciting psychedelic spin.

After months of delayed and postponed shows (we’re used to this by now) this psychedelic soul band took it into their own hands and did something a little different. Recording direct to acetate - all live, no overdubs - Black Pumas give us ’Capitol Cuts’ , recorded live from the famous Capitol Records Building in LA.

The studios that delivered greatness from huge names like Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole. Recorded live from Studio A, this album certainly captures a powerful moment in time.

The recording brims with soulful energy, with the standout performance of ’Colors’ as an epic seven-minute expansive groove.