New Music Monday - Sam Beam & Jesca Hoop, Esmé Patterson

Spring has sprung and love is in the air. We'll kick off New Music Monday with the lovingly illustrated video for Sam Beam and Jesca Hoop's charming "Every Songbird Says". This is the latest single from the duo's album Love Letter for Fire, out now on Sub Pop records. Hoop's voice, at turns dusky and lilting, wraps around Beam's velvety tenor over a rhythm just the slightest bit off-kilter, like a beloved cuckoo clock that chimes a few seconds after midnight. To me, this is the most engaging work Beam has done since his Iron & Wine collaboration with Calexico. You catch the duo at the Lincoln Theatre on May 21.




Our second entry is the single "Feel Right" by Esmé Patterson, from her forthcoming LP We Were Wild. The Colorado singer-songwriter, perhaps best known for collaborations with Shakey Graves and her work in the group Paper Bird, was the opener for the second half of San Fermin's Winter 2015-6 tour. Patterson disarmed the crowd at Ottobar Friday night with her 1000-watt smile, her bell-clear voice, and a gloriously unruly head of hair that swayed to and fro metronomically as she played.

"Feel Right" eschews the easier folk sensibilities of her earlier work and goes on the attack with three minutes of Ramones-inspired punk. We Were Wild hits stores in June of this year from Grand Jury Music.



We finish today's post with a selection of photos from Friday's show.

Esmé Patterson

Comments