New Music Friday: 5/22/20

Donny Benét, Woods, Rachele Lynae and more highlight this week's edition of New Music Friday from Steven McCash!

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The end appears to be near for the Covid-19 lockdown and with Memorial Day Weekend here, some of you are leaving your quarantine behind in exchange for the beach. Whether you’re set to run your toes through the sand or staying at home for a little cookout, new music is a must for this 3-day weekend. 

Check out some of these great albums sure to brighten up a rainy weekend!

Donny Benét Mr. Experience

The world is slowly beginning to pick itself up and attempt to get back to some sort of normalcy. So many of us are ready to dance dances of joy after months of being quarantined and Sydney-based singer Donny Benét wants to lead you to the dance floor.

Benét releases his fifth studio album into a world that is ready to feel good again and the album’s release couldn’t come at a better time. Mr. Experience, a fun album that will have you dancing a lot and is filled with catchy bass-lines and drum patterns. Fans of disco and yacht rock are in for a treat when listening to Benét.

The opening of the album’s title track has a heavily inspired Chic feel to it, while “Moving Up” takes notes from something you would hear on a Glass Animals record. For those of us a little up there in the years whose age may be close to matching our waist size will find comfort in “Second Dinner.” Donny sings “I could touch my toes once, could make love all night but these days it’s eating that gives me all my delight” on the funky track. 

The son of an Italian Disco accordionist, Donny wrote and recorded Mr. Experience in hotel rooms while on tour last year and the disco king has delivered an album that is arriving at the perfect time. @donnybenet

Woods Strange To Explain

The Brooklyn formed band Woods returns with their 11th studio album, Strange To Explain. The album finds the band reflecting on their 15 year journey as a group and is easily their most mature album to date. 

The album has you swaying back and forth throughout. One moment you feel like you’re lost in a field and then playfully playing in the ocean the next. The infectious melodies of lead singer Jimmy Earl helps create those getaways along with the sweeping production by band member Jarvis Taveniere. 

The album is full of songs that have the affable hooks and bass-lines that Woods records are known for. The harmonies on Strange To Explain are as reliable as on any other Woods record, but the album as a whole finds the band members in a new mature space in their lives and the songs match that equally. 

“Can’t Get Out,” “Fell So Hard” and the title track are favorites. @WOODS_BAND

Rachele Lynae Every Reason

Rachele Lynae’s highly anticipated new album Every Reason is the perfect mixture of classic country and the newer pop-country sound that has dominated country radio for some time now. 

Lynae co-wrote all 12 songs on the album and showcases her vocal talent and songwriting skills. The album features a mixture of ballads and upbeat tracks while serving as a love letter to her husband and bandmate Tim Creedon. “Braggin On Ya” and “Got It Bad” kick off the album with the singer professing how completely smitten she is with her man. 

Run Away” finds Rachele coming to terms with that she doesn’t have to go down the road by herself anymore and that she is ready to accept a partner on her road trip. One of the highlights of the album is the single “Vinyl.” “Vinyl” really showcases Rachele’s strength as a songwriter. The song compares all the imperfections of a vinyl record to a relationship where in the end it’s the imperfections that makes it so perfect. 

Lynae’s husband pursued the singer from the start but Rachele was hesitant to mix business with pleasure. Over time, she ran out of reasons on why they couldn’t work as business and romantic partners and the result is the song “Running out of Reasons.”

The Carly Rae Jespen-esque “Can You” is an infectious bubbly song that will make it difficult to get out of your head anytime soon.

Rachele Lynae will be hosting a Virtual Album Release Party live on Facebook Liveat 7 PM CDT May 22nd. @RacheleLynae

Also enjoy some of the other releases this week…..

  • Carly Rae Jespen Dedicated Side B
  • The 1975 Notes On A Conditional Form
  • Indigo Girls Look Long
  • Badly Drawn Boy Banana Skin Shoes
  • Styles P Styles David: Ghost Your Enthusiasm
  • Katie Von Schleicher Consumation

Steven McCash is the Music Columnist for SoBros Network. He is the pioneer of New Music Friday, highlighting each week’s new releases in the world of music, in addition to the occasional live show review. Follow on Twitter: @MC_Cash75

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