If you are alive to read this, then you deserve a round of applause for making it this far into 2020. There is no doubting that this year has been one full of pain, despair, racial injustice, disease, and so much more and we are only halfway through it. Some of the new music delivered in June may be remembered highly as some of it unofficially became the soundtrack of movements in this country. From Run The Jewels’ critically acclaimed fourth LP and Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan’s new album of socially conscious material to the easily digestible albums from Black Eyed Peas and Riff Raff, the new releases of June had something to fit every mood imaginable during this hectic time.
Check out some of the best releases June had to offer.
Phoebe Bridgers Punisher
Just after one listen to Phoebe Bridgers’ debut Stranger in the Alps, it is evident that the Los Angeles based singer-songwriter has a lyrical talent that is hard to match. Her sophomore album Punisher sets the stage perfectly for her evocative storytelling.
The soft, laid-back production of the album along with her soothing voice often camouflage some of the intense and absurd things she sings about. Bridgers sings from the perspective of a murderer taking their last breaths on the title track, dead relationships on “Halloween” and atheism in “Chinese Satellite”. Bridgers song writing on the album tackles an important topic for some of her fans and that’s her relationship with disgraced musician Ryan Adams.
What comes across the loudest on Punisher is how much the late Elliot Smith played a part in influencing Phoebe as a musician. Smith’s stamp is layered throughout the whole album. Bridgers was set to open for the 1975 this summer but we all know why that’s not happening so one can only hope one day that the songs from this amazing album are heard by a live audience. @phoebe_bridgers
Run The Jewels Run The Jewels 4(RTJ4)
The history books being written today will hopefully tell the story of the end of the racial injustice in this county that has haunted it for over 400 years. Regardless of what is written, there is no doubt that the fourth release from the duo Run The Jewels will be part a large part of the soundtrack of this time.
Killer Mike and EL-P lean on other political hip hop legends for support on RTJ4 to help get their point across. A lot of the new album screams early 90’s Public Enemy mixed with a futuristic sound. “Ooh La La” borrows from Gang Starr’s “DWYCK” and “Out of Sight” reimagines The D.O.C’s classic “It’s Funky Enough”.
RTJ is here hitting the streets hard in efforts to fight the systemic racism found throughout the country’s police departments with RTJ4. On “Walking in the Snow” Killer Mike raps “You so numb you watch the cops choke out a man like me/Until my voice goes from a shriek to whisper—‘I can’t breathe’/And you sit there in the house on couch and watch it on TV,” bringing attention to the cancerous racism in the justice system and couch-protestors who speak up from the comfort of their home. @runjewels
Moor Jewelry True Opera
The collaboration team of of poet Moor Mother and producer Mental Jewelry better known as Moor Jewelry have delivered another gem straight out of the underground music scene out of Philadelphia. Their new release True Opera is a vast departure from their 2017 release Crime Waves. Opera comes across as a full blown punk record full of angry electric guitars, in your face bass lines and hard hitting percussions where the last record was very experimental heavily layered in electronics and samples.
The departure for the duo into the D.I.Y. style of recording pays off immediately, as the title track starts the album off with a melodic bass line and a propelling, frenetic guitar that echoes throughout the rest of the album. Fast paced “Working” is one of the highlights of the album as Moor sings “Working, it’s working / All the screaming and dancing and fucking is working / It’s working / All the crying, all the screaming, all the fucking, all the shouting is working…” Just taking a brief moment to look at the current landscape of America and you can see how “Working” can be added to the soundtrack of many of todays movements.
Honorable Mentions
- Deerhoof Future Teenage Cave Artists
- Freddie Gibbs Alfredo
- Natalia Lafourcade Un Canto Por Mexico
- Charlie XCX How I’m Feeling Now
- Chloe x Halle Ungodly Hour
- HAIM Women in Music Pt. III
- Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever Sideways To New Italy
- Neil Young Homegrown
- Norah Jones Pick Me Up Off The Floor
- Jehnny Beth To Love Is To Live
- Hinds The Prettiest Curse
- Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways
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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