Rhiannon Giddens – Carolina Rain

‘Carolina Rain’ bursts forth as a vivid first glimpse of ‘Hope Is The Thing With Feathers,’ Rhiannon Giddens’ seventh studio album arriving 18th September on Nonesuch Records. Tracked live at The Cypress House in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, complete with foot-stomps, room noise and the easy chatter of musicians who’ve shared decades together, the song finds Giddens soaring over plucked banjo and nimble fiddle in a sharp, clear-eyed tale of love and money. Surrounded by her cross-continental ensemble of longtime collaborators and family, this song distills the album’s spirit of community, lineage and unvarnished creation, announcing a new chapter rooted in the places and people that made Rhiannon the wonderful artist she is today. You can pre-order the album via this link: https://amzn.to/4whMtqG

Andrew Sa – Lavender Cowboy

As previously flagged up in my review of the superb ‘American Rough’ album, this stand out track folds queer lineage, aching balladry and vintage Americana into a work that is assuredly forward-looking. Rooted in the storytelling traditions of Patsy Cline and Webb Pierce yet unafraid to confront the genre’s long history of exclusion, Sa turns his tribute to Patrick Haggerty and Lavender Country into a sweeping, pedal‑steel‑lit anthem of yearning and reclamation. His buoyant‑yet‑fragile vocal delivery, informed by a lifetime of influences from Reba to Rufus Wainwright, makes the song feel like both a love letter and a challenge. This is a cinematic, emotionally charged introduction to an artist pushing country into a more honest, inclusive era. You can order a copy of the album here: https://amzn.to/4vEkcJw

Pharis And Jason Romero – Last Call

This glorious track is one of the most stirring moments on Pharis and Jason Romero’s seventh album, a swamp‑thick, mud‑warm banjo groove that feels as if it’s rising straight out of the Horsefly earth beneath their riverside barn. Driven by that irresistible bass‑and‑fiddle momentum, the song tumbles forward with a kind of emotional gravity, grasping for something slipping just out of reach. Pharis delivers a masterclass in exuberance and longing as she leans into the refrain “last call for old times, last call for you, last call for company I know you feel it too,” her voice riding the song’s downhill rush with both ache and abandon. The song stands as a snapshot of the Romeros’ lived‑in sound: warm, rooted, and brimming with the small revelations that define their world. You can order a copy of the album via this link: https://amzn.to/4wPI1iu

Ed O’Brien – Teachers

This track was a clear entry point into the wider context of Ed O’Brien’s 2026 album ‘Blue Morpho,’ a project marking a decisive shift in how the longtime Radiohead guitarist presents his work. Released via Transgressive and credited directly to O’Brien rather than the former EOB moniker, the album reflects several years of personal reassessment, extended improvisational sessions in Wales and London, and a conscious move toward authorship without the protective distance of a pseudonym. Made around themes of reflection, recovery and creative renewal, this sits within a record defined by meditative structures, collaborative breadth and a deliberate departure from the sonic expectations attached to Radiohead. Its release forms part of a broader repositioning, situating O’Brien’s solo catalogue as a distinct, process‑driven body of work emerging from a period of transition and redefinition. You can order the album via this link: https://amzn.to/4wS7qbu

Luluc – No One Else’s Pen

This warm analogue sounding track is one of the key singles from Luluc’s new 2026 album ‘Sweet Thief,’ a record that finds the Australian duo expanding their understated folk palette while holding fast to the calm, contemplative tone readily associated with their work. Recorded between New York and Melbourne and released via Community Music, the album focuses on themes of modern pressure, resistance and the search for personal equilibrium. ‘No One Else’s Pen’ stands out not only for its gently meditative framing but also for the presence of J Mascis, whose drumming adds a subtle weight beneath Zoe Randell and Steve Hassett’s characteristically restrained delivery. The track helps sketch the album’s broader picture of collaboration, soft-focus intensity and Luluc’s ongoing commitment to finding clarity in the margins. The album is available via this link: https://amzn.to/3R5Wo3f

The Mourning After – Let The Love-In Begin

And so we end this week with some deliciously hazy garage rock sounds courtesy of The Mourning After on Rogue Records. This marks a lively return for Sheffield garage‑punk stalwarts with roots in UK fuzz culture stretching back to the early ’90s and whose recent work has helped fuel a broader revival of raw, organ‑driven garage sounds. The song resurrects one of the group’s earliest compositions and dresses it in full technicolour of Hammond heat, Farfisa swirl, marimba shake and a distinctly late‑’60s psychedelic stomp that nods toward the wilder corners of San Francisco’s underground. Paired with the flip side ‘Take Love Then She’s Gone,’ a more familiar blast of fuzz guitar, chiming 12‑string and spectral sitar, the release positions The Mourning After as both archivists and agitators, tapping their long history while keeping the garage‑psych flame burning with undimmed enthusiasm. You can get the limited edition seven inch via this link: https://roguerecords.bandcamp.com/album/let-the-love-in-begin