From top left, clockwise: Sleater-Kinney, Green-House, Briars of North America, Billie Marten, Lowland Hum, Sleepersound. Courtesy of the artists
There's new music from Portland's Sleater-Kinney. The record conceived by Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker faced many challenges during quarantine, but their 10th album, Path of Wellness, is coming June 11. I'll play the record's first released song, "Worry With You." Speaking of challenges, Lowland Hum decided to reimagine Peter Gabriel's 1986 album So, shortly after the duo's first child. The inspiration was to celebrate the 35th anniversary of this intelligent and stunning record. I have a conversation with Lowland Hum's Lauren Goans and Daniel Levi Goans and play their version of Peter Gabriel's, "In Your Eyes." Another celebration on this week's show commemorates the label Secretly Canadian. The Bloomington, Ind., label turns 25, and for the big anniversary, it's releasing a series of singles and more while trying to raise $250,000 for New Hope For Families, which Secretly Canadian calls "the only Bloomington organization where families with children can find shelter together." From that collection, I play a version of pianist Bill Evans' song "Peace Piece", performed by Green-House. Another song of tranquility comes from Briars of North America, two cousins creating calming music and creating their own language.
The group Sleepersound describes itself as coming from Chicago to Milwaukee by way of St. Louis, have a song called "Silence Otherwise." The foursome says it's a "song about the moment you realize something is slipping away, that it won't be back the way you remember it ever again, and the process you go through to put it into context, acknowledge it and forge a path forward."
And the U.K. singer Billie Marten cranks up the volume with a song about her fear of walking the streets as a woman, with a complementary video of an over-the-top trip to buy milk while riding safely in a tank.
1. Sleater-Kinney: "Worry With You", from Path of Wellness
2. Billie Marten: "Human Replacement", from Flora Fauna
3. Sleepersound: "Silence Otherwise", from Idle Voices
4. Lowland Hum: "In Your Eyes", from So Low
5. Green-House: "Peace Piece", from SC25
6. Briars of North America: "Sala", from Supermoon
