New and Notable: 2025 So Far
Spring has sprung, and so has new music from Jason Isbell, Sunny War, Little Feat, Chappell Roan, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Patterson Hood, Sharon Van Etten, Billy Idol, and others.
We’re barely a quarter of the way through 2025 and we’ve already been pummeled with a plethora of powerful musical moments. Here’s 21 of ‘em to gear you up for the warmer weather…
Billy Idol - “Still Dancing”
Who knew in 1985 that forty years on Billy Idol would still be delivering such vital material? Yet over the last few years, Idol has been surprising us (check out his 2021 EP, The Roadside). Cynics may rightfully complain that this first taste from his upcoming album Dream Into It leans heavily into “Rebel Yell” Generation X nostalgia (in both senses of the term), but dammit, it works.
Chappell Roan - “The Giver”
Yes, Roan is giving us her take on country, but have you heard “Pink Pony Club?” It essentially mines the same territory as Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers’ “She Used to Sing on Sunday.” On “The Giver,” Roan is doubling-down with fiddles and sass and I’m here for it. It’s a lot of fun, and we could definitely use more of that these days. Yee-haw, y’all.
Sunny War (feat. Valerie June) - “Cry Baby”
From her captivating new album, Armageddon in a Summer Dress, Sunny War teams with Valerie June for an entrancing track whose breezy, laid-back arrangement betrays its melancholy lyric.
Little Feat - “Too High to Cut My Hair”
Fresh on the heels of their Grammy-nominated Sam’s Place, Little Feat returns with Strike Up the Band, their first album of all original material in many a moon. The first single is a Fred Tackett/Scott Sherrard co-write that could have fit right in on The Last Record Album; jazzy, bluesy, and swampy in all the right ways.
Masters of Reality - “Mr. Tap N’ Go”
Chris Goss reboots the mighty Masters of Reality and dives right back into the same murky sonics delivered on such classics as the1989 self-titled debut and 1992’s Sunrise on the Sufferbus (which featured one Ginger Baker on drums). Stoner Rock ain’t dead, it’s still stoned.
Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory - “Idiot Box”
Turns out this is just what Sharon Van Etten needed - a damn band. One of my favorite albums of the year so far, the self-titled Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory gives us the best of retro ‘80s goth/new wave/no wave/whatever through a modern lens. It’s so good, I had a hard time picking just one track to represent it on this Mixtape. In the end, I went with the one with an “official video” while adding a different one (the fantastic “Somethin’ Ain’t Right”) on the actual Mixtape below.
Van Morrison - “Down to Joy”
The perpetually grumpy-ass Van the Man finally stops bitching about the music industry and the state of the world long enough to celebrate the joys of love again, and not a moment too soon. In fact, “Down to Joy” is a damn delight. Think “Bright Side of the Road,” “Real Real Gone,” “Jackie Wilson Said,” and the like; from the upcoming release, Remembering Now.
Bobby Rush with Kenny Wayne Shepherd - “Who Was That”
One of those young buck-meets-old buck blues pairings. This time, it’s two natives of northwest Louisiana: blues legend Bobby Rush and guitar-slingin’ Kenny Wayne Shepherd. On this groovy blues shuffle, Bobby sounds way younger than his 91 years and they're both having a helluva good time.
Robin Trower - “A Little Bit of Freedom”
The man who gave us Bridge of Sighs over 50 years ago doesn’t owe us another damn thing, but here he is in the 21st century just as active as ever, if not even more so. From the upcoming album, Come and Find Me, “A Little Bit of Freedom” could be seen as a sly callback to “A Little Bit Sympathy.” Either way, I guess we could all use a little bit of both right now. Robin Trower just keeps grooving on…
Benmont Tench - “The Drivin’ Man”
Tench’s first album in over a decade—and the first since head Heartbreaker Tom Petty’s passing—finds the master pianist strolling through an album whose tone mostly reflects its name, The Melancholy Season, with a wisp of occasional rocking out, albeit in a laid back way. “The Drivin’ Man” stands out for its simple yet powerful melody and message of devotion. Tender like “a bruise bordered with regret.” Superb.
Alison Krauss & Union Station - “Looks Like the End of the Road”
Kicking off the first Alison Krauss & Union Station album since 2011’s Paper Airplane (she released her last solo album, Windy City, in 2017 and Raise the Roof, her second duet LP with Robert Plant, in 2021) with a strikingly melancholic tone, “Looks Like the End of the Road” features - naturally - beautiful dobro work from Jerry Douglas and a flawless vocal from Krauss. The upcoming March 28 release, Arcadia, finds the group on a new label founded by original Rounder founders Ken Irwin, Marian Leighton Levy, and Bill Nowlin, along with John Virant.
Matt Andersen - “Magnolia”
I don’t think it’s possible to record a bad version of this song, especially when you have a voice as powerful, yet as soothing, as Matt Andersen’s. From his upcoming (April 25th) release, The Hammer & The Rose, Andersen’s treatment of this JJ Cale classic just whets our appetite for what’s to come.
Mike Farris - “Swingin’”
From another one of my favorite albums of the year so far, Mike Farris’s fantastic The Sound of Muscle Shoals is filled with the spirit of the town that bears its name and where it was recorded (a newly refurbished FAME). There’s so many great songs here that I’m putting up two: one in the Mixtape at the bottom (the sexy groove of “Bird in the Rain”) and Farris’s soul-soaked take on one of my favorite (and oft-overlooked) Tom Petty tunes…
Jessica Simpson - “Use My Heart Against Me”
OK, hear me out.
The great JD McPherson helped produce, compose, and arrange this session, the first from Jessica Simpson in many-a year. Roots rock seems to suit her. She sounds reinvigorated, and the track is basically a JD song with Simpson’s vocals on top. It’s a lot of fun and a much-needed respite from the dreadful recent news cycle. Give it a shot.
Jason Isbell - “Don’t Be Tough”
Another impossible choice: how does one pick a track from an album loaded with heart-wrenching and heart-tugging ballads that detail both the painfully inevitable end of a relationship and the exciting possibilities of a next chapter? One way is to go for the one that just gives us some good old aphorisms. Am I taking the easy road here? Maybe, but Isbell’s Prine-esque delivery on this deceptively simple track is universal in scope. It also conjures the best laid-back moments of ‘70s era Guy Clark and even ol’ Waylon. (The Mixtape below offers the beautiful album-closer, “Wind Behind the Rain.”)
Patterson Hood (feat. Waxahatchee) - “The Forks of Cypress”
Meanwhile, Isbell’s former Drive-By Trucker bandmate steps out solo again with the stellar Exploding Trees and Airplane Screams. Hood teams up with Waxahatchee (Katherine Crutchfield) on “The Forks of Cypress.” Its quiet observations and recollections drift along a quiet country-folk arrangement augmented by subtle southern rock-lite soloing. This is the good stuff.
Willie Nelson with Rodney Crowell - “Oh, What A Beautiful World”
Willie Nelson first appeared with Rodney Crowell on Crowell’s self-titled debut in 1978 (singing back up with Emmylou Harris on “Song for the Life”). Over the years, Willie’s recorded arguably the definitive version of “Til I Gain Control Again” on his Willie and Family Live album and two more Crowell classics on last year’s The Border (“Many A Long and Lonesome Highway” and the more recently-written title track). Now comes an album containing mainly Crowell compositions (along with the Guy Clark co-write “Stuff That Works”). The first single / title track is classic laid-back Willie, with Crowell stepping in on the bridge, offering a ray of hope in a seemingly hopeless world. Willie for President? At this point, why the hell not?
John Howie Jr and the Rosewood Bluff - “Who Needs the Neon”
The Return of John Howie Jr and the Rosewood Bluff is the succinct and no-nonsense title of the album that signals the much-anticipated … well … return of John Howie Jr and the Rosewood Bluff. The second single from the album is an all-out two-steppin’ delight with a classic country chorus. Bring on April 18th!
Morgan Wade - “East Coast”
The latest from the singer/songwriter is a quiet meditation on a devastating subject. She feels like she’s done. Truly heartbroken, she’s heading to the coast and she’s not planning on coming back. Even the melody exudes resignation. (If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts or a crisis, call or text 988 to connect with mental health professionals with the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.)
The Doobie Brothers (feat. Mavis Staples) - “Walk This Road”
With Michael McDonald back in the fold, “Walk This Road” perfectly marries the seemingly opposing worlds of the Doobies—the blues/southern-by-way-of-California rock roots of their first few years and their move toward the MOR R&B of the late-’70s/early ‘80s. To drive the point home, McDonald, Tom Johnston, and Patrick Simmons all trade lead vocals. Having the incomparable Mavis Staples on board is just gravy…but it’s red eye gravy…the best kind.
Tony Joe White - “Stand By Me”
Tony Joe White’s estate continues to find jewels among the Swamp Fox’s archives. This one, a spare, bluesy guitar-based stroll through Ben E. King’s timeless plea for devotion, is one of the best yet. A perfect cap to the first Mixtape of spring.
Great stuff. A lot of excellent music already out this year. I took advantage of a long drive by myself to really immerse in the Isbell. It's deceptively fascinating. I saw him perform "True Believer" — my favorite along with "Gravelweed" — and "Bury Me" in Mexico City in January before the record was released and knew then it would be a heavy lift.
This is great. I always enjoy the mixtapes and listen to them in the car. And that is a very funny line about Jessica Simpson: “OK hear me out.”
I always feel like Little Feat is the musical equivalent of the Ship of Theseus — ever hear of that idea in philosophy?