If I Let It Quiet. Josaleigh Pollett

Josaleigh Pollett maakt vanuit Salt Lake City inmiddels al flink wat jaren bijzondere muziek, maar ze legt de lat nog wat hoger op haar nieuwe album If I Let It Quiet, dat de balans vindt tussen experiment en aangename popsongs.

Ik ken de muziekscene van Salt Lake City eerlijk gezegd niet. De stad bracht ons ooit The Osmonds, maar verder ken ik geen muzikanten uit de hoofdstad van Utah. Tot deze week dan, want dankzij een tip maakte ik kennis met de muziek van Josaleigh Pollett, die laat horen dat er in Salt Lake City wel degelijk interessante muziek wordt gemaakt. If I Let It Quiet kan worden getypeerd als een singer-songwriter album, maar het is wel een singer-songwriter album vol verrassingen en vol uitstapjes buiten de gebaande paden. Josaleigh Pollett zet je soms op het verkeerde been, maar ze schrijft ook popsongs die je alleen maar wilt koesteren. Interessant album.

De Amerikaanse muziekwebsite Paste zette me vorige week op het spoor van de Amerikaanse muzikant Josaleigh Pollett. De non-binaire muzikant uit Salt Lake City, Utah, heeft de afgelopen tien jaar al heel wat muziek uitgebracht, maar ook voor Paste kwam het in juli verschenen album If I Let It Quiet kennelijk als een verrassing. Paste noemt Josaleigh Pollett immers in de introductie van het album “a hidden treasure”. 

Daar kan ik me wel in vinden, want If I Let It Quiet is een fascinerend album en ook de vorige albums van de Amerikaanse muzikant zijn op zijn minst bijzonder en absoluut de moeite waard. Van deze albums vind ik If I Let It Quiet het meest toegankelijk en het album is wat mij betreft toegankelijk genoeg om in de smaak te vallen bij een grote groep liefhebbers van singer-songwriter muziek. 

Het nieuwe album van Josaleigh Pollett is absoluut te beschrijven als een singer-songwriter album, maar het is zeker geen doorsnee album in het genre. Het is een album dat flarden bevat van mooie en tijdloze folksongs, die makkelijk verleiden met mooie klanken en de zeer aangename stem van Josaleigh Pollett, maar de muzikant uit Salt Lake City maakt ook muziek die heel makkelijk van kleur verschiet en je minstens net zo makkelijk op het verkeerde been zet. 

De songs op het album klinken deels organisch, maar er wordt ook regelmatig elektronica ingezet, waardoor de muziek van Josaleigh Pollett ook kan opschuiven richting indiepop. Niet alleen de muziek op het album verschiet makkelijk van kleur, want ook de stem van Josaleigh Pollett kan meerdere kanten op, wat nog wat extra contrast toevoegt aan het album. 

Het zorgt voor een serie aansprekende maar ook lekker eigenzinnige songs, die anders klinken dan die op de meeste andere albums die worden gemaakt in de genres die Josaleigh Pollett bestrijkt. Nu opereert de Amerikaanse muzikant ook vanuit een andere scene, want Salt Lake City is in meerdere opzichten ver verwijderd van Nashville of Los Angeles. 

Het album klinkt nog wat eigenzinniger door de productie van Jordan Watko, die in het Japanse Osaka woont, waardoor het album op bijzondere wijze werd opgenomen. De afstand tussen Salt Lake City en Osaka zorgt voor een bijzondere sfeer, waarin de tijd af en toe lijkt te verspringen. Jordan Watko maakte overigens een bijzonder album onder de naam Crowd Shy, maar dit album ben ik nooit tegengekomen. 

Ook de andere muzikanten die zijn te horen op het album, ken ik niet, maar If I Let It Quiet is in muzikaal opzicht een spannend album, waarop van alles te ontdekken valt. Toen ik het album voor het eerst beluisterde, boden de songs van Josaleigh Pollett betrekkelijk weinig houvast, maar uiteindelijk valt alles op zijn plek en worden de bijzondere songs op het album stuk voor stuk memorabel. 

Ook de vorige albums van de Amerikaanse muzikant staan vol bijzondere songs, waardoor ik er opeens een interessant stapeltje albums bij heb. If I Let It Quiet is wat mij betreft het meest geschikte album om in te stappen, maar het album maakt je zeer waarschijnlijk nieuwsgierig naar het andere werk van Josaleigh Pollett, die af en toe stevig experimenteert, maar de toegankelijke popsong ook nooit helemaal uit het oog verliest. Wederom een hele interessante tip van Paste dus.

Erwin Zijleman

 

Je kunt If I Let It Quiet hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://josaleighpollett.bandcamp.com/album/if-i-let-it-quiet 

Perfume. Elisa Smith

How long can I maintain the position that I do not like country music? There's country music I heard when growing up as a teenager. There the position is quite clear and little has changed. Let's say from the second half of the 1990s things blurred with bands like The Walkabouts, that brilliant Hazeldine album 'Digging You Up', my favourite The Jayhawks albums and later The Hackensaw Boys' take on bluegrass and a country singer like Karen Jonas. They all tilted my look on what country (and folk) music could also be.

Enter Elisa Smith. The Boston based singer accepted a prize for female song of the year at the Grand Ole Opry in 2025 for the song 'Nashville Don't Forget Me'. On her new album Perfume she skates past several forms of country music in a way Karen Jonas does and, yes, a few songs make shudder, a few really rock and a few are just so beautiful. More than enough to make me write a few words and put my modest spotlight on Perfume.

The album opens with a stark country rocker 'Angels (Who Take No Shit)'. The short intro even promises more than is delivered. The lyrics take a stance for women. Musically this could be a Karen Jonas rocker, while in the song's music and lyrics Elisa Smith also tips her hat to Dolly Parton in a few ways and adds her own defiant stance. As an album opener it is extremely strong but also a little misleading, because after the next song 'The Hard Way', the mood of the album changes slowly but surely. 'The Hard Way' rocks in a more dirty way then 'Angels (Who Don't Take Shit)'. A violin is added as a lead instrument, like Papa John Creach added violin pepper to Jefferson Starship in the mid-70s. Elisa Smith has an edge to her voice that suits this rocking side of her music just fine.

The third song 'Smut' brings Perfume into Hazeldine territory. The tempo goes down and country and rock blend into a ballad where slow notes take over, space is created in the rhythm that an organ is allowed to fill here and there, making the contrast between the full band participation and the holding back parts extra strong. Anyone who is not familiar with Hazeldine's 'Drive' pay heed and check it out.

In the fifth song the mood changes for real for the first time. The country flavour takes over, with the violin, acoustic guitar and peddle steel taking over big time. 'Spilled Whiskey' is a song that is on the edge of my country tolerance. Like Rory Block did decades ago with her song 'Lovin' Whiskey'.

The rocking side returns with 'Gimme A Mustang', that sits in nicely with the opening song. 'Motherin'' may be up tempo, it does fall more to my bad side. It may have more to do with Elisa Smith singing with a country timbre than the song itself. The country/blue grass song 'Made To Break' is in the same corner. This is the side I just don't take a shine to.

And then something happens that is the real surprise of the album. Perfume moves into its third shape, country ballads. Although, the music may be too much seen from a rock side of music, Elisa Smith creates pure beauty in 'My Daughter's Hand' and 'Spin Me Around Again'. Especially the latter song really resonates within me. What is extra telling about the quality of her singing, is that she carries this song so well also. She rocks and can sing with a soft voice. The final and title song 'Perfume' adds another ballad to the whole and again a beautiful one.

Summing up, with Perfume Elisa Smith has shown exactly where I stand with country music. Overall Perfume wins out on points easily.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Perfume here:

https://elisasmith.bandcamp.com/album/perfume 

2026, week 39. 10 singles

I just read that France has it 112th day this year with temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius or more. The south of my more northern country may hit a tropical day once again as well, on 28 September! But let's drill, baby drill! Today I was introduced to the term "endtime fascism". I can't get my head around endtime, eschatological fanatics. It never came about, so far. Besides, even if all humans were wiped off the planet, Earth will go on, in whatever form and with whatever lifeform(s), to start all over again, until the sun heats us up a bit too much, billions of years from now. And today, we have the music as always. So, enjoy!

Avalanche. Kant

Psychedelic rock comes in many guises. Kant from Aschaffenburg in Germany can be found in the louder segment. The band is more rock and then adds the psychedelic side in the sound it puts on its guitars and the effects here and there on singer Marius Seidl's voice. Expect a loud riff played in (harmonic) stereo that charges through most of the song. It's a while before Seidl's voice can be heard for the first time. The light and shade in the song is taken care of in a way that makes the song surprising to listen to, while the drums and bass charge on an on as if the last bus is in sight but the bus stop still a long way off. The band's third album, 'Echoes Of Unfortunate Times' will be released on 23 October.

Mean To Be Mean. Swansea Sound

Please allow me to get confused, but how many bands are Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey active in? I can't keep up, help! The "problem" is I seem to like them all. Swansea Sound is the new iteration that I'm getting myself acquainted with. Single Mean To Be Mean is just so much fun. It is jumpy, bouncy, upbeat and apologetic as both Amelia and co-singer Hue Williams "did not mean to be mean". Both are retelling a story about a review by Williams of Amelia's band a long time a go and here they are in a band together in the 2020s. In fact, the band will release its third album come 13 November. If the songs on 'Pre-Post-Truth' are as much fun as this single, count me in.

I Got An Idea feat. Mark Mothersbaugh. Gary Calamar

I Got An Idea brings me back a decade or five. The song is totally post-punk with a 60s undertone in there. The music does not excuse itself for being raw. The lead guitar is distorted, the effects in the back and foreground are all a bit weird. Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh helps out on vocals. I remember the band from circa 1980 but for the life of me can't remember a song. At the time I did not like it at all. I do like I Got An Idea though, because it is so sprightly and in its own weird way extremely upbeat. Gary Calamar is a new name to me. His label Big Stir introduces him as follows: "LA singer-songwriter and all-around music scene Renaissance man (influential DJ, in-demand TV music supervisor and rock author)". I'm letting the weird sounds and noises go through my ears once again, deciding that I certainly want to hear more by Calamar. That opportunity arises on 23 October when 'Odd Numb3rs And Slanted Rhymes' is released.

Birds Die Out Of Sight. D.B. Caulfield

It is not so long from now and Amsterdam band Queen's Pleasure will be no more. The band is doing a farewell tour this fall. After drummer Sal Rubinstein, who debuted as RubinCarter last spring, it is now Teun Putker who releases a solo single under the name D.B. Caulfield. There's a pattern as well, Ruben Carter - Holden Caulfield or is it just coincidence? Whatever it is, D.B. Caulfield's Birds Die Out Of Sight, is a singer-songwriter track, soft and delicate in the right places, slightly more solid in the other. A surprisingly rough sounding lead guitar tears through the song that in general is the modesty itself. Pay attention and you will find some more interesting details. From the little bells to synths, there's far more going on in Birds Die Out Of Sight than I suspected at the start. And, yes, where do birds go to die? There are so many of them and yet ...

Xono. Quiz Show

Two and a half years down the line New Jersey trio Quiz Show, Chris Matthews (guitars and vocals), Jesse Krakow (bass, organ, and backing vocals), Joe Billy III (drums, backing vocals, acoustic guitar), returns to this blog with its latest single Xono, from an EP with the same name. Xono is an alternative rock song with besides power a prickly side that puts it apart from smooth rock many prefer to hear. Quiz Show puts in elements that are able to please, but like a band as The B52s, it adds quirky parts that make it necessary to listen to Xono again and again to realise and appreciate the extend of pleasing within the song fully. Take in the bass part for example when it is not in a unisono riff with the guitar. And especially listen to the bridge. Here Quiz Show really shows its skills. The EP is released on 28 September.

to stop the world turning EP. Freyja Elsy

Another debutant on this blog is Freyja Elsy. The singer from the United Kingdom released a new EP after her debut EP from 2023, ‘Modern Artifice’. On to stop the world turning she presents a dreamy kind of music with one foot in the past of both Enya style folk music and Massive Attack style hiphop, while a modern production that includes both atmospheric sounds as classic elements of (synth?) strings and piano puts the other foot in 2026. Freyja Elsy sings with a relaxed voice. Like in 'Control' where the influence of Massive Attack is most obvious. The link to a track like 'Teardrop' is quite evident. The listener is enveloped by the music like the fetus in the video is in its mother's womb. For me Control is the price track on to stop the world turning. The dreamy atmosphere is kept up by Freyja Elsy on the whole four track EP. Although I do not want to hear music like this at every moment of the day, there definitely are moments when she strikes just the right mood. to stop the world turning is beautifully made and in great taste.

Alone The Walrus. St. Yuma

Quite often there's a lot of noisy music to be found in the weekly singles post. St. Yuma decided to put a stop to that and presents Alone The Walrus. St. Yuma makes its debut on this blog, so an introduction is welcome. St. Yuma is Stevan Alva from Seattle in the state of Washington. Alone The Walrus is his debut single on the Fully Time Hobby label. The title is to be taken literally, as the song is about a walrus called Alone, "inspired by Worried Walrus, written and illustrated by Richard Hefter and published in 1977". Alone is swimming in an ocean that is so tranquil, it must be a desired place for everyone wanting to reach this level of relaxation. Stevan Alva sings with a dreamy voice and the music follows his soft voice for the whole of the way. During the song a female voice and more instruments are added, all adding to the listening experience Alone The Walrus offers. This is a debut single that promises a lot more.

Teenage Kicks. Christina Jean & her Allstars

In 1979, I had no idea, I think. I can't remember hearing the song then. Come 2026 and Teenage Kicks is one of my favourite punk singles ever. I think it only kicked in really when I bought The Undertones' singles collection cd at a mid price. Most of the album is more than good. Take the b-side 'Mars Bar' as a proof of point. Although I bought three of the four The Undertones albums around 1982, except for the first one, it took me a few more years to become a fan of the band. Come 2026 and I receive a cover version of Christina Jean & her Allstars. The problem with anyone singing a The Undertones song, no one has a strange voice like Feargal Sharkey. Not even the guy who replaced him in the revived The Undertones. That aside, what can you do wrong with a song like Teenage Kicks as long as you get that groove going. That is exactly what Christine Jean and band got, presenting us with a nice cover version of a fantastic song.

teeth filed down. Nathalie Miller

Nathalie Miller has made it twice to this blog with her EP 'like you used to' and with a single from that EP in 2025. Today she's back with the single teeth filed down. Again, it is song that can be qualified as a pop song, but also again, she does things in the song that makes it not a part of the beaten pop track. Again, I like the way she multitracks her voice. It gives the song and Nathalie Miller as an artist an authentic sound. The lead guitar is the instrument attracting attention. Played in a higher register, playing the same two chords over and over in a tightly strummed way. Although the song seems to continue in one pace, watch a little more closely and you will notice the mood changes ms. Miller throws into the whole. Once again a song I really like by Nathalie Miller. No doubt more will follow.

In The Path Of Hurricanes. Heather Nova

In 2015 and 2025 Heather Nova can be found on this blog, both in reviews by Erwin Zijleman. This is my first words on an artist who is around for 30 years. I like the pace of In The Path Of Hurricanes. The song has this way in which it keeps going, with the exception of an interlude. Without loudness or violence, the (electronic) rhythm just goes on and on. Around it are swaths of synths, guitar atmospherics and later on something I can't put a name to. Over it Heather Nova sings with a quiet voice that she may be in her head or lost in a slipstream. Are things what they are?, this seems to be the theme of In The Path Of Hurricanes. The combination of the voice and the dreamy, yet firm music simply works. It proves for me that no matter your expectations of an artist, you should always give a new song a chance. More follows on 30 October when 'The Orchard' is released.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

Hiding Places. Genevieve Stokes

De naam Genevieve Stokes zal niet bij iedereen een belletje doen rinkelen, maar ze maakte bijna twee jaar geleden een buitengewoon knap debuutalbum, dat in juli werd gevolgd door het mooie en bijzondere Hiding Places.

Ik heb geen idee hoe het Genevieve Stokes is vergaan sinds haar geweldige debuutalbum en weet ook niet waarom ze haar nieuwe album in eigen beheer en met bescheiden middelen heeft gemaakt. Het deze week verschenen (mini?) album Hiding Places klinkt anders dan het debuutalbum van Genevieve Stokes, maar ook dit keer laat ze horen dat ze beschikt over veel talent. Hiding Places is een behoorlijk sober en ook wat donker album, dat het waarschijnlijk goed gaat doen in de herfst en de winter, maar ook midden in de zomer verdienen de nieuwe songs van de Amerikaanse muzikante alle aandacht. Ik ben nu al benieuwd naar haar volgende muzikale verrichtingen, maar ook Hiding Places is prachtig.

Een kleine twee jaar geleden schreef ik een recensie van het debuutalbum van Genevieve Stokes. De jonge muzikante uit Portland, Maine, moest met haar debuutalbum With a Lightning Strike concurreren met stapels andere albums in het hokje indiepop, maar ik was echt enorm gecharmeerd en onder de indruk van het album. 

Het is een album dat me af en toe deed denken aan de muziek van Fiona Apple en dat is zo ongeveer het mooiste en meest bijzondere vergelijkingsmateriaal dat ik kan bedenken. Ik noemde in mijn recensie van With a Lightning Strike niet alleen de naam van Fiona Apple, maar ook die van Billie Eilish, Regina Spektor en Phoebe Bridgers en ook dat zijn muzikanten die ik heel hoog heb zitten. 

Genevieve Stokes leverde met haar debuutalbum een zeer aansprekend indiepopalbum af, maar het is ook een album met een interessant eigen geluid en een album vol diepgang en avontuur. Ik noemde het album in de herfst van 2024 dan ook terecht jaarlijstjesmateriaal, wat het extra jammer maakt dat het album een paar maanden later ontbrak in mijn jaarlijstje over het betreffende jaar. 

With a Lightning Strike deed volgens mij sowieso niet heel veel en dat is doodzonde. Toen ik With a Lightning Strike deze week weer eens beluisterde, was ik behoorlijk onder de indruk van het album, dat de competitie met de beste indiepopalbums van het moment makkelijk aan kan. 

Of het deze week verschenen nieuwe album Hiding Places voor revanche gaat zorgen, waag ik vooralsnog te betwijfelen. Het album werd midden in de zomer uitgebracht en dat is niet het moment waarop de critici en muziekliefhebbers het meest alert zijn. Bovendien is Hiding Places met acht tracks en ruim 21 minuten muziek meer een mini-album dan een volwaardige opvolger van With a Lightning Strike. Het is ook nog eens een album dat het waarschijnlijk beter gaat doen wanneer de dagen korter en kouder worden en dat was op het moment van verschijnen nog ver weg. 

Genevieve Stokes besloot om Hiding Places zelf te maken, zonder druk van platenmaatschappijen die ongetwijfeld de potentie van haar muziek hebben gehoord twee jaar geleden. Hiding Places werd gemaakt met een aantal bevriende muzikanten en werd opgenomen in de garage van haar ouderlijk huis, waar een oude piano zorgde voor de basis van de acht songs op het album. 

Hiding Places is hierdoor niet het album dat Genevieve Stokes zal scharen onder de grote indiepopsterren van het moment, maar het is net als haar debuutalbum een album dat laat horen dat Genevieve Stokes een zeer getalenteerde maar ook eigenzinnige muzikante is. 

Hiding Places doet me in muzikaal en vocaal opzicht minder aan Fiona Apple denken dan het debuutalbum van Genevieve Stokes, maar de nieuwe songs hebben wel de donkere en wat desolate sfeer van de songs van Fiona Apple. Ondanks de inzet van strijkers klinken de songs op Hiding Places uiterst sober, maar dat voorziet de songs ook van een bijzondere schoonheid en intimiteit. Die schoonheid en intimiteit worden versterkt door de mooie stem van Genevieve Stokes, die nog wat extra eigenzinnigheid toevoegt aan de songs op het album. 

Hiding Places zal vanwege de duur en het karakter van het album waarschijnlijk vooral worden gezien als een tussendoortje, maar het is wel een bijzonder mooi en smaakvol tussendoortje, dat laat horen dat Genevieve Stokes er een is om de in de gaten te houden. 

Erwin Zijleman

De Staat. De Staat

I'll own up before I start reviewing. I thought to have heard enough of De Staat. The three coloured mini albums did not get to me and the first songs released of 'De Staat' made me think "been there, done that". I decided to give the album a chance anyway, and then things changed. 'De Staat' is a totally different beast, but starting off as something very familiar sounding.

Well, okay, a drumming intro is different. From there sounds come in, including an emergency signal like droning sound. Torre Florim is his strict, military sergeant sounding self in the repeated lyrics. The sound are swirling synth drones. This isn't a song, it's pure effect. And yet, somehow it all does add up into a frightening version of a song. Electronic hell. I can imagine this being played in a torture cell for hours and hours and hours on end at tremendous levels. And yet, it is an impressive album opener.

'The Fire' comes up next. Again rhythm with loads of electronics but a vocal melody that can be reproduced by fans easily. A song like De Staat is famous for for well over a decade now. The synths are recorded at such a level that the sound seems to fall apart in the process. Again, a child's verse comes by, like 'Old MacDonald's Farm' a long time ago. 'Row, Row Your Boat' this time. It made me wonder when and where I learned these songs. Did my Australian mother sing them to us when small? I also vaguely remember a booklet, from high school? I really don't know.

To think that De Staat was a solo project of Torre Florim in 2009 and after the release of 'Wait For Evolution' needed a band and that in 2026 that band is still together. That is rather remarkable. That band now plays some of the deepest tracks it ever recorded and is experimenting with other forms of music as well. And that is where 'De Staat' gets more interesting.

I've seen the band live several times and seeing Torre Florim live things can become so intense that it is hard to see the line between addressing demagoguery and being a demagogue. Fact is, the theme of everything surrounding us from demagogues to fake news and back, is one of the topics on 'De Staat'. Florim even calls it the reason for naming his then project De Staat.

Photo: Kees Klein

'De Staat' is an extremely varied album, it makes the industrial songs, like 'The King' and 'The Fire', where hordes can march to, only one of several types of songs. Expect a more gentle side of De Staat as well and those with a little patience (or forgetting to turn off the cd) will get the surprise of their De Staat associated life. De Staat shows what you can do to the same song by going outside of its comfort zone and jump through circa 20 others. Jazz!

'The Underdog' kicks off as if David Guetta had a spasm or two while recording a new song, but then hear the song being turned inside out, with Torre Florim finding his inner Thom Yorke. A Radiohead influence can be heard more often on 'De Staat'. 'The Underdog shows a softer and more sensitive side, while having a huge industrial house component as well.

This is just one of the ways De Staat surprises. Listen to how a pitch can change within a song or how a choir is sampled, around which a whole song is built. Despite all the effects, some songs are far more bare than De Staat has ever released them before. In contrast with these strict marching orders of songs, all sorts of musical flowers bloom as if in the bulb fields of the Bollenstreek in spring.

Here I was thinking on the basis of the singles I'd heard, to have been there and done that and was presented with the most varied album De Staat ever made. On De Staat, the band shows itself both in its guise of ultimate musical endgame and at its most varied, making De Staat an extremely interesting album. And I like it, a lot.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght