Bruce Conlon
Audience of One
Featured Download: "Two Worlds Colliding" MP3

The onetime leader of the New Zealand band Eight, Bruce Conlon relocated to London two years ago to start anew with a solo career. The first fruits of that move are ripe but need time to digest on Audience of One, a heads-down series of songs that exude deliberation. With weighty attitude mollified by a pop premise, it dwells midway between Coldplay’s darker motifs and Matchbox Twenty’s more accessible sound.

Conlon’s smoky vocals are well suited to these overcast ruminations, whether paired with the gravitas and cinematic sweep of “Two Worlds Colliding” and “No Accident” or drifting through the more subdued strains of “It’s for You” and “Long Lost Friend.” Yet when Conlon escalates the emotion on “Hanging on Every Word” and “Not Too Late,” the exhilaration thrives.

bruceconlon.com

Ellis
Break the Spell
Featured Download: "Break the Spell" MP3

An indie veteran, Ellis’ approach often finds her spanning both sides of the emotional divide. On this, her sixth album, she effectively conveys songs filled with love and the longing for it, baring her soul and demonstrating a vulnerability that makes Break the Spell easily her most compelling attempt yet.

For most of the decade, Ellis has been finding her audience and winning critical kudos on the folk-festival circuit, and here it’s clear why. Her music comforts like a caress on songs like “Twisted Roads,” “Blackbird” and “Red Light.” The style may have originated with others—Janis Ian and the Indigo Girls come immediately to mind—but now Ellis can confidently claim it as her own.

ellis-music.com

Flynn
The Answer's Not Enough
Featured Download: "The Answer's Not Enough" MP3

Hailing from Boston carries a certain amount of cachet, given Beantown’s reputation as a repository of musical talent. Flynn, formerly of the band Cliffs of Dooneen, has cut through the competition—his first album was accorded a Boston Music Award for outstanding debut—but it’s his personal triumphs that merit distinction. Paralyzed from a fall, he successfully regained movement in his arms and legs, and subsequently carved an enviable career as a performer, producer and composer.

Flynn’s fourth album reflects an unbridled tenacity. From the ominous title track and cool croon of “Emerald Dream,” to the romantic yearning of “If She’s the One” and its ambling ode to affirmation “All That I Am,” the rich weave of emotions mingles freely with sumptuous tones and textures.

flynnmusic.com

Greta Gertler & The Extroverts
Edible Restaurant
Featured Download: "If Bob Was God" MP3

Greta Gertler’s quirky cabaret style seems more conducive to an intimate New York nightclub than a wider expanse of arenas, festivals and other mainstream marquees. Nevertheless, she purveys an undeniable charm, courtesy of her piano-based ballads and an enticing vocal that effortlessly transitions from a hush to a howl.

Although she leans toward a stately sound, this Aussie chanteuse is somewhat precocious. The title track finds Gertler channeling Kate Bush by way of David Bowie, turning instrumental over-surge into a tour de force. Likewise, the loopy “Bergen Street” lets her band happily cut loose while “If Bob Was God” proves the most memorable tune, with tuba and pedal steel providing deft accompaniment. Even so, when Gertler gravitates to simpler, supple melodies, they find Edible Restaurant especially tasty.

gretagertler.net

Haale
No Ceiling
Featured Download: "No Ceiling" MP3

Haale’s penchant for psychedelic drones and meditative grooves owes as much to her Iranian origins as to modern musical sensibilities. With this, her first full-length outing, Mid-Eastern influences freely intertwine with contemporary rock regalia, and the effect is mesmerizing.

The album’s more exotic passages freely reference her homeland, particularly “Ay Dar Hekasteh” and “Hastee,” which find her singing wholly in her native tongue. Other offerings—“Middle of Fire,” “Chenan Mastam” and “Town on the Sea”—help foster that intriguing ambiance, given Haale’s charismatic vocals and the use of sitars, cello, violin and busy hand percussion as additives to the instrumentation. Sarah McLachlan and Loreena McKennitt have mined world music with similar success, but Haale harvests it with authenticity.

haale.com

Doug Hoekstra
Blooming Roses
Featured Download: "Gavin Geist" MP3

he best artists manage to move forward in ways that are both experimental and accessible. On Blooming Roses, I feel I was able to do that.”

A prodigious songwriter, Doug Hoekstra should know. With a recording career that spans 14 years and a string of critically acclaimed indie albums, he opted to alter his technique while laying down his latest. Instead of recording loads of new material and paring down his choices afterward, he selected his songs in advance and matched them with specific musicians he had in mind.

Produced by veteran David Henry and featuring some of Nashville’s finest session players, the album benefits from this shift in stance. It still spotlights his trademark diversity, from the jazzy lope of “Naper Vegas Scrabble Club,” to the playful prance of “Your Sweet Love,” to the raucous pull of “Part of the Problem, Part of the Solution.” However, it’s the hushed ballads that resonate most effectively—the ethereal flow of “Acquired Taste,” the soaring and cerebral “Everywhere Is Somewhere,” the compelling “Gavin Geist” and the beautifully beguiling “Subway Train.”
Though he claims he’s his own worst critic, Hoekstra’s pleased with these results. “On this CD, I can hear things clicking more often than not. There’s a polish and vibe to it that stand up even to my hyper-self-critical ears.”

doughoekstra.com

Hungrytown
Hungrytown
Featured Download: "Rose or the Briar" MP3

Hungrytown, the handle for husband-wife duo Ken Anderson and Rebecca Hall, purvey a down-home sound with flair. Cast with fiddles, mandolins, banjos, bluegrass and balladry, their self-titled debut dwells in rustic environs.

In fact, Hungrytown’s music offers such an aura of Americana—in titles and tunes—it could be easily mistaken for traditional transcripts. “Rose or the Briar,” “November Song,” the title track and a willowy cover of Gene Clark’s “With Tomorrow” boast a delicacy that’s engaging. Hall channels the graceful, reassuring presence of Judy Collins and Sandy Denny, while Anderson’s lithe arrangements provide spare but tasteful support. It’s an unassuming offering that could very well put this Hungrytown on the map.

hungrytown.net

In Flight Radio
The Sound Inside
Featured Download: "Red Flags" MP3

In Flight Radio soared on the kudos accorded their self-titled debut, thanks in large part to the presence of their superb singer, simply known as Peira. While this follow-up finds the remainder of the foursome—guitarist Darko Saric, drummer Mike Parker and bassist Devin Krug—providing able support, it’s Peira’s pliable vocals that take the music from a whisper to a scream, often within the expanse of a single song.

Combining the anguish of Sinéad O’Connor and the insistence of Natalie Merchant, Peira turns ballads like “Yelling Up to the Sky” and “Home” into plaintive pleas of remorse and reconciliation. It’s familiar terrain, but Peira’s performances elevate these compositions to the extraordinary.

inflightradio.net

Annie Keating
Belmont
Featured Download: “For the Taking” MP3

Annie Keating’s music is a study in contrasts. A Brooklyn resident, she demonstrates a homespun sensibility that belies urban environs. The liner notes credit a cast of nearly 20 players and participants, but the songs reflect a restraint that protects the purity of Keating’s evocative melodies.

Then there’s Keating’s template, which runs the gamut from tender to tenacious. Comparisons to Gillian Welch and Bonnie Raitt ring true, yet what ultimately impresses is the intimacy etched in beautiful ballads like “For the Taking” and “Flowers Bloom,” and the riveting authority residing in backwoods rockers “On the Road by 10” and “Drive.”

anniekeating.com

Lo Fine
Not for Us Two
Featured Download: “#37” MP3

Lo Fine’s very name provides the perfect example of truth in advertising. With their alluring third album’s sense of circumspection residing below the surface, they express a sound that’s calm and captivating.

To be sure, Lo Fine’s musings may seem elusive in their dream-like drift. Nevertheless, the understated desire of “Damage Twins” and “Over My Shoulder” reveals an urgency contrasted against hushed tones. While the inexplicably titled “#37” exhibits the only discernable acceleration, Lo Fine’s stealth and deliberation prove entrancing.

lofine.com

Stella Schindler
Distant Hum
Featured Download: “Ancient Trail” MP3

With an emotive delivery that at various points brings to mind Marianne Faithfull and Iris Dement under the spell of eerie gothic gloom, Stella Schindler makes a striking impression on Distant Hum. Her seductive style has a hazy feel that’s elusive yet inviting. She effectively integrates various strands of quiet despair, resulting in an album deliriously imbued with imagery and allusion.

The set begins provocatively with the dirge-like ballad “Ancient Trail” and maintains its sensual sway. However, Schindler hits her stride with “Get Along Joseph,” an upbeat shuffle that suggests vintage Dylan helmed by Gram and Emmylou.

stellaschindler.com

Levi Weaver
You Are Never Close to Home ...
Featured Download: “Of Bridges Burned” MP3

To call Levi Weaver an overachiever is like saying it gets a trifle hot in the Sahara. This Texas-by-way-of-Tennessee artist is a musical wunderkind with grand ambitions. That combo leads to an extravagant exploit that finds him playing the bulk of the instrumentation—from standard fare to the more exotic (accordion, pan flute, hand flute, mouth trumpet).

Not surprisingly, the album is flush with a variety of tones and textures. The thoughtful intro “Dear Friend” veers into the sweeping, gypsy-like “Of Bridges Burned,” which, in turn, precedes the kinetic despair of “Family Feud.” An aura of frayed disappointment is imbued overall, but when Weaver insists “I’m not better, I’m just bitter,” one could easily argue the opposite.

leviweaver.com