SOMETHING OLD
Laura Nyro - Eli's Coming
1968
Laura Nyro's Eli and the Thirteenth Confession packaged profound musical maturity and singularity into one record at only 21 years old. Eli's Coming, I think, would have made an outstanding opening track. It begins with a Hammond B3 organ and elongated, layered vocals by Nyro. It immediately grabs you, especially the guttural tone of the organ. Shortly after, Nyro's nimble fingers pick up on the piano alongside a full band arrangement, taking us into a riveting pop melody.
Laura Nyro - Eli's Coming
1968
Laura Nyro's Eli and the Thirteenth Confession packaged profound musical maturity and singularity into one record at only 21 years old. Eli's Coming, I think, would have made an outstanding opening track. It begins with a Hammond B3 organ and elongated, layered vocals by Nyro. It immediately grabs you, especially the guttural tone of the organ. Shortly after, Nyro's nimble fingers pick up on the piano alongside a full band arrangement, taking us into a riveting pop melody.
She keeps us on our toes, though, eventually stopping the party abruptly to return to the same prayer-like stripped down sound we heard in the intro. It eventually builds into a rhythm section with Nyro singing several different vocal parts in every angle of our ear and sees itself out.
Such an invigorating tune from a truly innovative woman.
SOMETHING NEW
Star Moles - Day Off
February 26th, 2026
Star Moles - Day Off
February 26th, 2026
Emily Moales has been consistently releasing albums under her Star Moles moniker since 2019, and I'm eager for them to finally be heard by a wider audience. Highway To Hell is her latest collection of great songs. One of my favorites, Day Off, seemingly a commentary on Christianity through lyrics like:
Vest-wearing archangels armed with clipboards and commissions trying to reel me in again, They hand me things like a pocket size Jesus, and a line about maybe getting into heaven next week. Most repeatedly, though, is the idea of "doing" for "all the right reasons." Though slightly vague, Moales seems to be zooming into the motivations behind our actions, and how large of a role Jesus plays in that for different people.
Vest-wearing archangels armed with clipboards and commissions trying to reel me in again, They hand me things like a pocket size Jesus, and a line about maybe getting into heaven next week. Most repeatedly, though, is the idea of "doing" for "all the right reasons." Though slightly vague, Moales seems to be zooming into the motivations behind our actions, and how large of a role Jesus plays in that for different people.
When it comes to Jesus playing a role in my life, that manifests most strongly in how much I love how she sings the name. The chorus features a sincerely unique melody, with her voice swirling most delightfully through high and low notes on each "Jesus" lyric. Gets better with every listen.
SOMETHING BORROWED
Roberta Flack - Superstar (Delaney & Bonnie)
1971
Roberta Flack - Superstar (Delaney & Bonnie)
1971
Reinvention is the word.
Bonnie Bramlett and Leon Russell wrote Groupie (Superstar), which was put out as a B-Side by Bramlett and her husband Delaney in 1969. The song was creatively influenced by Rita Coolidge, who had long been observing groupie culture. It's an especially sad song knowing that background, understanding that the narrator is likely quite a young girl feeling confused by a dishonest, vagrant rock star. It was perhaps most famously covered by The Carpenters in 1971, who captured this sadness most poignantly.
While not quite evoking the same tragedy, Roberta Flack took the tune in a totally different direction in the same year as The Carpenters. It didn't end up making it on her Quiet Fire album, so chances are not many have heard this. I consider Flack to be a queen of interpretation, and I think that skill comes with a good sense for improvisation as well. Just taking the roots of something and going wherever feels best with it. That is exactly what she does with her band on this extraordinary 15-minute long jam session.
The band and Roberta take the famed Superstar melody and pulls it into many different lively musical directions. They all work. This is a recording absolutely full of life.
SOMETHING... s p e l l e d l i k e t h i s
WILLOW - b i g f e e l i n g s
2024
WILLOW - b i g f e e l i n g s
2024
Stylistic spelling choices are not the most interesting thing about Willow Smith's music. b i g f e e l i n g s is as rock oriented as it is jazz oriented, and it blends the two into a stunning closer for her empathogen album. Willow wanted something "complicated" and "grandiose" to end the record, and she came up with exactly that. It does a great job at capturing big feelings with major rises and falls, ever-changing time signatures, expressive vocalizations, and more. Every moment works effectively at carry the emotional drama any of us with "big feelings" know very well, while somehow being 1000x more pleasantly listenable than the internal nagging voices that attach themselves to our feelings.