New Release Round-Up 08-13-21

Watchhouse - Watchhouse - Tiptoe Tiger Music
On April 21, 2021 the duo of Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz — who over the past decade have achieved grassroots success as Mandolin Orange, going from coffee shop performers to festival headliners — announced that they are now called Watchhouse. Says the band in a new statement: "This past year has been the first time we’ve stayed still since we were 21, and the pause gave us the opportunity to sit with ourselves and set intentions. We have long been burdened by the dichotomy between our band name and the music we strive to create—if you’ve heard the songs, you know they are personal. Now that we can see a future where music is a shared experience again, we're defining the space we share with you on a stage or in your headphones, and making it one that welcomes our creativity and anyone who wants to listen." Watchhouse's self-titled album is the first under their new name, and is co-produced by Josh Kaufman, who has produced records for The National and Bonny Light Horseman, and also played on Taylor Swift’s folklore and evermore. The album represents a seamless reinvention as a band at the regenerative edges of subtly experimental folk-rock. Challenging as they are charming, and an inspired search for personal and political goodness, these nine songs offer welcome lessons about what any of us might become when the night begins to break. The first single "Better Way" pairs their own honest songcraft with bold, otherworldly sonic explorations that signify a new sense of confidence and ambition for the band.

  

Sturgill Simpson - The Ballad of Dood and Juanita - High Top Mountain
Sturgill Simpson will be releasing his new concept album, The Ballad of Dood and Juanita, on CD on August 20th, vinyl release will be December 3rd.  This is the Grammy-winning singer/songwriter's third album in twelve months and his most ambitious project to date.. Written and recorded in less than a week, and featuring the same ace musicians who played on last year's Cuttin' Grass albums, the record tells a classic American story of a Civil War-era couple torn apart by violence and reunited by love—what Simpson calls "a simple tale of either redemption or revenge." “I just wanted to write a story—not a collection of songs that tell a story, but an actual story, front to back,” says Simpson. He describes the concept album as a “rollercoaster ride through all the styles of traditional country and bluegrass and mountain music that I love, including gospel and a cappella.” In a career marked by risk-taking and rule-breaking, Simpson has previously challenged genre conventions with 2016’s soul-inflected A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, which won the Grammy award for Country Album of the Year and was nominated for Album of the Year, and 2019’s Sound & Fury, which was nominated for Rock Album of the Year. The Ballad of Dood and Juanita is available on an indie record store-exclusive CD that includes a printed illustration from the album artwork. A standard CD is also available. On 12/3/21, the vinyl will be available on indie-exclusive Translucent Natural vinyl, and will include another 11x11 print of the illustration on the front cover. Standard black vinyl is also available.