-Cheikh Lô, ‘Maame’
Who is? He is part of the trio of great Senegalese pop musicians, together with Youssou N’Dour and Baaba Maal. A Cheikh Lô who takes it easy: this is his first album in ten years.
Is it that good? Maame? Lô offers a barrage of rhythms always tinged with Africanism and intertwined with his tribal and harmonic voice. Cuban music, reggae, soul, blues, jazz… Everything happens surrounded by African percussion, metal or electric guitars. Lô sings about his religion, Islam, and politics with one crucial goal: free Africa. Music for dancing and fighting.
– Dom Mariani, ‘The Apple of Life’
Who is? An Australian rock institution, Dom Mariani has contributed his talents to bands such as The Stems, The Someloves, DM3 and Datura4.
Is it that good? Apple of Life? From the moment the album begins, with Break away, the sound of pop power seventies, from Badfinger or Raspberries. Mariani loves to try his hand at other styles (blues, folk-rock, country-rock), but he is at ease in composing songs that, from the guitar, take care of vocal harmonies (how well this man sings) and offer catchy refrains. This album is full of all of that.
– Miguel Ríos, ‘The Last Waltz’
Who is? At 81, the canonical Spanish rocker feels full of energy to release albums and go on tour. Good for him.
Is it that good? The last waltz? Perhaps we no longer expected a good rock and roll album from Miguel Ríos, precisely because he has already recorded many of them. But make room for another. With the production and guitars of José Nortes and the skill with various instruments of Luis Prado, Ríos writes about reaching the last stage of life, contributes a couple of beautiful ballads, is outraged by the treatment we give to migrants in the first world and laughs at himself with that (viral) fall he suffered at the Ojete Calor concert. All to the rhythm of rock, country or swing and with a strong and powerful sound. After listening to the album, it’s time to enjoy it at one of their concerts.
– Snocaps, ‘Snocaps’
Who are they? The American Crutchfield sisters, Alison and Katie; The latter records under the name Waxahatchee, which made one of the essential albums of 2024, Tiger blood.
Is it that good? Snocaps? Alison and Katie started out with punk band PS Eliot, split to pursue their own careers and now reunite for Snocaps, who barring a last minute change, have decided to play a few gigs and then disappear to get back to their own projects. Accompanied by MJ Lenderman, another crackdelivers a sumptuous album of indie rock which brings back memories of artists who gave us a lot of joy in the nineties, like Juliana Hatfield or Belly. The two alternate voices or sing together to build guitar pieces in search of adherent melodies, some beautiful, others bouncy. A pleasure.
– Greg Pope, ‘The Roar of Silence’
Who is? A Nashville musician who reaches out with The roar of silence his eleventh album.
Is it that good? The roar of silence? Every time he releases an album, Greg Pope forces us to recommend it in this section. The American musician never disappoints, especially those who love listening to ELO, Mathew Sweet, Velvet Crush or Jason Faulkner. Pope transforms pop into cathedrals built from melodies.
– Sessa, ‘Small summit of love’
Who is? Sessa is the artistic pseudonym of Sérgio Sayeg, a Brazilian hedonistic musician, who with this Small summit of love celebrates his third album.
Is it that good? Small summit of love? If in his previous albums Sessa sang about love and desire, now he is left alone with the first concept, because that feeling is fostered by fatherhood. Being a father doesn’t make his music cloying. Sessa offers Latin-inspired pop, Rio funk or psychedelic samba. Invigorating songs that caress thanks to the sensual and calm voice of the protagonist. No matter how much you listen, it doesn’t get tiring.
– Florence and the car, ‘Everyone’s screaming’
Who are they? Londoner Florence Welch’s band, with whom Everyone screams reaches his sixth album.
Is it that good? Is everyone screaming? There’s the colorful stadium pop of Coldplay and the murky baroque of Florence & the Machine. They play with the same raw material: songs with sing-song choruses. This album contains many of these, although compared to previous releases, the English music is a little darker. It certainly has to do with Florence Welch’s serious health problem, which is expressed with darker lyrics than usual. His powerful voice, his screams, his ability to go from sweetness to anguish run through an album that will win when played live.
– Sidonie, ‘Catalan Graffiti’
Who are they? Twenty-five years in 2026 since Sidonie and the Catalan trio’s first album prove that you can live in the middle zone, regularly releasing good albums and always offering fun concerts.
Is it that good? Catalan graffiti? This is the trio’s first album in Catalan. Another language, but the Sidonie seal remains. Catalan graffiti offers a festival of melodies, catchy refrains, rock that alludes to the more danceable side of the Cure, the Byrds and, obviously, the Beatles, to whom they dedicate a song, The Beatles. In the lyrics the group exposes the reflections of middle-aged guys beaten in love and with the firm intention of enjoying the beautiful things that still remain to be experienced.
– Mavis Staples, ‘The Sad and Beautiful World’
Who is? It’s chilling to think about: Mavis Staples began her career in the 1950s. He was already singing with the family group, The Staple Singers, before Elvis Presley achieved big success. And also fight, on the front line, for civil rights. At 86 he is still active and experiencing a brilliant new era supported by gastronomy musicians.
Is it that good? Sad and beautiful world? An album with many collaborators and covers, but not the typical album with these two elements. The guests (Buddy Guy, MJ Lenderman, Waxahatchee, Bon Iver, Bonnie Raitt, Nathaniel Rateliff) accompany in the background and are barely audible. In fact they are there, enchanted, listening to Mavis. And the versions (Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Curtis Mayfield, Sparklehorse, Gillian Welch) are specifically chosen to express the protagonist’s vital ideology: no to war, power for the people, support for the neighborhood community, spiritual quest… Mavis’s steely and deep voice offers 40 minutes of glory.
– Bob Dylan, ‘The Bootleg Series Volume 18: Through the Open Window 1956-1963’
Who is? At 84, Bob Dylan continues to tour. If anyone feels like it, they’ll have fun in Dublin this week. In the meantime, he doesn’t stop his plan to periodically review his career, rummaging through his trunk for unreleased pieces and concert recordings that have been on the pirate market for years.
Is it that good? The Bootleg Series, Volume 18? You had to have been in the countercultural milieu of New York in the early 1960s to see the impact of the first hearings. master of war, song that includes this version in an alternate recording. We came up with an idea with the recent film A complete strangerwhen Dylan interprets his first songs with political depth: the amazed reaction of Pete Seeger or Joan Baez says it all. Dylan turned the folk scene of the time on its head, and it was just the beginning. This Volume 18 It focuses on its early phase, from its first known recording, in a shop in 1956 and with a tinkerer sound, as it could not be otherwise. Listening to the abundant material you can see the musician’s evolution from a teenager fascinated by nascent rock and roll to a Greenwich Village folk idol. The jewel is a live performance from 1963 at Carnegie Hall, when they were already kneeling before him. Pay attention to the chilling eight-minute performance of Heavy rain will fall. What they didn’t know is that he would soon disappoint them by becoming electrified. The question with these expensive launches (around 150 euros) is always the same: is it worth the financial sacrifice? Very much so, if you are a very popular follower. For the less passionate there are footrests and a reduced version of a compact double for 28 euros.
– Manolo García, ‘Drapaires poligoneros’
Who is? At 70 years old, Manolo García lives a frenetic activity that has not been remembered since the days when he was El Último de la Fila. In 2022 he released two albums and started playing live practically until now, only with a break due to health problems. He is preparing with Quimi Portet the big tour of El Último de la Fila in 2026 and is now releasing this one-hour album and presenting it in theaters. Wasting time? Maybe later…
Is it that good? Polygonal curtains? “We should stop running, slow our steps in the world, let it breathe. / Think of the newcomers or those to come, reflect before we continue paving.” With this sensible advice, Manolo García begins the album, another good album from the Catalan. The musical base belongs to pop rock, it hardly deviates from bass-drums-electric guitar, and the lyrics are long, dense, with chicha, touching on many themes: how positive a fleeting love can be, the care we owe to our planet, the senselessness of jealousy (“that no one belongs to anyone else, that everyone is their own”) or directly leaving intriguing verses: “I turned the key to a tap and metal butterflies came out”. Did we mention it lasts an hour? Well, it goes by very quickly.
THE JEWEL OF THE MONTH SAVED…
Each month we recommend an album that may have fallen under the radar.
– Paul Westerberg, ’14 Songs’ (1993)
Who is? The leader of The Replacements, one of those groups that can be included in the section: Great bands that mysteriously were unsuccessful. Westerberg, now 65, has had a low musical profile for years. He briefly reformed The Replacements in 2015, released an album with the great Juliana Hatfield in 2016 and his latest appearances have been under a pseudonym on the SoundClound platform. He thinks he’s really fed up with the music industry.
Is it that good? 14 songs? Before this work, Westerberg achieved the greatest success of his career: faithful to a strange trajectory, he did it with a soundtrack, that of Single, the romantic comedy of the time grunge. Then he published 14 songs, his first solo album, an album that tempers the fury of The Replacations, even if some songs could have made up the repertoire of his former band. The Minneapolis musician demonstrates an undeniable talent for radio-friendly pop songs independent, as well as providing some inspired ballads. The whole thing makes for an attractive compendium, a fantastic album that the passage of time has not worn out.
