Tōth - When I Awoke
Like many great albums before, Tōth’s debut album, Practice Magic and Seek Medical Help When Necessary, was born of heartbreak in a Brooklyn apartment. Tōth is the project of Alex Toth and the aptly titled album tracks his road to recovery after a debilitating break-up. The standout single from the album, “When I Awoke” addresses the literal feeling of waking up next to someone you love and knowing that it’s over as well as the philosophic waking up to yourself and the world in the wake of loss. Toth enlisted friends to build a gloomy, gorgeous arrangement of drums, upright bass, and echoing cello to create a dream-like trance that pulls his listeners into the moments and the rooms where his relationship unfolded and ultimately ended. With an ethereal build up of percussion, he somehow manages to capture the sound and ubiquity of memory. Toth is a poet in this song and lines like “you looked like a shadow of the day before” and “you step into my stream about a thousand times a day” illustrate the hazy shape a memory can take and how persistent those memories can be. The track is absolutely wrenching but holds notes of acceptance as well as loss, suggesting that Toth may be coming up for air soon. When things fall apart, they often look different once you put them back together. However, in putting himself and his music together again, Tōth has found a voice and created a song both ephemeral and pervasive.
— Brigid Moser on June 12, 2019
Henry Jamison - The Wilds
Henry Jamison is a storyteller at heart. It may be in his blood — his father, a classical composer, and his mother, an English professor — but Jamison is a writer and artist in his own right, evidenced by his debut album The Wilds (released October 27th). Beyond writing, recording and arranging the album all on his own, Jamison has a special ability to bring each track to life. Take his song, “The Wilds”: it’s instrumentally rich without being overbearing, letting Jamison’s narrative whisk you away. “The Wilds” sounds like an old-time American love story - unassuming and familiar, but nevertheless, still surprising.
— Natasha Cucullo on January 7, 2018
Moses Sumney - Plastic
Los Angeles genre-bending artist Moses Sumney released his gorgeous and ethereal debut album Aromanticism into the world this September. Sumney has made a big impression on artists like Solange and Sufjan Stevens for good reason. His infusion of soul and folk come together on this album in a way that leaves us begging for more. A prime example of this heavenly blend is found on the third song of the album, “Plastic.” A previous version of the song can be heard on the first season of Issa Rae’s HBO series, Insecure. This new version serves as one of the more simplistic songs on the album, featuring just a fingerpicked electric guitar, a synth and Sumney’s captivating voice. The hook of the song repeats the line “my wings are made of plastic,” each time sung in a slightly different way than it was before, continuing to imbue the phrase with new meaning. This song of vulnerability, self-awareness and secret-spilling is the kind that you can leave on repeat and get lost in for hours.
— Dara Bankole on October 22, 2017
