We’re back and rounding out your summer playlists with the latest from The Orchard. These new releases are here to help you get through the final days of summer, no matter how you spend them.
Killswitch Engage – Atonement (Metal Blade Records)
20 years as a leading metalcore band is no easy feat, and Killswitch Engage is only continuing on their path to dominate the genre. Atonement is the group’s eighth studio album- two years in the making and 11 tracks long. Whether you’ve been listening since their debut, discovered them during Howard Jones’ era or this is your first listen with original and returned lead singer Jesse Leach, there something on this album for everyone; including a showdown duet between Howard and Leach in “The Signal Fire.” Any generation of fans will discover immediately familiarity, as Atonement “feels more like the exuberant Killswitch Engage of those early classics… but somehow new and improved,” said Dom Lawson of Blabbermouth.net.
Lillie Mae – Other Girls (Third Man Records)
Following thunderous praise for “You’ve Got Other Girls for That,” the first single off her new album Other Girls, Lillie Mae only shows she’s paving the way for a new generation of grittier, powerful and relatable women in country music with her new album. Other Girls is “mixing the sweeping sounds of 1960s psych-pop with the cool detachment of a 21st century indie kid.” It details the modern woes of life and relationships in an irresistibly traditional, twangy sound. Mae took the last year to slow down, stretch her creative side and now emerges with her second solo album, ready to take on the road alongside The Raconteurs. Check her out in a town near you this fall!
Nao Yoshioka – Undeniable (Sweet Soul Records)
It’s not often a Japanese neo-soul singer can take charge of modern R&B streaming radio but when she does, we recommend tuning in. Nao Yoshioka’s music is new but the feeling is as familiar as ‘90’s R&B. “The grooves are viscous, with bass notes like falling boulders and curt drumming — lackadaisical rim-shots and staggered handclaps welcome, no frills allowed. “ said Elias Leight of the Rolling Stone. Dive into her new album Undeniable for an easy-listening trip.
