New Music – New Zealand Net Radio

Album of the Week: Bruce Springsteen – Letter to You

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm Monday to Friday. Listen in @tunein at https://tunein.com/radio/New-Zealand-Net-Radio-s305138/

Bruce Springsteen has joined up with the E Street Band for the first time since 2009 for their first ‘live in the studio’ recording i.e. with a minimum of overdubs. This collection of songs was written and recorded quickly (over a matter of days) and represents a return to Bruce’s classic sound of the mid 1970s. This is a milestone release that allows Bruce to return to the past rather than reinvent, and is very personal and reflective on this point in his life, especially in the songs “One Minute You’re Here” and “I’ll See You In My Dreams” which deal with loss. Stephen Erlewine at Allmusic describes it as “a celebration of what it means to be alive in the moment”.

Album of the Week: Keith Urban – THE SPEED OF NOW Part 1

Its always exciting when Whangarei boy and Country superstar Keith Urban releases a new album. His country with pop and other contemporary nuances is fresh and gripping. He told Apple Music his main influences are Johnny Cash and Top 40 – he lives this again in this album.

Album of the Week: The Killers – Imploding The Mirage

On their sixth album The Killers don’t try going off on a tangent – they stick to the bombastic rock and melodies they were known for in their early years of the 2000s. Good decision – when an album is filled with great songs there is no need for reinvention, and the addition of new collaborators such as Weyes Blood and k.d.lang keeps things fresh. This will be on many ‘albums of the year’ lists.

Hard to choose this week’s album with great new work from Erasure and Bright Eyes amongst others. Hopefully we can feature them in coming weeks.

Album of the Week: Whitney – Candid

The third album from this Chicago band, PopMatters says “There’s slow-burn R&B, rootsy Americana, and slightly-askew pop, all of it connected by the songs’ reliance on melodic hook”.

Album Of The Week: The Naked and Famous – Recover

Auckland duo The Naked and Famous have produced a contemporary album with pop flourishes combined with personal reflection in the lyrics. Lots of earworms in here.

Album of the Week: Taylor Swift – Folklore

Album of the Week: HAIM – Women In Music Pt. III

Los Angeles band HAIM have received a lot of praise for this third album, which steps things up again in terms of production and complexity.

Album of the Week: Jack Garratt – Love Death and Dancing

Jack Garratt was the next best thing back in 2016. This is the difficult second album – and it is superb. There have been a couple of short EP’s/extended singles already but as a whole this album combines reflection on trauma and irresistable melodies and sounds. The Guardian complemented its “fresh sense of invention and originality”.

Just Added: The Naked and Famous – Death

Its #nzmusicmonth and we’ve got another new Kiwi addition. This is a great new track from Auckland band The Naked and Famous’ upcoming album Recover (due out 24 July).

Album of the Week: The 1975 – Notes on a Conditional Form

The album titles undoubtedly sound pretentious, but this sprawling and inventive album is undoubtedly full of variety – 22 tracks of it.