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Hear new songs from Tycho and Ben Gibbard, Brandi Carlile, The Go! Team, Kurt Vile, The Linda Lindas, and Honeybutter

The Current: Music You Should Know
The Current: Music You Should KnowMPR graphic

by Jade

July 22, 2021

Dig into new releases from Tycho and Ben Gibbard, Brandi Carlile, The Go! Team, and Kurt Vile. Also, hear the latest from rising Angeleno rockers The Linda Lindas, and discover Minnesota's Honeybutter.

Tycho and Ben Gibbard, "Only Love"


This team-up of Tycho and Benjamin Gibbard brings to mind Gibbard's previous work with The Postal Service. The project grew from a remix that California producer Tycho did of Death Cab for Cutie's 2015 song, "The Ghosts of Beverly Hills." Tycho said, "Ben's voice was a very inspiring element to work with from a production standpoint; I felt it really meshed well with the kinds of sounds and instrumentation I gravitate towards. 'Only Love' started life as an instrumental, but something was missing. I sent a rough demo to Ben, and he recorded some vocals over it. The first time I heard the rough vocals, the whole song suddenly made sense and the arrangement flowed out of that."

Brandi Carlile, "Right On Time"


If you ever want to get caught up in your feelings and grab a hairbrush to help you belt out your feelings, Brandi Carlile is always a solid soundtrack. With her new album, In These Silent Days, coming out October 1, Carlile continues to show off her intimate yet awe-inspiring sound. Check out the video for "Right On Time" below, directed by Courteney Cox — yes, the person who played Monica on Friends.

The Go! Team, "A Bee Without Its Sting"

Get Up Sequences Part 1 is the new album from The Go! Team. For the song, "A Bee Without Its Sting," the band reached out to the Detroit Academy For Arts and Sciences and asked if there were any students that wanted to join the band for a song. Detroit students Jessie Miller and Rian Woods sounded perfect, and their voices share the lead vocals for the track.

Kurt Vile, "Run Run Run"


A tribute album to the Velvet Underground and Nico has a good number of BIG names attached: Iggy Pop, St. Vincent, Sharon Van Etten, and Kurt Vile. Vile was very excited to be a part of the project. "I literally covered 'Run Run Run' when I was a kid, in my late teens with my band at the time," he says. "So it was pretty cosmic, let's say. There is a direct connection to certain indie bands and beyond with the Velvets. That's why the Velvets are a classic. You know it can have doo-wop in there and things like that, but it can also have this jagged, noisy thing, and it immediately let me feel like I could do anything. The possibilities are endless. You're completely free. Unapologetic and effortless."

The Linda Lindas, "Oh!"


After a viral performance at their local public library in Los Angeles, the four teenage friends were quickly signed to Epitaph Records. They've since been working on their debut record and have released the first single, "Oh!". Some glammy and shiny pop-punk for you that's crisp and clear, but still has that edge of teenage DIY.

Honeybutter, "Songbird"


The trio from Minnesota formed in college after they discovered that they all enjoyed the same music. Zak Khan of the band describes their sound as "more jazz-centered sound with a little bit of not pop necessarily, but the more songwrite-y tinge to it. It's not straight-up jazz, it's just got the elements of that, and Brazilian, and folk music as well."