After nearly a decade of crafting introspective songs as Susto, Justin Osborne wrote his most personal record to date. On 2021’s Time in the Sun, the Charleston, South-Carolina-bred singer-songwriter and guitarist unpacks, at times, contradictory ideas of hope and despair. Time in the Sun was written during the early onset of what has become into an open-ended global pandemic. And …
Playlist | January’s Best New Music
Featuring a few dozen new tunes from local, regional, national and international artists, our Fresh Squeeze playlist features the best new music emenanating from Northeast Florida and beyond. Handpicked by our team of contributors, there are no rules or genre restrictions; just songs we thought were worth a share. Our latest Fresh Squeeze playlist includes the return of several prominent musical …
Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker Collaborate on Three New boygenius Singles
When Lucy Dacus sings about “gettin’ pissed about humidity” on the brand-new boygenius single “True Blue,” I can’t help but nod in agreement. Who among us here in Northeast Florida wouldn’t relate? It’s one of dozens of spot-on lines on Dacus’s latest release with collaborators Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers: the album, simply titled the record, will be released in …
Now Playing | Stella Kola, “Rosa”
Stella Kola by Stella Kola The eponymous debut from Stella Kola is a curveball from an already-unpredictable roster of underground U.S. musicians who are as provincial — in this case, the weird grottos and orchards of Massachusetts — as they are inscrutable. Led by Robert Thomas (Sunburned Hand of the Man) and Beverly Ketch (Bunwinkies) the album opens with “Rosa,” …
Local Spotlight | Three New Tracks by Jax Artists Out Now
New year. New local tunes. As we unearth new music from artists around the globe, we love to shine the high beams of our Local Spotlight series on the beautiful noise emerging from Northeast Florida. This week, we’ve got three great new tracks by Jacksonville artists. A reminder: You can hear the best new local tunes at 20 minutes after …
Daniel A. Brown’s Favorite Albums of 2022
As we spin the final grooves of 2022, JME Contributors are recapping their favorite music of the year. In 2002, the music world, like the overall planet, continued to dust off the feared-eschatological wipeout of the Covid pandemic. For millions, collective trauma and survivors’ relief were parlayed into music consumption. Bandcamp Friday continued to make the rest of the week …
Matthew Shaw’s Favorite Albums of 2022
As we spin the final grooves of 2022, JME Contributors are recapping their favorite music of the year. My approach to music listening reminds me of the way former Daily Show host Jon Stewart used the action of a youth soccer match as an analogy for the short-attention span of cable news. In essence, the entire rosters of both teams …
Watch Jax Multi-Instrumentalist & Songwriter Animal Clinic Perform at Blue Jay Listening Room
While synthesizers have been commercially available for more than a half-century, a puritanical divide long existed between analog- and electronic-approaches to music. However, owing much to decades of experimentation by artists in a range of genres — from mainstream pop to hip-hop to rock and folk — as well as the genre-agnosticism of modern listeners, the bridge between man and …
Al Pete’s Favorite Albums of 2022
As we spin the final grooves of 2022, JME Contributors are recapping their favorite music of the year. Let me begin with two recurring thoughts. 1) I kept saying to myself “A lot of albums came out this year,” and 2) R&B, or what some may classify as alternative R&B was a constant in my 2022 rotation. Music had special …
The 20 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2022
A pall has been hanging over hip-hop this year: the ongoing criminalization of being a rapper looms large. The genre has faced over-policing and sensationalism before, dating back to the NYPD’s rap intelligence unit in 1999, but the scope of the crusade has expanded: lyrics continue to be treated like transcripts by the law, rappers are painted as crime lords …
Local Spotlight | 3 New Songs by Jax Artists Out Now
Majestic Mother, L.O.V.E. Culture and Lost Club
We’re all about music discovery here at the Jacksonville Music Experience. And as we unearth new tunes from artists around the globe, we love to shine the high beams of our Local Spotlight series on the beautiful noise emerging from Northeast Florida. This week, we’ve got three great new tracks by Jacksonville artists. A reminder: You can hear the best …
The 20 Best R&B Albums of 2022
In Washington, D.C., locals convene at Songbyrd Music House to discuss the merits of Tevin Campbell and Raphael Saadiq during R&B club, a monthly gathering for some of the genre’s devotees, taking deep dives into its rich history. The event was created by a few enthusiastic music people to wrangle and rally the supporters for a thing often wrongly presumed …
Playlist | December’s Best New Music
New tunes from Weyes Blood, King Gizzard, Run The Jewels and more
Featuring a few dozen new tunes from local, regional, national and international artists, our Fresh Squeeze playlist features the best new music emenanating from Northeast Florida and beyond. Handpicked by our team of contributors, there are no rules or genre restrictions; just songs we thought were worth a share. Our latest Fresh Squeeze playlist includes the return of singer-songwriter Weyes …
SAULT’s 5-Album Drop Deepens its Long-Standing Communal Values
Across 12 releases over three years, the London ensemble SAULT has posed a number of increasingly existential questions: “Why do fools always have something to say?” (7, 2019), “Can you forgive your people?” (Untitled (Black Is), 2020), “Can’t you see the light’s in your hands?” (Nine, 2021), “How do you fight for love?” (11, 2022). On Nov. 1, the group …
The Personal Apocalypse of Weyes Blood’s ‘And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow’
We use the word “apocalypse” to mean catastrophe, though the Greek word it’s derived from signifies a revelation. Natalie Mering opens her fifth album, And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow, with a small one of her own. She’s at a party, surrounded by people, and yet she feels unseen — no, it’s more complicated than that. Maybe these partygoers see …
After Her Voice Made Her an Icon, Björk Became Something Rarer: an Ecosystem
In a 1997 documentary about Björk, U2 frontman Bono spoke of the Icelandic pop star’s voice as a weapon. “The girl has a voice like an ice pick. Such a pure sound,” he gushed. “When The Sugarcubes played with U2, I would be preparing in the dressing room, and even if I couldn’t hear the band … I could always …
There’s Still No One Like Santigold
As frequently as music fans tend to point to the early 2000s as the dawn of our digital enlightenment, consider the ways those first few years online now feel like the dark ages. Bound by terrestrial radio formats, genres still mostly dared not mix on air — and when they did, a song that perfectly blended hip-hop and R&B might …
Local Spotlight | 4 New Tracks by Jax Artists Out Now
New music from LANNDS, Eddy Braveaux, Racewall Mosquitoes and The Dewars
We’re all about music discovery here at the Jacksonville Music Experience. As we unearth new tunes from artists around the globe almost daily, we love to shine the high beams of our Local Spotlight series on the beautiful noise emerging from Northeast Florida. This week, we’ve got four great new tracks by Jacksonville artists. Let’s dig in. “Suburban Legends” by …
Fresh Squeeze | November New Music Playlist
New music from King Tuff, The 1975, Cate Le Bon, Jordana and more
Each month JME contributors pick the juiciest noise emanating from Northeast Florida and beyond for our Fresh Squeeze playlist. Featuring a few dozen new tunes from local, regional, national and international artists, there are no rules or genre restrictions; just songs we thought were worth a share. Our latest Fresh Squeeze playlist includes a rootsy-psychedelic return from King Tuff, new dreampop …
On ‘Blue Rev,’ Alvvays finds euphoria in noise
It takes just six seconds into the first song on its latest album for Alvvays to pull a new trick out of its sleeve. For a moment, “Pharmacist” feels like what it is: a long-awaited reunion with these Canadian noise pop purveyors on their small-town home turf, a few muted synth notes and a preset drum machine tick-tocking while Molly …
In the haze of ‘Midnights,’ Taylor Swift softens into an expanded sound
Can Taylor Swift soften up? Like many high-achieving workaholics, I imagine she’s lost the instinct and, practical girl, uses enhancements. In the evening, with her lover nearby, does she vape a little Lavender Haze CBD Rosin and focus on the quietude creeping into her body beneath the relentless chatter of her thoughts? Does she grasp his hand and put it …
Katie Crutchfield and Jess Williamson Tell Their Truth Plainly
The duo embraces classic country sounds on 'I Walked With You A Ways'
At the heart of I Walked With You A Ways, the debut album from Plains, there’s a sense of freedom. It’s the freedom of driving fast down an enormous, dusty road: “tak[ing] the quickest route on this 4-lane highway,” but also “crying on the highway with my windows down.” It’s the kind of liberation that comes from finding your own …
Go | Kevin Morby at Intuition Ale Works
With a critically acclaimed new album, the popular singer-songwriter makes a stop in Jacksonville
Singer-songwriter Kevin Morby is currently on tour in support of his critically acclaimed new record, This Is A Photograph (out now on Dead Oceans), and will make a pitstop in Jacksonville at the Bier Hall inside Intuition Ale Works’ Downtown taproom on Tuesday, October 18. Before 2014’s critically acclaimed Singing Saw, Morby was already a veteran of the indie music scene. …
Mexico’s Son Rompe Pera Bang the Marimba at the Crossroads of Cumbia and Punk
In celebration of Latinx Heritage Month, NPR Music is spotlighting a series of artists across Latin America who are engaging with their musical heritage in unique ways. From reworking conservative genres for new eras, to teasing out modern sounds from old-school instruments, these artists represent the wide range of experimentation that makes up contemporary Latin music. Earlier this year, in …
Local Spotlight | 4 New Songs by Jax Artists Out Now
Tai Boujie is "So Florida." And so are the rest of these Duval artists.
We’re all about music discovery here at the Jacksonville Music Experience. As we unearth new tunes from artists around the globe almost daily, we love to shine the high beams of our Local Spotlight series on the beautiful noise emerging from Northeast Florida. This week, we’ve got four great new tracks by Jacksonville artists. Let’s dig in. “Nature Boy” by …
Fresh Squeeze | The Best New Music of October
Stream & discover something to love
Each month JME contributors pick the juiciest noise emanating from Northeast Florida and beyond for our Fresh Squeeze playlist. Featuring a few dozen new tunes from local, regional, national and international artists, there are no rules or genre restrictions; just songs we thought were worth a share. In recent weeks, icons of independent music Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Built to Spill …
Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ ‘Cool It Down’ is an Exhilarating Yet Unhurried Return
The audacity, to be an artist who waits nearly a decade to release a project — to sit out the conversation that long. The news cycles that whirr by, the social feeds left to rot on the vine. The refusal to chase the currency of constant, insistent relevance. It’s jarring nowadays. And when that artist is, say, a beloved rock …
Another Side of Bad Madonna
Jax singer and guitarist Alexis Rhode goes electric on her new EP
As Bad Madonna, singer-songwriter Alexis Rhode encapsulates what it means to be genre-bending, something so many artists tag on to the back of their bios but rarely succeed in achieving. Earlier this year, the Jax-based Rhode released the debut Bad Madonna EP, Velvet Glove, a collection of five songs that sound like country-twanged journal entries. Less than six months later, …
How Charley Crockett Makes New Music Sound Old (and Old Music Sound Brand New)
Charley Crockett knows his story seems far-fetched. “People always tell me, ‘Man, you didn’t ride trains — that’s not possible, no one does that anymore,’” he says, sitting at his tour bus’s small table. Crockett is clearly frustrated – the fact that he’s traded train cars for tour buses and street corners for venerable stages that he shares with even …
Allison Russell | Tiny Desk Concert
“I am grateful and I am proud for this circle of goddesses,” said Allison Russell during her joyful, rousing Tiny Desk set, reaching toward the six women surrounding her. Russell has cultivated this band’s harmoniousness in the year she’s been touring in support of her astounding, unclassifiable album Outside Child, which tells the singer’s life story, from her childhood escaping …
Sudan Archives’ vibrant music of exploration
Sudan Archives’ music celebrates digging. With infectious curiosity, her oddball collages of hip-hop, electronic and globally sourced folk bridge worlds and tramp through them, encouraging you to forge your own routes as well. Across two EPs and an album, the self-taught violinist, producer, and songwriter has honed a distinct blend of layered vocals and instrumentation that both pleases the ear …
Local Spotlight | 4 Great New Tracks from Jax Artists Out Now
Bad Madonna, Bedford Cords, Jacob Hudson and a Kate Bush cover
We’re always keeping our ear to the ground in order to shine the high beams of our Local Spotlight series on Jacksonville regional artists. This week, Jacksonville Music Experience contributors share four new songs by local artists that we think you’ll dig. Let’s dive in. “Jaded” by Bad Madonna As artists attempt to crack the mysterious (arbitrary?) code of streaming-service …
Playlist | The Best New Music Out Now
September's Fresh Squeeze is here!
Each month JME contributors pick the juiciest noise emanating from Northeast Florida and beyond for our Fresh Squeeze playlist. Featuring a few dozen new tunes from local, regional, national and international artists, there are no rules or genre restrictions; just songs we thought were worth a share. This month we’ve got a ton of great new music in rotation, including tracks …
‘Cheat Codes’ is the album Black Thought couldn’t have made until now
For many years, the Black Thought solo album felt like an imaginary object, long rumored yet never revealed. It went by several names — Masterpiece Theatre, The Talented Mr. Trotter — and had many soft launches. The Philly rapper born Tariq Trotter had of course already displayed his otherworldly dexterity as frontman and co-founder of The Roots, and, beginning in …
Local Spotlight | 4 New Tracks by Jax Artists Out Now
New music from Huan, Bebe Deluxe, Primary School and Rhythm of Fear
We’re always keeping our ear to the ground in order to shine the high beams of our Local Spotlight series on the beautiful noise created by artists working in the Jacksonville region. This week, Jacksonville Music Experience contributors share four new songs by local artists that we think you’ll dig. Let’s dive in. “Not Today” by Huan Ultra-chill Jax indie-pop …
Watch | LPT Live on the JME Soundstage
Our cavernous JME Soundstage felt a little less so a few months back when Jacksonville’s mighty LPT stopped by. The ten-piece salsa orchestra tends to fill up the room. As one of the most sought after live acts in the city, LPT not only commands the stage, they’re also prone to drawing the ire of those who would enforce fire-code-mandated …