Let’s see if we can get everything working this week.
“The Borders” – Sam Fender. Fender’s debut album finally hit the shelves last week. It’s pretty solid, although no songs match the lead single, “Hypersonic Missiles.” Still, there are several really solid songs. A few of them make it clear he’s been listening to the War on Drugs. This song is the best example of that, filled with Granduciel-esque guitars.
“A Dream of Home” – Tyler Ramsey. I gave the former Band of Horses guitarist’s latest solo album one listen last week. It’s a little too folky and dreamy for me, but I really liked this track.
“Moonbeam Levels” – Prince. Here’s the Prince song I had never heard before reading about it over the past week. Originally recorded in 1982, it was taken out of the vault, dusted up, and put into the rotation for potential inclusion in *Purple Rain*. Eventually Prince decided it wasn’t a good fit and shelved it again. It did not reappear until the *4Ever* album that was released after Prince’s death. Not sure why I never listened to it, but I’ve been loving this song since I first listened to it last week. It’s not an all-timer, for sure. But it has a vibe to it that makes it hard to know where it fits into his catalog. It doesn’t really sound like *1999* music. It has some *Purple Rain* vibes. But it also sounds like it could have been one of those early/mid 1990’s one-off singles.
“Dancing in the Dark” – Lucy Dacus. Speaking of one-off singles, Dacus has been releasing them throughout this year, and they’ve all been really good. This time, in honor of Bruce Springsteen’s 70th birthday this coming Monday, she tackles his biggest pop hit. And does so rather well.
“Perfect Way” – Scritti Politti. This isn’t exactly an obscure ‘80s song. If you listen to ‘80s stations regularly you’ll hear it quite a bit. But it’s also not the first song most folks would think of when they consider that era. I remember it jumping out at me in the late fall of 1985 and sounding unlike anything else I was listening to at the time. Which is saying something because this was the heart of my “I listen to a little of everything” phase. Just a great song that was so good Miles Davis covered it. Miles Fucking Davis!