New songs for the day before Halloween 2023!!

 here they are:

"Crumble" by The National (featuring Rosanne Cash):  "Crumble" marks the second time on The National's latest album where they've collaborated with a female musician. Previously, they collaborated with pop star Taylor Swift on "The Alcott." For "Crumble," they went more classic country with the Man in Black's daughter, Rosanne. As a result, the song sounds more country than The National typically does while retaining the typical indie sound The National usually go for. The song is a downbeat track, like many National songs are, but there's something oddly nostalgic about this one that most National songs do not have. An interesting collaboration, to be sure!

"Get Back" by Margaret Glaspy: Not to be confused with the Beatles track of the same name, Margaret Glaspy's latest song, "Get Back," lacks the blues-y muscle that most of her other songs do, but her distinctively raspy yet melodic vocals are still present on the track. The song's alt/indie-pop/rock direction sound more like Sharon Van Etten or Courtney Barnett than they do Margaret Glaspy. The song is a cathartic one for Margaret, inspired by her trying to deal with negative emotions that have gotten in her way. "Get back to the place you start from," Margaret sings passionately during the chorus. By writing and performing this song, Margaret has done exactly that successfully!

"Thomas County Law" by Iron & Wine: "Thomas County Law" is IAW doing what they do best: down-home-y, quiet, nostalgic folk-rock that seems like it came from another century even though it's far more recent. The song lacks the lo-fi feel of early IAW tracks, but it's still soothing and sweet like most of their songs are. Though the song attempts to relax the senses, it also seeks to exercise the mind with its lyrics, which pertain to the stages of both denial and acceptance of where one comes from. The song is almost therapeutic in this way, moving from negative to positive emotions within the same song and acknowledging both to their fullest extents.

"What Now" by Brittany Howard: The Alabama Shakes frontwoman puts out both the most popular and most angry of the four songs I've reviewed for this week! Zooming up the adult alt charts to the Top 20 within less than a week, "What Now" is a challenging, fiery, furious song. I expected this song to be a political protest of some sort in the accusatory yet righteous manner it comes off in, but it's actually a really acerbic breakup song with some of Brittany's most venomous lyrics yet ("You're f**king up my energy/I told the truth to set you free"). Sigh...people can be jerks sometimes. What else is there to say?! At least people like Brittany can put them in their place!