New songs for March 10th 2025

 here they are:

"Call it a Draw" by Uwade:  Indie and soul might seem like strange bedfellows to some, but Nigerian-born performer Uwade (pronounced oo-WAH-day) makes it work in her breakthrough song, "Call it a Draw"! Known previously for collaborating with indie-folk stars, Fleet Foxes, Uwade strikes out on her own here. She doesn't really sound a thing like Fleet Foxes, despite her being associated with them. Not clear whether this song is about a breakup, wanting an old partner to come back, or perhaps both. 

"Ginkgo" by Panchiko:  Giant chickens and bands that sound like Radiohead don't seem like they'd have much to do with each other, do they?! Well, now they do! In a bizarre music video about giant chickens (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYHiewpA_1w), Panchiko, who sound an awful lot like Radiohead, present us with their breakthrough song, "Ginkgo." A strangely calming psychedelic indie song, "Ginkgo" comes as quickly as it goes, clocking it at just a little over two and a half minutes. What a short, strange trip it's been!

"God Knows" by Tunde Adebimpe:  After a rather frantic debut solo song with "Magnetic," the former TV on the Radio frontman shows his more sensitive yet still upbeat side with "God Knows." Equal parts indie, soul, and folk-rock, "God Knows" showcases both the anger and sorrow that go into a breakup. Tunde criticizes his ex as "the worst thing (he's) ever loved" at first in the chorus before immediately shifting to the opinion that even though this person is "bad news," he "still wants to give them (his) love." 

"Horses" by Jesse Welles:  The latest of many to be touted as the "New Dylan," Jesse Welles captures the gritty yet sensitive country-rock that Dylan tried his hand at roughly during the mid-'70s. With ragged vocals and equally ragged guitar juxtaposed against aching, yearning string sounds, Welles' breakthrough song, "Horses," is one that fans of roots-rock will probably love! Unlike Bob Dylan and the many other folk- and country-rockers to whom Welles has been compared (e.g. John Prine, Steve Earle, Johnny Cash, etc.), there is nothing overtly political about Jesse Welles, at least not on this song. Welles, instead, focuses his energy more on love and the more emotional side of human nature.

"I'll Be OK" by Michigander:  A bit more synth-y than the more typically guitar-y stuff Michigander fans might be used to, "I'll Be OK" is a song that tries to be reassuring but ultimately falls short of it. "I'll be OK," Jason Singer tells us, "but I'm not OK right now." He never gets to a resolution of actually feeling OK and instead just leaves his listeners hanging and wondering about his mental state. Maybe it really is OK not to be OK!

"Idiot Box" by Sharon Van Etten:  The title of this song told me it referred to TV, and from what the lyrics are telling me, I'm probably right! Indie sensation Sharon Van Etten addresses "everyone on the idiot box" to "come outside and let (her) hear their thoughts" in the song's chorus, and there's also the recurring line, "all that skin against the glass," the "glass" of which probably refers to the glass against the television screen, or perhaps the phone or computer screen, in this day and age. SVE might be referring to technology in general and how it distracts people from things in life that are truly important. Strong goth-rock vibes in this one, earning the song comparison to legends of the field like The Cure and Joy Division.