My Sisters and Me, single, The Womack Sisters. The closing song on The Womack Sisters, lovely debut album by the Womack Sisters (BG, Zeimani and Kucha), the daughters of the songwriters Linda and Cecil Womack, with Bobby Womack their uncle, and Sam Cooke their grandfather. The result of all these genes and a recording session is many intimate songs. This is my favorite: an intimate, emotionally direct finale. The song – and the album – is less about showy production than close harmonies, restraint, and a credible expression of family solidarity. Stream everywhere.
Nice to Each Other, single Olivia Dean. I really like this song, especially on grey days. It is breezy, adult soul-pop that turns emotional ambiguity into an easy going, easy listening groove. Olivia Dean pairs lightly strummed guitars and relaxed rhythm with a vocal delivery that sounds warm, conversational, and deliberately unforced. Just the thing for a busy day that is beginning to get you down, she brings you gently up. Stream on major platforms.
El Pescdsor, single by Victoria Sur. “The Fisherman” by Colombian singer Victoria Sur with pianist-arranger Nicolás Ospina, is her take on the Colombian cumbia song, originally titled “El Alegre Pescador,” written by José Benito Barros. It is not what we expect from cumbia – it is intimate, storytelling, almost ethereal. You don’t dance to it. On her De la Raíz al Viento. Spanish. Stream on all major platforms
En La Cuerda, single by Victoria Blank. Kind of circus music combined with a French lounge song and maybe a bit of whimsical soft-shoe with klezmer – sounding clarinets. It comes off as a cinematic pop/easy-listening song that uses the image of a tightrope walker to express life’s instability, resilience, and self-recovery. No surprise there, since it is the music for her short film on a tightrope walker. Blank composed it with Emanuele Del Fio in Spanish because she felt that the Spanish brought contrasting passion to the light-hearted theme music. Stream on Major platforms and see the video on YouTube. It is fun!
Last Call Train, single by Kris Angelis. I have loved Kris Angelis’s music since I first saw her in a club in LA ver a decade a go. Last Call Train is a wistful Americana/folk-pop ballad built around Angelis’s singer-songwriter strengths: guitar-led accompaniment, a clear melodic line, and narrative-first delivery – exactly what I fell in love in LA. Restrained, reflective, lovely. Its central character waits for a lover who does not arrive, even while other people offer refuge from the rain. You can feel the cold, late-night train station and the hope, which will never be fulfilled. Breaks your heart. Stream on al major platforms.
La Flora de Anacahuita, single by Los Descarados. This genre may be unfamiliar to most readers, but it deserves a listen. It is a contemporary son huasteco (a lively folk music from Mexico’s Huasteca region). If you attend a live performance, you will see the rhythm section – the zapateado dance on an amplified wooden platform. This song doesn’t use the zapateado but retains the tradition’s core musical language while marrying the genre’s bright violin, driving strings, and high vocal energy with more approachable, heartfelt vocals. A highly enjoyable Mexican genre with deep roots. Stream, on Spotify and other major platforms.
