POP/ROCK
Valerie June, "The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers" (Fantasy)
At the heart of June's fifth album is a 25-second track called "African Proverb," that's read by Memphis soul singer Carla Thomas. The saying goes: "Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet." It's a sly reference to Thomas' 1963 hit "What a Fool I've Been," and also a lead-in to "Call Me a Fool," the luxurious, old-school soul song that features Thomas. The proverb advises caution. But "Call Me a Fool" endorses an opposite point of view. It's a love song about letting go, taking chances, dreaming big. Call June a fool if you like. It's not her style to dip a toe. She's diving in.
What's so impressive about "The Moon and Stars" is it expands June's American roots vision in collaboration with producer Jack Splash, who's worked with the likes of John Legend and Alicia Keys, without losing sight of what makes June's spiritually entrancing music unique.
This meditative album was recorded pre-pandemic, but the music soothes as if designed for stressful times. Rooted in the real world, it gazes overhead, into the mystic.
Dan DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer
The Melvins, "Working With God" (Ipecac)
The band's 24th album features the "Melvins 1983" lineup — a reference to the presence of founding drummer Mike Dillard, who stayed for only a year back then. Evoking the year of the band's founding could equally indicate the spirit of this particular trio, which unites brute-force riffs that would feel at home in a garage with sneering, juvenile humor. Witness, for instance, the F-bomb-laden rewrite of the Beach Boys' "I Get Around" that opens the album.
But frontman King Buzzo matches his sardonic streak with an unflagging gift for ferocious hooks that steamroll the borders between punk and metal, as catchy as they are bludgeoning. So maybe the Melvins' 1983 connection is also a reminder that they have been churning out solid, uncompromising, never-quite-predictable music like this for nearly 40 years.
Shaun Brady, Philadelphia Inquirer
New Releases
• Justin Bieber, "Justice"
• Lana Del Rey, "Chemtrails Over the Country Club"
• Loretta Lynn, "Still Woman Enough"
• Sting, "Duets"
