Thanks as always for tuning into Soundcheck today. Lots of exciting new music featured on the track list which you can catch up on here.
First off, two new much anticipated albums: Sara Bareilles with Amidst the Chaos, six years since her last (non-Broadway) studio album, The Blessed Unrest, and Billie Eilish with her debut When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? Chaos is a novel, sophisticated offering from an experienced singer-songwriter, while retaining all the things that make Bareilles so likable: smart and incisive lyrics, fresh, pop-friendly production, and apposite yet timeless themes of resilience and love. Today’s show included “Orpheus,” one of the album’s standouts.
Eilish’s rise to dark teen-pop stardom has been meteoric and Asleep is an affirmation of her talents. She is best when she is doing angsty and frenetic as evidenced on “bad guy,” “you should see me in a crown,” and “all the good girls go to hell,” but the calmer, gentler moments on the album like “when the party’s over” suggest a yet untapped side. This album is going to move a huge number of units and will almost certainly go to number one. It will be exciting to see where this new voice in pop goes from here.
Other new songs this week: The B-side to Florence + the Machine’s latest single “Moderation” is “Haunted House” which I dare say might be better than the A-side, Scavenger Hunt with “Regrets,” and Lawless with “In the Name of Nothing” featuring Dream Harlowe.
Happy listening, and see you next week.
Ann