News
Plus Jamila Woods, Brittany Howard, Spyres, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
Oct 13, 2023
By Mark Redfern (with Andy Von Pip)
Welcome to the 33rd Songs of the Week of 2023. This week Andy Von Pip, Austin Saalman, Caleb Campbell, Marc Abbott, and Scott Dransfield all helped me decide what should make the list. We settled on a Top 11 this week. More
Water Made Us Due Out This Friday via Jagjaguwar
Oct 10, 2023
By Mark Redfern
Chicago musician and poet Jamila Woods is releasing a new album, Water Made Us, this Friday via Jagjaguwar. Now she has shared its fourth single, “Practice,” via a music video. The song features Saba. More
Plus Lol Tolhurst x Budgie x Jacknife Lee, Steven Wilson, The Big Moon, Wild Nothing, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
Sep 15, 2023
By Mark Redfern
Welcome to the 29th Songs of the Week of 2023. This week’s selections come from artists hailing from across the globe: New Zealand, England, Finland, Israel, and of course America. More
Water Made Us Due Out October 13 via Jagjaguwar
Sep 13, 2023
By Mark Redfern
Chicago musician and poet Jamila Woods is releasing a new album, Water Made Us, on October 13 via Jagjaguwar. Now she has shared its third single, “Good News.” More
Plus Kevin Drew, Wings of Desire, Modern Nature, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks (Also a Bonus Mix of the Best Songs of the Last Month)
Aug 18, 2023
By Mark Redfern
Welcome to the 25th Songs of the Week of 2023. Songs of the Week was on hiatus for the last month because Wendy and I were on a much needed vacation to England and Iceland. I received several reader emails worried we had killed Songs of the Week, but have no worries, it’s back. As well as a regular Songs of the Week, we have put together an additional Spotify playlist featuring all the songs we also liked while Songs of the Week was taking a break. More
Water Made Us Due Out October 13 via Jagjaguwar
Aug 16, 2023
By Mark Redfern
Chicago musician and poet Jamila Woods is releasing a new album, Water Made Us, on October 13 via Jagjaguwar. Now she has shared its second single, “Boomerang,” via a music video. More
Plus Coach Party, Jamila Woods, Metric, and a Wrap-up of the Last Two Weeks’ Other Notable New Tracks
Jul 14, 2023
By Mark Redfern (with Kat Ramkumar)
Welcome to the 24th Songs of the Week of 2023. We didn’t do a Songs of the Week last week because of the July 4th holiday falling on a Tuesday, leaving less songs to consider. So, this week’s Songs of the Week is supersized and incorporates tracks from the last two weeks. More
Water Made Us Due Out October 13 via Jagjaguwar
Jul 11, 2023
By Kat Ramkumar
Chicago musician and poet Jamila Woods has announced a new album Water Made Us, and shared a video for its first single, “Tiny Garden,” which features duendita. More
Plus Metallica, Pom Pom Squad, MUNA, Tove Lo, King Princess, and Others
Aug 05, 2022
By Joshua Mellin
Lollapalooza returned to Chicago’s Grant Park last weekend. More
Fragments Due Out January 14, 2022 via Ninja Tune
Oct 20, 2021
By Joey Arnone
Bonobo (aka Simon Green) has shared a new single, “Tides,” which features Chicago-based artist Jamila Woods. It is the latest release from his forthcoming album, Fragments, which will be out on January 14, 2022 via Ninja Tune. More
Plus Cults, Cut Copy, Young Jesus, snny, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
Aug 07, 2020
By Christopher Roberts (with Samantha Small, Jennifer Irving, and Caleb Campbell)
Welcome to the 31st Songs of the Week of 2020. This week Democrats, Republicans, and the Trump Administration couldn’t all agree on a new stimulus package a week after expanded unemployment benefits expired (something Democrats wanted to extend and Republicans didn’t). More
Yesterday Was the One Year Anniversary of the Author’s Death
Aug 06, 2020
By Samantha Small
Jamila Woods hasn’t made any music since LEGACY! LEGACY!, her acclaimed 2019 sophomore album that honors artists of color with titles such as “BALDWIN,” “BASQUIAT,” and “ZORA.” Today, Woods continues on with this theme but with a slight deviation. Her new track “SULA (paperback),” is also the name of the title and lead character from Toni Morrison’s 1973 novel. More
HÆLOS and Clinic Are Runner-ups (Plus Stream New Albums from Mac DeMarco, Maps, The Get Up Kids, and More)
May 10, 2019
By Christopher Roberts
Charly Bliss released a new album, Young Enough, today via Barsuk and it’s our Album of the Week. Find more info on the album below, as well as on two runner-ups that were almost our Album of the Week. Below that are streams of other notable albums released today. More
Plus Jamila Woods, Neneh Cherry, Thom Yorke, and a Wrap-up of the Week's Other Notable New Tracks
Oct 19, 2018
By Christopher Roberts
An artist whose last song also made it to #1 on that week’s list and an anti-Donald Trump protest song scheduled to be covered by many more artists head this week’s Songs of the Week list. Plus Thom Yorkemakes the list yet again. More
Interviews
Oct 25, 2023
By Kyle Mullin
Jamila Woods blinded herself while readying her new album, Water Made Us, for release. Specifically, the Chicago neo-soul singer and poet worked with Birdee, known for ethereal underwater photography, to shoot album artwork that would reflect the album’s title, lyrical motifs, and overall themes about the ebb and flow, tumultuous currents, and ocean depth of love. More
Reviews
Aug 05, 2022
By Joshua Mellin
Lollapalooza returned to Chicago’s Grant Park last weekend. More
May 14, 2019
By Celine Teo-Blockey
Reclaiming black and brown history through its poets, musicians, intellectuals, and activists, Chicago-based multi-hyphenate Jamila Woods—herself many of these things—gives props to her inspirational heroes. More
