Leon Bridges holds onto the top spot for a second week with his bucolic and soulful “Peaceful Place”, while “That’s How I’m Feeling” by Jack White and “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” by Billie Eilish remain at #’s 2 and 3 for a second week. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars enter the top 10 with their duet “Die With A Smile”.
Perhaps the biggest music event of this past week was the release of Songs of a Lost World, the long-awaited fourteenth album by The Cure. The legendary English alternative goth rock band has undeniably had a massive influence on too many artists and bands to name over the past 40 years, so for them to release an album of all new material – their first new album in 16 years – is a momentous occasion. And more importantly, Songs of a Lost World does not disappoint, as Robert Smith (who’s now 65) and The Cure sound every bit as great and relevant as they ever have. The band teased the new album with the release of “Alone” in late September, a sprawling cinematic masterpiece running nearly seven minutes. They followed two weeks later with “A Fragile Thing”, an equally gorgeous song that enters my chart at #26.
The second, long-overdue debut this week is “Mind Game”, a lovely collaboration by Chicago-based singer-songwriter and author Collette Mclafferty and Spanish singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer John Serrano, a hyper-talented artist whose music I’ve previously featured a couple times on this blog. Mclafferty wrote the lyrics and sang lead vocals, while Serrano composed the music, played all instrumentation, sang backing harmonies and produced the track.
PEACEFUL PLACE – Leon Bridges (1)
THAT’S HOW I’M FEELING – Jack White (2)
BIRDS OF A FEATHER – Billie Eilish (3)
THE DOOR – Teddy Swims (6)
STARGAZING – Myles Smith (4)
DEATH VALLEY HIGH – Orville Peck & Beck (8)
FAVOURITE – Fontaines D.C. (9)
GOOD LUCK, BABE! – Chappell Roan (5)
UP ALL NIGHT – James Bay, The Lumineers & Noah Kahan (10)
DIE WITH A SMILE – Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars (11)
THE LIGHTHOUSE – Stevie Nicks (14)
MESSY – Lola Young (7)
GARMONBOZIA – Flying Lotus (16)
CAN’T SLOW DOWN – almost monday (17)
HARDCORE ROMANCE – Beach Weather (19)
NOBODY’S SOLDIER – Hozier (23)
BOTHERING ME – Sarah Blasko (20)
RAINBOW – Cage the Elephant (12)
INTO GOLD – London Grammar (13)
THE EMPTINESS MACHINE – Linkin Park (22)
NEVERENDER – Justice & Tame Impala (24)
SAD IN CAROLINA – Dexter and the Moonrocks (27)
ESPRESSO – Sabrina Carpenter (15)
SUPERSAD – Suki Waterhouse (28)
BOBBY SOX – Green Day (29)
A FRAGILE THING – The Cure (N)
BIG CAT TATTOOS – Hamish Hawk (18)
KINKY – bby (30)
YOU JUST PLAYED MY MIND – Oli Barton (21)
MIND GAME – Collette Mclafferty & John Serrano (N)
Lots of changes on my latest Weekly Top 30, with a new #1 song and four new entries. Fort Worth, Texas-based singer-songwriter Leon Bridges takes over the top spot with his lovely song “Peaceful Place”. His smooth, incredibly pleasing vocals remind me at times of the late, great Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke, and I love that slide guitar and cool bass line on the track. The song is from his fourth studio album Leon, which dropped October 4th. It’s his second song to top my list, the previous being “Bad Bad News” in 2018. The wonderful video was shot in Mexico City and Los Angeles.
Entering the top 10 are “Favourite” by Irish band Fontaines D.C., at #9, and “Up All Night”, a lively foot-stomping collaboration between James Bay, The Lumineers and Noah Kahan, at #10. Of the four new entries this week, three are by acts who are totally new to me, two of which are singing about some kind of sadness. The first, coming in at #27, is the rousing “Sad in Carolina” by Dexter and the Moonrocks, a four-piece rock band from Abilene, Texas (not too far west of Leon Bridges’ home of Fort Worth) who describe their sound as “sad cowboy music”. Comprised of James Tuffs on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Ryan Anderson on lead guitar and backing vocals, Ty Anderson on bass, and Fox on drums and backing vocals, they’ve been putting out music since 2021. Released on May 1st, “Sad in Carolina” is featured on their latest EP Western Space Grunge, which dropped in July. Judging from their prodigious Instagram posts, the guys appear to have a wicked sense of humor.
The second debut is “Supersad” by English singer-songwriter, actress and model Suki Waterhouse. The London-based artist, who began modeling at the age of 16, started recording and releasing music in 2016. Her second single, “Good Looking”, released in 2017, later became a viral hit in 2022, garnering nearly half a billion streams on Spotify alone. She and her partner, actor Robert Pattinson, welcomed their first child in March, and she opened for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour on August 17th at Wembley Stadium. “Supersad” is from her second studio album Memoir of a Sparklemuffin, released on September 13th.
Coming in at #29 is “Bobby Sox” by legendary alt-rock band Green Day. The song is the fifth single from their latest album Saviors, released this past January. The fourth new entry is “Kinky”, a riotous romp by English alternative rock/hip hop band bby. Formed at the end of 2022, the young five-piece consists of Benjy Gibson on lead vocals, Jessy Jacquet-Cretides and Tommaso Medica on guitar, Deon Graham on bass, and Tom Parkin on drums. Their debut single “hotline”, released in August 2023, quickly blew up, garnering millions of streams across multiple streaming platforms. They followed with a series of singles which culminated in the release of their terrific debut album 1 this past July.
PEACEFUL PLACE – Leon Bridges (2)
THAT’S HOW I’M FEELING – Jack White (1)
BIRDS OF A FEATHER – Billie Eilish (4)
STARGAZING – Myles Smith (5)
GOOD LUCK, BABE! – Chappell Roan (6)
THE DOOR – Teddy Swims (8)
MESSY – Lola Young (3)
DEATH VALLEY HIGH – Orville Peck & Beck (10)
FAVOURITE – Fontaines D.C. (11)
UP ALL NIGHT – James Bay, The Lumineers & Noah Kahan (14)
DIE WITH A SMILE – Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars (15)
RAINBOW – Cage the Elephant (7)
INTO GOLD – London Grammar (9)
THE LIGHTHOUSE – Stevie Nicks (17)
ESPRESSO – Sabrina Carpenter (12)
GARMONBOZIA – Flying Lotus (18)
CAN’T SLOW DOWN – almost monday (19)
BIG CAT TATTOOS – Hamish Hawk (16)
HARDCORE ROMANCE – Beach Weather (24)
BOTHERING ME – Sarah Blasko (25)
YOU JUST PLAYED MY MIND – Oli Barton (13)
THE EMPTINESS MACHINE – Linkin Park (26)
NOBODY’S SOLDIER – Hozier (27)
NEVERENDER – Justice & Tame Impala (30)
HOLOGRAM – Raker (20)
LIKE YOU DO – Talk in Waves (21) 21st week on chart
Guitarist extraordinaire Jack White remains on top for a second week with his bombastic rocker “That’s How I’m Feeling”, while silky-voiced Leon Bridges moves into second place with his mellifluous single “Peaceful Place”. Entering the top 10 are “The Door” by powerhouse singer-songwriter Teddy Swims, at #8, and “Death Valley High” by the enigmatic and sexy country singer-songwriter Orville Peck and singer-songwriter-producer Beck, at #10. Two songs share the biggest upward mover title this week – “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars and “The Lighthouse” by Stevie Nicks, each jumping eight spots to #15 and #17, respectively.
The sole debut is “Neverender”, a wonderful collaboration by French electronic music duo Justice and Australian band Tame Impala. Consisting of Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, Justice is completely new to me, despite the fact they’ve been making music for nearly 20 years. They’re quite popular, with over 5.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify and 1.5 million followers on Facebook. Tame Impala, fronted by insanely talented singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker, ranks high among my favorite music acts. As far as I’m concerned, any song involving Tame Impala is a winner, and their collaboration “New Gold” with Gorillaz and Bootie Brown is my #2 song of 2023. “Neverender” is from Justice’s fourth studio album Hyperdrama, released this past April.
THAT’S HOW I’M FEELING – Jack White (1)
PEACEFUL PLACE – Leon Bridges (4)
MESSY – Lola Young (2)
BIRDS OF A FEATHER – Billie Eilish (6)
STARGAZING – Myles Smith (5)
GOOD LUCK, BABE! – Chappell Roan (7)
RAINBOW – Cage the Elephant (3)
THE DOOR – Teddy Swims (12)
INTO GOLD – London Grammar (10)
DEATH VALLEY HIGH – Orville Peck & Beck (11)
FAVOURITE – Fontaines D.C. (15)
ESPRESSO – Sabrina Carpenter (8)
YOU JUST PLAYED MY MIND – Oli Barton (9)
UP ALL NIGHT – James Bay, The Lumineers & Noah Kahan (18)
DIE WITH A SMILE – Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars (23)
BIG CAT TATTOOS – Hamish Hawk (17)
THE LIGHTHOUSE – Stevie Nicks (25)
GARMONBOZIA – Flying Lotus (21)
CAN’T SLOW DOWN – almost monday (22)
HOLOGRAM – Raker (20)
LIKE YOU DO – Talk in Waves (13) 20th week on chart
As I curate my Top 30 chart each week – which essentially reflects my favorite songs at that moment in time – I cannot deny that my choices are influenced to some degree by what’s happening on other “official” music charts. Sometimes a song comes along that’s either so good or has such strong crossover appeal that it tops nearly every major chart. But more often than not, totally different songs top each of the various charts, with virtually no overlap. Case in point is this week, where the mediocre “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey has inexplicably spent 13 weeks and counting at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “The Emptiness Machine” by the reconstituted rock band Linkin Park is #1 on the Mainstream Rock and Alternative Airplay charts, and “Up All Night”, a collaboration between James Bay, The Lumineers and Noah Kahan, is #1 on the Adult Alternative Airplay chart. None of these three songs appears on the other mentioned charts.
I’m not quite sure what the point of that discussion is, other than to provide a bit of context, but my new favorite song this week is “That’s How I’m Feeling” by Jack White, which does currently occupy a spot in the top 10 of most alternative and rock charts. The boisterous rocker was the lead single from his sixth studio album released as a solo artist, No Name, which dropped this past July. Many music critics and fans have praised the album and song, calling it a return to his blues and garage roots and favorably comparing it to his music with the White Stripes. It’s probably my favorite song by White as a solo artist.
In other chart highlights, “Peaceful Place” by Leon Bridges climbs six spots to #4, and the ethereal and dreamy “Into Gold” by London Grammar moves up four spots to enter the top 10 at #10. The aforementioned “Up All Night” jumps seven spots to #18, making it the biggest upward mover this week. Three songs make their debut, the first of which, entering at #25, is “The Lighthouse”, a powerful song of both anger and hope by legendary singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks, who’s still going strong at 76. (I saw her in concert last December, which you can read about here.) She performed the song last night on Saturday Night Live, her first appearance on the long-running show in 41 years.
Inspired by the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022, Nicks co-wrote the song with Magnus Birgersson and Vincent Villuis. The track was co-produced by Nicks, Sheryl Crow (who plays electric guitar and bass and sings backing vocals), and famed producer Chris Cobb (who’s worked with Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, Lady Gaga, John Prine, Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, The Highwomen, Take That, Rival Sons, and many more), who also played guitar. The song begins rather tentatively, and Nicks’ vocals sound quite different in the verses; at first listen I thought they might be by another singer, but she sounds like her usual self in the anthemic choruses.
The second debut, entering at #29, is “The Emptiness Machine” by Linkin Park. I was resistant to the song at first, as I had mixed feelings about the legendary band taking on a new female co-lead singer, resulting in a major change to their style and sound. But after reading through scores of comments on the YouTube video for the song, I came to realize I was the one who was being closed-minded. The song, which quickly shot to #1 on the Rock and Alternative charts, has since grown on me. Coming in at #30 is “Nobody’s Soldier” by Irish singer-songwriter Hozier, whose previous single “Too Sweet” has become one of the biggest hits of the year. His latest single is more fast-paced and harder-driven than his usual style. I like it!
THAT’S HOW I’M FEELING – Jack White (4)
MESSY – Lola Young (1)
RAINBOW – Cage the Elephant (2)
PEACEFUL PLACE – Leon Bridges (10)
STARGAZING – Myles Smith (6)
BIRDS OF A FEATHER – Billie Eilish (7)
GOOD LUCK, BABE! – Chappell Roan (8)
ESPRESSO – Sabrina Carpenter (3)
YOU JUST PLAYED MY MIND – Oli Barton (9)
INTO GOLD – London Grammar (14)
DEATH VALLEY HIGH – Orville Peck & Beck (15)
THE DOOR – Teddy Swims (16)
LIKE YOU DO – Talk in Waves (5) 19th week on chart
WAR – Healer (12)
FAVOURITE – Fontaines D.C. (18)
HONEY – Mr Bewlay (13)
BIG CAT TATTOOS – Hamish Hawk (19)
UP ALL NIGHT – James Bay, The Lumineers & Noah Kahan (25)
On December 5th, thanks to the generosity of a neighborhood friend, I was gifted two tickets to see the living legend that is Stevie Nicks at the Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert (the same venue where I saw the Eagles and Tears for Fears/Cold War Kids concerts earlier this year). Though I’ve been a long-time fan of both Nicks and Fleetwood Mac, I sadly have never before seen her nor Fleetwood Mac in concert, so it was a thrill to finally see her perform live. She toured earlier in the year from March through June, then later extended her tour, beginning with a show on October 1st at Madison Square Garden, that will conclude December 15th in San Francisco. She’ll resume her tour in February with a run of eight shows, ending with a rescheduled concert with Billy Joel in Arlington, Texas on March 9th.
On the most recent leg of her tour, Nicks was accompanied by the lovely Nashville-based Country singer-songwriter Ingrid Andress, who opened for her. A successful artist in her own right, Andress has released two albums, Lady Like in 2020 and Good Person in 2022, as well as several singles, two of which – “More Hearts Than Mine” and “Wishful Drinking”, a duet with Sam Hunt – reached the top 10 on the Billboard Country Songs chart. In late 2020, she was nominated for three Grammy Awards, for Best Country Song (“More Hearts Than Mine”), Best Country Album (Lady Like), and Best New Artist.
I couldn’t find a setlist for her 35-minute long performance, for which she was joined by a guitarist, but she sang eight songs, some while playing piano and some while standing, with a guitar as the only musical accompaniment. While I wasn’t familiar with any of her songs, I enjoyed them a lot, as well as her warm and engaging personality. She joked that all her songs are sad, and also mentioned how honored and thrilled she was to be opening for one of her biggest music idols.
I didn’t film her performing any of her songs, but here’s the video for her beautiful “More Hearts Than Mine”:
After a half-hour long break, Stevie Nicks’ band strolled onto the stage while Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s song “Runnin’ Down A Dream” blasted through the speakers. Nicks soon joined them to thunderous applause, upon which she launched into “Outside the Rain” from her hugely successful debut solo album Bella Donna, which was released in 1981.
As with any artist who’s been performing for as long as she has – nearly 50 years – I must admit that I had a bit of trepidation given that she’s now 75. But the moment she began to sing, her distinctive voice sounded as vibrant and strong as ever, albeit a bit huskier and deeper. Wearing a billowing dress that was black on top and silvery gray below, her mic stand festooned with her signature ribbons and beads, the still beautiful Nicks served up some of her best-loved hits with a her bewitching grace and stage presence. The graphics, photos and light displays behind the stage were fantastic, and some of the best I’ve seen at any concert.
Without missing a beat, she and her band immediately segued into “Dreams”, my all-time favorite Fleetwood Mac song, followed by her hit “If Anyone Falls” from her 1983 album The Wild Heart. She then welcomed everyone, thanking us for coming to her show, and reminisced about how she came to record “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” with Tom Petty, who wrote and produced the track, which was the lead single from Bella Donna. She admitted that she’d had a bit of a crush on Petty, and spoke about how cool and down to earth he was.
In between songs, Nicks entertained us with both humorous and heartwarming stories and anecdotes from her long career, including her recollection of events that prompted Stephen Stills to pen the Buffalo Springfield classic “For What It’s Worth”; it wasn’t a political protest, but rather a bunch of young people who got too rowdy on Sunset Strip one night, resulting in the police coming to break things up. She sang the song, which she’d recorded a cover of last year (2022). She briefly left the stage after singing “Wild Heart”, then returned wearing the beautiful blue floor-length cape she wore for the album cover photo of Bella Donna. Before singing the title track, she recalled that her mother chided her for spending $3,000 on it at the time (1981), adding that it was worth every cent.
She later sang “Soldier’s Angel”, which she originally wrote for her 2011 album In Your Dreams, but felt it was relevant to the situation in Ukraine, particularly the suffering of Ukrainian troops by the Russian invasion. She ended her set with an electrifying performance of her iconic hit “Edge of Seventeen”. Her backing band and singers are outstanding, as evidenced in the final part of the song which I captured with my mobile phone:
When the song ended, Nicks and her band left the stage, but we knew they’d be back because she hadn’t yet sung one of her most beloved songs. When they reappeared, she performed “Free Fallin'” in a heartwarming tribute to Tom Petty, followed by her Fleetwood Mac song “Rhiannon”. She ended her show with an emotional performance of “Landslide”, dedicated to her fellow Fleetwood Mac member Christine McVie, who passed away last year. Both “Free Fallin'” and “Landslide” were accompanied by numerous photos of the two late musicians, some of them featuring Nicks. She performed for two full hours, showing that age is just a number. As she and her band exited, McVie’s solo song “Got a Hold on Me” wafted over the departing audience on the Arena’s sound system. It was a perfect ending to a beautiful show.
I managed to capture “Landslide” in its entirety with my phone, and other than for the annoying phones of a few people in front of me partially blocking the view, the video I shot turned out pretty well I think.
ECLECTIC MUSIC LOVER 