Freshly Squeezed, Vol. 55: Lori McKenna, Meg Myers, XPLOR and more

Welcome to Freshly Squeezed, a weekly new music playlist: spanning country, pop, EDM and urban, mainstream and other.

“To thine own self be true” is a phrase coined by William Shakespeare in his landmark play, Hamlet. Polonius offers these words to his son Laertes before his departure for Paris. It’s a simple statement but one which is a timeless token of insight from which we can all draw understanding and courage. Accomplished singer, songwriter and musician Lori McKenna employs the phrase in a deep cut called “You Won’t Even Know I’m Gone,” from her just-released new record, The Tree. “Gone” imparts ripened wisdom of a mother letting her children fly into the world, and through detailing even the little, mundane tasks she undertakes in her daily routine (like folding laundry, cutting fray strands from the kitchen towel and mailing bills), she processes the unavoidable change washing over her life.

The Tree is built with plenty of such observations, of a woman who has made great sacrifices for her children, her husband, her own life. It’s a stunning work of art, and you can probably expect it to wrack up a number of mentions on year-end tallies in a few months time. The album also features such astounding pre-released tracks as “People Get Old,” musing on the rush of time’s march, and “Young and Angry Again,” a wish to relive her glory days. Pick it up on iTunes, if you know what’s good for you.

Cat Power (real name Chan Marshall) readies a new album, called Wanderer, with the spooky title song, with backing vocals that rush and shimmer through the illustrious backwoods. It’s a chilly but dazzling performance, and Marshall’s vocal is truly a marvel to behold.

Electro-pop band Exnations have their work cut out for them, coming on the heals of such prolific talents. But “Blank White” is enchanting and serves as an apt follow-up to “Can’t Get Hurt,” one of our favorite songs of the entire year. The trio are electric, and their ingenious moves here cement a talent that should, if we have our way, catapult them to superstardom.

Amanda Shires, whose new album To the Sunset is out in a few short weeks, fills the void with “Parking Lot Pirouette.” Her vocal dances like a spinning top on melted, cracking concrete, and the production bends and flicks with whimsical motions. It’s a progressive piece of Americana music, and she never seems to discard her roots, planting herself as one of today’s most interesting torchbearers. Paired with other such early releases as “Leave It Alone” and “Eve’s Daughter,” her new work is pretty damn exciting.

The new playlist includes: XPLOR, Meg Myers, Liv Austen, Sara Diamond, Ralph, Holander, Ethereal UK, LANY, Troye Sivan, The 1975, Heart Tide, Wild Pink, Parker Matthews, MISS WORLD, Willie Nelson, Conrad the Third, She Makes War, Rose Villain, Thomas Abban and Transviolent, among many others.

In all, we’ve got 45 new songs to pass away your time.

Each playlist will be refreshed every Friday morning/afternoon. We reserve the right to update anytime during the week, so make sure you bookmark this page.

Take a spin:

Photo Credit: Becky Fluke

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