Good Together by Lake Street Dive (2024)
Lake Street Dive explores the neo-soul side of modern pop with songs that often sound like throwbacks to the 1960s. They score with an achingly sweet piano ballad like “Twenty-Five” or the throbbing funk-tinged “Help is on the Way.” The common thread is Rachael Price’s pristine and powerhouse lead vocals that inject soul into every track. The rest of Lake Street Dive – who can all play multiple instruments and can all sing dynamic harmony – is a constant presence as well.
The glorious “Better Not Tell You” anchors the album. Had it been released in the early ‘70s, it would have soared up the R&B and Pop charts. The album concludes with the peppy party anthem “Party on the Roof” followed by the beautifully operatic “Set Sail,” which builds on a stately prelude into an uplifting hymnal.
Forever by Charly Bliss (2024)
I began by bemoaning how difficult it is these days to define indie pop and then proceeded to run through albums that bounced from art to punk to soul-influenced brands of modern pop. We’re closing with an album that is not the least bit debatable. Charly Bliss is pure indie pop. They use plenty of electric guitars and plenty of synths to create inescapably catchy tunes. Eva Hendricks sells them all with a blend of tough bubblegum vocals, captured perfectly on the clear statement of purpose “Calling You Out.”
There’s a sad beauty of the piano-fueled “Nineteen” and the adoringly young “In Your Bed.” There’s the resilience of “How Do You Do It,” or the drone of “I Don’t Know Anything,” or the hopeful agony of “Last First Kiss.” Every Charly Bliss song bounces from soft to hard, sometimes allowing for lyrical side journeys from guitarist Spencer Fox, but always sticking close to the bright pop that you’d expect from a band called Bliss.