2018-09-20 Entertainment Weekly

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WANDERER

10.5

After a six-year hiatus, Chan

Marshall is back with her long-

awaited 10th studio album.

The record is a homecoming

of sorts for hardcore Cat Power

fans, with Marshall returning

to the vulnerable folk roots that

made her a household name

on the late ’90s/early ’00s

indie-rock circuit. “There are

songwriters that have made

things that have touched peo-

ple and brought [them] closer,”

she tells EW. “I never really

accepted that that’s what I do.

I think with this record—and

after I had my child—I realized

that this is who I am.” Mar-

shall’s ultimate goal withWan-

dereris encouraging listeners

to stay grounded in their every-

day lives. “The theme,” she

adds, “is one foot in front of the

other.”—Ilana Kaplan

THE UNHEAVENLY

CREATURES

10.5

“It’s basically aglorified version

of playing with action figures,”

Coheed and Cambria’s Claudio

Sanchez says with a wry chuckle

of his continuing assemblage

ofThe Amory Wars, the prog-

rock band’s sprawling sci-fi saga

spanning 16 years, countless

comic books, and now, with

The Unheavenly Creatures, nine

full-length albums. The latest

Coheed LP, the first in a five-part

series,Vaxis, details an epic

escape from a prison planet,

and is as majestic as its narrative

suggests: Pummeling intros

(“The Dark Sentencer”), arena-

rockrifs (“The Pavilion [A Long

YOUNG SICK CAMELLIA

9.7

used his canvas to lookinward, crafting a raw moment

of self-reflection. On their third LP,Young Sick Camellia,

Alabama eight-piece St. Paul & the Broken Bones, led

by powerhouse singer-songwriter Paul Janeway, go big

and bombastic while taking a deeper look within.

“It represents me, my home, and my ideals of home,”

Janeway says of the record, which is the first in a

planned trilogy. “I’ve always felt somewhat broken,

whether or not it’s being a very liberal guy in Alabama

or dealing with broken relationships in my family.”

After their first two LPs cemented St. Paul as one of

the most thrilling torchbearers of modern big-brass

soul, Janeway took a left turn and enlisted hip-hop/

R&B producer Jack Splash, emerging with songs like

the Bee Gees-esque “GotItBad” and the deep bass-line

groove of “Mr. Invisible.”

“Artists I admire,” says Janeway, “always just tried to

do something different.”—Marissa Moss

was understandably showered

with critical praise and industry

accolades, including a CMA

award for Album of the Year,

and spawned three top 10 hits

on theBillboardHot Country

Songs chart. Based on what

we’ve heard ofDesperate

Manthus far—the sweet, soulful

ballad “Heart Like a Wheel” and

the rollicking boot-stomper

of a title cut—the odds are good

it will follow the same trajectory.

Helmed once again by Church's

longtime producer Jay Joyce

(Little Big Town, Brothers

Osborne), expect the Chief—

a huge fan of all genres of music

and interpolating multiple

styles into his work—to inject

hisDesperatetunes with dispa-

rate sounds.—Sarah Rodman

| CHRIS TOMLINHOLY ROAR | ANDREA BOCELLISÌ |BOY GEORGE & CULTURE CLUBLIFE |ROSANNE CASH SHE REMEMBERS EVERYTHING >

Purveyors of big-brass soul St. Paul & the Broken Bones