Widowspeak (US)

SUPPORT: John Andrews & The Yawns (US)/Doors: 7pm

If music can be both naturalistic and noir, saturated and lush, then it's Widowspeak. It's a band that knows how to set a stage. They play with great emotion without taking themselves too solemnly. They have sweetness, even silliness, in an extended infatuation rush that becomes all-consuming like a colorful paperback novel. Cars and their drivers act as a way to talk about addiction in relationships. And old love gets worn to, soft as an old t-shirt.

The band's magic lies -- still and always -- in the interplay between Molly and Robert in their two main roles: her lingering, textural vocals and his sensuous guitar playing. And as a producer, Robert captures the fleeting magic that occurs when a band finds a song in the studio: something that still bears traces of the direct nature of Molly's voice memos and the dense guitar rugs of the demos. The raw traces from the tools are still clear -- the noise is allowed to stay.

Their music is special because it is real: most of all for those who make the music. Like love, music is fragile and temporary -- and worth it all.

Support: John Andrews & The Yawns (US)
For the past few years, John Andrews has been living secluded in Red Hook in Brooklyn -- an urban neighborhood just outside the natural life of the city. Just a few cobblestone blocks from the cargo ship-filled port, Andrews wrote several dozen new songs at his electric piano, nine of which became the album 'Streetsweeper'.

On 'Streetsweeper' Andrews leans into the guitar sound, in a way he hasn't done in years, and still lets his casual touch guide the music. “Goodbye Dirty Snow” is fragile and full of heart, but sits comfortably next to “Friends In Misery,” with its jangly trash-guitars and driving rhythm section. Each lyrical vignette is filled with Andrews' soft empathy -- he sings like someone who might have seen you play ball, kiss on a park bench or cry on your lunch break.

The album offers you to step away from the main road, take your time and learn to appreciate the small, overlooked moments that make a place and a life richer. Andrews has carefully written songs that listen, observe and stay with you.