▼ Music 2016’s Idiot Savant, with a heavy emphasis on psychedelic folk and “strange sound art in between tracks.” With both projects, Nihil is building new layers to his patch- work style of rock music. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Unlimited Love (April 1) Fans of Red Hot Chili Peppers had enough reason to celebrate when, in October 2021, the band announced a massive stadium tour for this summer and fall. Now, there’s even more good news, as the band will release Unlimited Love, their first new al- bum since 2016’s The Getaway, in April. (Need more positive developments? The record features guitarist John Frusciante, who rejoined the band in 2019.) Lead single “Black Summer’’ exemplifies the mood of this “era” of RHCP, as the band released a statement emphasizing how the album’s sessions left them “enrapt ... by sounds, rhythms, vibrations, words, and melodies.” Turns out there’s just a lot to be excited for these days. Rex Orange County performs in Phoenix in January 2020. Andrew Marshall Album Drop The most anticipated local and national records of 2022. BY CHRIS COPLAN semblance of “normalcy,” especially if you love new and live music? Yes. So, let’s mark that noticeable shift toward the good and not outwardly depressing by celebrating the one consistent amid all this: a stream of great music. This year sees a slew of artists, both local and national, releasing great new albums spanning the sonic spectrum. So whether you like indie pop, stadium rock, or a dash of experimental music, there’s something for everyone. So, here’s to 2022, where the music is enjoyable and the world’s a slightly smaller Dumpster fire. A 28 Secret Attraction, Replica (February 18) Derek Wise was savvy enough to maintain a steady flow of releases amid COVID. That includes 2020’s Strawberry and 2021’s True Love EP and Sensitivity/Drifting — all of which encapsulated Wise’s retro-leaning brand of shimmery synthpop. Now, Wise kicks off 2022 with his second full-length, Replica, which includes the lead single “Trust/Forget.” And based on that track alone, Wise is mining the same vein of lush, ’80s-inspired sounds, albeit with more of a focus on bigger soundscapes over tradi- tional pop structures. It’s not so much a leap forward as a steady foot into the future for an exciting young artist. re we still amid a global pandemic? Yes. Is it still a profoundly unsettling and confusing time? Of course. But is there also some tiny Astrologer, Legerdemain (R) (March or April 2022) Andrew Cameron Cline (formerly of Weird Radicals) used 2021 to release some pow- erful music. That includes the excellent Legerdemain (L) EP, which contained standouts like “Tomorrow” and “Mania.” This spring, Cline returns with its compan- ion EP, Legerdemain (R), which he de- scribed as “warmer, more bright and fun, more pop,” with influences of bubblegum rock and The Ramones. And once more, Cline’s not alone, as the EP features contri- butions from Don Bolles, Wyatt Blair, and Taylor Graves (Thundercat, Flying Lotus), among others. Like the name suggests, Legerdemain is the slyest kind of rock ’n’ roll magic. Band of Horses, Things Are Great (March 4) The name alone is confounding, especially since the last Band of Horses album (from 2016) was called Why Are You OK. (Like, do they even read the news?) But as front- man Ben Bridwell noted in a recent state- ment, lead single “Crutch,” and perhaps the 10-track LP by extension, is about “when nothing goes right and you still have to carry on.” Press for the record also de- scribes it as a kind of “reaffirmation” as the band hone their emotionally diverse brand of alt-country, with an emphasis on “anthe- mic choruses and windswept grit.” Okay, maybe things aren’t that great, but new BoH music is always reason to celebrate. Rex Orange County, Who Cares? (March 11) Young singer-songwriter Rex Orange County released the excellent Pony in late 2019, embarking on a world-spanning tour in support. Aside from a live EP in September 2020, he’s mostly used COVID-19 to lay low and prepare for what’s next. And that latest step is Who Cares?, an album whose title alone cap- tures both our current moment and per- haps the singer’s own thoughts on his “absence.” But don’t let the title fool you, as the LP is a great step extension of County’s brand of pop, and includes the excellent lead single “Keep It Up” as well as another collabo with Tyler, the Creator, “Open A Window.” Keep it up, indeed. I Am Hologram, Nui Loa (March 18) and Working Class Weirdo (May 16) It’s going to be a busy year of releases for Richard Nihil, who performs as I Am Hologram. On March 18, he’ll unveil that project’s 13th album, Nui Loa, a fully im- provised set recorded in November 2021 at Phoenix’s 1227 Tap Room. Nihil says that LP’s ten tracks are “mellow and medita- tive,” inspired in part after he’d survived a car crash earlier that month. Then, on May 16, Nihil will unveil the project’s 14th al- bum, Working Class Weirdo. This collec- tion of acoustic recordings is the sequel to Jack White, Fear of the Dawn (April 8) and Entering Heaven Alive (July 22) The release of one Jack White album in a calendar year would already be the high- light of any rock fan’s 2022. But this year we get two from the legendary rocker and frontman of The White Stripes and The Dead Weather. Fear of the Dawn, which lands in the spring, is White’s fourth solo record and spans 12 tracks to include a collaboration with Q-Tip. Then, in July, White drops album No. 5, the 11-track Entering Heaven Alive. No word yet the connection between the records, but the first begins with “Taking Me Back” while the second ends with “Taking Me Back (Gently).” Rock fans, 2022 is going to be one for the books. Warpaint, Radiate Like This (May 6) We last heard from Los Angeles’ own Warpaint with 2016’s Heads Up, which saw the foursome add in more R&B and electronica into their brand of evocative indie rock. It seems that’s the same sort of course the band’s charted for their first al- bum in six years, Radiate Like This. Case in point: The 10-track album is led by the familiar-sounding “Champion,” which the band described as exploring the fragil- ity of life and how it’s “too short not to strive for excellence in all that we do.” So even if they’re not breaking down any new barriers, we can expect more poignant rock from Warpaint — and that’s clearly more than enough. The Black Moods, Into the Night (May 20, 2022) Tempe rockers The Black Moods hit a career high with 2020’s Sunshine, which saw their brand of swagger rock reach all- new levels of depth and intensity. Now, some two years later, the band are set to tentatively return with Into the Night on May 20. We heard one album track >> p 30 FEB 17TH– FEB 23RD, 2022 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
