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Brian Nahlen Band single worth wait

Album cover for Brian Nahlen Band's “I Might Be Leavin’”
Album cover for Brian Nahlen Band's “I Might Be Leavin’”

A Brian Nahlen Band

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Album cover for Niia's "I"

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Album cover for Justin Townes Earle's "Kids in the Street"

"I Might Be Leavin'"

Self-released

This sprawling single from North Little Rock singer-songwriter-guitarist Brian Nahlen is full of surprises. There's the false start that morphs into booty-shaking funk rock; Jason Tedford's Moog solo; CandySoul's church-choir backing vocals; Nahlen's guttural howl of the title right before Dave Williams III's sax workout and a head-bobbing verse from rapper Big Piph.

It's a song Nahlen says he's had in his pocket for almost 20 years and finally found the right combination of people to get it recorded. The result is a finely crafted, soulful track that deftly fuses funk, jazz, gospel, pop and hip-hop into one rollicking confection. It's one of those tracks where everyone gets to flex their muscles, where the band's obvious joy shines through. Find it Friday at iTunes and other streaming services.

-- SEAN CLANCY

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

B Erasure

World Be Gone

Mute

Erasure barely acknowledges the dance floor on World Be Gone, instead filling its 17th album with topical, poignant tunes worried about the state of the world but hopeful love can still make a difference.

Vince Clarke continues to command the synthesizers as well as ever while Andy Bell's voice has acquired an expressive, pliant huskiness.

The sunniest tracks are used as bookends -- yearning first single and opener "Love You to the Sky" and "Just a Little Love," which could be early Erasure.

The other eight songs are more reflective, some touching on issues of the heart but also concerned with the way our lives are affected by factors beyond our control and our lack of attentiveness to what we could possibly change.

"Lousy Sum of Nothing" laments insensitivity, how switching channels is practically all the response we can muster to tragedies.

"Sweet Summer Love" is a new relationship that has passion and commitment, helping Bell find fulfillment again after the death of his partner.

Over its 32-year-career, Erasure has asked for and earned more than a little respect. On World Be Gone, the band is still hopeful a little love can save us.

Hot tracks: "Love You to the Sky," "Just a Little Love," "Lousy Sum of Nothing"

-- PABLO GORONDI

The Associated Press

A- Niia

I

Atlantic

Niia sings like a slow pour. On "Sideline," one of this year's most arresting soul songs, she begins with sauntering scatting, part jazz and part Suzanne Vega, before easing into millennial romantic angst: "Yeah I know she's still the background on your phone."

Here, Niia is the other woman, but not without agency. As the song goes on, her voice gets thicker, more lustrous, as she makes plain what she'll tolerate and what she won't, and also makes clear that you can't play a player.

"Sideline" moves at a casual stroll, slinking alluringly from one thump to the next as Niia seeps into all the crevices and pockets, her voice rich at the center but with fuzzy edges.

Decay is the thing on Niia's lavishly detailed full-length debut album, made in partnership with producer Robin Hannibal. Together, they understand how to make songs melt, and how to make seismic shifts at a glacial pace. The result is trip-hop that strips away the pomp, leaving only the ooze.

Niia trades in songs about festering loneliness, and the most robust parts of I are its most troubled. On the beautifully throbbing "Nobody," she metes her words out carefully, in a near-whisper. That's followed by "Last Night in Los Feliz," deliberate as a heartbeat, on which Niia is almost stately in her sadness.

Throughout the album, Niia bobs and weaves, but never hides. She's a singer who manages to call attention to herself while thriving in the shadows.

Hot tracks: "Sideline," "Nobody," the ferocious "All I Need"

-- JON CARAMANICA

The New York Times

B+ Justin Townes Earle

Kids in the Street

New West

Justin Townes Earle seems to have put away some of the demons that animated his earlier work. He's sober, newly married and the songs he writes don't sound as tortured.

But if it feels like he has sorted things out, Earle demonstrates that he still has plenty to say. He's playful, adventurous and settling into his talent, with an album that rivals his best work.

And that's saying something. Earle long ago established himself as a first-rate singer-songwriter, living up to his legacy as the son of one of world's great songwriters, Steve Earle, and the namesake of another, Townes Van Zandt.

Now there's a comfortable confidence -- and less torture. He explains his newfound maturity on "What's Goin' Wrong" when he sings: "Now I'm not certain, but maybe I am learning. Maybe I'll be the last in a long long line of hurting."

Earle has a knack for putting an original imprint on what could have been a cliche, which he does wonderfully on the title cut, and again on "Faded Valentine," a Patsy Cline-style journey through "a box of nothing much worth keeping."

"Ask yourself has it been so long," he sings wistfully, "that I've forgotten where I went wrong."

He hasn't forgotten, which lets his music retain its edge. But he has things in perspective.

Hot tracks: "Faded Valentine," "What's Goin' Wrong"

-- SCOTT STROUD

The Associated Press

Style on 06/06/2017

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