Weekly Music Roundup: Anjimile, Sylvan Esso, and Jeremy Dutcher

Week of May 29: This week, returns for Anjimile and Jeremy Dutcher, a tribute to Low by Sylvan Esso, and emotive dance music from Bayonne.

Mene Mene Tekel Upharson, Says Anjimile – Though Not In Those Words

The new single from the gifted songwriter Anjimile, called “The King,” begins with a musical shout out to early Philip Glass and lyrics that refer to the biblical story of Daniel and the writing on the wall. Anjimile’s own voice stands out against a choir that seems to be riffing on “Vessels” from Glass’s well-known Koyaanisqatsi soundtrack. That is already a big switch from his last album, the intimate but impressive Giver Taker. But more surprises are in store: the song ratchets up the drama with a juddering processed rhythm, as Anjimile wrestles with the experience of being a Black trans man – “what don’t kill you,” he sings, “almost killed you.” And finally, the rhythm doubles, adding a hint of metal and menace. It is a startling change in sound, perhaps, but continues Anjimile’s clear-eyed and deeply felt observations of a society that seems bent on ignoring the writing on the wall. 

The single is also the title track of Anjimile’s new album, due on September 8. 

Sylvan Esso Release A Cover Of A Song By Low

Sylvan Esso, the duo of singer Amelia Meath and electronic producer Nick Sanborn, has released an EP of reworked, almost chamber music versions of songs from their last LP, No Rules Sandy; the recordings were done live at Electric Lady studio. But in addition to the five revised songs of their own, they’ve also done a deeply felt, moving cover of “Will The Night,” by the band Low. Done in memory of the band’s drummer, Mimi Parker, who died last year at 55, the performance features the Attacca Quartet playing an arrangement by songwriter and composer Gabriel Kahane, who conducts here. It’s a poignant, shimmery account of what was a typically moody, spare song to begin with, and there is a heart-stopping moment near the end when Meath’s voice holds a long single note, without breaking the music’s soft spell. 

An Indigenous Aria From Jeremy Dutcher

We first took note of Canadian singer and pianist Jeremy Dutcher in 2018 when he released his celebrated debut LP, Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, in which this classically-trained tenor sang duets with archival recordings of his Wolastoqiyik ancestors. Now he has released his first new song since that Polaris award-winning album. It’s called “Skicinuwihkuk,” which means “Indian land.” Once again Dutcher draws inspiration from old archival recordings, and while his forthcoming sophomore LP will apparently feature a fair amount of singing in English, here he sticks with Wolastoq – a critically-endangered language. The song is tender and lyrical, but also takes flight on a wave of orchestral sound (arranged by Canadian singer/songwriter/composer Owen Pallett) that amplifies the song’s emotional content: “as long as there is a child among our people,” the lyrics proclaim, “we will protect the land.”

Bayonne Loops Back Around With A New LP

Bayonne is the work of Roger Sellers, who plays synthesizers, piano, and other acoustic instruments, but whose real instrument is his live looping station. Layering his vocals and various instrumental lines, both live and in studio, Bayonne creates music that has an emotional impact that we don’t normally associate with music created with this sort of technology. His new album, Temporary Time, follows the death of Sellers’ father, and includes sounds from old family videos as part of the texture. Opening track “Must Be True” has echoes of the minimalist composers in addition to the big wall of sound production style of 1960s pop, and the fact that the colorful, almost anthemic song can’t hide a slight undertone of melancholy just makes it a richer listening experience.  

Buena Vista Social Club Guitarist Eliades Ochoa Works With Ruben Blades

Eliades Ochoa, the veteran Cuban guitarist and singer who gained international attention as part of the Buena Vista Social Club, has just released a new album called Guajiro. Most of the songs are Ochoa originals, and they use as a starting point the traditional son Cubano sound that he helped to popularize back in the late 90s – but that’s only a starting point. There’s a collaboration with blues harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite, another with indie rocker Joan Wasser, who records as Joan As Police Woman, and various other tracks that stray into new sonic terrain. This song, “Pajarito Volo,” (“Little Bird Flew”), includes the traditional sound of the tres, a guitar-like instrument, but after a restrained, ballad-like opening, a salsa party breaks out, led by the great Panamanian singer Ruben Blades. Or perhaps a better way to put it is that the song starts in a small, intimate enclosure, until a door swings open and the little bird can fly out.