It’s that time of year again. As summer slowly approaches, the weather isn’t the only thing getting hotter. Artists are heating up with new projects to accompany tours and festivals for concertgoers all over the country. Like hurricanes, these artists have set months out of the year where they’re bound to appear and cause a ruckus. With May impending, so do these tyrants of musical events, and for summer 2008, the forecast reads for some terrific storms.
First on the roster is Death Cab for Cutie, who (despite the very curious band name) are the head honchos of today’s indie-rock genre. The band was first widely recognized on Fox’s hit show “The O.C.,” as their music was repeatedly used for different episodes and was also featured on the show’s soundtracks.
Over the past few years, Death Cab has won critics’ approval with compositions of music and lyrics that touch the heart, mind and soul in a way that leaves a listener in a state of peaceful contemplation. With the last record, “Plans,” produced as their first major debut on label Atlantic Records, the band comes out with its second major-label effort, “Narrow Stairs,” dropping in May.
Ben Gibbard, lead singer of Death Cab (as well as his other band, The Postal Service), says that this time around the band wanted to record in analog, creating an energetic but dark tone for the album by going against the grain and abandoning the ever-popular digital recording process.
“I Will Possess Your Heart,” the first single from “Narrow Stairs,” is a nine-minute jam that the band wanted to make the first song heard off the album. With interesting song titles revealed such as “Bixby Canyon Bridge” and “The Ice is Getting Thinner,” Death Cab’s newest album appears to be an exciting coming attraction.
The next artist mentioned will certainly cause media attention despite how good or completely atrocious her album turns out to be. With a release date for April, Madonna’s “Hard Candy” will be her newest attempt to restore her 1980s image as the devilish diva spouting hits like “Vogue” and “Like a Prayer” to her once adoring fans. Produced by the ever-talented Timbaland and Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes, “Hard Candy” consists of hip-hop-esque songs such as “Give It to Me” and “Candy Store.” The album will also include a duet with Justin Timberlake called “Four Minutes to Save the World.” We’ll have to wait unitl April to see if this Material Girl has the actual material in her new record to prove us wrong in thinking that she is way too over the hill to be performing in glittery spandex with Justin Timberlake, who is almost half her age, mind you.
Other artists with records coming out this summer are The Roots, The Black Keys, Def Leppard, The Raconteurs, The Vines, Gavin DeGraw and The Hold Steady, just to name a few. And what great timing with the plethora of music festivals like Bonnaroo, Coachella, Lollapalooza and New Orleans’ Jazz Festival to host these artists and their new sounds.
So if you’re contemplating giving up on school because of post-spring break depression, or having severe anxiety with final exams just around the corner, remember that you can look forward to these musicians working extremely hard to make new music for your listening pleasure, and you don’t have to lift a finger.
