Giveon, ‘Twenties’
“Thought that if I put you first sufficient / we might final for certain,” Giveon laments, with neat wordplay, in a vintage-style soul ballad full with strings and electrical sitar. The reminiscences shortly lead into recriminations over “six years gone down the drain,” and not one of the retro trappings cushion the ache. PARELES
Moses Sumney that includes Syd and Meshell Ndegeocello, ‘Hey Woman(s)’
Moses Sumney has revamped “Hey Woman,” a slow-jam come-on from his 2024 album “Sophcore,” to make it extra gender-fluid by handing over verses to company. Syd teases, “You say you ain’t completed this earlier than,” and Meshell Ndegeocello strikes evolutionary purpose posts, intoning, “I’m not a girl, I’m not a person / I’m a water- and carbon-based life kind you’ll by no means comprehend.’ The monitor’s easy-rolling syncopation and suavely supportive horn association welcome all of them. PARELES
Coi Leray, ‘Hold It’
Coi Leray is equal elements tearful and enraged in “Hold It,” her indictment of a cheater: “Ought to’ve saved it actual however you have been fraudulent / Every little thing you mentioned you probably did the alternative.” Her solely accompaniment is calm piano chords and wisps of her personal voice. She nearly breaks down, questioning, “Why, why, why, why, why?” However then she summons her dignity and ends issues. PARELES
Sleeper’s Bell, ‘Unhealthy Phrase’
What occurs to a relationship that survives a betrayal? Blaine Teppema, the songwriter for the Chicago duo Sleeper’s Bell, captures the lingering wounds, self-doubt and mistrust in “Unhealthy Phrase” from the brand new album “Clover.” Her voice is breathy and tentative over modestly strummed acoustic guitar and drums, as she sings “We obtained proper again collectively / Now you deal with her title like a foul phrase.” For the second, she’s keen to go alongside. “In the future I’d know what it’s you suppose,” she shrugs. “Until then I’ll snort it off.” PARELES
Waxahatchee, ‘Mud’
Katie Crutchfield, the songwriter behind Waxahatchee, not often escapes ambivalence. The comfy, countryish, banjo-picking march of “Mud” has MJ Lenderman and Spencer Tweedy singing together with Crutchfield as she tries to sever a guardian-angel relationship the place “I’d beam with empty advantage / however I’m a feather blowing in your storm.” The issue is that the “lady struggling” may be herself. PARELES