From sweeping anthems and party songs to meditations and contemplations, from plucked strings and electronic vistas to pounding drums and squalls of noise, albums released in 2019 by New Haven recording artists captured the riotous voices of the city.
My annual top-ten list follows.
Ceschi: Sad, Fat Luck
New Haven’s own Ceschi Ramos delivered possibly the best album of his career in Sad, Fat Luck, an explosive and excoriating album that takes on the deaths of loved ones, the cost of being an artist, and the precarious state of the world all at once. Whether spitting out rapid-fire lines on the title track, trading verses with collaborator Sammus on “Middle Earth,” singing with sincerity and acceptance on “Daybreak,” or moving with near-impossible slowness on “Say No More,” with support from producer Factor Chandelier, Ceschi distilled his far-flung influences into a singular, burning statement with the power to knock you on the floor and pick you back up again.
Sarah Golley: As We Crawl
Golley pulled from pop, jazz, and classical music to create a soundscape all her own on As We Crawl, a scintillating album full of lush piano and strings, sharp percussion, poetic lyrics, and dense vocal harmonies that came together in a thoroughly cohesive whole. From the melancholic “At A Snail’s Pace,” to the urgent stacked voices on “On the Treadmill of Thought,” to the ecstatic riffs on “Over Time,” Golley ranged from the experimental to the utterly accessible to make an album worth getting lost in, again and again.
Fleurs: Shut Up
On Shut Up, songwriter Alexander Falconer emerged from the depths of addiction to create a set of songs as moody and atmospheric as they were danceable. The gritty “Sophomores” comes out of the gate shaking its hips, while “Louvre” married fatalistic lyrics to a slinky strut. The sparse “Sucker” still bounced along to laid-back snaps of the fingers. The lyrics may have spoken of pain and dissolution, but the music was the soundtrack to a man not giving up, and putting himself back together.
Shy: Former
After making the rounds of New Haven’s stages as a solo act, Shy found the perfect band to expand her sound and deliver her musical vision, with arresting results. The first cut, “Silver Tongue,” began with a vibey shuffle that exploded into roaring guitars, while “CT 2 JFK” felt like a waltz down the highway at 2 a.m. and “Shirt” kept it beautifully fragile. With Former as her first full-length album, Shy established herself as one of the city’s most intriguing songwriters, leaving us impatient for what’s next.
Brian Ember: The New Chastity
Years in the making and well worth the wait, Brian Ember’s first album was a delightful slice of moody, melodic rock that chronicled the breakup of a relationship with a heady mixture of sadness, improbable humor, and exquisite musicianship. “Our Friends Don’t Know” would make Queen proud, the crooning “I’m So Lonely (With You” nudged its way nearly into loverboy R&B, “Goodnight My Baby” dipped into doo-wop, and “Four Seconds” was the slow dance for the end of a romance that someday we all might need.
Sotorious and Delish Music: Medusa Glow
The irrepressible Sotorios Fedeli of Political Animals returned to top form with Medusa Glow, a collaboration with Providence-based Delish Music that found both partners bringing out the best in each other. “Death By: Death” found Sotorios driving verses over an intoxicating beat filled with grinding organs and near-shouts to prayer, while “N.ear E.arth O.bject” kicked it up another notch and “There You Are” got personal. As Delish Music crafted a sound that felt coherent yet wide-ranging, Sotorios showed that he was an emcee with plenty left to say.
Kat Wallace and David Sasso: Stuff Of Stars
Armed with virtuosic fiddle, an array of other stringed instruments, two strong singing voices, and heads full of songwriting ideas, Kat Wallace and David Sasso created in Stuff of Stars a bluegrass duo album that nodded to the past and felt very much of the present. “Dreamer Say” recontextualized an old poem, using a new approach to show the old words’ strength. “I’ll Stay Around” used plucked strings to create a wistful delicacy. “Stuff of Stars” had the courage to be unabashedly hopeful. Upholding the tradition while expanding its boundaries, Wallace and Sasso showed one way to move bluegrass into the future.
Evelyn Gray: Let The Flower Grow
From the moment she appeared on New Haven’s stages, Evelyn Gray captivated with her emotionally raw performances. Her first full-length album captured all of her strength and vulnerability — along with her powerful, atmospheric guitar playing and a voice big enough to fill a church. “Deadname” unfolded slowly into a lush beauty, while “Sweet Mirror” felt almost oceanic and “Accidents” seemed like it could blow the roof off. Let The Flower Grow announced the arrival of a talent who could turn pain into catharsis and the most personal struggles into anthems of strength.
The Split Coils: Earth And Dust
Right from the opening notes of the title track to Earth and Dust, the Split Coils made it clear that they’d made the soundtrack for a thousand road trips. Assembling a band that could make that wide-open sound somewhere between rock and country with a hint of soul, J. and Katelyn Russell could let their voices soar over the top of it all, whether on the propulsive “Energy,” the swinging “Old Ghosts,” or the waltzing “Technology.” The result was an uplifting, exhilarating album that made you want to point the car at the distant horizon and keep driving.
Mystal Tree: New Growth
The dizzyingly prolific New Haven musician and composer Adam Matlock made over a dozen records this year, and New Growth, under the name Mystal Tree — one of a few of Matlock’s musicial aliases — emerged as possibly the strongest. He created an eerie and playful electronic soundscape to tell the epic fantasy of a group of creatures defending their home, a gigantic magical tree, from powerful outside forces who seek to conquer them. From the sparse, quirky “The Vizier Arrives/Spores Of Resistance” to the determined “We Fight Though Our Homes Are Razed” to the triumphant, emotional “New Growth,” Matlock created a musical story of resistance to carry us into the next year.