The good news just keeps on getting better. The year opened with a bunch of great new recordings from Sharon van Etten, Panda Bar, Toro y Moi, James Blake, Juliana Hatfield and Deerhunter, together suggesting that 2019 may very well turn out to be a great year for new music, possibly the best since 2015.
Then on top of all that, bam!, out of nowhere Connor Oberst (Bright Eyes) and Phoebe Bridgers (boygenius) drop a surprise album that absolutely no one saw coming called Better Oblivion Community Center. What's more, it's actually really good, arguably on par with the best music that either musician has released individually. They really bring out the best in each other, as you can tell from the give and take between the two performing the song Dylan Thomas with their band in the video above.
At the same time and just as unexpectedly, the New York band Vampire Weekend suddenly releases their first new music in over six years, and in it's own way, it's just as unexpected and just as satisfying as Better Oblivion. We've only heard a couple songs so far from the new album, called Father of the Bride, but it's clearly the best Vampire Weekend music yet. Until last week, when the band teased the public with the album's initials FOTB, no one knew that Vampire Weekend were even thinking about new music, much less recording a new album. Here's the insect-themed YouTube audio for the song Harmony Hall.
What's next for 2019? The best news of all, our reason to be cheerful, is that no one really knows.
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