Dig These Discs : Rachel Platten, Hinds, Panic! At The Disco, Tindersticks, Cait Brennan

After performing for 25 years, transgender singer Cait Brennan releases her debut studio album. Singer/songwriter Rachel Platten drops her much-anticipated third album "Wildfire" this month, featuring her single "Stand By You," and the platinum-selling single "Fight Song." Panic! at the Disco's Brendon Urie writes, composes and records their fifth studio album, "Death of a Bachelor." The English indie rock band Tindersticks release their eleventh studio album, the first since 2013's "Across Six Leap Years." Spanish indie rock band from Madrid lets fly their debut album, "Leave Me Alone," coming four years after the were bounded, and a year after their first world tour.

"Debutante" (Cait Brennan)

Transgender folk singer Cait Brennan releases her new debut album "Debutante," a collection of 13 tunes, recorded in just five days. This multi-instrumentalist and vocalist first started to play in the '80s, but never had the money to release an album. Being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2014 didn't help. But after performing for 25 years, she finally kickstarted her way to a debut album, with help from fellow trans rockers like Laura Jane Grace. Now, Brennan is ready to rock, too. She kicks things off with "Good Morning and Goodnight," a jangly song with lots of guitar and drums that's more Roy Orbison than Carole King. "Underworld" follows, as she sings, "I am nature's daughter and I'm living beyond the sun/you're more than what you barter with -- the souls of everyone." The sad sound of "Dear Arthur" pairs well with the twang of acoustic guitars, and she sings of the passage of time in "Lines." Her music shows clear influences of Elton John, David Bowie, and English pop. Despite your deceitfulness, Brennan says, "I Want You Back." The drama is ramped up in "Showman," as she sings, "You had to have it your way, or no way at all, you put it in your screenplay..." The simple piano of "Father McKenzie" will put you in the mind of "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles, and the heartfelt vibes of "Meet Your Remaker" and "Harmony Lies," a two-in-one song, will touch you as Brennan sings, "What could be worse than all the hurt you're living in? Years of giving in; they named you and shamed you, they tried but you dared to be free. Now's your final chance to change your circumstance/ so face it, embrace it, it's time to see who you will be." She croons in "All In Love Is Fair," and goes for a '50s band sound in "Madame Pompadour." Brennan wrote the final song, "Black Diamond" in Tacoma, when she was a homeless squatter, and channeled that fear. Don't worry about having to wait 25 years for her next release; she already has her sophomore album, "Jinx," in the wings for a late 2016 release.
(Alternative Distribution Alliance)

"Wildfire" (Rachel Platten)

Singer/songwriter Rachel Platten releases her much-anticipated third album "Wildfire" this month, featuring her single "Stand By You," and the platinum-selling single "Fight Song." "After a decade of trying to find my path in music I started to believe it would never happen for me.�The thing that kept me going was the one-on-one�connections with listeners -- no matter how many or how few. These connections sparked my fire that fueled me to write this album.�'Wildfire' is for everyone who ever believed in me," said Platten. "Hands, put your empty hands in mine, and scars, show me all the scars you hide/ And hey, if your wings are broken, please take mine so yours can open" sings Platten in "Stand By You," in her fine soprano voice. The album features a dozen tracks and does a good job of showcasing Platten's ability to move between ballads, pop songs, and fast-moving funky tunes, like "Hey Hey Hallelujah." She lays on the drama in "Speechless," singing about how words distract from the truth; only your touch is honest. She gets anthemic with "Fight Song," and lays her sweet vocals over piano in "Better Place." Platten gets folksy in "Lone Ranger," with her rapid-fire vocals about staying up late drinking mescal creating a rhythm as though she's clip-clopping across the steppe. She wishes that someone could open her up and see her real feelings, in "You Don't Know My Heart," and tries to keep hope after a drunk girl gets killed in a hit and run, in "Angels in Chelsea." Her cutesy pop song "Astronauts" has Platten wishing for a calm, quiet space to float around in, and goes for an R&B vibe in the regret-laden "Congratulations." "We're only human after all," she sings in her final song, "Superman." Platten will kick off "The Wildfire Tour" on February 26 in Dallas, ending up in LA on April 5. Run there, screaming "Wildfire!"
(Columbia Records)

"Death of a Bachelor" (Panic! at the Disco)

American rockers Panic! at the Disco release their fifth studio album, "Death of a Bachelor." The album was written, composed and recorded entirely by lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Brendon Urie, who said it was in honor of the songs he wrote as a child. The band kicks things off with the anthem "Victorious," an amped-up song with clever, rapid-fire lyrics that has him rhyming "killer queen" with "Steve McQueen." The instrumentals from "Rock Lobster" score their "Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time," as Urie sings the chorus, "Champagne, cocaine, gasoline, and most things in between/I rode the city in a shopping cart, a pack of camels was in a smoke alarm." Their "Hallelujah" won't be appearing soon at at church near you, unless you attend one of those crazy New Age religions, but it's a catchy song, praise Jesus! He's done his time and served his sentence in the alt-rock track "Emperor's New Clothes," and the discordant intro to "Death of a Bachelor" unwinds itself into a lounge rock song that could have been sung by Old Blue Eyes, as Urie croons, "How could I ask for more? A lifetime of laughter, at the expense of the death of a bachelor." The cut "Crazy=Genius" is like a funhouse swingtime soundtrack, moving fast as he replies to a girl's quip that he's no Brian Wilson, by saying if crazy equals genius, then he's a rocket scientist. The fast-moving "LA Devotee" is among the best of the bunch, as he sings, "You got two black eyes from loving too hard, and a black car that matches your blackest soul." He goes back to the "Golden Days" when he finds a pile of Polaroids from 1979 in an old record store. "The Good, The Bad and The Dirty" is an edgy rock tune, and Urie sings of lost love in the tune "House of Memories." And you'll get a vibe of Paul McCartney in Wings in the ballad "Impossible Year," with Urie's deep bass. The band kicks off their tour this week in LA, and plays throughout the summer.
(DCD2/Fueled By Ramen)

"The Waiting Room" (Tindersticks)

The English indie rock band Tindersticks release their eleventh studio album, the first since 2013's "Across Six Leap Years." They begin with the intro "Follow Me," a whisper of a tune with a slow bass beat and lounge act effects. You can tell they've had experience making movie soundtracks. For this album, they've also created short films for each song. Didn't we used to call those videos? Lead singer Stuart A. Staples gives their "Second Chance Man" and "The Waiting Room" a blurred audio feel, like the albums Ween recorded during those years they were heavily inhaling Scotchgard. And the trippy "Were We Once Lovers" is reminiscent of a mid-career David Bowie song, may he rest in peace. Brass arrangements courtesy of Julian Siegel give life to "Help Yourself." Lhasa De Sela, a dear lost friend of Staples, joins in a heartfelt duet in "Hey Lucinda." Their "Fear of Emptiness" is a stolid soundscape, and the question to "How He Entered" is answered quickly: with an open heart.... Gentle discordance, like porch mobiles in a rainstorm, make up the cut "Planting Holes," and Jehnny Beth of Savages chimes in on the ominous, intense cut "We are Dreamers!" with a short film by Brazilian director Gabriel Sanna. They finish up the album with "Like Only Lovers Can," a wistful bit. Catch the tunes, and watch the short films.
(City Slang)

"Leave Me Alone" (Hinds)

Spanish indie rock band from Madrid releases their debut album, "Leave Me Alone," coming four years after the were founded, and a year after their first world tour. The quartet of Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote on vocals and guitar, plus Ade Martin on bass and Amber Grimbergen, on drums, launched their album on January 6 at Brooklyn's Palisades. The dozen songs on their debut is like a nutshell view of their life, a wild party following a day on the beach. They open things up with "Garden," singing shakily, "How many secrets you have tucked in your smile and away." There's a real garage band feel to the group, and that's not a bad thing. Female voices reach discord in "Fat Calmed Kiddos," and they are carefree and go with the flow in "Warts." They've got no tears to shed, and even though they're all on their own, it's "Easy." "Castigadas En El Granero" means loosely, "punished at the barn," and the lyrics "back in time seemed funny game but now we are out with all my sisters around playing mums/ it blows my mind," paint a picture of the possibilities. "Solar Gap" stays on the high end of the chimes register, and "Chili Town" is all slow, amped-out beach guitars. Multiply that vibe, and you have "Bamboo," one of the best of the bunch, as they warn, "I'm not going to always be around." They really swing in "San Diego," and wind it back down in the slow jam "And I Will Send Your Flowers Back." The jaunty feel of "I'll Be Your Man" is aided by the use of claves. They finish with "Walking Home," about as close to a pop song as they get. Between the band's carefree surf rock vibe and the fact that English is their second language, Hinds' lyrics can sometimes be hard to understand. But the vibe is unmistakable.
(Lucky Number)