Terrific albums are coming thick and fast this November.
We have five new albums to highlight this week (and there were many more we would have, if we had more time), plus three banger singles!
Fresh Picks albums this week include Kelley Smith's growth on Flowers, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 carrying the Afrobeat torch on Na Dem, the folk storytelling extraordinaire Willi Carlisle's Universal Bubba, the impossibly fun and impossible to pin down Caroline Rose's Gentling the Horse at the Walt Whitman Mall, and the Twisted Teens' worthy-of-the-hype punk fusion on The Holy Cross Tigers.
In our featured tracks you'll learn about Christine and the Queens' joyous "Rendez-vouz avec toi," and two different unearthed late '90s tunes with "Spaceman Charm" from the ever-cool Morphine and an early taste of Gillian Welch & David Rawlings magic on "Tear My Stillhouse Down (The Hickory Show)."
Check out this week's suggestions from Music Director Kari Hedlund, Asst. Music Director Malachy Koons, Volunteer Coordinator Dan Gannon and News Director Chelsey Perkins.
Albums
Album of the Week: Kelley Smith - Flowers
In 2022, Brainerd musician Kelley Smith released her first-ever EP Moon Child. She was 40 years old, recording at home in the midst of a pandemic — an act of personal growth at an unprecedented time.
Four years later, Smith is showcasing her talents and timeless storytelling in a much-anticipated debut full-length album Flowers, released Friday, Nov. 6, by Liatris Records. She recorded at various cabins before landing at Bellows Studio in St. Paul and producing Flowers with Adam Krinsky, who's worked with other Minnesota musicians like Trampled by Turtles, David Huckfelt, Keith Secola and Heiruspecs.
The record is Smith, evolved — as a singer, as a musician, as a mother, as a person. She contemplates love, loneliness and grief, while exploring the gamut of human experiences that are eminently relatable.
In a conversation ahead of the release, Smith told KAXE Music Director Kari Hedlund about the origin of the title track "Flowers," which features Jed and Ariana LaPlant of Wild Horses. She wrote it in reaction to one of her children going through a difficult time while thinking back to a more carefree early childhood, running through fields of wildflowers: "Let me give you something easy/ Only flowers for my baby/ Just give me something other than/ The broken heart of a mother."
It's hard to choose favorite tracks on this sweeping lyrical journey. "Little Match Girl" and "Come Down Oh Maid" are the two other singles released thus far, and both have reached sing-along status for me. "Open Hands" is a gorgeous love story and the catchy riffs of "Down by the Water" back a beautiful and atmospheric track, while "Left Side of the Bed" is a study of feeling alienated from a lover.
And then there's "Lydia," which shares a family story of Smith's through the eyes of a young girl separated from her loved ones during the Holocaust: "Oh Lydia they will never know/ that you have your mama’s eyes/ Oh Lydia it’s not your fault/ they took you by surprise."
Uffda. You've been warned — tears of both the happy and sad variety may be in your future with Flowers. - CP
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 - Na Dem
Thought provoking and hip shaking. Just like his father, Seun Kuti's music is anchored in the idea that universal grooves and a "fight the power" message go hand in hand. Is there anyone doing that better in music today? I think not. So move your body and free your mind as Fela's youngest rails against fascists, Epstein collaborators, the ultra rich, organized religion and anyone else he sees as blocking a better life for the common people of this world. -MK
Willi Carlisle - The Universal Bubba
"I was born to shine at the center of the world" sings the wonderfully weird folksinger Willi Carlisle on the album opener "Mason Jar at the Center of the World." The album kicks off with fiddle and banjo before we hear Carlisle's warbly voice referencing outer space, moonshine and humble self-celebration.
The Universal Bubba was produced by Tyler Childers at a DIY home studio in New Orleans, but the sound is as clear and folksy as Carlisle's lyrics. The autobiographical cut "Use Me Up" brings a more world weary sound from Carlisle as he laments rough parenting, addiction and unrequited love.
On the celebratory "Good Morning Midnight," we hear Carlisle hollering at the moon after having a few adult hop pops with some snaky slide guitar and barroom piano, making this the most outright country song on the album. On "The Master's Hammer" a banjo and Carlisle's voice belts out a song of resistance in the face of crappy odds with lines like "I'm filled with grief but I'm wild enough to win."
Willi Carlisle deftly bounces around between sounds and styles like the true talent he is. Case in point is "Contact High," which focuses on sweeping organ, drums and a wicked bass workout while Carlisle ... ummm ... raps? At 17 songs there is A LOT to grab onto, and whether you're at a kitchen hoedown or gathered around a backyard fire, this record will keep your ears at attention.
This man is one of the best storytellers out there combining humor, whimsy and looking at both the future and past in the same tune. Willi Carlisle is, as the album title suggests, The Universal Bubba, and we need more like him! -DG
Caroline Rose - Gentling the Horse at the Walt Whitman Mall
KAXE listeners will be well familar with the first two ripping rockers off Walt Whitman — "Yip Yip Yow" and "Chow Mein" — both favorites of our wonderful volunteer DJs. Caroline Rose is back with her kinda outlandish lyrics, attitude and resistance to developing a clear sound ... in a good way!
The song "Cement Head" would be a menacing shiv as done by someone else, but Rose keeps it weird like a trashy paperback with a stalking blues guitar and tempting alleyway synths. Her music is fun, imaginative, literate and seriously unserious. On Gentling, we are hearing Caroline Rose put her two feet into the wet cement of rock 'n' roll as tune after tune gets you snapping your head and pounding your heel into the dirt.
The record is produced by John Congleton, who has worked with acts like St. Vincent and Erykah Badu, so he is well familiar with off-kilter pop artists. The tune "Notes to a Teen Age Self" sees Rose slowing things down a bit with an up-tempo acoustic guitar backing some of her more reflective lyrics about being young, searching for the unknown and being understandably lost.
The album, as the title suggests, reflects a suburban malaise with chuckles, shrugged shoulders and glad-I'm-not-there-anymore vibes. Or maybe that's just me interjecting myself into her intentions? At the end of the day, Caroline Rose is making some sing-along ditties that always, always, always leave me happy and sweating. Viva Le Rose! -DG
Twisted Teens - The Holy Cross Tigers
I joined the Twisted Teens hype train a few months ago with Florida Water Blues, the genre-smashing Florida punk duo's third album overall and already their second album of 2026. Now — after I've barely had enough time for my obsession with that album to run its course — Caspian Hollywell and Razor Ramone (not their real names) are signed to Sub Pop and out with album No. 3 of the year. And it's another banger.
At first listen, it's their uniquely ramshackle mix of pedal steel, drum machine, punk and country that will catch your ear, but it's the hidden strength of their songwriting and catchy melodies that will keep you coming back for more. In my opinion, deserving of the hype in every way. -MK
Singles
Christine and the Queens - "Rendez-vouz avec toi"
French musician Christine and the Queens has created some of the most touching, sad and emotionally intelligent pop music over the years. In "Rendez-vous avec toi," he is jubilant in this song about lovers who find each other again. Through disco-infused grooves, this song infuses me with goodness and makes it difficult to sit still at my desk. For a dose of dopamine, go watch the video now. -KH
Morphine - "Spaceman Charm"
Another single from the upcoming Cocoon release, taken from 1998 recording sessions that were shelved after frontman Mark Sandman's sudden and unexpected death in 1999, "Spaceman Charm" is the only track from the "lost album" that has never been heard before in any form. With that in mind, you might expect this to be the sort of deep cut studio throw away that only hardcore fans of the band would appreciate, but this is anything but. It's hard to explain exactly what makes music sound "cool," but you know it when you hear it, and this is it. -MK
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings - "Tear My Stillhouse Down"
This live version comes from a widely bootlegged 1997 concert that will be officially released as the latest in Welch & Rawlings' archival series as Boots No. 3: The Hickory Show. The pair had only recently released their debut album Revival, yet their natural chemistry and complementary voices were already on full display. -MK
Pick From '76
Tom Waits - Small Change
Despite the title, Tom Waits' fourth album — our next look back at important albums released 50 years ago — was much more than a Small Change.
Or maybe it's more accurate to say that it was the beginning of a large change, as the gravel in his voice increased while the elements of eclectic instrumentation and bluesy barroom cabaret that would make up his future classic albums began to appear.
We already knew Waits was a league above most in songwriting, with classics like "Ol' 55" and "Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards)" from Closing Time (1973), and "(Looking For) The Heart Of Saturday Night" from The Heart of Saturday Night (1974). And we knew the showmanship and character was there from Nighthawks at the Diner (1975), where his alcoholic jazz philosopher personality blossomed in front of a live audience brought in to fake a smoky late night jazz club vibe.
On Small Change, Waits put it all together for the first time and you can hear it from the get-go. "Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets To The Wind In Copenhagen)" is one of his best, often covered by others and his live show closer for many years.
"Step Right Up" is pure Waits chaos, making fun of advertising slogans and, perhaps accidentally, jazz scatting.
The lecherous "Pasties And A G-String (At The Two O'Clock Club)" is the clearest indication of the singer-songwriter's future, and not just how much of a freak he was. The off-kilter drums would eventually go from accompanying one short interlude-style song to entire albums.
Small Change was a stepping stone in Waits becoming what we all imagine him in our heads to be. The best was yet to come on Rain Dogs and Swordfishtrombone (side note: how many artists can you name who started in the early '70s, were active on major labels throughout the decade, then hit their creative peak in the mid '80s?) but this is Tom Waits we're talking about, and Small Change is still an exceptional and one-of-a-kind album. -MK
