I’ve always had a soft spot for Beth Orton and her music. When I first started working the overnight shift at IPR (the old KUNI, to be specific), I heard World Café every night, and this was around the time Orton’s album Central Reservation came out. Suddenly, it seemed like she was everywhere: she had a collaboration with The Chemical Brothers a couple of years earlier and another with folk singer Terry Callier.

Now, before you start thinking it was just nerds like me paying attention, Orton’s music was featured on a lot of the popular TV shows at the time, including Dawson’s Creek and Grey’s Anatomy.

Whatever sonic detour she’s taking, Orton’s voice seems to be the perfect match for it. And if her new single “Waiting” is any indication, she’s moving in a jazzy direction on her upcoming album (which is her first in four years). To me, it sounds like the halfway point between Joni Mitchell’s “Free Man In Paris” and Radiohead’s “High And Dry.” The trumpet, played here by Christos Styliandes, makes the song for me, along with Orton’s piano.

Lyrically, there’s a few things going on. Orton says in a press release that “Waiting” is "a celebration of moving out of the holding pattern fear keeps us in.” It sounds like it could be a breakup song, but it could be about any situation that’s gotten toxic or stagnant, and it also sounds like she’s trying to talk herself into staying at times. Orton’s voice is perfect throughout, striking a perfect balance between despair and hope.

The new album from Beth Orton, The Ground Above, will be released June 26. “Waiting” is on streaming services now, along with the new album’s nearly nine-minute title track.

A new Modest Mouse album is always an occasion for excitement here at Studio One (and in my own family, for that matter), and this one sounds especially worth getting excited about. One of the most important alternative rock bands ever is set to release their new album An Eraser And A Maze later this spring. It’s their first album in five years, and their first on an independent label since 1997.

“For this one, I turned off my filter and just let it all happen. Even though every g**damn musician says that when they put out a record,” said lead singer and songwriter Isaac Brock, in a statement announcing the album. He shared props for public radio too: “I mean, go ahead and listen to the three-minute mark of any interview between a musician and Terry Gross …”

Hell yeah! It's good to see we can count Brock as a public radio listener.

Modest Mouse has now released two songs from the upcoming record, including the leadoff single that accompanied the album announcement. It’s called “Picking Dragons’ Pockets,” and it’s classic Modest Mouse from start to finish.

All of the hallmarks are there: the slow build, the huge dynamics, Brock singing the word “well” the way only he can, the occasionally inscrutable lyrics. Now, before making “Picking Dragons’ Pockets” the official theme song of your Dungeons & Dragons party, pay extra attention to the words. The song can only be described as the story of a man who’s desperately trying to make sense of a world that has always refused to make sense. Although, on second thought, depending on your Dungeon Master and the world they’ve created, it might be perfect for your D&D group, so go for it!

An Eraser And A Maze will be released June 5, on Glacial Pace Records. You can hear “Picking Dragons’ Pockets” on Studio One. It’s also available on streaming services, along with the rest of Modest Mouse’s music. They’ve also announced tour dates for the rest of the year, and you can find those on their website as well.

Here at Studio One, we use the term “post punk” a fair bit, but I’ll admit it’s not a clearly defined genre. When taken at its most literal, it basically boils down to “came out after the invention of punk rock, but is not punk rock.” The important thing is, we know it when we hear it. Still, it’s helpful when a band makes it easy by self-identifying as a “post punk” band, as The Props has done with their debut EP.

The Props originally formed in Los Angeles in 2023, when lead vocalist Nick Ruiz was looking for new bandmates. He was connected with drummer Sam Edelman and bassist Jersey Sullivan, who already had a guitar player they’d worked with, Dawson Kroeger (apparently, even in a city the size of Los Angeles, all of the musicians know each other).

The band’s debut EP, Arrow, was released April 10. Often, musicians will release an EP for practical reasons first. It’s cheaper for one, but also, maybe the label wants to test them out first, or maybe that’s all they’ve written. For The Props, the result was a five-song release with no filler at all. Every song is a straight banger, and fans of all genres of rock music should find something to like here.

This isn’t the first ever release from The Props. They released a double single in 2024. But if you’re looking for an introduction to the band and what they’re all about, the title track from the Arrow EP makes perfect sense. It highlights everything the band does well, and carries a message that will resonate with the band’s age cohort. In a statement on their labels’ website, Ruiz says "Arrow is about deciding where your life is headed, whether you'll stand in the ruins of your emotions or rebuild yourself into the person you want to be."

The Arrow EP is available on Bandcamp and streaming services. The Props are heading out on a brief tour in May, with a show in St. Louis on May 1. For the time being, that’s as close as they’ll be getting to Iowa.