What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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GET GREAT BRANSON DEALS sent directly to your phone! Text BRANSON to 82928 Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to cancel. Go to taponitdeals.com/terms for privacy and terms. HIGHLIGHTS LISTEN HERE! 12 WHAT'S UP! MARCH 22-28, 2020 'RED TAIL' Dave Simonett Thirty Tigers Dave Simonett does wistful well. On his first solo project bearing his real name, the Trampled by Turtles front- man delivers eight gently achy songs that sound like their names: "In the Western Wind and the Sunrise," "There's a Lifeline Deep in the Night Sky" and — well, you get the idea. Simonett's new album, "Red Tail," is the logical successor to "Furnace," a wonderful but underrated album he put out under the name Dead Man Winter in 2017 while sorting through the storm damage of a divorce. "Red Tail" finds him further along the cathartic path, and yet it still has the pacing of a deep sigh. On the opener "Revoked," Simon- ett allows from the start that he's "feeling fine now." But the setting is a folk minuet with lyrics that match the somber tone: "A bracing pond a whip- poorwill, awake but I'm just standing still, and morning came with shaky nerves, where can we go, when will I learn?" None of that is meant to cast this album as a road map to depression, and despite its emotional heft it doesn't come off as self-absorbed. There's more going on here than that. All the songs have a poignancy that reflect Simonett's craftsmanship and his penchant for achy lyrics. In a song called "Pisces, Queen of Hearts," he builds to a gentle crescendo and then sings, "I remember thinking we would meet again, in the space between the starlight and the tree line." So no, it's probably not dinner music, and it's definitely not party music, but it has more depth than his work with the band for which he's known. And if you're in a certain mood, maybe one that has you gazing out a window on a quiet rainy evening, this might be the vibe you're looking for. — Scott Stroud The Associated Press 'COLOR THEORY' Soccer Mommy Loma Vista Sophie Allison is a young star with an old soul. In 2017, she dropped out of New York University and moved back home to Nashville, Tenn., after her deceptively calm, arresting songs earned her a record deal with the Fat Possum label. The next year, her "Clean" debut as Soccer Mommy immediately established her as one of the leading songwriters of her generation, starting with the lead single "Your Dog" that thrillingly turned the tables on Iggy Pop's "I Wanna Be Your Dog." With her "Color Theory" follow-up to that impressive entrance, Allison is shooting still higher. Teaming again with producer Gabe Wax, who's worked with Philadelphia's the War On Drugs, among others, she's structured the album in three color-coded parts. Blue represents depression; yellow, physical and mental illness; gray, dark- ness and loss. The colors are muted on the album — the cover art is packaged to look like a vintage cassette — and so are the arrangements, which are more polished, reflecting a growing comfort level in the recording studio. The smooth surfaces can't hide what's roiling underneath, however. She's unforgiving, gazing in the mirror in "Royal Screw Up." "Nightswim- ming," which borrows a title from an R.E.M. song, captures the distance that technology can create for two people otherwise alone: "The bruises show/ Standing in the living room talking, as you're staring at your phone." "Yellow Is The Color Of Her Eyes" is a seven-minute heartbreaker about her mother's cancer. It's ultimately incon- solable — "Loving you is not enough/ You'll still be in the ground when it's done" — and a powerful centerpiece to the album. — Dan DeLuca The Philadelphia Inquirer 'FAR FROM HOME' Aubrie Sellers Soundly Music Aubrie Sellers opens "Far From Home" with the title song, a slow, ethereal number with folk underpinnings that exudes an old-as-the-hills vibe. Then, just as you're lulled, she tears into "My Love Will Not Change," a raw, thumping rocker with attitude as sharp-edged as the music (and a guest vocal by Steve Earle). In other words, Sellers, the daughter of country/Americana star Lee Ann Womack, picks up where she left off on 2016's excellent "New City Blues." Brash and beguiling, urban and rural, she works the extremes and makes them seem of a piece. The whiplash effect can be thrilling: the slow, gentle "Worried Mind" segueing into the feisty, roots-rock- ing "Drag You Down," the almost industrial thrash of "Glad" ("I'm glad that you broke this heart of mine") giving way to the openhearted yearning of "Haven't Even Kissed Me Yet." All in all, it's an audacious, yet seemingly effortless achievement that should have Sellers, in the words of one song title, "Going Places." — Nick Cristiano The Philadelphia Inquirer With no live music to list, this spot will be filled by news and reviews of new albums, both local and national. Send information about your new releases to Jocelyn Murphy at jmurphy@ nwadg.com. 'COLOR THEORY' Soccer Mommy Loma Vista 'FAR FROM HOME' Aubrie Sellers Soundly Music 'RED TAIL' Dave Simonett Thirty Tigers