Now Hear This! #011 – Terra Lightfoot, Desert Mambas, America Jayne, Beatrice Andrews

Now Hear This! This week’s collection of endorsements includes the pop-rock of Terra Lightfoot, the country-laced indie-rock of Desert Mambas, the alt-rock of America Jayne, and the beatific folk-pop of Beatrice Andrews.

We’ll bring you a new post each week, songs from which will regularly be added to our accompanying “Now Hear This” Spotify playlist.

Terra Lightfoot – “Cross Border Lovers”

Canadian pop-rock singer-songwriter Terra Lightfoot releases her new single/music video, “Cross Border Lovers,” a track lifted from her upcoming album, Healing Power, slated to drop on October 13.

Speaking about the album, Lightfoot says:

“The story is that everything comes back around. It was my idea to call the record ‘Healing Power,’ and I thought of the most healing place that I knew in the world. That tree taught me about perseverance. It was the only tree living at that altitude. It just kept growing. And I knew I had to be like that too: just to keep growing and changing.”

Backed by Elijah Abrams (bass) and Blue Rodeo’s Glenn Milchem (drums), Healing Power displays Lightfoot’s artistic range and oodles of charisma.

Traveling on a punchy rhythm, “Cross Border Lovers” highlights Lighfoot’s penetrating voice, slicing across the soundscape with dynamic verve, giving the lyrics passionate surface coloration.

Desert Mambas – …But It’s a Dry Heat

Blending ricochets of country and sleazy, moody flavors of indie-rock, “It’s Been a While” slides along on slippery, twangy guitars oozing dark, unctuous tones. The track is from the Desert Mambas’, aka Bailey Moses, latest EP, …But It’s a Dry Heat.

Moses’ second job is playing guitar with the Los Angeles-based four-piece outfit Foxx Bodies. The name – Desert Mambas – came from a forgotten stranger in the booth of a Waffle House. From that cosmic point of origin, Desert Mambas has emerged as a refreshing voice ushering in the promise and courage of trans joy, singing haunting, beautiful, and unforgettable songs steeped in the classic milieus of country, rock, and generations of singer-songwriters.

Of the four tracks on …But It’s a Dry Heat, both “It’s Been a While” and “Dry Heat,” a dreamy-creamy instrumental song, stand out as exceptional.

America Jayne – Shove It

Brooklyn-based alt-rock artist America Jayne drops her sophomore EP, Shove It, which conjures up suggestions of Paramore crossed with Turnstile.

The EP is the result of a collaborative process, with each track on the EP featuring a different NYC musician as co-writer. Unlike America Jayne’s prior releases, Shove It is heavier and grungier, revealing a visceral energy akin to a live performance.

Talking about the focus track, “Parasite,” America Jayne says:

“‘Parasite’ is a song about letting go of an old relationship as that person moves on with someone else. It’s a song about sucking it up, turning the other cheek, and genuinely wishing them the best. The song is an anthemic tune at the end of the EP, and just when you think it’s over and that the narrator has fully moved on, the track comes back in with chugging bass and drums, screeching guitar, and layered group vocals echoing ‘Do you have to shove it?’ The outro sheds the ‘be the bigger person’ outlook of the verses and allows the narrator to truly feel the pain, sorrow, and jealousy of watching the person you love move on before you.”

Beatrice Andrews – “Hurricane”

“Hurricane,” the debut single from Chicago’s folk-pop singer-songwriter Beatrice Andrews, foreshadows her upcoming debut album, set for release in October.

Produced by Jim Tullio, Andrews’ nuanced voice, like silk dipped in smoke, summons the divine ghost of Julia Fordham, imbuing the lyrics with opulent timbres tumescent with delicate, arching inflections and delicious phrasing.