Songlights: Wet Leg; Lucy Dacus; Alison Russell and Annie Lennox; Djo

[Songlights are tracks I’m listening to this week that brighten the light of my days. Check back! I may add more to this post as the week goes on.]

A song I send out to the thousands of faithful public servants who, due to the cruelty and self-destructive madness of the current administration currently burning America down, have been fired…

Man in the church, man on the hill
Says he won't hurt me, but I know he will
I've been worrying the whole night through
How's about you?

How's about you? Ain't you been walking too?
Seems a lotta good people are gettin' bad news
How's about you? Ain't you got nothin' to sing?
Well, I used to have a dollar, I'm gonna have a dime someday

Criminal man, ain't bеhind bars
He's a-drivin' one of them Cadillac cars
I'm gonna switch sidеs real soon
How's about you?

ROCK AND ROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wet Leg is back. I liked them before. But I have a feeling I might be falling in love.

And will we have a better rock-album title this year than Moisturizer?

As song for the heartbroken…

As innocent and admirable Americans and the immigrants we have invited and made promises to are viciously and illegally seized and deported,

As our warmongering, narcissitic President vows to bring violence to our allies and to nations in need all over the world,

And as he paves a path for Putin to unleash even greater hell…

Here’s a song that works as a prayer, describing Jesus without ever explicitly naming him. But it also works as a call for all of us to be “superlovers” and strive to save and heal this rapidly disintegrating democracy, this world that hangs by a thread.

I can’t wait to see Allison Russell in concert again in just a few weeks.

Lucy Dacus is head over heels in love

Lucy Dacus is back with Forever is a Feeling, an album full of love songs celebrating her now-public romance with boygenius bandmate Julien Baker. As I expected, these songs glow with her singular voice and poetry. And this is one of my favorites from the record.

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New songs, a familiar voice

I’ve been listening to and marveling at the voice of Youssou N’Dour since Peter Gabriel released his pop masterpiece So in 1986. This remarkable Senegalese singer became a source of celebration and gratitude in the euphoric finale for the anthem “In Your Eyes.” And it’s great to discover he has a new album this week. I’m still looking for an acceptable English translation of these lyrics, but my spirit is lifted by the performances alone.

Here are some cathartic Tears for your Fears, from last year’s live album Songs for a Nervous Planet

Why didn’t anybody tell me? Djo (Joe Keery) is making outstanding pop music

I’ve been eager to see Joe Keery, who played the big-haired Steve Harrington on Stranger Things, take on the role of Stephen Malkmus in Pavements, the upcoming movie about one of my favorite ‘90s bands. But I’ve been out of the loop — nobody has bothered to alert me to the fact is making fantastic, hypercolored pop music under the name Djo. His new album The Crux arrived this week, and it’s getting some of the best reviews in a week crowded with new albums.

I put it on to try it out and — this hasn’t happened in a long time — I haven’t gotten very far in the album because I keep hitting “Repeat” on each song. I’ve played the opening track four times just in the last 24 hours — the inspired production, the deftly layered sounds and effects, the confident performance. Now, I have no doubt at all that he could pull of playing Malkmus, as I can hear the potential in his voice to effectively imitate songs like “Range Life” and “Haircut.” But Keery’s own imaginative work has my full attention now.

Check back! I’m adding more songs as the week rolls on…

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