New FUV Faves

A quick overview of some of the new songs you'll hear this week on FUV:

Black Pumas, "More Than a Love Song"
The second album from Grammy-nominated Austin duo Black Pumas, Chronicles of a Diamond, will be released on October 27 via ATO. The first single, "More Than a Love Song," leads off the new album and it is the first song which singer/songwriter/producer Eric Burton and guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada wrote for the record. The sultry, self-declared "sweet soul music" single was produced by Quesada and co-produced by Burton, with additional production by John Congleton (Local Natives, Regina Spektor).

"’More Than a Love Song’ is a message I borrowed from my Uncle Steve," explains Burton in a statement. "As a songwriter and caregiver, he’d listen to me write songs from afar and if I were lucky he’d have a pointer or two for me. ‘Life is more than a love song.’”

Black Pumas garnered seven Grammy nominations for the deluxe version of their 2019 self-titled debut album, including Album of the Year, and did FUV Live sessions in 2019 and 2021. "More Than a Love Song" was included in some of Black Pumas' sets in the summer of 2022

Death Cab For Cutie, "An Arrow in the Wall"
"An Arrow in the Wall" is one of two tracks on a new two-sided 12-inch single from Death Cab for Cutie, produced by John Congleton.

We're playing the original single mix on FUV, but on the flip side there's a CHVRCHES remix. Frontman Ben Gibbard says Death Cab and Scotland's CHVRCHES have been good friends since touring together in 2019. "They took our maudlin little dance track and turned it into a major key club banger," says Gibbard in a statement. As for the new song itself, he explains: "'An Arrow In the Wall’ is about the warning signs all around us in the 21st century that society-at-large is in decay. The arrow lodged in the wall might have missed this time, but it would be naive to assume the next one won’t also."

In 2022, Death Cab for Cutie released Asphalt Meadows; both Death Cab for Cutie and Postal Service, Gibbard's other band with Jimmy Tamborello (featuring backing vocals from Jenny Lewis), embark on a sold-out co-headlining tour beginning September 5, commemorating the 20th anniversary of Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticism and the Postal Service's one-and-only album, Give Up.

The tour arrives at Madison Square Garden on September 19-20 with support from Warpaint. There's also a 2022 Death Cab for Cutie FUV Live session, hosted by Alisa Ali, with three of the five members, including Gibbard.

Genesis Owusu, "Tied Up!"
In mid-August, Genesis Owusu released his second album, STRUGGLER, via Ourness/AWAL. It's a concept album, criss-crossing multiple genres, which Owusu explains is “a story about a roach that runs and runs, trying not to get stepped on by God.”

"It's an album that was definitely framed by the last few years of this chaotic and absurd world that we've all lived in," Owusu, real name Kofi Owusu-Ansah, told NPR. "Being in Australia, we suffered extremely crazy bushfires and then hailstorms, and then we all went through COVID together. Every day through that, we all still got up and put on our ties and kept on trucking."

The Ghanaian-born, Australian rapper and vocalist's 2021 debut album, Smiling With No Teeth, won virtually all of Australia's prestigious music prizes, including The Aria and the Australian Music Prize.

Owusu begins a North American tour in October, playing Brooklyn's Elsewhere on October 20.

Jaime Wyatt, "World Worth Keeping"
Based out of Nashville these days, singer and songwriter Jaime Wyatt's "World Worth Keeping" is the lead single from her upcoming third album, Feel Good, out on November 3 on New West Records. Lyrically, Wyatt directly focuses on the climate emergency and economic inequity, pleading "there's a world worth keeping."

Produced by Adrian Quesada from Black Pumas, much of Feel Good was recorded at Electric Deluxe Recorders in Austin, live to tape with her band.

"The music is the closest thing I’ve done to my life story so far," she recently told Billboard. "For me personally, it’s about falling in love while also moving and trying to get more free."

Jaime, who is also an LGBTQ activist, recently made her debut at the 2023 Newport Folk Festival, and will be supporting ZZ Ward on the "One Hell of a Night" tour, including a stop at New York's Gramercy Theatre on September 9.

Joe P, "Don't Wanna Love U"
Asbury Park, New Jersey singer-songwriter Joe P's latest single might sounds upbeat, but there's heartbreak lurking in its dreamy midst. "Basically, it’s the saddest song I’ve ever written, dressed up in a happy song’s clothes," he explains.

Joe P, real name Joe Parella, headed for TikTok with his solo songs, including the viral "Off My Mind," after his longtime band, Deal Casino, became a victim of the pandemic pause. Joe subsequently released his debut album in 2021, Emily Can't Sing, and a 2022 EP, French Blonde (and he did an FUV Live session with Alisa Ali).

After a mostly West Coast tour in October, Joe P will be at Jersey City's White Eagle Hall on November 11.