Crooked Words #20: Babehoven, Tracey Nelson, Jake Xerxes Fussell
Babehoven - Lasagna
Back in May, Babehoven released 'Blue Around You', a fiddle-led, beautifully breezy new track that sat as an introduction to a brand new chapter for Maya Bon's burgeoning project. Though it's only been two years since the release of the Water's Here In You LP, said track seemed to hint at a shift in the bands timbre; a gentle but noticeable flourishing. Where that 2024 LP had been crafted in-house, made and produced by Maya alongside her collaborater and bandmate Ryan Albert, 'Blue Around You' cast its open arms much wider.
What we now know is that 'Blue Around You' was the first taste of a brand new Babehoven LP, I See Them, I See Me, the news of which was shared alongside another song this week, in the form of the blustery and far more knotty 'Lasagna'.
Those aforementioned wide-arms are prevalent again in the album's finer details; Maya and Ryan recording their new collection with Phil Weinrobe (Adrianne Lenker, Florist, Tomberlin), Kevin Copeland (Hannah Frances, Allegra Kieger) and the excellent musician/producer Sam Evian. The 14-track album will be released September 18th, via Double Double Whammy.
Kicking into life from the first moments, 'Lasagna' is earnest and soaring, Maya's voice packed full of heart as the full-band sound billows around it, often taking over entirely as guitars rip, drums crash. Burrowed in its heavy heart is a deep sense of yearning, however, and it's that feeling that lingers long after the quietude returns, which carries the song to somewhere weighty and meaningful.
"There’s just a way that you wave and wave, like the wind is on your side," Maya sings into the open air, where deep-seated sentiments meet wide skies. "I’ve never had that feeling, no I don’t know what that feels like."
Shaping up to be one of 2026's stand-outs, you can listen to both of the new album tracks below, and also pre-order the whole thing via Bandcamp.
Tracey Nelson - Hercules [LP]
Originally arriving as a self-made cd-r, Tracey Nelson's Hercules got a full and proper release last week via the new K Records imprint Perennial. It's an uplifting that feels fully deserved, too, not only because of the wider family of musicians who contribute to the songs here but also the endearing excellence of Nelson's own craft.
Formed of 13 songs, there's a loose and rugged nature to the work here, but also a hell of a lot of heart. It all feels playful but also sincere, rippled with an earnestness that feels wonderfully engaging.
As for that aforementioned family, the record was co-Produced by MJ Lenderman alongside his bandmate (and truly excellent solo musician) Colin Miller, while Wednesday's Karly Hartzman also makes a guest appearance. For all the weight those names carry, they never outmuscle the songs themselves, taking a supportie backseat as the album winds through a charming set of songs that seem to dig their heels in a little deeper with every repeated listen.
Opening track 'Hercules' feels synonymous with such a thing. Where at first it comes across as a bright and breezy introduction, over time it gently morphs into something more yearning and ambiguous, its words and sentiments seeming to shift depending on how and where the light catches them.
Elsewhere 'Two Feet' is a dusty and weary ballad-of-sorts that casts a shadow across the first half of the album, while 'St. John's River' is a tender meeting of the light and dark, one that's held up by the spirit that underpins it. That spirit is a vital part of the album's success, in fact, elevating so many of the songs from the slightly ramshackle appearance they initially offer, to the compelling snapshots of Nelson's life that keep you coming back time and again.
The whole album is out now, listen and order via Bandcamp. It's a real gem.
Jake Xerxes Fussell - Rock Island Line
"That's the stuff on a hot summer's day," my friend replied yesterday, when I sent her the brand new song from the wonderful Jake Xerxes Fussell. A truth, of course, and also a reminder to me of when I first discovered Jake's music a few years ago, wandering through the forest above my then-home on a bright blue summer's day, escaping the heat in the shadow of the trees, light falling through branches, the smell of all that earthy ground.
Back then it was 2019's Out Of Sight LP, but everything that's followed falls into the same kind of environment; wandering, weaving soundscapes, Jake's rugged yet plaintive voice, all gently unraveling in the same way a summer's day can and often does.
Said new song,'Rock Island Line', certainly comes to life in such a place, the first single from Jake's forthcoming sixth studio album reminiscent of much of what's come before but also slightly different too, the scattergun delivery of the words shaping the song into something new once more, a reinterpretation of one thing, into another and into another once more.
A much-covered classic country song, Jake says he might have once avoided putting his own imprint on such a thing, but was drawn to it via a Lonnie Donegan version he heard:
“The song struck me as very beautiful, but just singing the verses wasn’t working for me. I couldn’t relate,” he says in the album's introduction. “So, I wound up putting it together with an old English nursery rhyme that I had been kicking around. ‘Wire, briar, limberlock /How many geese is in our flock?’ and ‘If you want to ride you got to ride it like you’re flyin, get your ticket at the station on the Rock Island Line.’ Marrying those two things, I felt like something worked, it felt like a song to me.”
A quintessential piece of music from an ever-essential artist, 'Rock Island Line' is another deft and absorbing composition – and it's streaming below right now. The Old Beloved Path LP is out September 18th, via Fat Possum Records.
Thank you for being here. Happy listening.
