Kendrick Lamar is back! After announcing his upcoming album, "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers," Lamar has officially graced the world with his first new song as the lead artist since 2018. Titled "The Heart Part Five," Lamar accompanied the single with a crazy music video that features deepfakes of several prolific figures like Will Smith, Kanye West, OJ Simpson and more. While visually enticing, it's also equally terrifying, because deepfakes can be highly dangerous technology. The song itself samples Marvin Gaye's "I Want You," and as usual Lamar goes crazy. There's talks of the album being a double-sided project, and even a book to accompany the release. We'll know what this all entails for sure on May 13.
In other news, it's been a while since I've been able to recap some of Central Oregon's newest releases in a Source Material, so here's a spring catchup to show off some of what Central Oregon's musicians have been cooking up over the last couple of months.
"The Innocents" - DRIFT
The debut album of Mark Quon and Co. is a soothing and thoughtful grouping of 12 acoustic, soft rock songs, featuring Quon on vocals/acoustic guitar, Terence Neal on harmonies/electric guitar, John Allen on bass, Matthew Fletch on percussion/keyboard, Linda Quon with vocal harmonies and a feature from Patrick Ondrozeck as he plays the organ on the song "Milepost 8." With hints of The Jayhawks and Wilco, DRIFT takes me back to a different time when acoustic rock was more popularized. With writing that is filled with vivid imagery, all you have to do is sit back and let the album take you on a journey. A good example of this is on the title track and intro, that wonderfully sets the tone for the rest of the album. Don't miss DRIFT's album release party on June 10 at the Volcanic Theatre Pub.
"World of Wonder" - Adrien75
This experimental-looping project from Adrien Capozzi will be fully released on May 13. Using Korg Minilogue and Roland SH-01A synthesizers, along with more traditional instrumentation like acoustic guitars, ukulele, violin, vocals and other household items, Capozzi's new album is huge—both in its length (17 individual tracks) and in the depth of his layering techniques. While it's one continuous long mix, Capozzi has separated out moments into individual songs so you can easily listen to your favorite pieces. "World of Wonder" serves as an exploration of chill ambient music that is trippy enough to suck you into different corners of your mind, and soft enough to put you into a deep relaxation.
"Love Is Always a Sneak Attack" - Danny Fingers and the Thumbs
Danny Fingers doesn't adhere to any of music's general rules. On his third album, Mr. Fingers finds himself jumping through many eras and stylings of rock. From moments of dance and techno, groovy R&B, and electronic influences all over, you never really know what the next song will sound like when it comes on. This is a fitting feeling, considering the album's title. Love can creep up at any moment to surprise you—and so can any Danny Fingers song. The album plays like a musician who is simply out there having fun and letting the music make the decisions for him.
Five For The Rotation
"HOP HOP" - Tigris
"learn 2 swim" - redveil
"Wet Leg" - Wet Leg
"Bronco" - Orville Peck
"MAHAL" - Toro Y Moi
