Dig These Discs :: Mariah Carey, Florence + The Machine, Indigo Girls, Sharon Van Etten, Hot Chip

The Indigo Girls are back, with help from a hot new crew of producers. Florence + The Machine go for a more straightforward pop sound with an edge of confessional folksiness, and the results are infectious! Mariah Carey teases audiences for her new show at Las Vegas Caesars Palace with a new compilation of number one hits, and a new single, "Infinity." English electronica band Hot Chips drops their sixth studio album. And soft-spoken Brooklynite Sharon Van Etten chooses her career over her relationship in the new EP, "I Don't Want to Let You Down." It's by the number in this Dig These Discs!

"One Lost Day" (Indigo Girls)

Indigo Girls Amy Ray and Emily Saliers are back with their first album in four years, "One Lost Day," on their own label. They had some help from producer Jordan Brooke Hamlin and mixer Brian Joseph in Nashville, and have gotten a great sound out of their 13 tracks. Their first single, "Happy in the Sorry Key," was written by Amy Ray, who said it was about facing reality and still having the energy to work for good. "We took some chances on the making of 'One Lost Day,' with a new producer, engineer, and various musicians," Ray told Billboard. "Stretching like that felt liberating to me. Each song tells a story of where we've been and what we've thought about, whom we've met, and the travels we've had. It is a travelogue on lessons learned and love lived." "Three streets off the grid, we were barely kids, we were old enough to drink in Louisiana," they sing in "Elizabeth," the story of a girl who got married after art school and moved to Savannah. A sprightly drumbeat accompanies the folksy "Southern California Is Your Girlfriend," with its layers of song, and "Texas Was Clean" has the same rooted sound as early hits like "Watershed." "Alberta" is another two-part harmony song, and "Olympia Inn" is a quick carpet-cutter. The guitar moves slowly through "If I Don't Leave Here Now." "She packs her bags to leave every day," they sing in "Spread the Pain Around." The Indigo Girls are best when their songs are telling stories. They get a rock feel out of "Learned It on Me," a song about learning how love works, but wishing those lessons had been taught by someone else. "The Rise of the Black Messiah" has a dusky sound like a real old country song, as it deals with the Ku Klux Klan and a hanging tree deep in the middle of the woods. Piano and strings elevate "Findlay, Ohio 1968," about small town life and soldiers in Vietnam, and "Fishtails" looks at life in Georgia. They finish with "Come A Long Way," a mellifluous tune. The Indigo Girls just played a great show on May 23 at Boston's Tanglewood, and on June 17, will kick off their summer tour through August.
(IG Recordings/Vanguard Records)

"How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful" (Florence + The Machine)

The fabulous Florence Welch drops her third studio album, "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful," and by parting with some of her folksy ways and making it more pop-oriented, she has made an album that's a lot more accessible than her 2011 "Ceremonials." Flo starts out like a shot with "Ship to Wreck," asking, "Did I drink too much, am I losing touch, did I build a ship to wreck?" Welch still serves up her confessional story-songs, but she does it in a way that the masses can digest. She sang her single, "What Kind of Man" on "Saturday Night Live" and it's an excellent, intense, accusatory tune. She opens the door in "How Big, How Blue," a fast-moving song with a majestic horn outro. Also check out the horn arrangements by Goldfrapp's Will Gregory on the intense anthem, "Queen of Peace" and "Third Eye." "Various Storms and Saints" is as otherworldly and sonorous as a Led Zeppelin classic. She's gonna be free and fine despite a "different kind of danger" in the spirited "Delilah," with its excellent bass drum powering it. "Long & Lost" is a classic Welch ballad, dark and smoky. "It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do, to try and keep from calling you," she confides in the beautiful pop ballad "Caught." "Third Eye" will put you in the mind of her early, in-your-face anthems like "Dog Days Are Over." You'll love her rapid-fire patter delivery in "St. Jude," the patron saint of lost causes, and how she sounds like Tori Amos on speed in her final cut, "Mother." Flo and her pals set out for the open road this month, with dates at The Governors Ball Musical Festival in NYC, followed by dates in Maryland and Boston, then off to Bonnaroo before hitting Canada, Germany and the UK.
(Universal Music Group)

"#1 to Infinity" (Mariah Carey)

Mariah Carey releases her third compilation album this month, a collection of 18 number one hits from her career, plus her new song, "Infinity." Hence "#1 to Infinity." She launched the album to kick off her Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace, taking over for Celine Dion who's looking after her sick husband. You'll sing along to cuts like "Vision of Love," where she croons, "you treated me kind, sweet destiny/ carried me through desperation, to the one that was waiting for me." She cries over being "blind to let you go" in "Love Takes Time." Carey notes that she switched out the live version of "Someday" because the studio version was overproduced. And she gets that sexy Spanish sound going in "I Don't Wanna Cry." Carey will have you feeling "Emotions" deeper than you ever have, and you'll be dancing like you're her "Dreamlover." You'll tear up over the old cut "Hero" and pump your fist when they name-check your city in the anthem "Fantasy." I dare you to resist singing along to "Always Be My Baby" or snapping your fingers along to "Honey." The rapping in "Heartbreaker" will have you laughing, and you'll get nostalgic singing along to the chorus of "We Belong Together": "who else I gon' lean on when times get rough, who's gonna talk to me on the phone 'til the sun comes up?" You'll enjoy later hits like "Don't Forget About Us" and "Touch My Body," before the last track, "Infinity," the only new one on the album. "Close the door, lose the key, leave my heart on the mat for me," Carey croons, moving up and down the scales. Will it also reach number one? I guess time will tell if Carey finds luck in Las Vegas.
(Sony Music Entertainment/Epic Records)

"Why Makes Sense? (Hot Chip)

English electronica band Hot Chip drops their sixth studio album, and it's another self-produced album with Mark Ralph's own Club Ralph Studio. The first single, "Huarache Lights" is a pleasant discordance. Band members Al Doyle and Joe Goddard said they wrote the songs fast to keep the soul in them and to approximate the sound they get on stage. Their second single, "Need You Now" samples vocals from "I Need You Now" by Sinnamon, with lyrics like "Caught up in this world, I never dreamed I could belong to a state that don't see right from wrong." The band stays true to their dance roots while making cool electro-pop innovations. The high notes in "Love Is the Future" gives it that funky Prince edge, and the rap break roots it in the present. The fast-moving, insistent dance cut "Cry For You" is excellent, as is "Started Right," another funky cut with lyrics like, "you make my heart feel like, like it's my brain." By stripping down the electronica and getting back to basics, Hot Chip hits their mark every time. They slow things down in "White Wine and Fried Chicken," with its excellent echo effects, and move steadily through "Dark Night" singing, "If I don't get to see you, at least I can feel you." They play it cool in the funky "Easy to Get" and add some cool distortion effects toward the end. "So Much Further to Go" is so stripped down you might think it's a soft rock tune from the early '70s. Hot Chip saves the title track for last, and blows it out of the water, singing that out of happiness can come bitterness. This album isn't a chip off the old block -- it's a whole new can of worms, and the better for it.
(Domino)

"I Don't Want to Let You Down" (Sharon Van Etten)

Brooklyn-based singer Sharon Van Etten drops her fifth studio album, "I Don't Want to Let You Down," and despite the five short tracks, she won't. The new album is a study in heartbreak, with her musical career emerging as the victor. The title track is a soft, subdued piece that is imbued with regret, but also with a hope for the future. She wrote "Just Like Blood" in anger and frustration, saying that it was during a fight about staying at home, as promised, or going on tour with Nick Cave, which she ultimately decided to do. Van Etten is known for her layered sound, featuring vocal harmonies, electric and acoustic guitar, organ, ukulele and drums. And these songs may seem simple, but there is a deceptive amount of action going on. She says goodbye to her old label Ba Da Bing Records in "I Always Fall Apart," and settles old scores in "Pay My Debts." She finishes the EP off with the live version of "Tell Me," previously available on her "Tramp" demo. She said the song only makes sense to her as a live version, because the energy is intense. It chronicles that on-again, off-again dynamic in her long-time relationship, with Van Etten asking for the straight dish. As her new album reveals, it's off-again. But heartbreak always makes for such sweet songs. Check her out before she's too big for Brooklyn.
(Jagjaguwar)