Freak Scene #75: My Favorite Music in 2025 (So Far)
With songs by Gold Dust, Kris Delmhorst, Hallelujah the Hills, Ciarra Fragale, Perennial and Labrador
A Guide to Music in Western Mass. (and sometimes Connecticut)
I’m away on vacation at the moment, so this week’s Freak Scene is a quick recap of some of my favorite music so far this year, from the local scene and further afield (though not all that much further). This is the stuff I’ve been listening to the most.
Gold Dust
For starters, Gold Dust’s new album In the Shade of the Living Light projects a late-’60s English folk-rock vibe through a latter-day indie-rock lens, and the result is simply stunning (Freak Scene #66). Though the centerpiece track, “Germs Burn,” is somber, bandleader Stephen Pierce undercuts the downcast theme with a deadpan lyrical reference to both Kate Bush and the Silver Jews.
Kris Delmhorst
Kris Delmhorst is surrounded by echoes of the past on her latest album, Ghosts in the Garden (Freak Scene #56), a haunting, gorgeously understated collection of rootsy songs. Though she plays against type on the hearty rocker “Won’t Be Long,” the ache in her voice on the title track is what sends chills down my spine.
Hallelujah the Hills
Boston band Hallelujah the Hills is, in many ways, the heart of the indie music scene there. The group’s new project, DECK, is a 54-song quadruple-album masterwork based on a deck of cards (each album represents a suit, with 13 songs each that correspond to numbers and face cards, plus two instrumental tracks as “jokers”). It’s wildly creative, weird in the best way and a little messy. It’s the kind of thing I keep hoping Wilco will do instead of another batch of hushed songs with Jeff Tweedy mumbling into his beard. (Wrote about that one for the Boston Globe.)
Ciarra Fragale
I didn’t realize that I needed an album of synth-pop songs with a distinctive ’80s sheen, but Ciarra Fragale did, and that’s what she made with Get What You Want (Freak Scene #67). The album is a showcase for her voice, and also her songwriting chops, and as much as I love “Jazzercise Is on TV,” Fragale is just as good on “Changing Tables” (and, really, all the other tracks on the album).
Perennial
It’s no secret that I’ve fallen hard for Perennial, but the modernist-punk trio just keeps delivering. Their live shows are explosive, and their April single “Perennial ’65” blends British Invasion, vintage garage-rock and punk into something vibrant and elemental. (Freak Scene #60).
Labrador
“People Like You and Me” by the Philadelphia trio Labrador is a lean rocker that’s super catchy, with an indelible vocal hook and an urgent sense of conspiratorial camaraderie in lyrics that start off sounding practical and then get unhinged. “It’ll be a cold day in Hell before someone tells me/ My friends are all in my mind,” guitarist Pat King sings indignantly. The tracks comes from My Version of Desire, the band’s second LP, which shows their musical range on songs rooted in vintage pop and soul, with an attitude that belongs solely to Labrador.
That’s all for now, but Freak Scene will be back next week with more new music. You can send music for coverage consideration to erdanton at gmail or reply to this email. Check out these guidelines first.
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