Recs with Merritt previews May’s hottest vinyl releases including Durand Jones, Arlo Parks, Mac DeMarco, and SZA
Recs With Merritt. // Art by Cassondra Jones
Records with Merritt is Marion Merritt’s vinyl store in Westport [1614 Westport Rd] with partner Ann Stewart. As a staple in our community for nearly a decade, we’ve partnered with Merritt for a new monthly column, where the tastemaker shares her picks for the best wax releases to look forward to grabbing, divided by release date.
Here’s Marion Merritt’s rundown of the most exciting offerings in May 2023.
May 5, 2023
Durand Jones’ Wait Until I Get Over is a memoir, a love letter, the complicated journey to his big dreams, the wisdom learned from his hometown and his desire to escape. Wait Until I Get Over is set to be released May 5th, via Dead Oceans.
Other albums of note for the week:
Various Artists – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3.
Eilen Jewel – Get Behind the Wheel
Augustus Pablo – Thriiler
Cécile Mclorin Salvant – Melusine
Smashing Pumpkins – Atum
David Gray – The Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs of Nick Drake
Ed Sheeran – Subtract
Eric Church – Caught In The Act:Live
Five Fingers of Funk – Portland Say It Again
Henry Franklin – Tribal Dance
Benny the Butcher – Tana Talk 4
Secret Machines – The Moth, The Lizard, and The Secret Machines
May 12, 2023
Mac DeMarco’s Five Easy Hotdogs is a collection of instrumental recordings from DeMarco’s time on the road. All of the songs on Five Easy Hot Dogs were recorded and mixed in the corresponding city from each song title and the tracklisting reflects the chronological order in which the songs were produced. Five Easy Hot Dogs is set to be released May 12th, via Mac’s Record Label.
Other albums of note for the week:
Daft Punk – Random Access Memory(10th Anniversary)
Kasey Musgraves – Golden Hour (5th Anniversary)
Sly Stone – Family Soul Sessions The Rare 45 RPMs ’63-’66
Angie Stone – Covered in Soul
Joji – Smithereens
Alison Goldfrapp – The Love Invention
Animal Collective – Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished
Island of Love – Island of Love
Jovan Ensemble Maljokovic – Uplifting Abyss
May 19, 2023
Grammy award winner SZA’s highly anticipated second album, SOS, is the follow up to 2017’s major label debut album Ctrl. The genre-blending album contains elements of pop, R&B, soft-rock, gospel, and hip-hop. SOS features guest appearances from Travis Scott, Don Toliver, Phoebe Bridgers and the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard. The album is set to be released May 19th, via RCA
Other albums of note for the week:
Sufjan Stevens/Timo Andres/Conor Hanick – Reflections
Ghost – Phantomime
Dave Matthews Band – Walk Around The Moon
Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives – Altitude
Motion City Soundtrack – I Am The Movie Anniversary Edition
Hannah Jadagu – Aperture
Khruangbin & Friends – Live At Stubb’s
Paul Simon – Seven Psalms
Eels – Blinking Lights
The Front Bottoms – Talon of The Hawk (10thAnniversary Edition)
May 26, 2023
Arlo Parks sophomore album, My Soft Machine, is a deeply personal body of work; a narration of Parks’ experiences as she navigates her 20s. It follows her critically acclaimed debut album, Collapsed in Sunbeams. Parks shares that “this record is life through my lens, through my body – the mid 20s anxiety, the substance abuse of friends around me, the viscera of being in love for the first time, navigating PTSD and grief and self-sabotage and joy, moving through worlds with wonder and sensitivity- what it’s like to be trapped in this particular body.” My Soft Machine is set to be released May 26th, via Transgressive Records.
Other albums of note for the week:
Sparks – The Girl is Crying in Her Latte
Street Life – Street Education
Nas – The Lost Tapes
Kikagaku Moyo – Kikagaku Moyo
Futurebirds – Bloomin’
Baby Rose – Through and Through
