Staying on top of new releases can be tough, but we'll keep you current. Every week, our music director, Jade, selects six songs you should know.

Big Thief – "Sparrow"

When we had this Brooklyn band into The Current's studio for a session, it was clear they had reached a rare level of understanding with each other. The same synergy shines through the first offerings from the band in 2021. In fact, drummer James Krivchenia recently shared that the final version of "Sparrow" was the first take: "We all just scattered about the room without headphones, focused and in the music — you could feel that something special was happening." – Jade

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss – "Can't Let Go"

In 2007, the perhaps unlikely duo of Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant and bluegrass musician Alison Krauss released Raising Sand. That album ended up going platinum and earned them five Grammy awards, including Album of the Year. Recently, they've been back in the studio together, and on Nov. 19, they'll release a new album called Raise the Roof, again produced by T-Bone Burnett. On their new single, a Lucinda Williams cover called "Can't Let Go," their voices blend together as in an easy conversation between old friends. – Jade

Billy Idol – "Bitter Taste"

The pandemic put rocker Billy Idol in a nostalgic, contemplative state that inspired his first new music offering in seven years. In writing the song "Bitter Taste," he ruminated on his near-fatal motorcycle accident from 1990. In a recent statement, he shared, "Certainly, the motorcycle accident was the catharsis, the wake-up moment. A little bit of me got left on that roadside. But it wasn't necessarily a bad thing in the end; it was a wake-up call. Maybe on that roadside I left behind the irreverent youthful Billy and opened the door for a more attentive father and a more sensitive musician." – Jade

Diane – "Learning The Right Way To Live"

Diane (aka Diane Miller, FKA D Mills) plays guitar and sings on this tender new single, which her Bandcamp describes as "a song about grappling with the line between self-improvement and self-acceptance." Its indie rock sound may surprise those who know Diane as a rapper, but trust us, it works. Recommended for fans of Semisonic. – Cecilia Johnson

Flight Facilities – "Move (feat. DRAMA)"

The duo Flight Facilities are ready to take you on a journey back to the 1990s Chicago house scene with their new single, which appropriately features Chicago duo DRAMA. Flight Facilities said, "We've loved Drama's sound since 2016, and in 2019 we finally found ourselves in an LA studio with the duo ... Subconsciously, a decade after releasing early '80s inspired disco, our internal musical clocks have us creating early '90s inspired dance." – Jade

Indigo De Souza – "Real Pain"

On August 27, North Carolina-based artist Indigo De Souza will release her second album, Any Shape You Take. "Real Pain" examines the connections that we build within ourselves and with each other, trying to allow some space for compassion. To build the track, Souza reached out to her fans and asked them to send her an audio clip of where they were at: a cry, a scream, a grunt. She took those clips and built them into a soundscape that showcases those fans' real pain. – Jade

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