Thee Black Boltz by Tunde Adebimpe

Tunde Adebimpe, the co-lead singer of stellar 2000’s band TV on the Radio (who are still touring despite having not put out any new music since 2014), has a higher-register voice that is pristine, and it rings through much more than it ever did on the grittier TVOTR stuff. His debut solo album, Thee Black Boltz, more than fills the ten-year void since his full band released their last album.

Born in St. Louis, MO, to immigrant Nigerian parents, Adebimpe has always had a commanding presence on stage, and his star has only gotten more shining now that he’s aged into a man whose dark skin is starkly contrasted by the half inch of bright-white hair atop his head and full beard. Over the past twenty years he’s been able to do so much more thanks to his talents and his looks, appearing in numerous films and television series (such as Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married, Noah Baumbach’s Wedding Story, and Disney’s Star Wars: Skeleton Crew).

But it’s his voice that keeps me coming back. On Boltz, he seems to alternate between a few personas within his solo work. There’s some skit-like jokey singing, paired with a couple songs that could have easily been found on a Living Colour album 30 years ago. For the lead single from the album, “Magnetic,” Adebimpe channels his best Ozzy, to great effect. This song also sounds the most like a TV on the Radio song, thanks to the appearance of his TVOTR bandmates Jaleel Bunton and Jahphet Landis.

“At The Moon,” the third track on the album, feels like a lost Nine Inch Nails song with the strong synth rhythm driving the song forward. And then there’s my favorite from the album, “Somebody New” (featured in the video above — it’s fun, you should watch it). Clearly influenced by the New Orders of old, this amazingly-fun hand-clappy dance song could easily have been a b-side to a recent song by The Weeknd.

With the success of this new solo album and with TV on the Radio touring again, Adibempe is just starting the ascent of a new arc in his career as he enters the second half of his century on earth. Check out his full KEXP performance, with his touring band that also includes Bunton and Landis, but distinctly lacks founding TVOTR member David Sitek. Sitek has been on hiatus while the band tours on the 20th anniversary of their smash debut Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes. I have seen no indication of anything new coming out, but if experience tells me anything, there’s got to be something on the horizon. This is all too good not to.

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Manning Fireworks by MJ Lenderman

I first heard MJ Lenderman on the lovely Waxahatchee song “Right Back To It,” which came out on January 9, 2024. I’d been anxiously awaiting something new from Waxahatchee, so the new single was a much welcome surprise, despite the new sensation of having male backing vocals crowd in on Katie Crutchfield’s lead. When the new full Waxahatchee album came out in March, we learned that MJ Lenderman was all over that album, singing with Crutchfield on four songs, and playing electric guitar across the entire album. Just who was this guy suddenly thrust into my Waxahatchee-loving world?

Thankfully, later in the year, I learned exactly who MJ Lenderman was. His great record, Manning Fireworks, lands way up here at #9 on the Top 31. And once again, I’m late to the party. Fireworks is the fourth album Lenderman has released since 2019. His last album, Boat Songs, is apparently something special as well and I aim to check it out. On top of that, he is actively in the band Wednesday, with whom he has also released three albums in that same time period. Their 2023 album, Rat Saw God, barely missed the Top 31 last year, remaining in contention for one of the upper 20s spots until just before I started up the Top 31 (they can’t all win, and I often make the wrong choice in retrospect).

Lenderman’s voice is somewhere in the same area of the musical chart next to Eef Barzelay from Clem Snide, slightly scratchy, a touch of strain, and all emotion. There’s also hints of Stephen Malkmus, whose off-key delivery always put me off but I somehow find endearing with Lenderman. And there’s a straightforwardness, an earnestness to the delivery that feels very much like Neil Young. Lenderman’s fuzzy guitar often evokes some Neil as well.

The lead singer of Wednesday, Karly Hartzman, who is also Lenderman’s ex romantic partner, features prominently throughout Fireworks. It’s her backing vocals we hear on all but three of the nine songs. As opposed to Hartzman and Lenderman’s Wednesday albums, Lenderman and his solo-album band have slowed things down mostly into an alt.country lane, complete with pedal steel guitar. “She’s Leaving You,” featured above, is one of the more straightforward rock songs on the album, and Lenderman’s unpolished voice really drives it home. “Joker Lips” is slower, squarely country, as is “You Don’t Know the Shape I’m In” – the two other songs he’s produced videos for from the album.

The album ends with a ten-minute epic of a song called “Bark at the Moon.” The song starts out as nearly every other Lenderman song does, with a bit of lyrical humor. “I‘ve lost my sense of humor. I’ve lost my driving range. I could really use your two cents, babe. I could really use the change.” He then carries further into a depressing tale, where it’s clear he’s experiencing a breakup and his soon-to-be-ex is moving away from him. “Don’t move to New York City, babe. It’s gonna change the way you dress.” The lyrics then wrap up the story bringing us home to the reasoning for the song title, which also happens to be an early 80s Ozzy Osbourne track and album title. “I’ve never seen the the Mona Lisa. I’ve never really left my room. I’ve been up too late with Guitar Hero playing ‘Bark at the Moon.’ Awooooo.” The song then devolves into six minutes of glorious guitar drone that is quite pleasant in its loudness.

I’m excited to get to see Lenderman in February, at the Neptune here in Seattle. I’ve always had a soft spot for alt.country,¹ and with MJ Lenderman showing up in two of my favorite albums from 2024, I‘m going to be watching him closely for the foreseeable future.

^{1. I just looked up the wikipedia page for “alternative country,” to see if anyone still referred to it as “alt.country” as I still do, and saw that another name for it is “y’allternative.” I won’t start using that, preferring to stick to my late 90s verbiage, but I do love that turn of phrase.↩}

#23 on the 2025 Bacon Top 31 — Tunde Adebimpe

#9 on the 2024 Bacon Top 31 — MJ Lenderman