Month: October 2026

Sadurn: never tell me / Grumpy: OBL

/ Bjørn Hammershaug / Leave a comment

Let me recommend two new gems for you, as a reminder of the vitality in today’s American indie-folk scene. Sadurn and Grumpy are obviously two very different bands, but with some common ground — somewhere at the crossroads of Wednesday, Big Thief and Merce Lemon.

Sadurn hails from the buzzing Philadelphia DIY scene, and I honestly first became aware of them last year when they did a very decent version of Jason Molina’s classic country ballad “The Old Black Hen.” And they have an album out, 2022’s Radiator, that I’ve only recently checked out. Sparse, intimate, and led by assured singer Genevieve DeGroot, “never tell me” is the second single from their forthcoming album, The Underworld. With a richer and more confident sound than before, this is yet another achingly gorgeous song from a band I have high hopes for in the years to come.

I’m embarrassed to say I’ve only recently discovered New York’s Grumpy, even though they’ve been around for a while now. Grumpy is centered around singer and songwriter Heaven Schmitt and, like Sadurn, are expanding into a deeper band sound than before. “OBL” is a catchy, slacker fuzz-pop-and-fiddle anthem, dealing with how to navigate as a trans band on the road — finding love and  joy despite those who would rather not see them exist. Check out the rather telling music video as well.

Hollow Hand: I Turned My Back on the World

/ Bjørn Hammershaug / Leave a comment

Hollow Hand is the project of Brighton-based renaissance man Max Kinghorn-Mills, one of those rare artists who seems able to pick up any instrument and effortlessly move between styles. Rooted in the beautiful landscape of slacker Americana, breezy indie rock and melodic power pop, Hollow Hand should be an easy favorite for anyone craving a sweet spot between, say, The Beatles, Wilco and MJ Lenderman.

With his fourth album on the horizon, Hollow Hand deserves more attention. Especially on the strength of the new single “I Turned My Back on the World,” which has been on repeat for me many times a day all week.

It isn’t a revolutionary leap forward in songwriting. Just a gentle, musically rich song that arrives like an old friend on a warm summer’s day, inviting you to hum along long after the sun has disappeared below the horizon.

Do you believe in paradise?
Do you think that heaven could be nice?
Another picture of us
Smiling in the Cornish wind
Sitting on the beach again
Help, it was so easy then

That’s all it takes. 

Orchestra Baobab: Togne Bakhoul

/ Bjørn Hammershaug / Leave a comment

For more than 40 years, the beloved Orchestra Baobab has graced the world with their irresistible blend of Afro Cuban rhythms and Senegalese vocal traditions.

Their music is a vital example of “roots in reverse” — the journey of African music to the Americas through the slave trade, its transformation, and eventual return to Africa in new forms. Senegal was one of the key crossroads in this exchange. As Cuban music flowed through the port city of Dakar, Orchestra Baobab drew on both sides of the Atlantic, fusing rumba, son and Afro Cuban jazz with the griot traditions of Wolof and Mandinka culture.

A victim of shifting musical trends, the band disbanded in the late 1980s. Thanks in particular to Nick Gold and his World Circuit label, a new generation of music lovers discovered their brilliance, leading to a highly celebrated revival. More than five decades after their beginnings, the new single “Togne Bakhoul” — their first new music since 2017’s Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng — finds Orchestra Baobab doing what they have always done with perfection: making music that is timeless, joyous and effortlessly vital.