This week on All Songs Considered, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton offer up a brand new song by Jack White. The screaming instrumental track "High Ball Stepper" is the first taste of White's second solo album, Lazaretto, which will be out on June 10.
The energy stays high from there. Bob shares "Call Me," by the Alabama-based soul band St. Paul & The Broken Bones. The group, whose album, Half The City, came out in February, played a live set over the weekend that knocked Bob's socks off. And Robin announces that the off-beat Canadian pop singer Chad VanGaalen has finally won him over with his fifth album, Shrink Dust, out in April. The bold, loopy song "Where Are You" is a good indication of what VanGaalen has up his sleeve.
Also on the show, folkie Ray LaMontagne gets psychedelic on "Lavender" and up-and-coming talent Lyla Foy gets sweet on "Honeymoon." There's also whole-hearted Americana made by Swedes — First Aid Kit's "My Silver Lining — and textured percussion from Southern California native Teebs.
Finally, last week's question of the week — "Does the death of an instrument break your heart?" — prompted one listener to share a tragic tale about a guitar, a synthesizer and a snowstorm. Get your hankies ready.
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