Kevin Bronson on November 20th, 2020

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In today’s singles roundup, we highlight music from solo projects: Guy Blakeslee (of the Entrance Band); Trevor Beld Jimenez (Parting Lines); and Jaws of Love (Kelcey Ayer of Local Natives) …

GUY BLAKESLEE, “Postcards From the Edge”

Guy Blakeslee, frontman of the Entrance Band, has cut a mystical profile over two decades of releases. (On Spotify, they appear under the artist names The Entrance Band, Entrance and Guy Blakeslee, so a “Best-of-Guy” playlist would come in handy.) “Postcards From the Edge” is the title track of the album he’ll release under his own name on Feb. 5. And … wow. It’s an epic, in under 4 minutes. “I don’t remember trying to write this song. It just emerged fully formed, though the title had been kicking around in my mind since I was really young thanks to Carrie Fisher,” Blakeslee says. “It was born from the chaos that’s created when a traveler lingers too long in one place while those who really live there are trying to make sense of their stationary lives. Strange triangulations occur, boundaries are tested and technology warps the illusion of keeping in touch. If you don’t belong anywhere, then you can belong everywhere. Distance and closeness might be more psychic than physical.” It’s Blakeslee himself who made the eerie video for the song.

TREVOR BELD JIMENEZ, “Moment”

File under: Pleasant surprises. Folk-rocker Trevor Beld Jimenez, of Parting Lines (and prior to that Tall Tales and the Silver Lining), last week released his solo album “I Like It Here” via Brent Rademaker’s Curation Records. Punctuated by crisp guitar leads, pedal steel, lush piano and Jimenez’s sweet, storytelling voice, the album walks in the footsteps of California country (and ’60s/’70s pop) greats and classic rockers such as Tom Petty. Start with “Moment,” then get your ears around the whole album. (And don’t miss “Saying Goodbye to a Friend,” a poignant song to the late Neal Casal.)

JAWS OF LOVE, “M&M”

It’s been three years since Local Natives’ Kelcey Ayer released his first album as Jaws of Love, “Tasha Sits Close to the Piano,” which was named for his rescue dog and was filled with intricate ruminations on love. In the new single “M&M,” he waxes evocatively on friendship. “‘M&M’ is a story about two high school friends going to colleges on different coasts having a last-minute hang, where one flies from the west coast to NYC,” Ayer says. “It’s loosely based on a trip I took myself during my college days to meet up with a friend. Neither person can fully comprehend how special their friendship is nor how precious their time is together until both have faded away. While it was some of the best days of their lives, it also marks the beginning of the end of their friendship.” Ayer is working on the follow-up to “Tasha.”