Stream: New albums from Rodrigo Amarante, Always You, Runnner, Wyatt Blair and more

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From left: Rodrigo Amarante (photo by Eliot Lee Hazel), Always You, Runnner (photo by Silken Weinberg), Wyatt Blair

In which we catch up on new albums: Check out new releases from Rodrigo Amarante, Always You, Runnner, Wyatt Blair and We Are the West.

RODRIGO AMARANTE, “Drama”

On his first solo album in seven years, Rio de Janeiro-born, L.A.-based Rodrigo Amarante leads listeners on a journey through his 11 cinematic vignettes drawn in rhythmically complex tunes, sung in both English and Portuguese. The author of “Tuyo” (the theme song of Netflix’s “Narcos”), as well as a veteran of such bands as Orquestra Imperial, Los Hermanos and the mystifyingly acclaimed Little Joy, Amarante released his album “Cavalo” in 2014. “Drama” is a bright collage of ideas, sweet and winsome, with horns and strings and melodies with a sense of wanderlust. “I’ve called the record ‘​Drama​’ because, as much as people want to think this is the true expression of my soul, there’s no such thing …” he says, instead calling the album “an emotional tantrum” (though not the angry kind). In moments like “Tango” (watch the video featuring Julie Friedgen and Angel Echeverria of Sherman Oaks dance studio The Tango Room), he turns a sliver of light into something radiant. (Amarante performs Oct. 22 at the Ford.)

WYATT BLAIR, “Big”

Long known as a fine purveyor of ’60s/’70s power-pop, Wyatt Blair shelves his guitar and leaps into the future on “Big,” his first album since 2018. “This new album is a total stretch for me, and the first time I have used my music as a collaborative effort, to expand my knowledge of production and writing,” says Blair, who merrily dives into ’80s electro-pop and disco, as well as R&B and rap from the decades that followed. It’s Blair’s production flex, it’s pure fun and it’s not just him — among the eight collaborators on the album are L.A. pop songstress Maiah Manser, Philadelphia singer Antonia Marquee and Spain-based soul singer RJay. For your pool party mix and more.

ALWAYS YOU, “Bloom Off the Rose

The name has been changed — Ablebody is now Always You — but brothers Anton and Christoph Hochheim still till the same musical soil: lush, intimate and smart 1980s British pop, drenched in romance. It’s the perfect soundtrack to “Black City Nights” (probably the album’s shining star), and any fan of artists such as the Lightning Seeds and Pet Shop Boys will find “Bloom Off the Rose” makes for magnificent mopery.

RUNNNER, “Always Repeating”

On his debut full-length as Runnner, Noah Weinman transforms a few years worth of journal entries into gorgeously orchestrated indie-folk with a pervasive sense of yearning. Weinman plays almost everything — guitar, banjo, piano, bass and synth — on the record, which features re-recorded versions of songs that appeared on Runnner’s two EPs in 2017 and 2020. On opener “Monochrome”, Weinman slips into the peril of memories. And like in songs such as “Awash,” “Heliotrope” and “Urgent Care,” those reminiscences are viewed from an emotional and geographical distance. The results are stunning and poignant. (Runnner opens for Skullcrusher on Dec. 3 at the Lodge Room.)

WE ARE THE WEST, “Only One Us”

Purveyors of fine Americana and live shows in an underground parking garage, We Are the West (the collective helmed by guitarist Brett Hool and bassist John Kibler) bust out of the pandemic’s shadows with an expansive collection of tunes revolving around the theme so succinctly stated in the title. “Only One Us” was recorded at Lord Huron’s Whispering Pines studio (where magic has been known to happen), and beyond its well-crafted songs the album’s calling card is its great big heart. By the end, you might wanna shout “Hey God, I’m Alive!,” too. (We Are The West will play Stories Books & Cafe on Aug. 12.)

||| Also: For the stream of Lawrence Rothman’s new album “Good Morning, America,” see our review of “The Fix.”