Kevin Bronson on December 4th, 2022

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Crossing paths with a lot of new music, even as the year winds down. Today’s jumbo-sized singles roundup features songs from Jake Hays, Allie Crow Buckley, King Tuff, Taleen Kali and Junaco …

JAKE HAYS, “All I’ve Got to Say”

Since moving on from his band Maudlin Strangers and rebounding from losing his home (and a bunch of in-the-works music) in the 2018 Woolsey Fire, singer-songwriter-producer Jake Hays has embarked on his solo project, releasing an EP (“Room 13”) and a half-dozen singles. His latest confessional, the rhythmic, electric guitar-led “All I’ve Got to Say,” was actually built from the bones of a song intended for Maudlin Strangers and reshaped with co-writer and producer Alexander Morgan (aka Schmorgle). It’s a captivating tune, something a less synth-obsessed the Neighbourhood might do.

ALLIE CROW BUCKLEY, “Naked at the Feast”

The follow-up to “Angel” and “Utopian Fantasy,” “Naked at the Feast” finds Buckley again working with songwriter-producer Jason Boesel on a mesmerizing foray into dark, cinematic pop. “I became transfixed on the God Dionysus — the God of wine and chaos,” Buckley says. “As chaos ensued all around us, I, like many others, reverted to escapism. Dionysus famously dies by being eaten alive by his followers in psychedelic splendor. And as we all fell deeper and deeper into chaos, I thought of this myth often. To submit to the chaos. A few months later, in a cottage in the woods, I saw a book upon the shelf entitled ‘Naked at the Feast’ I [harked] back to the imagery and ethos of Dionysus. Sat naked at his own feast, waiting to be eaten alive.”

KING TUFF, “Portrait of God”

“Have you ever tried / to imagine the shape of God?” King Tuff asks on the second single from his album “Smalltown Stardust,” out Jan. 27. It’s a treacly yet well-aimed volley at the notion of a monolithic higher being. “If you were to ask me what my religion is I would say three things: music, art and nature,” songwriter Kyle Thomas says. “Those are the things I’ve dedicated my life to and which bring me the purest of joy. Often when I’m making art or music I feel something guiding me — call it god, call it magic, call it Jim … whatever it is, it makes me happy! My god is probably something totally different than yours, and that’s a beautiful thing! I was thinking about that one day, so I wrote this song. What does your god look like? Is it a frog sitting atop a mushroom? A 15-headed cobra? A swirling vortex? Old white guy with a long white beard is the only wrong answer!” The video, directed by Nicola and Juliana Giraffe, co-stars Sasami Ashworth (who co-wrote and co-produced the album). See King Tuff on March 3 at the Lodge Room or April 7 at Pappy & Harriet’s.

TALEEN KALI, “Fine Line”

The fourth single from Taleen Kali’s forthcoming album “Flower of Life” (out March 2), “Fine Line” grinds along with gothy post-punk determination. “I wanted to explore the ways we feel marked by love and pain. How much of an impact the smallest of impressions can make. And how they can feel when they fade,” says Kali. “I wrote this song in the summer of 2018 right when [the Kristin Kontrol-prouced EP] ‘Soul Songs’ was coming out. The process of putting out my first solo record was so strange and cathartic that a handful of new songs just came spilling out during that time, and this was the first one.” The album’s title track came out earlier this year, followed by the Jeff Schroeder (Smashing Pumpkins) collaboration, “Only Lovers Left Alive.”

JUNACO, “Design” and “Faces”

“Design” and “Faces” are two of the four singles Junaco (Shahana Jaffer and Joey LaRosa) have released since August as follow-ups to their 2021 album, “Blue Room,” and last year’s “Paradise.” The duo’s penchant for painterly folk songs really shines — Jaffer’s vocals are pure balm, as usual — on this batch of tunes, which were recorded in Oregon with assists from Tejas Leier Heyden, Danny Austin-Manning and James McAlister. (See also: “Quiet in My Head” and “Weightless.”)