5 new albums for spring 2022, with Kurt Vile, Wet Leg, and more

There’s a song called “Fo Sho” on Kurt Vile’s parenthetically titled new album (Watch My Moves) in which the Philadelphia guitarist boasts of his impressive longevity in the music game.

“I know I’m right, and I’ve been doing this a long time,” Vile sings in his signature drawl over a loping, hypnotic groove. “Since before I was born.”

Well, maybe not that long. But the 42-year-old songwriter, who was raised in Lansdowne and lives in Mount Airy, does make timeless music that’s unmistakably his own while also consciously drawing from his classic-rock forebears.

The top-notch new (Watch My Moves), which is a standout among this month’s new music releases (see more below), is a pivotal album for Vile, whose 2008 debut, Constant Hitmaker, was released on Matador Records.

After seven more albums on that indie label, Vile has moved on to Verve Records, where he now counts Jon Batiste and Diana Krall as label mates.

That doesn’t mean that Vile, whose music has always had an improvisational bent, has become a jazzer — though James Stewart of Sun Ra Arkestra does appear on the single “Like Exploding Stones” and the Arkestra will open for Vile on June on the second show of his two-night stand at Union Transfer on June 4.

Verve is owned by Universal Music Group, so that makes (Watch My Moves) Vile’s first album on a major label.

Don’t expect concessions to commercialism, though. What (Watch My Moves) does, rather than shift Vile’s focus, is emphasize the casually entrancing, semi-psychedelic, Zen approach to songwriting he’s long been known for.

The album opens with Vile accompanying himself on piano on the characteristically charming “Goin’ on a Plane Today.” Along with 14 new songs, the album includes a smartly selected cover of the Bruce Springsteen rarity “Wages of Sin.” It was recorded at OKV Central, the home studio Vile built during the pandemic, as well as in Los Angeles.

The video for beautifully dreamy “Mount Airy Hill” captures Vile wandering in Wissahickon Valley Park, where he’s the masked man pictured with daughters Awilda and Delphine on the album cover.

And the newest video from (Watch) is for the acoustic mood piece “Flyin (Like a Fast Train).” It finds Vile playing guitar while walking along railroad tracks and riding commuter trains, and serves as an homage to the singer’s father, Charlie Vile, who worked as a SEPTA rail conductor. Like (Watch My Moves) at its best, the “Flyin” clip takes you on a quietly magical ride.

In addition to Vile’s latest, here are four more recommended releases that are new this month.

Wet Leg, Wet Leg. The most buzzed-about release of the month — or for that matter, the year — is the self-titled debut by Wet Leg, the duo of singer-guitarists Hester Chambers and Rhian Teasdale, who hail from the Isle of Wight, off the southern coast of England.

The song that catapulted the duo from anonymity is “Chaise Longue,” the clever and super-catchy first single that snuck its way onto year-end best of 2021 playlists. It instantly went into heavy rotation on public radio music stations like WXPN-FM (88.5).

The Wet Leg album didn’t come out till this month, but the band sold out a show in March at Underground Arts in Philadelphia that had to be moved from a smaller venue. PhilaMOCA was too tiny to hold Wet Leg!

“Chaise Longue” grates with repeated listens. But the pleasant surprise is that Wet Leg turns out to be full of non-gimmicky songs about sex, friendship, and groceries, like “Wet Dream,” that put to rest any worries that the band is a one-novelty wonder.

In fact, they’re part of a group of rising English bands, including Yard Act, who played a winning set at Johnny Brenda’s last month, and Dry Cleaning, who are due at First Unitarian Church on May 17, whose songs employ jagged guitar and spoken-sung vocals that recall original post-punk Brits like The Fall, Wire, and Gang of Four.

Vince Staples, Ramona Park Broke My Heart. Vince Staples has been so consistently excellent in the years since his 2015 debut album Summertime ‘06 that his failure to become a household hip-hop name is somewhat puzzling. “Why Isn’t Vince Staples a Superstar?” The Ringer asked this week.

Part of the answer is that the Long Beach, Calif., rapper tends to shift focus from project to project, and his clear, sharply observed missives from the streets are almost too matter-of-fact in their delivery for pop consumption. Despite its title, Ramona Park Broke My Heart is not as downcast as last year’s companion piece, which was simply called Vince Staples.

But although the West Coast funk backdrops, provided by a variety of producers including Mustard and DJ Dahi, are buttery and pleasing, Staples can bring the listener up short as he describes a world where violence is ever present. In “When Sparks Fly,” the protagonist’s most cherished relationship is with a firearm. And “The Beach” issues a caution: “In the city, baby, your first rap can be a murder rap.”

Jack White, Fear of the Dawn. The now blue-haired guitar hero has always been shrewd when it comes to presenting his retro rock and blues obsession in shiny packaging, going back to the red-and-white color-coordinated White Stripes.

Fear of the Dawn is the first of two albums due this year from the Third Man Records auteur, who got engaged and married to musician Olivia Jean at a show in his hometown of Detroit last weekend. (The second album, Entering Heaven Alive, is due on July 22.)

White doesn’t occupy the place in pop culture he did in the 00′s when White Stripes were at their zenith, though “Seven Nation Army” and “Fell in Love With a Girl” still rev up crowds at packed sports stadiums worldwide. But he’s still got plenty of tricks up his sleeve and knows how to deliver a lightning bolt solo or a creepy theremin interlude for maximum drama.

From “Hi-De-Ho,” which samples Cab Calloway and pairs White off with A Tribe Called Quest rapper Q-Tip, to the vampiric “Eosophobia”, White’s fourth album is a fun-house ride of thrills and chills.

The mystery it does not solve, however, is why White refuses to play Philadelphia. None of his bands have done a headlining date within the city limits since the White Stripes played the Trocadero in 2002. This month, he’s playing Washington and New York and bypassing Philly as usual.

The Linda Lindas, Growing Up. The most unadulterated fun to be had among these releases is without question on Growing Up, maybe because the music is not made by adults. The Linda Lindas are four Asian and Latinx punk rock girls, ranging in age from 11 to 17.

They came to fame last year via a viral video of their song “Racist, Sexist Boy” at the Los Angeles Public Library, with then 10-year-old drummer Mila de la Garza wearing a Bikini Kill shirt.

Much as with Wet Leg, Growing Up turns out to be a proving ground where the band, which takes its name from the 2005 Japanese movie Linda Linda Linda, demonstrates that they have a full album’s worth of smart, snappy songs.

Looking further ahead in April, Bonnie Raitt will release the self-produced Just Like That … — her first album in six years, on Friday, April 22. She plays the Mann Center with Lucinda Williams on June 15.

Irish postpunk quartet Fontaines D.C., recently named best band in the world at the NME Awards, have a new album called Skinty Fia that is also due Friday, and they have a sold-out show at Underground Arts that same night.

And Camden County rocker Ben Vaughn’s new album The World of Ben Vaughn is due out as a vinyl exclusive for Record Store Day on April 23. It will be released digitally on May 20 and he plays Ardmore Music Hall on May 21.