Music Monday with the return of Lil Nas X, Waxahatchee and Kali Uchis; plus music from ‘The Holdovers’

If you’re seeking attention as a musician, January is a great time to put out new music. With the media still looking back on last year during award season, the release schedule is light and it is easy to stand out in a not-so-large crowd.

Not that Lil Nas X has ever had much trouble with attention. This week’s playlist features the rapper and provocateur, who makes his 2024 return with “J Christ,” his new single dedicated to “the man who had the greatest comeback of all time.”

The video, directed by the artist who was last in Philadelphia on his “Long Live Montero” tour in 2022, is full of Bible-inspired imagery. It features the rapper, born Montero Hill, on a cross and declaring that he’s “back like J Christ / I’m finna get the gays hyped.”

Also back with new music is Waxahatchee, the former Philadelphian singer Katie Crutchfield, who has announced her new album, Tigers Blood, is due March 22. She makes a lovely reentry with the lead single, “Right Back to It,” which features MJ Lenderman (more about him below) on guitar.

Crutchfield — who was featured on the Eagles’ A Philly Special Christmas Special — kicks off her tour on April 18 in Kansas City, where she now lives, and ends with two nights at the Fillmore in Philadelphia, with openers that include Tim Heidecker, Snail Mail, Greg Mendez, and Gladie. Tickets are on sale at LiveNation.com.

Other notable names with new music include Ariana Grande, whose “Yes, And?” is her first new music since 2020, and rapper 21 Savage, whose single “N.H.I.E.”, from his new album American Dream, features Doja Cat.

Colombian American singer Kali Uchis has released the mostly Spanish-language Orquídeas. English rockers the Vaccines are out with Pick-Up Full of Pink Carnations and Atlanta indie songwriter Faye Webster, who teams with rapper Lil Yachty on “Lego Ring,” with Underground at the Symphony, which is due in March.

The Holdovers, Alexander Payne’s movie, is about unlikely bonds forged at a New England boarding school. If you’ve watched the film, which won Golden Globes for Paul Giamatti and Philadelphia’s Da’Vine Joy Randolph, you were likely charmed by “Crying Laughing Loving Lying,” the bittersweet ballad by Labi Siffre.

The British singer-songwriter’s name is little known in the U.S., though his music is. His 1975 song “I Got the …” was sampled in Eminem’s “My Name Is.”

Damian Jurado’s “Silver Joy” is also heard in the movie, which is streaming on Peacock, to similarly graceful effect. The soundtrack includes Artie Shaw, the Allman Brothers Band, and Khruangbin.

Wednesday is the day this week’s Philly show calendar gets going in earnest, and Wednesday is also the name of the North Carolina country-leaning rock band led by superb songwriter Karly Hartzman.

The band — which includes Hartzman’s partner Lenderman on guitar — plays its third Philly show in less than a year in support of Rat Saw God, which made my 2023 Top Ten list. It’s a cool triple bill with Brooklyn shoegaze quintet Hotline TNT and Philly hyper-pop electronic outfit Echotracer.

Black Pumas ― the Austin, Texas, duo of of songwriter Eric Burton and guitarist Adrian Quesada ― are kicking off a tour at the Fillmore on Thursday. That same day, the band, which is nominated for a best rock performance Grammy for “More Than a Love Song,” will be on the Kelly Clarkson Show. Philly-connected hip-hop veterans Digable Planets are openers.

New Edition cofounder and New Jack Swing solo star ― and Whitney Houston’s widower ― Bobby Brown plays Parx Casino in Bensalem on Friday. If you choose to go, that’s your prerogative.

On Saturday, Johnny Brenda’s is hosting a bill of five Philly bands on “A Night of Music in Support of Abortion Funds, Community and Bodily Autonomy.” The stellar lineup includes Augusta Koch-fronted Gladie, West Philly country-rock band Florry, Hop Along songwriter Frances Quinlan, punk rock quartet Poison Ruin, and indie stalwarts Radiator Hospital.