This week: sad folk from The Hawkeye State, orchestral-sounding goodness from the U.K., acoustic folk care of Georgia, some good ol’ down-home music from Nashville, and an exciting announcement from upstate New York.

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Max Jury – Numb / Lost Cause (Beck cover)

Iowan multi-instrumentalist Max Jury writes songs that have elements of slow, methodical soul and country music, with a fair helping of straight-up sad bastard too.

“Numb” is the first single from Jury’s forthcoming album, due out on June 3rd.  The Beck cover is just a bonus.

At times, Jury’s debut approaches Elliott Smith levels of depression and isolation; whether it also approaches Smith’s levels of holy-shit brilliance remains yet to be seen, but it’s a heck of a start.

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Cavalry – Everything

Cavalry is a five-piece indie band from Merseyside, England.  They sound a bit like Gregory Alan Isakov fronting The National.

No full-length record to speak of yet, but this sounds mighty promising…

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Wanderwild – Misty Morning

Here’s a hazy, serene folk-pop song from Georgian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Matt Martin, who records under the pseudonym Wanderwild.

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Anderson East – Learning

And here’s a good reason to pick up Southern Family, the new country music compilation album that Dave Cobb put together:

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The Felice Brothers – Aerosol Ball

Always good news: the Felice Brothers announcing a new record.

Life in the Dark is due out June 24th.  Here’s the first single:

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Until next week, cheers….