Kassi Valazza‘s third album, From Newman Street, demonstrates further evidence of her maturity and exceptional songwriting, charting a journey from a place of uncertainty to a state of understanding and acceptance.
When Kassi Valazza burst onto the scene in 2023 with her sophomore release, Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing, it seemed she could do no wrong; it’s combination of folk, country and a soupcon of psychedelia, proving a winning recipe, leading many critics to hail it as one of the albums of that year (it was included in Danny Neill’s Top 10 Albums of 2023) .
From Newman Street follows a similar template, proving to be a deeply introspective and personal account that chronicles a period of significant transition in her life. The album’s title refers to a friend’s house in Portland, Oregon, where Valazza found refuge and inspiration in 2023. She composed most of the songs on From Newman Street there before relocating to New Orleans, where she completed the remainder. The result is a ten-track collection that waves a metaphorical goodbye to the past while embracing new beginnings.
The song, Better Highways, opens the album. Here, Valazza is moving on, both literally and metaphorically, the risk of stasis and standing still not worthy of proper consideration given the consequences: “Some bright day, The right ones will find you, Some may not stay, But death will remind you”. It’s a song demonstrating Valazza’s flair for potent wordplay, allied to an uplifting melody and strident chord structures, contrasting with nice touches of pedal steel from Erik Clampitt.
Birds Fly has a metronomic time signature that draws the listener in. Combined with Tobias Berblinger’s sampled birdsong, it creates a hypnotic backdrop to what is a reflection on lost love and the need (again) to move on, vying against the desire for inertia.
Shadows of Lately, one of the singles from the record, follows; our protagonist is in a similarly reflective mood, alone in her basement, pondering the end of the same relationship. Still, its chiming lead guitar riff helps elevate the song’s subject matter above the melancholic.
Valazza’s vocal style has previously drawn not unreasonable comparisons to the likes of Karen Dalton, and the song Time Is Round, is bound to evince recollections of Sandy Denny and Fairport Convention as well, particularly with its opening line, “Where does the time go?” – repeated twice. It’s a song that deals with life’s repetitive nature, the inevitability of change, and some of the welcome pleasures of ageing.
Roll On is another song that Valazza trialled on her previous tour of the UK in 2023 – its title is another reminder of the virtues of forward movement, while also something of an ode to the financial challenges of being a touring musician in the modern world:
“Two months of selling out most of the shows/I’d sure like to see where all that money goes”. Roll On is probably the most effectively poetic and moving song on the whole album, particularly with lines as evocative as: “My dearest so blue, Do you feel like a figure?/All feather and bone, Floating on fables, In your castle of stone/No more of your stories, A piece of you gone”. If it is a romance past, it’s still a lovely adieu to the protagonist’s former partner.
Courtney Marie Andrews’ Old Flowers was an album particularly notable for its arrangements, and a similar virtue of From Newman Street is in its deliberate track sequencing, charting a journey from a place of uncertainty to a state of understanding and acceptance, mirroring Valazza’s own experiences during this transformative period.
One of the album’s highlights is Your Heart’s A Tin Box, which reflects on the complexities of starting over and accepting new circumstances as they unfold. Valazza explains, “This song was written when I took a three-month break from touring and found myself living in New Orleans. In those three months, I was broke, falling in love again, and discovering the less likeable parts of myself as I began a new life in a strange place. This song is kind of an ode to every fear and worry I’ve had in the past year.”
The album ends on several high points. Like the ticking of a clock, Market Street Savior marks time from its opening, its somnolent time signature somewhat trance-inducing, while lyrically and vocally, you can’t help but draw comparisons to Joni Mitchell. The lead single, Weight of the Wheel, demonstrates Valazza’s ability to convey the emotional weight of life’s repetitive cycles. Its plaintive pedal steel guitar and poignant wordplay point to the anxiety that has bedevilled her at times: “I’m stressed out I’m far away/There’s dizzy dancing in my head/It’s feeling like some kind of a fight to let go” – although its uplifting chorus acts as a dramatic counterpoint, that suggests a more positive embrace of the inevitability of change.
On her previous album, Valazza used TK and the Holy Know Nothings as her backing band (hence the album’s title, Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing). On From Newman Street, several band members also feature, including Lewi Longmire on electric guitar, Sydney Nash on bass, and Tobias Berblinger on electric piano, and they also provide stellar support.
The fingerpicked acoustic title track is a perfect fade out, with Valazza in splendid isolation in her new home, but seeming to find a degree of stoic acceptance in different surroundings. From Newman Street is further evidence of Valazza’s ability to vividly convey emotion through her melodic sensibilities, while its strong musical accompaniment – which stands in marked contrast to her crystal clear vocal – pleasantly wrong-foots the listener throughout.
From Newman Street (May 2nd, 2025) Loose Music/Fluff & Gravy Records
Bandcamp: https://kassivalazza.bandcamp.com/album/from-newman-street
Pre-Save: https://orcd.co/dolpp7r
Upcoming Tour Dates:
May 3 — Hot Springs, NC @ Doggett Gap Tiny Music Festival 2025
May 7 — New Orleans, LA @ Saturn Bar
June 18 — Atlanta, GA @ Altar at the Masquerade
June 19 — Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
June 20 — Mount Solon, VA @ Red Wing Roots Music Festival 2025
June 25 — London, UK @ St Pancras Old Church
June 26 — London, UK @ St Pancras Old Church
June 28 — Tilburg, NL @ Poppodium 013
June 29 — Leffinge, BE @ De Zwerver
June 30 — Groningen, NL @ Der Aa-Theater
July 2 — Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
August 8 — Newport, KY @ The Southgate House Revival*
August 9 — Huntington, WV @ The Loud*
August 10 — Washington, DC @ Union Stage*
August 12 — Ardmore, PA @ Ardmore Music Hall*
August 13 — New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom*
August 13 — Amagansett, NY @ The Stephen Talkhouse*
August 17 — Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair*
August 19 — South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground*
August 21 — Buffalo, NY @ Buffalo Iron Works*
August 22 — Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern*
August 23 — Detroit, MI @ El Club*
August 24 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Thunderbird Café & Music Hall*
*with Vincent Neil Emerson
More: https://www.kassivalazza.com/