A Song For Friday: mary in the junkyard

Try as I might to catch up, I’m still behind on my concert reviews. Among the many shows in the backlog was that wonderful night with Wet Leg at the Brooklyn Paramount last September. We were more than ready to experience that most entertaining band after the moody and tangled opening set from mary in the junkyard. Without any production design to speak of, this London-based trio was dwarfed by the enormous stage. However, they made the most of the extra space, letting it reflect the use of space in their songs.

With Clari Freeman-Taylor (vocals, guitar, cello, viola, violin) on the left, Saya Barbaglia (Bass, viola, violin, backing vocals) on the right, and David Addison (drums) in the middle, it was easy to pick out the precise, yet distorted, fingerpicked guitar, the liquid bass, and the polyrhythmic drum patterns. And then when Freeman-Taylor and Barbaglia came together at center stage to mesh and tangle their playing, it was even more electric. Above it all was Freeman-Taylor’s airy soprano, which could grow ethereal or pinched as the songs, which draw on folk and post-punk equally, demanded.

Now, with their rich debut album, Role Model Hermit (AMF), out today, I’m happy to report that what I saw and heard on that stage was as real as it gets. This is a supremely talented band with a vision and the skills to realize it. Check out Seek And Destroy, which starts with one of Freeman-Taylor’s signature sweet and messy guitar riffs. The drums kick in, egging her on, as the bass starts pumping. Her vocals are a little talky and filled with attitude, which is emphasized by another guitar part that arcs through the mix. Eventually, things break down to just voice and guitar, before the other instruments return and Freeman-Taylor starts pushing her voice into some new spaces. By the time the opening pattern returns, it feels like an old friend. Be welcomed into mary in the junkyard’s world.

I remember an older gent standing near me at the Paramount, who spent the time before the band went on complaining about his calves, and could he stand long enough to see the whole show. He also went on a tirade about young bands not being as good at their instruments as older musicians. Then Freeman-Taylor let it rip, and he was silenced. It was a bit of extra satisfaction on top of that delivered by their wonderful music. Experience it all on Role Model Hermit, now yours for the hearing.

Listen to most of the songs for Friday here or below.

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Akusmi - Terra Incognita (Tonal Union) Jazz as a collective and global art may be no better represented in 2026 by this sublime second album from Pascal Bideau’s project. While he gets credit for the compositions and contributes—on one track alone—tenor & alto sax, balafon, organ, synth, Adungu, pygmy flute, guitars, bass guitar, vocals, there’s no question that the rotating cast of characters, including musicians from Senegal, India, and other far-flung places, were allowed their heads when it came to playing their parts. The results, which came out of jam sessions that Bideau then added to and crafted in the studio, are dense, busy—and nearly weightless. The album opens with A Waking Dream, which has Bideau layering clarinet, saxophone, guitar, percussion, flute, synth, marimba, balafon, sanza, zither over Mattias Mimous’s keyboards, Dudù Kouate’s percussion, Marisa Osu’s harp, and Lluís Domènech Plana’s flutes. Instead of trying to imagine the hanging garden of sound they created, it will be easier if you listen. Other tracks, like Anima, which has Bideau working with electronics whiz Daniel Brandt, or Rain Dance, which adds Sarathy Korwar’s tabla and Plana’s flutes to his plethora of instruments, are propelled by ostinato patterns that anchor his freewheeling flights. I’ll catch up with Akusmi’s first album someday; for now, I’m just going to keep mapping this unknown land.

Play Time - Magic Object (Balmat) Hearing Ben Vida (Moog synth), Booker Stardrum (drums), and Will Epstein (sax) bob and weave around each other with such confidence on this simultaneously playful and austere collection, could lead one to assume that this trio format is well established. But the fact is, they made it up as they went along, finding a confluence of time, place (the Hudson Valley), and friendship that resulted in nine hypnotic tracks that prove the album title is no idle boast. Yes, there is magic in the way Stardrum creates patterns on his tom-toms that blend with the Moog’s flexible sonorities, which in turn are absorbed by sinuous sax lines. Much of Vida’s recent work has been text-based, as on 2023’s The Beat My Head Hit or this year’s equally fine Oblivion Seekers. As accomplished, original, and captivating as those albums are, however, the relaxed quality of this album shows another side of his art. Let Vida, Stardrum, and Epstein’s Play Time enhance your time.

Note: The graphic above is based on a photo by Daisy & Tomos Ayscough