The Flat Five, The Jenny Conlee Quartet
Recommended
After 10 years of touring with acts like Iron and Wine, the Decemberists, Mavis Staples, and the New Pornographers, in October the Flat Five finally dropped It’s a World of Love and Hope. The Chicago pop-vocal supergroup consists of Kelly Hogan, Nora O’Connor, Scott Ligon, Casey McDonough, and Alex Hall, each in-demand musicians in their own right. Their full-length debut comes chock-full of saccharine harmonic pop vittles, replete with tongue-in-cheek fun and addictive melodic flourishes, as heard on the jazzy “You’re Still Joe.” The group’s diverse musicianship band touches on folk, Americana, ’60s pop, and more, with each shapeshift culminating in a new shade of hilarity, perhaps best exemplified by the funny but spiteful breakup track “I Could Fall in Love with You.” RYAN J. PRADO