- Record Label: Mama Bird Recording Co.
- Release Date: May 1, 2020
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May 1, 2020One of his best albums and deserves better, confirming Damien Jurado to be an artist operating at the peak of his powers.
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May 11, 2020Magical, mystifying and flush with finesse, it’s easily Jurado’s most enticing effort yet.
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May 6, 2020For this 15th solo album, the songwriter beefs up his arrangements a tad, though only compared to the last album, not the lush psychedelic swirl of his Richard Swift-abetted Mariqopa records. Yet the songs remain plain and beautiful, their clean lines unfettered by too much volume or density, delivered in a voice that creaks sometimes but doesn’t falter as it runs up effortlessly into near falsetto range.
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May 6, 2020What's New, Tomboy? isn't special because it is sparse. The album is special for how profoundly Jurado acknowledges what might be learned from the emptiness in this life, as well as from being still and waiting to be filled.
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May 6, 2020Damien Jurado provides yet another quietly magnificent album. What's New, Tomboy? feels like a traveler finding new footing after a storm at sea.
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Q MagazineMay 5, 2020If you've ever half-enjoyed an Eels album, What's New, Tomboy? will make you swoon. [Jul 2020, p.109]
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MojoApr 30, 2020It sounds as spare and intimate, as if Jurado were singing inside your head. The songs are up there with his best. [Jun 2020, p.91]
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May 12, 2020Despite What’s New, Tomboy?’s enlivened arrangements, the most interesting element is his lyrics, packed with fragments of daily life and ruminations on death.
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UncutApr 30, 2020The songwriter digs into the sound of his intense inner voice here. [Jun 2020, p.33]
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Apr 30, 2020What's New, Tomboy? is another moving collection of American snapshots from the troubadour, if likely less memorable than his higher-contrast outings.
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Apr 30, 2020As a whole, Tomboy is a success, but its short runtime and somewhat underdeveloped arrangements leave the impression that Jurado was more concerned with just getting this set of songs released, rather than making sure they expand his extensive catalog in a meaningful way.
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May 6, 2020Twenty-five years into it, Jurado can still write compelling, emotionally powerful songs driven by little more than his commanding voice and a stripped down acoustic guitar. But the unevenness of this record makes it a hard entry point for those unfamiliar with his work. Longtime fans of Jurado can still find enough to rally behind this one.
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May 1, 2020The full band arrangements are tastefully understated, and the 47-year-old sustains a mood of gentle sorrow and hard-earned wisdom that is easy on the ear. It is well trodden territory but Jurado is a class act.