Tucson musicians releasing new CDs

Several Tucson musicians are releasing new albums this week, and a couple are hosting release gigs to mark the occasion.

But one of the musicians, Brian Lopez, is off to Europe as his third solo album, “Prelude,” drops Friday, March 23. His European tour, which he kicked off last week, includes stops in France and Germany to promote his first record in more than three years.

Early reviews from Europe have been gushing, including from Germany’s amusio.com, which called “Prelude” Lopez’s “most poignant album to date ... an absolutely pure album, with concentrated thoughtfulness and a gently creeping melancholy.”

In liner notes, Lopez said he’s not sure what “Prelude” is a prelude to, but the record itself — 10 all-acoustic songs recorded “very lo-fi, terribly imperfect and impossibly cohesive sonic thread” — was the veteran desert rocker’s attempt at musical purity.

“The idea behind ‘Prelude’ was to not overthink. To not overproduce. To always move forward. A sort of sonic stream of consciousness, and a testament to the merits of intuition,” Lopez said. “I recorded these songs between 6 p.m. and 4 a.m., over the sound of a rattling ceiling fan and the blazing horns of the many freight trains that pass through the dark of night.”

Lopez’s European tour runs through the end of the month. A Tucson CD release gig date has not been announced.

• Tucson singer-songwriter Belinda Esquer is bringing a full band to help her showcase all the wonderful poppy inflections of her new album “The Girl,” being released Saturday, March 24, at a release party/show at The Flycatcher, 340 E. Sixth St. Rival Shapes opens.

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“The Girl,” the multi-instrumentalist/singer-songwriter’s first full-length album and her third solo release, is pure, unapologetic pop, from the infectious, finger-snapping car-karaoke-perfect title song to “My Love,” which revels in subdued rock hooks, and the midtempo ballad “Back To Us,” which hints at 1990s stripped-down indie pop.

Hook-driven pop-rock (“The Victim,” “The Crash,” “Younger”) might remind you of late-career Go-Gos or the Cranberries, while the ballads, (“Say,” “I Keep Forgetting to Let Go”) sung in Spanish, recall the former Yardsale Heart lead singer’s first-ever Spanish-language recording, an EP that Esquer released in March 2017.

Esquer’s album release gig starts at 9 p.m. Saturday; admission is $5 at the door.

• The quirky and always fun Carnivaleros will release their sixth full-length album, “Tallsome Tales,” with a show Thursday, March 22, at downtown’s Tap & Bottle, 403 N. Sixth Ave. The album is pure Carnivaleros — a wave pool of flexing grooves and emotions driven through a somewhat unhealthy obsession with making music with the self-described liberal use of accordions, banjos, mandolins, guitars and a host of brass instruments including saxophones, trumpets and trombones. Put together, there are deep Southwestern accents.

In addition to the Carnivaleros’ regulars — Gary Mackender, Karl Hoffmann, Joe Fanning, Björgvin Benediktsson and Les Merrihew — “Tallsome Tales” also features guest turns by a veritable who’s who of Tucson music royalty: Don Armstrong, Mitzi Cowell, Ed DeLucia, Heather Hardy, Catherine Zavala and horn players Carla Brownlee, Mike Coyle and Michael Oliver.

Thursday’s release gig starts at 8:30 p.m.; admission is free. Details: facebook.com/carnivaleros The band plays an encore release gig at 7 p.m. April 6 at Monterey Court, 505 W. Miracle Mile.