Augustines,

Augustines (out now, Oxcart Records, weareaugustines.com) Originally based in Brooklyn, the Augustines (formerly We Are Augustines) relocated to Seattle last year; after months in the studio, it recently produced this sophomore album. This time, the changes in name and home base aren’t the only things different about the group, who spent the majority of the fall touring with emotive indie rockers Frightened Rabbit (and whose knack for emphatic anthems is definitely heard here). While the soft, indie-rock vibes so many fell in love with on 2011’s Rise Ye Sunken Ships remain (see “Weary Eyes”), Augustines reveals a fuller, more rock-influenced sound. You’ll hear it best on tracks like “Cruel City” and “Now You Are Free,” both of which could work seamlessly as arena-ready sing-alongs. The band has found a way to package Ships’ raw and muted moments with a new kinetic energy that drills the feeling home. KEEGAN PROSSER

Cahalen Morrison & Eli West,

I’ll Swing My Hammer With Both Hands (out now, self released, cahalenandeli.com) From its rustic woodcut cover art—a pair of work-hardened hands revealing a wild landscape—to its title, this is a working person’s record. For their third release, this songwriting pair didn’t shy away from hard work (Morrison plays banjo, mandolin, bouzouki, and dobro; West takes up guitar and bouzouki; and both sing, of course), bringing 14 full songs—mostly originals save for a few traditional covers (Alice Gerrard’s “Voices of Evening” and the Louvin Brothers’ “Lorene”). What’s more, the duo anchors that hardworking line to the Pacific Northwest. Like its namesake green perennial, opening track “Fiddlehead Fern” sets a course firmly rooted here, with close, gentle harmonies that sing of nature’s ever-steady rhythms: “Pipers run the ever lapping salt sea/The path is wrote, only to be washed clean.” Subsequent tracks unfurl at their own pace—a variety of waltzes, reels, and sea chanteys like the well-spun, roving “Off the Chama” and the wonderfully tender “Down in the Lonesome Draw,” reminiscent of a Gillian Welch/David Rawling collaboration in its deep and twangy string interplay. What makes this Morrison and West’s finest recording yet is the pair’s effortless, lived-in style; both musicians bring very different strengths here, but there’s no struggle for dominance, and track after track settles into a easy resonance. Any hard worker knows finishing a job is no race, and it’s that unrushed, unhurried approach that makes Hammer such a well-executed effort. GWENDOLYN ELLIOTT

Naomi Wachira,

Naomi Wachira (out now, self-released, naomiwachira.com) As a self-confident Kenyan-American woman, Wachira knows herself, what she wants, and what she hopes to see from others—all recurring themes in this full-length follow-up to her 2012 EP African Girl. She has strong beliefs and isn’t afraid to face those who think differently, as heard on “You Better”: “I’m the fool who believes that I can change the world/Don’t waste my time if you don’t wanna be the same or do the same.” “We Are in Trouble” is a similar call to action: “How long will it take before we realize that we are in this together?” Wachira sings with so much conviction there’s no doubt she means every word, and her Sade-like voice (self-accompanied on acoustic guitar) is warm and inviting as she gracefully reveals a vast vocal range. The album also features Evan Flory-Barnes (Threat of Beauty, Industrial Revelation) on bass, cellist Natalie Hall (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis), Darren Reynolds (Patrick & The Locomotive) on drums, and Latin percussionist Lalo Bello (Jacob Bain & Publish the Quest). Thanks to producer Damien Jurado’s light hand in the studio, Naomi Wachira has a delicate feel, with neither vocals nor instrumentation outshining the other. As a whole, this isn’t a story of a woman trying to find herself, but of a woman who has already worked through those challenges and is now stronger because of them. Wachira supports this idea right to the last track, leaving the listener with “I Know,” a final example of her independent spirit: “I’ll keep on fighting for me/’Cause I know what I’m meant to be.” (Fri., Feb. 21, Seattle Art Museum) AZARIA C. PODPLESKY