Dan DeLuca’s Mix Picks: Marvin Gaye, Cactus Blossoms, and Kris Kristofferson

Marvin Gaye, You’re The Man. A new Marvin Gaye album in 2019? Seems too good to be true. The politically charged You’re the Man has just been released by Motown 35 years after Gaye’s death. It was recorded as a follow-up to 1971’s What’s Going On, then shelved by the soul great, who instead got sexy with Let’s Get It On (whose title track can be heard in TV ads selling Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs). You’re The Man is a bit of an inconsistent hodgepodge (it contains two Christmas songs), but it peaks high, with a title track that takes after “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler),” with rhymes like “Politics and hypocrites / Is turning us all into lunatics” that seem ripped from today’s headlines.

Philly Balkan Fest. An afternoon spent with energetic dance bands that draw from the cultures of southeastern European and Romani (or gypsy) populations. With the West Philly Orchestra, Raya Brass Band, Max’s New Hat, Philadelphia Women’s Slavic Ensemble, and a puppet show. Sunday from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Rotunda in West Philadelphia.

Y La Bamba. The Portland, Ore., band led by Luz Elena Mendoza creates a clattering, hypnotic sound on Mujeres, an exploration of Mendoza’s Mexican heritage and identity that mixes traditional folk instrumentation with deep bass grooves and chanted and incantatory vocals. Hot Tears, the one-woman ambient folk project of Molly Fischer, opens. Tuesday at Johnny Brenda’s.

Cactus Blossoms. Page Burkum and Jack Torrey are a Minneapolis sibling band (Torrey uses a stage name) who come from the country-leaning harmony tradition epitomized by the Everly Brothers. David Lynch put their beautiful spookiness to use in his revived Twin Peaks TV series, and the band moves in a slightly less retro direction on their new album, Easy Way, which gets songwriting assistance from Dan Auerbach. Wednesday at Underground Arts.

Kris Kristofferson and the Strangers. He was a Rhodes Scholar, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot, and he wrote “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” and “Help Me Make It Though the Night.” He starred with Barbra Streisand in A Star Is Born when Bradley Cooper was still in diapers, and did time with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings in the Highwaymen. More to the point, he’s backed on this tour by the late Merle Haggard’s fabulous band, the Strangers. Thursday at Keswick Theatre.