Lots to enjoy from this week’s roundup of new releases.
Lael Neale Altogether Stranger
Clocking in at just 32 minutes, the 9-song LP covers an unexpected breadth of musical and lyrical terrain – from garage rock nursery rhymes and creation myths to Motorik dance dirges and solitary Omnichord meditations.
Sally Potter Anatomy
Filmmaker whose album contains shimmers of Holiday’s empathy and wisdom, but also Patti Smith’s poetry and Laurie Anderson’s meticulous euphoria.
Sextile yes,please
A record that fuses anarchic electro fire with raw personal recollections —and enough beefed-up bass to bust a speaker or two.
Louis Phillippe & The Night Mail The Road To The Sea
A colourful mix of delicate textures, subtly sculpted reverb, melodic mellotron madness, Wilsonesque layered vocal harmonies, and the sort of long lost, very English whimsy it would take an anglophile Frenchman to evoke.
Various Roots Rocking Zimbabwe – The Modern Sound of Harare’ Townships 1975-1980
Featuring 25 tracks recorded 1975 -1980 in Rhodesia (as Zimbabwe was known then), by Oliver Mtukudzi, Thomas Mapfumo, The Green Arrows, New Tutenkhamen, Harare Mambos and many more.
Propagandhi At Peace
First album in eight years from the ever-evolving standard-bearers of politically charged punk have actively kicked against musical confines and bro-punk conservatism, promoting a message of anti-fascism since 1986.
Blondshell If You Asked For A Picture
A record which includes sky-scraping ballads and colossal hooks that soar over waves of distortion, mixing layered textures and harmonic flourishes, or making unexpected hairpin turns between them.
Model/Actriz Pirouette
A razor-sharp club-pop edge cutting through their foundation of traditional rock instrumentation.
Car Seat Headrest The Scholars
A bold new rock opera that isn’t just a new chapter for the premiere standard bearers of young internet rockers but also a spiritual rebirth, and the band’s first studio album in five years.
Andy Bell Ten Crowns
The new album from Erasure frontman – 10 tracks of joyous pop, produced and polished in Nashville, inspired by the dancefloor and gospel – was completed in the year he turned 60 and marks a majestic moment in his career.
Wretch 32 Home?
With a rich soundscape that seamlessly blends reggae, dancehall, grime, and Afrobeat, Wretch 32 crafts a musical world that mirrors the complexity and vibrancy of the communities he represents.
The Velvet Hands Caller EP
EP from band that coming-of-age tales with slacker-rock sensibilities, the punchy guitar licks of The Strokes or Parquet Courts with rousing punk choruses reminiscent of The Clash or The Vaccines.
Andrew Cushin Love is for Everyone
Debut from a Newcastle artist championed by Noel Gallagher, Pete Doherty, Sam Fender and Louis Tomlinson.
Slung In Ways
Influences within the Slung camp are far reaching, with the band’s members referencing artists from Deftones and Baroness, to Wednesday and MJ Lenderman, to Queens of the Stone Age and even a sprinkling of Chappell Roan and Fleetwood Mac.
Das Kinn Ruinenkampf
An electronic armada and kickbox phonetics lead us through haunting soundscapes somewhere between DAF, Kosmische Kuriere and Frankfurt Bahnhofsviertel.
Parcs Sleepless
The band’s sound is characterised by shimmering synths, hooky guitar riffs, driving bass lines, and four to the floor drums, with bittersweet, melancholic choruses.
Tean Dream Shine EP
With dreamy, lo-fi-inspired vocals, lush Rhodes and Mellotron textures, and a woodsy upright piano, Tean Dream crafts a nostalgic, ’70s-inflected bedroom-pop world where themes of freedom, self-discovery, and connection bloom.
Adam Lytle Altars
The delicate fingerpicking that opens the record gives way to an electric swagger that sounds looser and darker than anything we’ve heard from Lytle before.
Lights A6
Singer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist weaving in and out of alternative, indie, electronic, and dance
Cosmic Crooner European Vacation
Inspired by David Axelrod, Serge Gainsbourg, Marvin Gaye, and the golden age of bossa nova, the enigmatic European artist creates a vivid, luxurious sonic landscape, his evocative lyrics delivered with a raconteur’s wit.
Darker Lighter Darker Lighter
Artist whose skills caught the eye of heavyweights like Foo Fighters, Queens Of The Stone Age and Kim Gordon, who brought him into their fold as a trusted guitar tech and associate.
Jenny Hval Iris Silver Mist
Norwegian musician and novelist’s latest is very sensual, tactile and intimate – touching you as smells, sounds, and images do when they multiply.
Pyramids Pythagoras
Band who fuse jagged fragments of black metal and shoegaze add unconventional layers of reggaeton and neoperreo to both voice and rhythm.
Sinemis Farewell
An album of elegant and elegiac techno that mourns the loss and devastation of the 2022 Turkiye-Syria earthquake.
loscil Lake Fire
A nine-track offering of ash-laden sonics that mine the tension within the cycle of destruction and rejuvenation.
Reb Fountain How Love Bends
Her surrealist storytelling harnesses the sage wisdom of the dream, guiding listeners through limitless explorations of love, life, and loss within a landscape entirely of her making.
Fielded Chuckles Deluxe
They are unusual; a powerful voice that thrives off vulnerability, a trained musician turned experimental bedroom producer, a poignant R&B singer who might have engineered your favourite rapper’s album.
Jon Allen Seven Dials
A set of songs that capture evocative snapshots of the day-to-day struggles of 18th century Londoners.
Punchbag I Am Not Your Punchbag EP
Debut EP swinging between dizzying extremes, where unapologetically sugar-sweet pop hooks clash with radical leftfield production
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings Naturally
Twentieth anniversary reissue of an album which was the genesis for the Dap-Kings’ collaboration with Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse, the fruits of which having a lasting, indelible influence on soul, R&B and pop music in general. Instrumental versions of all lyrics are included.
Dope Lemon Golden Wolf
Musician that blends introspection with expansive sonic landscapes, fusing indie rock and psychedelic soul.
Battle Elf 10
They draw from dark memories, channelling krautrock and deep psychedelia, and pulling energy from Can, Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Sun Ra, Fred Frith, Eddie Hazel, Cosmic Jokers and Ash Ra Tempel.
Press Club To All The Ones That I Loved
Naarm/Melbourne band’s new album offers the listener a ride through various genres and traverses themes of introspection, growth, change and learning from past mistakes.
Hate Bellum Regiis
Their thirteenth album, Bellum Regiis, sees the unrelenting Polish quartet forging a bolder and more aggressive style than ever.
Royalty Capes Louder Than Joy
An entire late night 1970s AM radio playlist, compressed down into a particularly potent serum, for fans of Black Sabbath, Foo Fighters, and Soundgarden.
Kassi Valazza From Newman Street
Artist who fuses the Southwest’s rustic romance with the Pacific Northwest’s rocky realism.
Kamm Let The Light In
KAMM, who return in extra fine form for their third and presumably final album offering, following the sudden tragic death of core member Alland Byallo last year. Surviving bandmates Marc Barrite aka Dave Aju, Kenneth Scott, and Marc Smith chose the inspirational higher ground, finishing off what they had begun.
