April strikes with a vengeance as today marks one of the biggest release dates of the year (so far) with every single album on this week’s list is worthy of your attention. There are also a ton of great new songs this week as well. Let’s go!
Jack White is the big name this week with the first of his two solo LPs hitting shelves and streaming platforms. This week we get the electric album, Fear of the Dawn, which is his first solo album in several years and will probably be a big focus for his upcoming Supply Chain Issues tour.
Wet Leg’s debut is out this week and it might be the most divisive record of the year so far. After gaining a ton of buzz last year off the single “Chaise Lounge,” the duo of Wet Leg have been dividing critics and fans with their catchy post-punk singles which people seem to either love or really hate. With six singles from the album already out, this one feels incredibly promising as one of the best debuts of the year.
Daniel Rossen, best known as one of the lead singers and songwriters of mid-aughts indie sensation Grizzly Bear, returns this week with his first official solo record. He’s shared two single so far and both feature the lush and ornate styles we’ve come to expect.
The Linda Lindas went viral last year with their single “Racist Sexist Boy” and this week they’re releasing their new album on punk label Epitaph. The teen sensations keep cranking out hits and this should be a buzzing spin. We also have a new album from Vince Staples this week which was added as a bit of a surprise from the artist last week.
Orville Peck has been on the rise over the past few years and this week he strides back into view with a sprawling, lengthy new record called Bronco. He’s been releasing this one in chapters and it’s a solid new output from the mysterious crooner that continues to put his intriguing vocals front and center.
Thom Yorke released two new songs this week courtesy of the show Peaky Blinders. One is a soft, piano instrumental and the other comes by way of his new project The Smile. After releasing the epic Promises last year with Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony, Floating Points is back to the dance floor with his latest banger, “Grammar.”
Elizabeth Fraser, best known as the vocalist of iconic dream-pop stars Cocteau Twins, dropped her first new song in quite some time and it’s with Massive Attack drummer Damon Reece from their band Sun’s Signature. It’s a lush, fantastical song called “Golden Air” and it sounds as luminous as you’d expect. Maggie Rogers announced her sophomore album last week and today follow’s it up with the lead single “That’s Where I Am.”
Seismic space-rockers The Besnard Lakes unleashed their latest behemoth of a track, the towering and colossus “She’s An Icicle,” which has an extended intro before the band rips into their typical crash of sound. On a more mellow front, following last year’s great record True Love, Hovvdy are back with a new song called “Town,” their second new song of 2022.
Glenn Donaldson continues his prolific run with more new songs from The Red, Pinks and Purples, this time it’s another three song single led by a full-band sound in “Life in the Void” and the lengthy instrumental “Evening at Summer’s End.” He also has a new single, the A-side of an upcoming 7”, with his shoegaze project Vacant Gardens.
Aussie rock and rollers Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever shared their third single, the bright and poppy “My Echo” and former members of the post-punk group Ought released their third single as their new band Cola. Pusha T announced a new record and dropped a new song with Jay Z featuring production from Pharrell as he continues to build the hype to the follow-up to Daytona.
Albums:
Jack White | Fear of the Dawn
Wet Leg | Wet Leg
Daniel Rossen | You Belong There
The Linda Lindas | Growing Up
Vince Staples | Ramona Park Broke My Heart
Orville Peck | BRONCO
Father John Misty | Chloë and the Next 20th Century
Lucius | Second Nature
Loraine James | Whatever the Weather
HEALTH | DISCO4 :: PART II
Overmono | Cash Romantic EP
Pavement | Terror Twilight: Farewell Horizontal [Reissue]
Songs:
The Smile | “Pana-vision”
Hovvdy | “Town”
Sun’s Signature | “Golden Air”
The Besnard Lakes | “She’s An Icicle”
Floating Points | “Grammar”
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever | “My Echo”
The Reds, Pinks and Purples | “Life in the Void”
Maggie Rogers | “That’s Where I Am”
Joyce Manor | “Gotta Let It Go”
Horsegirl | “World of Pots and Pans”
Cola | “Water Table”
ScHoolBoy Q | “Soccer Dad”
Vacant Gardens | “Field of Vines”
Pusha T | “Neck & Wrist” (ft Jay Z and Pharrell)
Tops | “Perfected Steps”
Thom Yorke | “That’s How Horses Are”
If you’re a Spotify user, you can listen to these songs (and more from 2022) here!