Gold Soundz: August 23, 2024

This week's suggested new music, curated by omg!nyc

This feels like the week we’ve been waiting for all month long and is sure to be one of the biggest release days in August. It’s shocking that despite having not one, but two songs in contention for the anthem of the summer, Sabrina Carpenter is just dropping her new album today. “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” have been burning up the charts for months and it’ll be interesting to see what else the album has in store for one of the year's hottest pop stars.

Experimental art-rockers Spirit of the Beehive got a lot of love for their last album, 2021’s ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH! and they’re looking for similar results on their new one, You’ll Have To Lose Something which follows their path of unexpected song structures that seem to burst apart just when you least expect it.

Shimmering hyper-pop duo Magdalena Bay embedded ‘90s vibes into their otherworldly sound with their fantastic debut album and they’re back with more sparkling gems of glowing, radiant pop that is begging for the blow-up they rightfully deserve.

Two years ago, Brooklyn’s Ka dropped two albums and now he’s back with another. Just like his previous releases, the only way to hear this one (for now) is to buy the files straight from his website. You can stream the single, “Such Devotion,” on YouTube and hopefully a wider release is ahead for one of the best underground rappers in the game.

Jangle-pop has seen a recent resurgence thanks in large part to a burgeoning scene in the Bay Area. Today, Chime School drop their sophomore album and continue to bring on the bright, paisley melodies and buoyant rhythms that brings together delightful harmonies and twinkling riffs.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of his ambient-electronic landmark record Venice, Fennesz has shared a new deluxe edition of the album with new tracks that were not originally included on the CDs and vinyl.

In October, noise-rock greats Chat Pile will release their sophomore album. This week, they shared the record’s second single and, as expected, it’s another punishing tune that, according to vocalist Raygun Busch, is “unlike the rest of the album, this song deals with horrors of interpersonal intimacy, yet it is connected with the rest of the record through the overarching theme of oppression, despair and malaise.”

It’s been about six years since the last album from Caroline Says, but this week Caroline Sallee announced her band’s return and gifted us another lo-fi dreamy tune filled with dusty grooves and hazy melodies.

The indie rock supergroup The Hard Quartet shared the first song a few weeks back and now they’ve announced their debut album. Along with the record announcement, they shared another new tune that showcases their robust talents. Still, for a band with such dominant guitarists in the fold, the mix feels a bit low.

LVL UP’s Dave Benton will release their new album under the moniker Trace Mountains next month and following the lead single “In a Dream,” Benton is back with another taste of the upcoming record with the new track “Friend,” another heartland rock tune brimming with promise.

Low came to a devistating end with the untimely death of drummer Mimi Parker. Now, her musical and life partner Alan Sparhawk will carry on with a new solo career and his debut album is on the way. “Get Still” is his latest single and it moves away from the stark, minimal tones of Low’s work and moves towards a new sonic soundscape.

This fall, Floating Points will release his first album since 2021’s incredible collaboration Promises which was made with the late, great Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra. Unlike that ambient masterpiece, this new record is more inline with his hard hitting techno and pulsating electronic sounds. The latest single, which he dropped this week, even moves towards a glitching footwork beat that really gets things going.

We recently learned that the post-punk stalwarts black midi were going on an indefinite hiatus (even if it wasn’t something everyone in the trio knew to be totally true). Following that news, the band’s frontman Geordie Greep also went ahead and announced his debut solo record and dropped the salsa/disco-forward jazz-punk tune “Holy, Holy” which gives us a new sound to explore as we join him on his new musical journey.

Albums:

SABRINA CARPENTER | Short n’ Sweet
FONTAINES D.C. | Romance
SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE | You’ll Have To Lose Something
MAGDALENA BAY | Imaginal Disk
KA | The Thief Next To Jesus
CHIME SCHOOL | The Boy Who Ran The Paisley Hotel
ILLUMINATI HOTTIES | POWER
HEEMS | VEENA LP
UNIFORM | American Standard
BRYCE DESNER | Solos
FENNESZ | Venice 20
THE GET UP KIDS | Something To Write Home About (25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

Songs:

CHAT PILE | “Masc”
CAROLINE SAYS | “Faded and Golden”
THE HARD QUARTET | “Rio’s Song”
TRACE MOUNTAINS | “Friend”
ALAN SPARHAWK | “Get Still”
FLOATING POINTS | “Ocotillo”
TANUKICHAN | “It Gets Easier” (ft Wisp)
KATIE GAVIN | “Casual Drug Use”
YAEJI | “booboo”
GEORDIE GREEP | “Holy, Holy”

If you’re a Spotify user, you can listen to these songs (and more from 2024) here!