July concludes with one of the biggest Pop albums of the year, the highly anticipated sophomore record from Billie Eilish as well as new one from one of the most in-demand producers in the business, Jack Antonoff, via his band Bleachers. Also on the radar is an unreleased Prince record as well as a massive Beach Boys collection from their underrated Sunflower and Surf’s Up sessions.
Grouper announced a new album, her first under that moniker since 2018, and shared a song and rising hardcore group Turnstile also dropped a stellar new track on a totally opposite end of the musical spectrum.
Angel Olsen shared another song, Men Without Hats’ “Safety Dance,” from her upcoming ‘80s covers EP and Matt Berninger of The National shared a cover of The Velvet Underground’s “I’m Waiting for the Man” off the upcoming tribute to band’s seminal debut.
Today also marks the 20th anniversary of The Strokes’ debut Is This It being released in Australia. It wouldn’t come out in the states until October (and with an altered track list and cover) so I’ll be writing about it more then, but still a good reason to listen to an all-time classic.
As I took last week off, I included some song highlights that I wasn’t able to include in my previous newsletter from the likes of The War on Drugs, the Linda Lindas, TOPS, Big Red Machine (featuring Fleet Foxes!) and James Blake. All are worth your time!
Albums:
Billie Eilish | Happier Than Ever
Prince | Welcome 2 America
Bleachers | Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night
Torres | Thirstier
Alan Vega | Alan Vega After Dark
LUMP | Animal
Yola | Stand For Myself
Sonny & The Sunsets | New Day with New Possibilities
The Beach Boys | Feel Flows – The Sunflower and Surf’s Up Sessions 1969-1971
Songs:
Grouper | “Unclean mind”
박혜진 Park Hye Jin | “Whatchu Doin Later”
Turnstile | “BLACKOUT”
Angel Olsen | “Safety Dance” [Men Without Hats cover]
Liars | “From What the Never Was”
Matt Berninger | “I’m Waiting for The Man” [Velvet Underground cover]
George Harrison | “Isn’t It a Pity” Session Outtakes and Jams / Take 27
Arlo Parks | “Too Good” (Unknown Mortal Orchestra remix)
Jungle "| “Truth”
MONO | “Riptide”
The War on Drugs | “Living Proof”
The Linda Lindas | “Oh!”
TOPS | “Party Again”
Big Red Machine | “Phoenix” (ft Fleet Foxes and Anaïs Mitchell)
James Blake | “Say What You Will”
If you’re a Spotify user, you can listen to these songs (and more from 2021) here!