As we cruise right along and reach the start of summer, the heat keeps coming in terms of new releases and if there aren’t any new albums on your list to check out this week, first of all you should change that, but second of all, the caliber of new songs will surely brighten your mood.
Up first, the raised on hardcore, but still not quite hardcore Militaire Gun finally drop their debut full-length this week and it continues to defy a single genre, but captures the band’s unbridled energy and spirit that makes it a must-listen for anyone into fast, loud music or anyone looking for a gateway into something a tad more extreme.
In the pop sphere, long-time great Kelly Clarkson has taken a break from her better than we deserve covers reign and instead delivers a fresh album of new material. After hitting number one on the charts and winning a Grammy with Sam Smith, Kim Petras marks her return this week as well with a brand new album that is sure to propel her rise to stardom and take her to even greater heights. Bounce queen diva Big Freedia has a new record out today (featuring a track with Lil Wayne) as well and with it, she continues to cement her name as one of the best in the game.
Alt-folk hero M. Ward returns with a new solo album this week that will excite fans looking for more of his chilled-out vibes that should be perfect for summer camp fires or early mornings and it includes a cover from David Bowie’s final album. There’s also a new one from Wye Oak, their first in five years and first since adding their bassist to their line-up (although he’s not credited with any songwriting on the album).
Scuzzy noise-rockers The Men put out their better than you remember new album just earlier this year, but today they’ve dropped Fuzz Club Session, a live record featuring many of their new tunes. The Strokes’ guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. has a new solo record out this week, making him just one release shy of matching his main band’s output. Indie rockers Geese, not to be confused with the jam band Goose, drop their new album of big riff rockers today too.
This week also features a new reissue of recordings from pop-savant and overall genre-agnostic extraordinaire Arthur Russell who, during his lifetime, was best known for releasing incendiary disco tracks under the monikers Dinosaur L and Loose Joints. After he died from AIDS in the early ‘90s, a lot of his unreleased work exposed his endless fascination with sonic explorations and the depths of his recordings that never saw the light of day. This release has some of his most accomplished and satisfying work we’ve yet to hear.
It’s only been a year since we got the debut record from The Smile, but just ahead of their upcoming North American tour, the band has shared the one-off recording of “Bending Hectic,” a song that made its debut in-concert last summer and it’s an epic track that blossoms in slow motion before rupturing with emphatic guitar work and easily one of their greatest accomplishments.
Shoegaze icons Slowdive have been back at it for nearly a decade and six years after releasing their reunion record, the band has announced a follow-up and its lead by the lovely new single, “kisses,” proving the band still knows how to gorgeously capture a sound they do oh so well. Enigmatic electronic artist Aphex Twin has always kept his fans slightly at bay and after releasing then deleting his new single, he stopped playing games and made it accessible for all. Still, the track is more subdued than you may expect and unveils an almost playful vibe from the elusive DJ continuing to zig when we expect him to zag.
Before their co-headlining tour kicks off later this summer, Beck and Phoenix have teamed-up for a new single called “Odyssey” which takes the laters synth-pop elegance and adds Beck as more of a feature giving you the exact song you’d expect as a collaboration between the two indie rock titans. Róisín Murphy dropped yet another excellent track this week as she builds the hype for her new album and if the singles are any indication, this could be the dark horse for the dance album of the year.
After releasing her sixth album just last fall, Carly Rae Jepsen has been on a steady string of tour dates to promote the record and today she’s released a new single called “Shy Boy” that explores some disco vibes and her classic dance-pop aesthetics. Disco soul group Jungle dropped the sparkling jam, “I’ve Been In Love.” Channel Tres guests on the slinking track and it’s got a solid groove. Georgia Gets By is a new project from singer Georgia Not and “Easier to Run” is her excellent debut single that takes her killer voice and undercuts it with shoegaze guitar textures for a searing track buzzing with promise.
Metal greats Baroness strike back this fall with their new album Stone and this week they offered up the storming first single, “Last Word.” The song holds up the band’s heroic status of powerful, head banging classics and this one is more of what we’ve come to love from these consistently great heavy hitters. Palehound’s new album is out next month and this week we were treated to the album’s killer third single, the ripping “Independence Day,” a song that is sure to be a go-to rock anthem for your summer.
Psych-folk outfit Woods announced a new album this week and with it shared two songs. “Between the Past” is a bright pop track that features the balmy vocals the band has displayed since their inception and “White Winter Melody” is a serene instrumental piece that feels perfect to soundtrack a sunny drive or meandering journey through lush trees. Freak Heat Waves and Cindy Lee dropped a collaboration this week as well which will appear on the foremost’s album due next month. It’s a shimmering tune with lush synths and a buzzing beat.
I hold the opinion that the best Bon Iver album is still the first, but for many, they fell in love with the group after the release of their self-titled sophomore record. In particular, the song “Holocene” really resonated with so many and this week, Justin Vernon shared an early version of the track and released under his own name with the title “hazleton.” (There’s also a track called “liner” and both will appear on the upcoming DeYarmond Edison.) This version is an acoustic number that he wrote between 2005 and 2006 and the evolution to the version we heard in 2011 was clearly a special journey as the two sound wildly different, albeit with a hint of similarity in the vocals.
The visionary Sonic Youth broke up in 2011 and this week they announced a live album from their final show in North America which took place at the Williamsburg Waterfront in their final year. Ahead of the release, they’ve shared the recordings of “Brave Men Run (In My Family) and “Death Valley ‘69” and both are incendiary captures of a band that was still operating at their peak and gives a final glance into their icon run as one of the underground’s best to ever do it.
Albums:
Militaire Gun | Life Under the Gun
Kelly Clarkson | chemistry
Kim Petras | Feed The Beast
Big Freedia | Central City
Geese | 3D Country
Wye Oak | Every Day Like The Last
M. Ward | Supernatural Thing
Albert Hammond Jr. | Melodies On Hiatus
The Men | Fuzz Club Session
Swans | The Beggar
Portugal The Man | Chris Black Changed My Life
Arthur Russell | Picture Of Bunny Rabbit
Songs:
The Smile | “Bending Hectic”
Aphex Twin | “Blackbox Life recorder 21f”
Slowdive | “kisses”
Róisín Murphy | “Fader”
Jungle | “I’ve Been In Love” (ft Channel Tres)
Georgia Gets By | “Easier to Run”
Palehound | “Independence Day”
Beck / Phoenix | “Odyssey”
Baroness | “Last Word”
Nicki Minaj / Ice Spice | “Barbie World” (with Aqua)
Carly Rae Jepsen | “Shy Boy”
Faye Webster | “But Not Kiss”
Woods | “Between the Past” / “White Winter Melody”
Jaimie Branch | “take over the world”
Charly Bliss | “You Don’t Even Know Me Anymore”
Freak Heat Waves / Cindy Lee | “In a Moment Divine”
Justin Vernon | “hazleton” / “liner”
Sonic Youth | “Brave Men Run (In My Family) / “Death Valley ‘69” (Live in Brooklyn)
If you’re a Spotify user, you can listen to these songs (and more from 2023) here!
Great, helpful quote: "Indie rockers Geese, not to be confused with the jam band Goose..."