Even in the weeks where a big name band isn’t dropping an album, there is still quite a bit to look forward to when it comes to new music. This week, Widowspeak release their sixth album, The Jacket, and judging by the early singles, it could be their best. Their dusty, dream-pop is fitted with some jagged guitar to roughen up the texture and Molly Hamilton’s voice sounds as sweet as ever.
It’s also a good week for some legacy acts. Loop, the buzzing space-rock and shoegaze band from England are back with their first record in over 30 years and another act from that era, The Boo Radleys, have returned as well. If you’re into soaring, fuzzed out guitars, these albums aren’t to be missed.
Similarly, after postponing the release of their album until April, Spiritualized have shared another single from their new record and it might be their brightest and most triumphant new song yet.
Father John Misty shared another song from his new album, out later this year, and this one has a Harry Nilsson-esque vibe to it with more literal lyrics than what he can sometimes commit to paper. It’s a breezy, ‘70s inspired track that is sure to connect with fans. Tomberlin also shared another new one this week as she continues to build towards her promising new record.
Floating Points returned with his first proper solo single in a few years and it’s a full-on rave ready number that ignites the dance floor with a fire-y passion. Overmono also dropped a new one so if you’re looking for new techno inspired dance tracks, these are not ones to miss.
The xx haven’t released a new album since 2017, but this week, bass player and vocalist Oliver Sim announced his debut solo track, which happens to be produced by none other than Jamie xx, and shared that an EP would be coming soon as well. Elsewhere, hardcore and industrial hip hop group Dälek shared the bruising single “Boycott” which is as punishing as you’d expect and rising post-punks Horsegirl dropped a new one as well while also announcing their debut album which is out later this year.
Later this year, ‘90s indie icons Pavement will embark on a reunion tour (their first in ten years) and in the spring, they’ll reissue their album Terror Twilight. This week, the band also announced a reissue of their EP Spit on a Stranger which features the song “Harness Your Hope.” The song was never popular during the band’s original run in the ‘90s or even really after they disbanded. At least not until the song somehow became a viral hit due to a bizarre algorithm on Spotify that included it in playlists before the song eventually became a sensation on Tik Tok. The video, which is out now, stars Sophie Thatcher who played the younger version of Natalie on Showtime’s breakout hit Yellowjackets. It’s a surreal story to say the least.
Albums:
Widowspeak | The Jacket
The Boo Radleys | Keep On With Falling
Loop | Sonancy
GHOST | IMPERA
Rex Orange County | WHO CARES?
PJ Harvey | The Hope Six Demolition Project – Demos
Songs:
Spiritualized | “The Mainline Song”
Megan Thee Stallion / Dua Lipa | “Sweetest Pie”
Father John Misty | “Goodbye Mr Blue”
Florence + The Machine | “My Love”
Oliver Sim | “Romance With a Memory”
Floating Points | “Vocoder”
Tomberlin | “tap”
Horsegirl | “Anti-glory”
Overmono | “Gunk”
Dälek | “Boycott”
Aldous Harding | “Fever”
The Smile | “The Smoke” (Dennis Bovell remix)
If you’re a Spotify user, you can listen to these songs (and more from 2022) here!