Two big releases this week worth paying attention to and listening to ASAP: Mdou Moctar’s new record, and Matador debut, Afrique Victime, is a stunning exploration in psych-rock and one of the best guitar-driven records of the year. An explosion of sound and brilliant guitar work and a mind altering experience all of its own. The other is Lydia Ainsworth’s new record, Sparkles & Debris. This is an ‘80s inspired synth-pop epic that pushes the boundaries of pop towards more experimental territory while still maintaining the accessibility of classic pop song structures.
Disney’s latest breakout star, Olivia Rodrigo, is fresh off her SNL debut and follows up her universal smash “Driver’s License” with her debut album, SOUR. Lana del Ray also shared three new songs from her upcoming albums which are supposed to arrive on June 1 and July 4.
Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen teamed up for an absolutely monstrous track called “Like I Used To” and it’s already leading the charge for Song of the Year contender.
In other news, Paul McCartney and Rick Ruben announced a new documentary series called McCartney 3,2,1 for Hulu and Netflix announced an eight-part series called THIS IS POP which will dive into the history of pop music through untold stories from some of the biggest artists in the industry. They arrive in July and June, respectively.
Finally, if you haven’t seen The Linda Lindas absolutely rock out at the LA Public Library, please watch the performance and interview as soon as possible.
Albums:
Mdou Moctar | Afrique Victime
Lydia Ainsworth | Sparkles & Debris
Olivia Rodrigo | SOUR
CHAI | Wink
Songs:
Faye Webster | “I Know I’m Funny haha”
Black Country, New Road | “Track X (The Guest)”
Bleachers | “Stop Making It Hurt”
Lucy Dacus | “VBS”
black midi | “Chondromalacia Patella”
Japanese Breakfast | “Savage Good Boy”
Sharon Van Etten / Angel Olsen | “Like I Used To”
Tirzah | “Sink In”
Burial | “Dolphinz”
Lil Nas X | “SUN GOES DOWN”
Daniel Avery | “Hazel and Gold”
If you’re a Spotify user, you can listen to these songs (and more from 2021) here!