2022 continues to steamroll the competition and confirms itself as the best year of new music in the past two decades. This week, legendary singer/songwriter (and my personal favorite of the last twenty-five years) Bill Callahan shares his latest record, YTI⅃AƎЯ, his third release in the past four years alone. His prolific and stunning discography has no weak spots and his status as an icon of Indie Americana knows no bounds and new music from him is always welcome as each album adds another glowing chapter to his impeccable body of work.
Wild Pink have been building the hype around their new album ILYSM and today we get the whole shebang. A sprawling and stunning album of heartland rock epics that are sure to become staples on road trip playlists for years to come and will surely elevate the band’s status to mid-tier indie rock titans.
After releasing a killer demo EP last year, Enumclaw are back with their highly anticipated debut album, Save the Baby. Featuring nostalgia soaked guitar hooks and classic Pacific North West vibes, it sounds both vintage and of the moment and gives hope that fuzzed-out rock can still exist for a new generation. Plains, the duo of Waxahatchee and Jess Williamson, also drop their debut record today which captures idyllic country and serene twang to deliver something crisp and sun-drenched.
After releasing a double-album earlier this year, Red Hot Chili Peppers jump back in the ring with yet another double-album featuring their reunited classic line-up. Long-time guitarist John Frusciante re-joined the band just before the pandemic and it’s clear just how much these guys meshed once they got back in a room and began jamming with each other again. Pop singer Betty Who has a new one today, her first since 2019, and it features more of her dance-inspired synth-pop.
The U.K. group Sault defied expectations earlier this year when they surprise released their chamber-pop and modern classical record Air. This week they turned heads again with a new EP called 10 that features the epic track “Angels” which finds the bang exploring reggae, yet another genre the band has successfully conquered.
Two years after his excellent debut, Westerman has returned with a new single that tackles intense subject matter, but through the gaze of serene melody and flourishes of hope. Drugdealer also shared a new track, the third single from his upcoming album, that once again finds him in the groove of ‘70s am-pop and crystalline yacht-rock tendencies.
In a total nostalgic moment, blink-182 announced this week that Tom DeLonge would be rejoining the band and that a new studio album is on the way which is to be followed by a massive arena tour featuring an opening set from Turnstile. Today, the band dropped their first new song as the classic trio since 2011. Along with this news, the band was announced as a co-headliner to next year’s When We Were Young, pairing up with Green Day to rekindle the spark of their 2001 Pop Disaster Tour. Today also happens to be the 25th anniversary of Green Day’s Nimrod and with that, the band announced a deluxe edition of the record featuring a few unreleased tracks, the first of which is out today.
Albums:
Bill Callahan | YTI⅃AƎЯ
Wild Pink | ILYSM
Enumclaw | Save The Baby
Plains | I Walked With You A Ways
Lucrecia Dalt | ¡Ay!
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | Laminated Denim
Red Hot Chili Peppers | Return Of The Dream Canteen
Brian Eno | FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE
Mavi | Laughing So Hard It Hurts
Winter | What Kind Of Blue Are You?
Betty Who | BIG!
Mykki Blanco | Stay Close To Music
The Reds, Pinks and Purples | They Only Wanted Your Soul
Songs:
Sault | “Angel”
Westerman | “Idol; RE-run”
Weyes Blood | “Grapevine”
Blink-182 | “Edging”
Men I Trust | “Girl”
Drugdealer | “Pictures of You”
envy | “Seimei”
Stormzy | “Hide and Seek”
Green Day | “You Irritate Me” [demo]
Margot Price | “Turn It On” [Sleater-Kinney cover]
Bruce Springsteen | “Nightshift” [The Commodores cover]
If you’re a Spotify user, you can listen to these songs (and more from 2022) here!