This week may not have the big names in terms of album drops, but there is plenty to look forward to today in terms of new records. Fred again.. has been building up hype as one of the rising sensations in the DJ scene and today he drops his third album in his Actual Life series. We’ve already heard a healthy handful of tracks from this one and it’s sure to satisfy anyone looking for IDM dance floor goodies.
Earlier this year, Drugdealer dropped the excellent track “Madison” which hit a watershed moment for his songwriting career as he found his voice and crafted a new album around the yacht-rock-esque ‘70s AM lite rock mood. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard also return this week with their third album of the month, once again suggesting their prolific streak is far from over. Speaking of prolific streaks, Guided By Voices also have a new album out today, their third of the year.
Nosaj Thing’s new album is out today and features a wide range of guests including the artist of the year Panda Bear, Julianna Barwick, Toro y Moi, and others and traverses a lot of genres. Mdou Moctar dropped their second EP of the year this week which once again sees the guitar extraordinaire reaching new heights of spiritually excessive psychedelic guitar work proving he’s one of the most exciting people to wield the instrument in quite some time. Following last year’s Al Mundo Azul, Mr Twin Sister continue to push their sound further into dance territory with techno and house elements on their new EP Upright and Even, a far cry from their early dream-pop days, but throw a surprise twist with an ambient jazz piece to close it out.
The Beatles have followed their extensive reissue campaign this week with a special edition of the landmark Revolver (which, in my opinion, remains the best album of all time). This new deluxe set includes an abundance of new recordings and demos, such as John Lennon singing “Yellow Submarine” as well as a treasure trove of other goodies for diehard fans. In other reissue news, post-rock legends Sigur Rós have released a special edition of perhaps not their best album, but one that seemed to level-up their career and brand them as the incendiary creators of hopeful, life-affirming grandiose rock music.
While this week may be slow in terms of major album releases, the main event of the week is without question the return of Rihanna who is back with her first single as a lead artist since 2016. “Lift Me Up” comes to us courtesy of the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack and is a tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman. It’s a slow ballad (not the move many of us were likely expecting!) with gentle, plucking strings that give her voice plenty of room to shine. A touching ode and majestic return.
Also making a welcomed return this week is SZA with her new track, “Shirt.” The song first appeared in 2020 and grew popular on TikTok, but today we get the full studio version of the song. This summer saw the five year anniversary of her debut CTRL so hopefully we can expect the follow-up to come soon.
Garage rockers White Reaper announced a new album for next year and with it, shared their fuzzed-out single, “Pages,” which finds the band in their typical charged-up rhythm. King Tuff dropped a new single this week as well and it’s also from his upcoming record, his first in four years, which is out next year. A great time for loud, scuzzy, guitar driven tracks.
Following a pair of really great singles last year, Unknown Mortal Orchestra announced double-album due in 2023 and shared the acoustic-driven single, “I Killed Captain Cook,” a track written from the perspective of the Hawaiian who killed the famed explorer. Fucked Up’s guitarist wrote and recorded every new song on the band’s new album in 24 hours and challenged the rest of the group to do the same. Our first taste of the result is the banger, “One Day.”
Albums:
Fred Again.. | Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022)
Drugdealer | Hiding In Plain Sight
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | Changes
Guided By Voices | Scalping The Guru
Nosaj Thing | Continua
dvsn | Working On My Karma
Cakes Da Killa | Svengali
Mdou Moctar | Niger Vol. 2 EP
Mr Twin Sister | Upright and Even EP
Black Sabbath Cover Band Rehearsal | BSCBR: Master Of Rehearsal Vol 2
The Beatles | Revolver [Special Edition]
Sigur Rós | ( ) (Expanded Reissue)
Songs:
Rihanna | “Lift Me Up”
SZA | “Shirt”
White Reaper | “Pages”
Unknown Mortal Orchestra | “I Killed Captain Cook”
King Tuff | “Smalltown Stardust”
U.S. Girls | “Bless This Mess”
Leland Whitty | “Awake”
Fucked Up | “One Day”
Andrew Bird | “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain” (ft Phoebe Bridgers)
Algiers | “Irreversible Damage” (ft Zach de la Rocha)
The Men | “Hard Livin’”
Caroline Rose | “Love / Lover / Friend”
If you’re a Spotify user, you can listen to these songs (and more from 2022) here!