Things are on the slower side this week in terms of new releases. The big highlights are the latest from James Blake, which was originally due earlier this year but was pushed back due to vinyl delays. Personally, I’m excited for the debut from Magdelena Bay, which will be a pop odyssey that stretches from disco, to chillwave, to synth-pop with a futuristic vision.
Big Thief dropped their fourth new song of the year this week and shared dates for an incredible world tour in 2022. The band also said they expect to release their new record early next year and that it’ll be a double album (although I’m really not clear what a double album really means these days as so many new records are pressed on two discs regardless of their run time).
Adele announced her new single, and first in six years, will be out next week and it’s called “Easy on Me.” Presumably, her next album will follow shortly. Trace Mountains also offered up two new singles from their new record, HOUSE OF CONFUSION, which is out later this month.
Pitchfork has been celebrating their 25th anniversary this year and this week they announced the 200 most important artists in music over the past quarter century as well as 19 album reviews they would rescore given the chance. Seeing as there are always some hot takes around their reviews, the changes are pretty comical. In particular, they’d rescore Daft Punk’s Discovery and give it the elusive perfect 10 rather than the laughable 6 it first earned.
In New York news, LCD Soundsystem has announced a 20 show residency for the end of the year at Brooklyn Steel and Yo La Tengo has reinstated their traditional Hannukah shows, at Bowery Ballroom. David Byrne is also continuing his Broadway run of American Utopia which you can read about here and watch me flip my hair to at 0:27 in the promotional video.
Albums:
James Blake | Friends That Break Your Heart
Magdalena Bay | Mercurial World
Kevin Morby | A Night at the Little Los Angeles
Nothing | The Great Dismal B-Sides
Songs:
Big Thief | “Change”
Trace Mountains | “EYES ON THE ROAD” / “HEART OF GOLD”
Mitski | “Working for the Knife”
Nubya Garcia | “Together is a Beautiful Place to Be” [Nala Sinephro remix]
Arca | “Born Yesterday”
The Beatles | “The Long and Winding Road” [2021 mix]
Bruce Springsteen | “Sherry Darling” [live in 1979]
If you’re a Spotify user, you can listen to these songs (and more from 2021) here!