Album Announcement
Makaya McCraven Announces New Album Universal Beings E&F Sides, Shares “Mak Attack”: Stream
Makaya McCraven released one of the 2018’s most acclaimed jazz albums in Universal Beings. Now, the Chicago-based drummer and producer is prepping to drop a companion piece called Universal Beings E&F Sides, in addition to a documentary series about the record. E&F Sides promises 14 “new pieces of organic beat music” that were cut from the original sessions for Universal Beings proper. One of those “Mak Attack”, which finds McCraven fiercely “attacking” his kit like the percussion beast that he is. As for the corresponding documentary, the visual will be soundtracked by the music found on E&F Sides. Its footage chronicles the making of breakthrough album Universal Beings, following McCraven in the studio and on the road as he traveled to California, New York, and...
The Front Bottoms Announce New Album In Sickness & In Flames, Share “Montgomery Forever”: Stream
The Front Bottoms have announced a new album called In Sickness & In Flames. It’s due out August 21st via Fueled By Ramen. To celebrate the news, they’ve shared lead single “Montgomery Forever” alongside its own music video. In Sickness & In Flames is the duo’s seventh album overall and follows their 2017 LP Going Grey. Perhaps most notably, it was produced by Mike Sapone. Over the course of 12 songs — one of which is the previously released single “Camouflage” — The Front Bottoms use this new album to celebrate life, purge angst, and push forward with “positive and creative energy,” according to a press release. “Montgomery Forever” sounds like a grown-up version of The Front Bottoms. The acoustic pop-punk sound they found a cult following with is still here, but it sounds more po...
Cloud Nothings Surprise Releasing New Album The Black Hole Understands
Surprise! Cloud Nothings have announced a new album called The Black Hole Understands, and they’re releasing it in full tomorrow via Bandcamp. The Black Hole Understands is a 10-song full-length that was written and recorded remotely while self-isolating during the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, reports Pitchfork. A 25% cut of the proceeds will be donated to Play on Philly in Philadelphia and Rainey Institute in Cleveland, both of which provide music and arts education to communities that don’t have easy access to such in their respective local areas. “It’s a quarantine album, so like… not actually recorded live,” frontperson Dylan Baldi tweeted. “I’m playing instruments and singing, Jayson is playing drums. It’s poppy and also kind of sad, which is more or less my state of mind....
Sadie Dupuis’ Sad13 Announces New Album Haunted Painting, Shares “Ghost (of a Good Time)”: Stream
Sad13, the indie project led by Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis, has announced a new album. Haunted Painting is officially due for release on September 25th through Wax Nine, a Carpark Records imprint overseen by Dupuis. The long-awaited Slugger follow-up is comprised of 11 songs and boasts guest contributions from Roberto Lange of Helado Negro, Deerhoof member Satomi Matsuzaki, tUnE-yArDs mastermind Merrill Garbus, and Rick Maguire of Pile. It was written at different studios all over the US, including the Elliott Smith-built New Monkey Studio in Van Nuys, California, and was purposefully recorded with only women engineers. “I worked on Haunted Painting throughout 2019, writing, arranging and recording from home, then finishing the songs in studios around the country in be...
Dent May Announces New Album Late Checkout, Shares “I Could Use A Miracle”: Stream
Los Angeles songwriter Dent May has announced his fifth album, Late Checkout. The project arrives August 21st via Carpark Records, and May is previewing it today with a wonderful new pop-rock song called “I Could Use A Miracle”. Since emerging in the late 2000s as a ukulele-toting psych-pop artist and then pivoting to disco, May has evolved into a much more polished and grandiose songwriter. Fans witnessed flashes of this transformation on 2017’s Across The Multiverse, but this forthcoming follow-up sees May really stepping up to own his new status as a power-pop multi-instrumentalist: not only is the new LP his first to be recorded outside of his home studio, but it’s also his introduction to writing and arranging parts for string players, a horn section, and background vocalist...
Boris Announce New Album NO, Share Blistering “Loveless”: Stream
Last year, Japanese experimental metal band Boris released a double album called LφVE & EVφL. Now, they’re prepping a follow-up project pointedly dubbed NO. The 11-song full-length is due out next month and is being teased with lead single “Loveless”. In a strongly-worded manifesto of sorts, Boris explained that NO is an amalgam of all of their influences and connections as DIY heavy musicians. It was a record that was informed by the current “closing” of international borders, and the pain, anguish, and anxiety we’re all feeling during this chaotic moment in world history. An excerpt from that statement reads, “We hope this latest album can be a mirror that gathers and reflects people’s negative energy at a different angle, one that is positive. That is the power and potenti...
Plants and Animals Announce New Album The Jungle, Share “House on Fire”: Stream
Plants and Animals have announced their first album in four years. Entitled The Jungle, it’s set for an October 23rd release through Secret City Records. The forthcoming effort is the Canadian outfit’s fifth overall following Waltzed in from the Rumbling from 2016. Its eight tracks were self-produced and recorded at Mixart, the band’s own studio in Montreal. According to a statement, Plants and Animals’ shortest yet boldest LP recounts “personal experiences made in a volatile world” — a sentiment especially resonant today given the global pandemic. “It’s about the things we inherit not necessarily being the things we want.” Editors’ Picks The indie rockers teased the project with “Sacrifice” earlier this month. Now, they’re sharing preview with “House on Fire”. A driving nu...
Bully Announce New Album Sugaregg, Share Chumbawamba-Inspired “Where to Start”: Stream
Last month, Bully released quarantine-style covers of Nirvana and Orville Peck, as well as teased that a forthcoming album was on the way. Today, the CoSigned rock outfit has formally announced their new record: Sugaregg is due out August 21st through Sub Pop. The new LP is Bully’s third overall and follow-up to Losing from 2017. It was mixed with studio veteran John Congleton (St. Vincent, Cloud Nothings) and represents a shift in approach for leader Alicia Bognanno. “There was a change that needed to happen and it happened on this record,” she told Rolling Stone. “Derailing my ego and insecurities allowed me to give these songs the attention they deserved.” Compared to its predecessor, Sugaregg features “more songs about erratic, dysfunctional love in an upbeat way, like, ‘I’m going down...
Paul McCartney Announces Collector’s Edition of Flaming Pie
Paul McCartney has been rolling out special reissues from his catalog as part of his Grammy-winning Archive Collection series for a while now, and it looks like his next release will double as a celebration of his 78th birthday. As it turns out, the newest record to get the archival treatment is his beloved tenth solo album, 1997’s Flaming Pie, which is due out July 31st via MPL/Capitol/UMe. These new Flaming Pie releases include previously unreleased material and bonus tracks. Strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, the Collector’s Edition includes five CDs, four LPs, two DVDs, a marbled art print portfolio of Linda McCartney prints, and his Allen Ginsberg collaboration “The Ballad of the Skeletons” — the first time it’s ever being pressed to vinyl — all wrapped up in a cloth-wrapped c...
Shamir Basks in Independence on New Song “On My Own”: Stream
Earlier this year, Shamir dropped a mini-album called Cataclysm. Now, he’s back with a poppy new song called “On My Own”. The track is the lead single from an upcoming album that will supposedly be his most accessible since his 2015 debut, Ratchet. After emerging as a glitzy disco and dance-pop artist on XL Recordings, Shamir became disillusioned with mainstream stardom and retreated to making lo-fi, insular indie rock for many years. “On My Own” isn’t a return to the glossy club music of Ratchet, but it is the most outwardly catchy and upbeat song he’s released in a long time. Over peppy drums, a sprightly bassline, and guitar riffs that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Cherry Glazerr LP, the Philly-based songwriter sings defiantly about regaining independence after a breakup. Conven...
Omar Rodríguez-López Announces Triple Vinyl Box Set The Clouds Hill Tapes
A Mars Volta reunion may be in the near future, but in the meantime, guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López is keeping himself preoccupied with a massive new release. This summer, he will put out a triple vinyl box set called The Clouds Hill Tapes. The 3xLP collection consists of 20 past solo songs from Rodríguez-López, all newly rearranged and produced by Johann Scheerer at the famed Clouds Hill Recording Studio in Hamburg, Germany. These new versions were performed by Rodríguez-López with assistance from a variety of guest musicians. Clouds Hill studio is considered to be Rodríguez-López’s “creative second home” and in the past has also hosted acts like The Killers, Nicolas Jaar, and Pete Doherty. The specific Clouds Hill Tapes sessions took place in late 2018 and early 2019, while the At T...
Japandroids Announce First-Ever Live Album Massey Fucking Hall
Canadian rockers Japandroids will usher in the summer season with their first-ever live album. Titled Massey Fucking Hall, it’s due out June 19th digitally and on vinyl October 2nd. The forthcoming album is named after Massey Hall, the renowned Toronto venue where it was recorded. There are 12 songs altogether, culled from the duo’s three different albums. Included are “No Known Drink or Drug” and “Arc of Bar”, off the most recent Japandroids LP, 2017’s Near to the Wild Heart of Life. There’s also “Younger Us” and “The House That Heaven Built”, a favorite off 2012’s Celebration Rock and one of the best songs of the last decade. Additionally, the band’s now-classic 2009 debut, Post-Nothing, is well-represented with singles like “Heart Sweats” and “Young Hearts Spark Fire”. “We never thought...
