PRESS PLAY: New Albums out November 3rd

It goes without saying that this week’s biggest new music story is the release of “Now and Then,” the long-rumored (and long-bootlegged) final Beatles song. The standalone track is out now, and will formally arrive as part of a revamped edition of the Fab Four’s career-spanning ‘red’ and ‘blue’ albums, 1962-1966 and 1967-1970, both of which will be released next week.

Elsewhere, The Cure’s Lol Tolhurst, Siouxsie & the Banshees’ Budgie, and producer Jacknife Lee join forces on the guest-studded Los Angeles, which features vocal contributions from LCD Sounsystem’s James Murphy, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, and others. For their second album of the year, shadow-shrouded post-punks bar italia continue their exploration of the indie rock’s darkest corners on The Twits. For their first album in over 20 years, Dan Wilson and Semisonic recruit Jason Isbell and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James for the glimmering Little Bit of Sun. LA artist IAN SWEET retreated to the New York Catskills to record her fourth album, SUCKER, and its pop-informed sound is expertly crafted.

Coming off the ambitious, multi-part New Age Norms, Cold War Kids’ self-titled tenth album is a soul-inspired return to form. Guitarist Marnie Stern never really left the spotlight after her last album (she spent the last decade as a cornerstone of the 8G Band on Late Night with Seth Meyers); her dizzying technique still mystifies on The Comeback Kid. As co-founder of Sooper Records, Chicago’s Sen Morimoto is at the center of a bustling creative scene; his genre-hopping second album, Diagnosis, is dreamy while remaining grounded. Boston rockers Drop Nineteens make a surprising return with Hard Light, arriving 30 years after their initial run which saw early gigs with Radiohead and The Cranberries as openers.

PRESS PLAY on these new releases below. Listen for spotlights on new records like these (and more) every Friday on the XPN Morning Show and Indie Rock Hit Parade.

Lol Tolhurst x Budgie x Jacknife Lee – Los Angeles
CHECK OUT: “Los Angeles (feat. James Murphy)” “Ghosted at Home (feat. Bobby Gillespie)”

bar italia – The Twits
CHECK OUT: “my little tony” “Jelsy”

Semisonic – Little Bit of Sun
CHECK OUT: “The Rope” “Little Bit of Sun”

IAN SWEET – Sucker
CHECK OUT: “Your Spit” “Smoking Again”

Cold War Kids – Cold War Kids
CHECK OUT: “Run Away with Me” “Double Life”

Marnie Stern – The Comeback Kid
CHECK OUT: “Plain Speak” “Believing is Seeing”

Sen Morimoto – Diagnosis
CHECK OUT: “If the Answer isn’t Love” “Bad State”

Drop Nineteens – Hard Light
CHECK OUT: “Scapa Flow” “A Hitch”

FURTHER LISTENING:
Actress – LXXXVIII, Animal Hospital – Shelf Life, The Bamboos – This is How You Do It, Belle and Sebastian – The Boy with the Arab Strap (25^th Anniversary Edition), The Blasters – Mandatory: The Best of the Blasters, Bob Marley and The Wailers – Catch a Fire (50^th Anniversary Edition), Cher – Believe (Deluxe Edition), Chicago – Chicago Greatest Christmas Hits, Chick Corea Elektric Band – The Future is Now, Christine McVie – Christine McVie (Reissue) / In the Meantime (Reissue), Como Las Movies – Como Las Singles, Earth – Earth 2 Special Low Frequency Version (30^th Anniversary Edition), Empty Country – Empty Country II, Frank Zappa – Over-Nite Sensation (50^th Anniversary Edition), Gregory Porter – Christmas Wish, Jaime Wyatt – Feel Good, Jean-Michel Jarre – OXYMOREWORKS, Jimmy Buffett – Equal Strain on All Parts, Jockstrap – I<3UQTINVU, Johnny Marr – Spirit Power: The Best of Johnny Marr, Kevin Drew – Aging, King Creosote – I DES, Laura Veirs – Phone Orphans, Light Beams – Wild Life, Liza Anne – Utopian, Luxury Skin – It’s All Over, Matmos – Return to Archive, Michael Franti & Spearhead – Big Big Love, Micky Dolenz – Dolenz Sings R.E.M. EP, Motörhead – Another Perfect Day (40^th Anniversary Edition), Neil Young – Time Fades Away 50, New Kids on the Block – The Block Revisited, Oasis – The Masterplan (Reissue), Phil Alvin – Sung Stories (Reissue), Pretty Girls Make Graves – The New Romance (20^th Anniversary Edition), Skyway Man – Flight of the Long Distance Healer, Snail Mail – Valentine Demos EP, Spiritual Cramp – Spiritual Cramp, The Struts – Pretty Vicious, Sublime with Rome – Tangerine Skies EP, Swampmeat Family Band – Polish Your Old Halo, Teddy Pendergrass – This Christmas (I’d Rather Have Love) (Reissue), Tkay Maidza – Sweet Justice, The Tragically Hip – Phantom Power (25^th Anniversary Edition), U.S. Girls – LIVES, Van Morrison – Accentuate the Positive, Zooey Celeste – Restless Thoughts, Various Artists – Heavenly Cream: An Acoustic Tribute to Cream