PRESS PLAY: New Albums out October 4th

October’s first batch of new releases offers many treats (and only one or two tricks). Following another standout collaboration with fellow Texans Khruangbin, Leon Bridges steps out on his own with style to spare on his fourth album, Leon. If Moon Music indeed turns out to be Coldplay’s final album, it’ll bookend a quarter-century career punctuated by globe-conquering anthems. The Radiohead offshoot The Smile swiftly follow January’s Wall of Eyes with Cutouts, their third full-length of lopsided experimental jazz-rock. San Diego’s Thee Sacred Souls find themselves even deeper in the pocket on Got a Story to Tell, the sophomore LP from the Daptone-approved combo.

An expansion of bandleader Nandi Rose’s trademark icy ambient pop, See You at the Maypole is Half Waif’s raw and cathartic sixth album. Fronted by Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus and featuring members of The Dirty Three and Cairo Gang, The Hard Quartet’s self-titled release is a freewheeling showcase for its veteran members’ creative strengths. As she celebrates the 40^th anniversary of her solo debut, Alison Moyet reimagines highlights from Alf and later releases on Key. With his former group black midi now indefinitely retired, Geordie Greep is free to explore even wilder corners of his imagination on his solo debut, The New Sound.

Listen for spotlights on new records like these (and more) every week on the XPN Morning Show and Indie Rock Hit Parade.

PRESS PLAY on these new releases

Leon Bridges – Leon
CHECK OUT: “Peaceful Place” “Laredo”

Coldplay – Moon Music
CHECK OUT: “feelslikeimfallinginlove” “WE PRAY (feat. Little Simz, Burma Boy, Elyanna, and TINI)”

The Smile – Cutouts
CHECK OUT: “Foreign Spies” “Zero Sum”

Thee Sacred Souls – Got a Story to Tell
CHECK OUT: “Live for You” “Waiting on the Right Time”

Half Waif – See You at the Maypole
CHECK OUT: “Figurine” “The Museum”

The Hard Quartet – The Hard Quartet
CHECK OUT: “Earth Hater” “Our Hometown Boy”

Alison Moyet – Key
CHECK OUT: “Such Small Ale” “Love Resurrection”

Geordie Greep – The New Sound
CHECK OUT: “Holy, Holy” “Blues”

The PRESS PLAY-list

FURTHER LISTENING

A Place to Bury Strangers – Synthesizer, Abstract Crimewave – The Longest Night, Ada Lea – notes EP, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad – Jazz is Dead JID021, Alessandro Cortini – Nati Infiniti, Animal Collective – Sung Tongs Live at the Theatre at Ace Hotel, Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works Volume II (Expanded Edition), Balance and Composure – with you in spirit, Caribou – Honey, cumgirl8 – [the] 8th cumming, David Shaw – Take a Look Inside, Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn – Quiet in a World Full of Noise, DESIRE – Games People Play, Devarrow – Heart Shaped Rock, Don Henley – Building the Perfect Beast (40^th Anniversary Edition), FINNEAS – For Cryin’ Out Loud, Foreigner – Turning Back the Time, Garrett T. Capps & NASA Country – Everyone is Everyone, Godspeed You! Black Emperor – NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD, Hanson – Underneath: Complete, Ivy 2 – Less Precious, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Live from the Ryman Vol. 2, Joan Shelley – Mood Ring EP, Jonah Yano – Jonah Yano & The Heavy Loop, Joni Mitchell – Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980), Kacey Chambers – Backbone (The Desert Child), Little Big Town – The Christmas Record, Mastodon – Crack the Skye (15^th Anniversary Edition), Michael Love Michael – Bruiser, Midland – Fragments, Mindy Smith – Quiet Town, Orla Gartland – Everybody Needs a Hero, Public Service Broadcasting – The Last Flight, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 – Heavier Yet Lies the Crownless Head, Sixpence None the Richer – Rosemary Hill EP, Sleater-Kinney – Little Rope (Deluxe Edition), The Smashing Times – Mrs. Ladyships and the Cleanerhouse Boys, Steve Kilbey – Bespoke Wheels and Winged Heels, Suede – Dog Man Star (30^th Anniversary Edition), The Surfrajettes – Easy as Pie, Temples – Other Structures EP, 34 Trolley – Relaxation EP, Verböten – Verböten, Vitesse X – This Infinite, The Wild Feathers – Sirens, Wild Pink – Dulling the Horns, Yasmin Williams – Acadia, yunè pinku – Scarlet Lamb EP, Various Artists – Bad Monkey (Apple TV+ Original Series Soundtrack)