Elvis Costello | Photo by Mark Seliger, courtesy of the artist

Okay now we’re starting to get into it. The new year has found its footing and offers up a fresh batch of new albums to dig into. The Boy Named If is a propulsive, full-band effort from Elvis Costello & the Imposters; ably recapturing the itchy urgency of This Year’s Model and Blood & Chocolate. For her third full-length collection of other people’s songs, Cat Power takes on The Pogues, Lana Del Rey, and her own back cataloge on Covers. Teaming up with members of the Felice Brothers (as well as longtime producer Simone Felice), Brightside is another sturdy entry from Denver-based folk rockers The Lumineers.

Though it clocks in at just under 25 minutes long, Earl Sweatshirt‘s dizzying Sick! packs a wallop. Hell on Church Street is a typically atypical release from Chris Thile and Punch Brothers; part tribute, part homage, the album is inspired by late bluegrass virtuoso Tony Rice’s 1983 LP Church Street Blues. Fans of Beach House and Weyes Blood will find plenty to adore about Storm Queen, the latest from powerhouse Australian vocalist Grace Cummings. Canadian super-collective Broken Social Scene compile over a decade’s worth of obscura on Old Dead Young: B-Sides & Rarities. PRESS PLAY on these new releases (and more) below…

Elvis Costello & The ImpostersThe Boy Named If
CHECK OUT: “Magnificent Hurt” “Farewell, OK”

Cat PowerCovers
CHECK OUT: “Pa Pa Power” “Unhate”

The LumineersBrightside
CHECK OUT: “Brightside” “A.M. Radio”

Earl SweatshirtSICK!
CHECK OUT: “Tabula Rasa (feat. Armand Hammer)” “Titanic”

Punch BrothersHell on Church Street
CHECK OUT: “Church Street Blues” “Cattle in the Cane”

Grace CummingsStorm Queen
CHECK OUT: “Heaven” “Up in Flames”

Broken Social SceneOld Dead Young: B-Sides & Rarities
CHECK OUT: “This House is On Fire” “Curse Your Fail”

EXTENDED PLAYS:
Bill FayStill Some Light Part 1, Bonobo Fragments, Daniel BlumbergThe World to Come (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Drew Holcomb and Ellie HolcombComing Home: A Collection of Songs, Eliza GilkysonSongs from the River Wind, Fickle FriendsAre We Gonna Be Alright?, FKA TwigsCaprisongs, Garcia PeoplesDodging Dues, Jamestown RevivalYoung Man, The Ophelias (SF)Bare Bodkin, Roky Erickson & The ExplosivesHalloween: Live 1979-1981, Sea GirlsHomesick, Shiva BurlesqueMercury Blues (+ Skulduggery), Sun JuneSomewhere +3, Tall HeightsJuniors, Various Artists – Döminance and Submissiön: A Tribute to Blue Öyster Cult Grace CummingsStorm Queen