After a thoroughly busy album release schedule for April, we open the new month with a preposterously packed list of exciting offerings. Returning to their uplifting, anthemic mode after a few years in the digital wilderness, Arcade Fire’s WE is a bombastic tour-de-force. Previewed at her NON-COMM set earlier this week, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong is a powerful and cathartic masterpiece from Sharon Van Etten. Scottish indie institution Belle and Sebastian make their own grand return with the giddily nostalgic A Bit of Previous. Fresh off their own show-stopping NON-COMM set, French experimental pop duo Ibeyi spotlight sister power on Spell 31. 

Fans of bright guitar pop will find a lot to love about Endless Rooms, the third full-length from Melbourne’s Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever. Power-pop trio Sunflower Bean’s Headful of Sugar is a jittery rush of glam rave-ups with big choruses. Adapted from her recent multimedia show, Leyla McCalla explores the history of Haitian rhythms on Breaking the Thermometer. And LA rockers Warpaint reconvene after a six-year break for the thunderous Radiate Like This. PRESS PLAY on these new releases (and so many more) below… 

Belle and SebastianA Bit of Previous
CHECK OUT: “Unnecessary Drama” “Young and Stupid” 

Arcade FireWE
CHECK OUT: “The Lightning I, II” “Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)” 

Sharon Van EttenWe’ve Been Going About This All Wrong
CHECK OUT: “Mistakes” “Born” 

IbeyiSpell 31
CHECK OUT: “Sister 2 Sister” “Rise Above (feat. BERWYN)” 

Rolling Blackouts Costal FeverEndless Rooms
CHECK OUT: “The Way it Shatters” “My Echo” 

Sunflower BeanHeadful of Sugar
CHECK OUT: “Baby Don’t Cry” “Roll the Dice” 

Leyla McCallaBreaking the Thermometer
CHECK OUT: “You Don’t Know Me” “Vini Wè” 

WarpaintRadiate Like This
CHECK OUT: “Champion” “Stevie” 

FURTHER LISTENING: 

!!!Let it Be Blue, Anna CalviTommy EP, Bill FayStill Some Light: Part 2, The Black Crowes1972 EP, Black StarNo Fear of Time, Bryan FerryLove Letters EP, The Builders and The ButchersHell and High Water, C DuncanAlluvium, DesaparecidosRead Music/Speak Spanish (Reissue), Emeli SandéLet’s Say For Instance, George WinstonNIGHT, Graham NashGraham Nash: Live, Jens LekmanThe Linden Trees Are Still in Blossom, Jon NatchezLuzzu (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Karen DaltonShuckin’ Sugar, Kate StablesFlux Alchemy Part 1 EP, Kikagaku MoyoKumoyo Island, Norma TanegaI’m the Sky: Studio and Demo Recordings 1964-1971, Pink MountaintopsPeacock Pools, Richard ThompsonGrizzly Man (Original Soundtrack) (Reissue), Rick AstleyWhenever You Need Somebody (2022 Remaster), RowanDoes it Make You Happy?, SadurnRadiator, Sheryl CrowSheryl: Music From the Feature Documentary, SigridHow to Let Go, Soft Cell*Happiness Not Included, STÖNERtotally…, Stoney & MeatloafEverything Under the Sun: The Motown Recordings, Strange ParadeThe Watchers, Terry Allen and the Panhandle Mystery BandBloodlines / Smokin the Dummy (Reissues), Timothy B. SchmitDay By Day, Tommaso MorettiInside Out