Returning to reality after a holiday weekend isn’t easy, but this week’s crop of new albums should soften the blow. Featuring a host of collaborators (including the late Mark Lanegan), Greg Dulli and The Afghan Whigs make a thundering statement on their third post-reunion release, How Do You Burn?. Following a recent name-check in Madonna’s remix of Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul,” onetime Philly punk Santigold returns after a six year absence with the genre-defying Spirituals. Making their Sub Pop debut, Built to Spill continue their decades-long reign with When the Wind Forgets Your Name. Another onetime Philadelphian, Aaron Livingston, delivers a sumptuous blend of R&B and folk-pop on Like Neptune, his fourth LP as Son Little.
Ultra-prolific countrypolitan slinger Charley Crockett gives a widescreen take on Americana with The Man from Waco. Brittany Denise Parks continues to reinvent her project, Sudan Archives, on the confident and engaging Natural Brown Prom Queen. Beamed in from a cinematic dream world, My Boy is the third solo album by New Zealand crooner Marlon Williams. Best known as the bassist/co-vocalist in the xx, Oliver Sim’s solo debut Hideous Bastard boasts glistening production by bandmate Jamie xx.
The Afghan Whigs – How Do You Burn?
CHECK OUT: “The Getaway” “A Line of Shots”
Santigold – Spirituals
CHECK OUT: “High Priestess” “Nothing”
Built to Spill – When the Wind Forgets Your Name
CHECK OUT: “Fool’s Gold” “Gonna Lose”
Son Little – Like Neptune
CHECK OUT: “stoned love” “6 AM”
Charley Crockett – The Man from Waco
CHECK OUT: “I’m Just a Clown” “The Man from Waco”
Sudan Archives – Natural Brown Prom Queen
CHECK OUT: “Selfish Soul” “NBPQ (Topless)”
Marlon Williams – My Boy
CHECK OUT: “Thinking of Nina” “Easy Does It”
Oliver Sim – Hideous Bastard
CHECK OUT: “GMT” “Fruit”