As the first month of the new year comes to a close there’s barely time to catch your breath before diving into the latest batch of new albums. Largely recorded before the 2018 death of bandmate/producer Richard Swift, Dan Auerbach reunites his psychedelic soul project The Arcs for their first release in eight years, Electrophonic Chronic. Featuring the smash hit “Unholy” (along with a dozen other stratospheric pop anthems), Sam Smith is riding high on their fourth album, Gloria. With Sasami Ashworth featured as co-producer and co-writer, the psych-folk textures on King Tuff‘s Smalltown Stardust underscore nostalgic reminisces of bandleader Kyle Thomas’ Vermont childhood.
Following 2022 tour dates with Maggie Rogers, Courtney Barnett, and Lucy Dacus, up-and-comer Samia delivers her highly anticipated second album, Honey. With songs inspired by late-night meditations and generational traumas, North Carolina singer H.C. McEntire makes a powerful return on Every Acre. Louisville glam-punks White Reaper dial up the swagger on the rollicking fourth album, Asking for a Ride. More than a decade after her star-turn performance on “Somebody That I Used to Know,” New Zealand singer Kimbra continues to push sonic boundaries on her A Reckoning.
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.
The Arcs – Electrophonic Chronic
CHECK OUT: “Eyez” “Keep on Dreamin'”
Sam Smith – Gloria
CHECK OUT: “Unholy (feat. Kim Petras)” “Gimme (feat. Koffee & Jessie Reyez)”
King Tuff – Smalltown Stardust
CHECK OUT: “Portrait of God” “Tell Me”
Samia – Honey
CHECK OUT: “Mad at Me (feat. Papa Mbye)” “Pink Balloon”
H.C. McEntire – Every Acre
CHECK OUT: “New View” “Rows of Clover”
White Reaper – Asking for a Ride
CHECK OUT: “Pages” “Pink Slip”
Kimbra – A Reckoning
CHECK OUT: “save me” “replay!”
FURTHER LISTENING…
Bad Bad Hats – It Hurts (10th Anniversary Edition), Bass Drum of Death – Say I Won’t, The Blow Monkeys – Animal Magic (Deluxe Edition), Bob Dylan – Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17, Carly Simon – Live at Grand Central, Complete Mountain Almanac – Complete Mountain Almanac, Elle King – Come Get Your Wife, Florry – SWEET GUITAR SOLOS, Fucked Up – One Day, Glosser – Downer, Gone to Color – Gone to Color RMXS, Green Day – Nimrod 25 (25th Anniversary Edition), Heavy Blanket – Moon Is, Illiterate Light – Sunburned, Jonah Yano – Portrait of a Dog, José González – Visions EP, Marvin Gaye – Greatest Hits Live in ’76 (Reissue), Meg Baird – Furling, The Mother Hips – When We Disappear, The Naked Sun – Modern Life, New Order – Low-Life (Definitive Edition), NRBQ – Tiddlywinks (Reissue), R. Ring – –War Poems, We Rested, Sarah Noelle – Do I Have to Feel Everything, The Tubs – Dead Meat, Wolf Eyes – Difficult Messages, Various Artists – Winspear Volume 01
