No matter what shape you’re stomach’s in, you’ll find a satisfying treat in this week’s assortment of newly released albums. New wave icons Depeche Mode respond to the tragic death of founding member Andy Fletcher with Memento Mori, their strongest and most graceful album in years. Caroline Rose gets similarly introspective on The Art of Forgetting, exploring vulnerable corners of emotion with cathartic fury. With lyrics that twist and turn through sun-washed locales, Lana Del Rey teams up with a host of notable friends on her ninth album, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.
On Celebrants, their first album in nearly a decade, progressive-bluegrass purveyors Nickel Creek show off their incomparable music chops for an inviting set. Rebounding from the ‘workingman’s Hiss’ diversion of his solo debut, Philly mainstay Mike Pollize revives Purling Hiss to its ear-bleeding country glory with Drag on Girard. Requiem for Jazz is a jaw-dropping, head-turning, mind-expanding multimedia suite by Chicago’s Angel Bat Dawid; the full production interpolates the 1959 film The Cry of Jazz alongside vintage performances by Sun Ra and his Arkestra.
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.