On a hot summer day, is there anything that hits the spot quite like a bunch of newly released albums? If there is, I don’t want to know about it.
Palehound‘s Eye on the Bat is a strong return from El Kempner after their 2021 collab with Jay Som as Bachelor; the album’s raw emotional lyrics are delivered via sky-high hooks. Sticks and Stones is the latest offering from Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real, showing off the band’s road-honed tightness and Nelson’s growth as a songwriter. Announced just days ago, Disclosure‘s surprise-released Alchemy is poised to be the electronic duo’s boldest outing; it allegedly features no samples and no outside guest vocalists.
Canadian country crooner Colter Wall spins tales of the wide open prairie on Little Songs, his fourth album. Kool & the Gang‘s 26th (!!!) studio album, People Just Wanna Have Fun, is a victory lap that features some of the final recordings from a few of the funk-jazz institution’s founding members. Following his work for the Fleetwood Mac-inspired soundtrack of Daisy Jones & the Six, Blake Mills returns with his fifth solo album, Jelly Road.
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.