As the curtain closes on the first month of 2024, the schedule of new releases is at last reaching full power. The Smile oscillate between hushed tenderness and discordant experimentalism on Wall of Eyes, the second full-length from the Radiohead offshoot trio. Released just days after her birthday, Torres embraces towering synths and airplane hangar-ready melodies on What an enormous room. Baltimore mainstays Future Islands reunite with Singles producer Chris Coady for People Who Aren’t There Anymore; the group’s seventh album includes previously standalone tracks dating to 2021.
GRAMMY-winning singer-songwriter Sarah Jarosz returns with Polaroid Lovers, a collection of modern Americana with a retro sheen that recalls 1970s Laurel Canyon classics. For his 15th album (an underestimation, to be sure), garage hero Ty Segall dispatches Three Bells, showcasing his distinctive guitar technique over a sprawling 15-song cycle. During the recording of Blue Raspberry, Katy Kirby relocated from Nashville to Brooklyn; the album’s rich songwriting and ear-catching production nod to both worlds.
PRESS PLAY on these new releases below. Listen for spotlights on new records like these (and more) every week on the XPN Morning Show and Indie Rock Hit Parade.
The Smile – Wall of Eyes
CHECK OUT: “Wall of Eyes” “Bending Hectic”
Torres – What an enormous room
CHECK OUT: “Collect” “I got the fear”
Future Islands – People Who Aren’t There Anymore
CHECK OUT: “The Tower” “Deep in the Night”
Sarah Jarosz – Polaroid Lovers
CHECK OUT: “Jealous Moon” “When the Lights Go Out”
Ty Segall – Three Bells
CHECK OUT: “My Room” “My Best Friend”
Katy Kirby – Blue Raspberry
CHECK OUT: “Party of the Century” “Cubic Zirconia”
FUTHER LISTENING:
Alkaline Trio – Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs, Anna Calvi – Peaky Blinders: Season 5 & 6 (Original Score), Astrid Sonne – Great Doubt, Brad stank – In the Midst of You, Brent Amaker & the Rodeo – Philaphobia, Charlotte Sands – can we start over?, Chatham County Line – Hiyo, Colin Newman – Bastard (Reissue), Courting – New Last Name, Finnoguns Wake – Stay Young EP, Goth Babe – Lola, Gruff Rhys – Sadness Sets Me Free, Hussalonia – Keep Hussalonia a Secret, John Leventhal – Rumble Strip, Longwave – The Strangest Things (Reissue), M. Ward – Duet for Guitars #2 (Reissue) / Transfiguration of Vincent (Reissue), Matt Pond PA x Alexa Rose – Call and Response EP, Philip Glass – Philip Glass Solo, Tapir! – The Pilgrim, Their God and the King of My Decrepit Mountain, Terry Adams – Terrible (Reissue), They Hate Change – Wish You Were Here… EP, Tom Odell – Black Friday, The Umbrellas – Fairweather Friend, William Elliott Whitmore – Silent, the Mind Breaks
