Before you dismantle Love Land, have a listen to these swoon-worthy new releases. Australia trio Middle Kids give their sound a pop reinvention on their glossy third album, Faith Crisis Pt. 1. Amid the chaos and joy of IDLES’ fifth LP, TANGK, you’ll hear cameos from James and Nancy of LCD Soundsystem and production by Nigel Godrich. Featuring songs written around the world, Hole in My Head, the third solo LP from Against Me! leader Laura Jane Grace, couples lively melodies with trademark political punk. Alluding to both bluegrass and new wave, Grandaddy’s Blu Wav is a countrified love letter from Jason Lytle to his longtime bandmates (particularly late bassist Kevin Garcia).
GRIP, Josiahh Wise’s third album as serpentwithfeet, is inspired by the history of Black gay nightlife and features collabs with Ty Dolla $ign and Philly’s Orion Sun. Delta Spirit’s Matthew Logan Vasquez reimagines highlights from his discography on Frank’s Full Moon Saloon; a dispatch from an ersatz garage honky-tonk. Concert-caliber whistling guides Molly Lewis’s debut On the Lips, which boasts production from Daptone Records’ Thomas Brenneck. Where we’ve been, Where we go from here is the shape-shifting debut from rising Chicago duo Friko; the songs carom from hushed balladry to blown-out noise within moments.
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.
Middle Kids – Faith Crisis Pt. 1
CHECK OUT: “Highlands” “Dramamine”
IDLES – TANGK
CHECK OUT: “Dancer (feat. LCD Soundsystem)” “Gift Horse”
Laura Jane Grace – Hole in My Head
CHECK OUT: “Dysphoria Hoodie” “Birds Talk Too”
Grandaddy – Blu Wav
CHECK OUT: “Watercooler” “Long as I’m Not the One”
serpentwithfeet – GRIP
CHECK OUT: “Damn Gloves (feat. Ty Dolla $ign & Yanga YaYa)” “Ellipsis (feat. Orion Sun)”
Matthew Logan Vasquez – Frank’s Full Moon Saloon
CHECK OUT: “Blue Eyes” “Parade”
Molly Lewis – On the Lips
CHECK OUT: “Crushed Velvet (feat. Thee Sacred Souls)” “Lounge Lizard”
Friko – Where we’ve been, Where we go from here
CHECK OUT: “Crimson to Chrome” “Get Numb to It!”
FURTHER LISTENING:
Béla Fleck – Rhapsody in Blue, Blackberry Smoke – Be Right Here, Caroline Polachek – Desire, I Want to Turn into You (Everasking Edition), Cast – Love is the Call, Chromeo – Adult Contemporary, Daniel Ellsworth & the Great Lakes – High Life, Devon Ross – Oxford Gardens EP, El Perro del Mar – Big Anonymous, Frances Chang – Psychedelic Anxiety, Gaby Moreno – Dusk, Heems – LAFANDAR, The High Hawks – Mother Nature’s Show, The Immediate Family – Skin in the Game, The Jack Rubies – Clocks Are Out of Time, Jennifer Lopez – This is Me…Now, KID BLOOM – Inner Light Part 1 EP, Les Amazones d’Afrique – Musow Danse, Levitation Room – Strange Weather, Lola Kirke – Country Curious EP, Mother Mother – Grief Chapter, Nouvelle Vague – Should I Stay or Should I Go?, Omni – Souvenir, Paloma Faith – The Glorification of Sadness, Prize Horse – Under Sound, Royel Otis – Pratts & Pain, San Fermin – Arms, Shadow Show – Fantasy Now!, Slayer – Show No Mercy (40th Anniversary Edition), Sundrifter – An Earlier Time, Talk Show – Effigy, Usher – Coming Home, ZANAIS – Ecdysis
