What light through yonder window breaks? Hark! It is April’s last batch of new albums. Annie Clark reboots St. Vincent with her intense (and self-produced) seventh album, All Born Screaming. Not counting the wonderful 2019 Calexico collab Years to Burn, Light Verse is the first Iron and Wine album in seven years; its lush arrangements and tender lyrics are well worth the wait. Following the longest gap between studio albums in the duo’s history (only four years, a testament to their relentless productivity), Pet Shop Boys sound invigorated on Nonetheless, their 15th full-length. With a title that evokes his streetcorner busking roots, Charley Crockett’s $10 Cowboy is a lively set of soulful honky-tonk swagger.

French duo Justice team up with Tame Impala, Miguel, and Thundercat on Hyperdrama, their fourth album of maximalist electro revival. Dr. Dog drummer Eric Slick combines humor with existential dread and jittery art-rock melodies on his third solo album, New Age Rage. Since the twin 2021 releases of Good Morning America and Not a Son, Lawrence Rothman has shifted their focus to film scoring; The Plow That Broke the Plains is an appropriately cinematic return to songwriting. The Zutons were breakout stars of the mid-‘00s Liverpool scene; more than 15 years after their last album, The Big Decider re-establishes the trio’s trademark danceable guitar pop.

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.

St. VincentAll Born Screaming
CHECK OUT: “Broken Man” “Flea (feat. Dave Grohl)”

Iron and WineLight Verse
CHECK OUT: “You Never Know” “All in Good Time (feat. Fiona Apple)”

Pet Shop BoysNonetheless
CHECK OUT: “Loneliness” “Dancing Star”

Charley Crockett$10 Cowboy
CHECK OUT: “$10 Cowboy” “Solitary Road”

JusticeHyperdrama
CHECK OUT: “One Night/All Night (feat. Tame Impala)” “Generator”

Eric SlickNew Age Rage
CHECK OUT: “Anxious to Please” “New Age Rage”

Lawrence RothmanThe Plow That Broke the Plains
CHECK OUT: “Poster Child” “LAX”

The ZutonsThe Big Decider
CHECK OUT: “Creeping on the Dancefloor” “The Big Decider”

FUTHER LISTENING:
Alien Ant Farm~mAntras~, Anders OsbornePicasso’s Villa, Art TatumJewels in the Treasure Box: The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings, BabehovenWater’s Here in You, Billy IdolRebel Yell (40th Anniversary Edition), Blitz VegaNorthern Gentlemen, Bodies of WaterThe Journey is Our Home, Brother AliLove & Service, BullionAffection, CorridorMimi, Daisy WorldToothpick, Def LeppardPyromania (40th Anniversary Edition), ELiving Waters, EllisNo Place That Feels Like, Fat White FamilyForgiveness is Yours, Full of HellCoagulated Bliss, The Ghost ClubKing Whatever, Greg SaunierWe Sang, Therefore We Were, GospelbeacHWiggle Your Fingers, HovvdyHovvdy, KyshonaLegacy, Loren KramerGlovemaker, Maggie RogersHeard it in a Past Life (5 Year Anniversary Edition), MandyLawn Girl, Margaret GlaspyThe Sun Doesn’t Think EP, Maria Chiara ArgiròCloser, Mister GoblinFrog Poems, Neil Young & Crazy HorseFU##IN’ UP, OwenThe Falls of Sioux, ParsnipBehold, Personal TrainerWhat Was There Before? EP, Pigeons Playing Ping PongDay in Time, Raul MidónLost & Found, Ringo StarrCrooked Boy EP, Sen MorimotoBONK! The Cops, The Banks, The Legislature: Outtakes from the Album ‘Diagnosis’ EP, Sister Rosetta TharpeLive in France: The 1966 Concert in Limoges, Six Organs of AdmittanceTime is Glass, Stephen SanchezAngel Face (Club Deluxe), Sun RaSun Ra at the Showcase: Live in Chicago, Sunny Day Real EstateDiary (Remastered and Expanded Edition)