PRESS PLAY: New Albums out May 3rd

I’ve got a good feeling about this week’s batch of new releases. Saxophone titan Kamasi Washington recruits George Clinton and André 3000 (and his own young daughter) to contribute to his wide-ranging fifth album, Fearless Movement. Reemerging after an extended hiatus in the wake of longtime keyboardist Casey Lander’s passing, Glasgow’s Camera Obscura opens a new chapter on the resilient Look to the East, Look to the West. Arriving almost a year to the day after Everything Harmony, The Lemon Twigs’ A Dream is All We Know is a richly orchestrated set of power pop from the Long Island family band. Prolific Nigerian guitarist Mdou Moctar explores the impact of colonialism on his home country on Funeral for Justice; the challenging and energized album is his second for Matador.

Los Angeles songwriter Jessica Pratt offers a dark take on ‘60s psychedelic folk on Here in the Pitch, her first LP in five years. Working with producer Russ Orton (Arctic Monkeys, M.I.A.), London’s Ibibio Sound Machine add industrial heft to their trademark globetrotting electro on Pull the Rope. Taking inspiration from trailblazing Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi, Hana Vu’s Romanticism churns with visceral creativity.

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.

Kamasi Washington – Fearless Movement
CHECK OUT: “Get Lit (feat. George Clinton and D Smoke)” “Dream State (feat. André 3000)”

Camera Obscura – Look to the East, Look to the West
CHECK OUT: “Big Love” “We’re Going to Make It in a Man’s World”

The Lemon Twigs – A Dream is All We Know
CHECK OUT: “My Golden Years” “They Don’t Know How to Fall in Place”

Mdou Moctar – Funeral for Justice
CHECK OUT: “Funeral for Justice” “Imouhar”

Jessica Pratt – Here in the Pitch
CHECK OUT: “Life Is” “The Last Year”

Ibibio Sound Machine – Pull the Rope
CHECK OUT: “Pull the Rope” “Mama Say”

Hana Vu – Romanticism
CHECK OUT: “Care” “22”

The PRESS PLAY-list

FURTHER LISTENING

Adeem the Artist – Anniversary, The Ar-Kaics – See the World on Fire, Better Than Ezra – Super Magick, Blushing – Sugarcoat, Broadcast – Spell Blanket: Collected Demos 2006-2009, Calder Allen – Dreamers, Drifters and Hiders, Charlotte Day Wilson – Cyan Blue, Chris Forsyth – Chris Forsyth Plays Love Devotion Surrender (Live), Chris Smither – All of the Bones, Dan Rincon – Spotlight City, David J – Tracks from the Attic (Box Set), Dua Lipa – Radical Optimism, Elkka – Prism of Pleasure, Frank Turner – Undefeated, Gabbarein – Gabbarein, Gloom Girl MFG – Polycrisis EP, Honey Radar – Ribbon Factory, il sogno del marinaio – Terzo, John Carpenter – Lost Themes IV: Noir, Kacy Hill – Bug, Kelly Jones – Inevitable Incredible, LA Priest – La Fusion EP, LATRALA – LATRALA, Lightning Bug – No Paradise, Love 666 – Take a Chance on Death, Lou Barlow, Cory Hanson, W. Cullen Hart, & Mark Robinson – Metal Machine Muzak, Maurice White – Manifestation, Messer Chups – Dark Side of Paradise, Michelle Moeller – Late Morning, Mo Troper – Svengali, No Windows – Point Nemo EP, Nubiyan Twist – Find Your Flame, S. Raekwon – Steven, Sia – Reasonable Woman, Sunny Day Real Estate – Diary: Live at London Bridge, Vacation – Rare Earth