A new year is upon us and it’s wasting no time in bringing new albums to the table. While much of the news so far has been announcements for records that’ll be arriving in the coming weeks and months, a handful of notables are out there for your enjoyment right now.

Following a career retrospective in 2022, and coinciding with the 20^th anniversary of their acclaimed debut, Scottish indie favorites Franz Ferdinand make a proper return (with a new drummer) on their fizzy sixth LP, The Human Fear. A spiritual sequel to his second solo album, 1970’s Beaucoups of Blues, Ringo Starr returns to the country-and-western idiom for his 21^st, Look Up; this time he’s joined by Billy Strings, Lucius, and Alison Kraus.

A prolific member of Los Angeles groups like Eyedress and U.S. Velvet, Zahara Jaime’s third solo release as zzzahara, Spiral Your Way Out, features intricately crafted melodies and collaborative songwriting and work by Jorge Elbrecht and Sarah Tudzin. On their bottle rocket of a debut, Who Let the Dogs Out, Brighton’s Lambrini Girls go full throttle across 11 blistering, profane, and shamelessly fun tracks.

Listen for spotlights on new records like these (and more) every week on the XPN Morning Show and Indie Rock Hit Parade.

PRESS PLAY on these new releases

Franz Ferdinand – The Human Fear
CHECK OUT: “Audacious” “Night or Day”

Ringo Starr – Look Up
CHECK OUT: “Time on My Hands” “Thankful (feat. Alison Krauss)”

zzzahara– Spiral Your Way Out
CHECK OUT: “Ghosts” “It Didn’t Mean Nothing”

Lambrini Girls – Who Let the Dogs Out
CHECK OUT: “Love” “Company Culture”

The PRESS PLAY-list

PRESS PLAY: New Albums out January 10th