PRESS PLAY: New Albums out April 4th

A collaboration born from the silver screen headlines this week’s batch of new releases. Elton John and Brandi Carlile present Who Believes in Angels?, which features the cross-generational duo’s Oscar-nominated team-up “Never Too Late.” Thunderous guitars and anthemic hooks are the driving forces behind Momma’s confident fourth album, Welcome to My Blue Sky. With the Adam Granduciel and his War on Drugs bandmates providing production and instrumentation, Craig Finn’s Always Been is a dynamic solo turn from the Hold Steady frontman.

When their original lead singer departed mere days before their previous album’s release, UK collective Black Country, New Road faced an uncertain future; their democratized third LP, Forever Howlong, showcases the resilient sextet’s playful side. Spun off from the British indie supergroup Piroshka, Miki Berenyi Trio’s Tripla is the full-length debut from the latest project helmed by the former Lush vocalist. 40 years on from their masterpiece, This is the Sea, The Waterboys (along with Bruce Springsteen, Fiona Apple, and Taylor Goldsmith) celebrate a film icon on Life, Death, and Dennis Hopper. Last year, David Longstreth premiered an ambitious orchestral song cycle, brought to life with help from the experimental ensemble s t a r g a z e; with his group Dirty Projectors, Longstreth contemplates ecological end times on Song of the Earth.

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

Elton John and Brandi Carlile – Who Believes in Angels?
CHECK OUT: “Who Believes in Angels?” “Never Too Late”

Momma – Welcome to My Blue Sky
CHECK OUT: “I Want You (Fever)” “Ohio All the Time)

Craig Finn – Always Been
CHECK OUT: “People of Substance” “Bethany”

Black Country, New Road – Forever Howlong
CHECK OUT: “Besties” “Happy Birthday”

Miki Berenyi Trio – Tripla
CHECK OUT: “8^th Deadly Sin” “Big I Am”

The Waterboys – Life, Death, and Dennis Hopper
CHECK OUT: “Hopper’s on Top (Genius)” “I Don’t Know How I Made It (feat. Taylor Goldsmith)”

Dirty Projectors & s t a r g a z e – Song of the Earth
CHECK OUT: “Uninhabitable Earth, Paragraph One” “Circled in Purple”

The PRESS PLAY-list

FURTHER LISTENING

ALO – Frames, Anika – Abyss, Ant – Collection of Sounds: Volume 4, Coffin Prick – Loose Enchantment, Dauber – Falling Down, DJ Koze – Music Can Hear Us, Djo – The Crux, Florist – Jellywish, Fugue State – In the Lurch, Glare – Sunset Funeral, Grey DeLisle – The Grey Album, Heaven – Dream Aloud, Hyldon and Adrian Younge – HYLDON JID023 , Joan Arnau Pàmies – Guidelines/Fonaments, L.A. Witch – DOGGOD, Lily Seabird – Trash Mountain, Linying – Swim, Swim, Maz – NPC EP, Mekons – Horror, Odesza – Music to Refine To: A Remix Companion to Severance, The Ophelias – Spring Grove, Panchiko – Ginkgo, Pidgins – Refrains of the Day, Vol. 2, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Death Hilarious, Psymon Spine – Heady Remix Collector, Sarah Mary Chadwick – Take Me Out to a Bar / What Am I, Gatsby?, Scowl – Are We All Angels, Sister Ray – Believer, Sleigh Bells – Bunky Becky Birthday Boy, Soul Coughing – Live 2024, Σtella – Adagio, SYML – Nobody Lives Here, Volena – Volena EP, Will Johnson – Diamond City, Yann Tiersen – Rathlin from a Distance | The Liquid Hour, Various Artists – NYContinuity Vol.1: New New York Does Old New York