Let’s hop right into this week’s basket of new albums! Teaming up for a set of countrypolitan originals, Julien Baker and TORRES blend their styles in surprising ways on Send a Prayer My Way. After more than two decades with TV on the Radio (and on the verge of a reunion tour with the group), Tunde Adibimpe delivers his ear- and eye-catching solo debut, Thee Black Boltz. Building off the Scandinavian influence of 2023’s Hadsel, Beirut’s A Study of Losses features material Zach Condon composed for a Swedish circus troupe.
A prolific producer, remixer, and figurehead of the Jazz is Dead series, Adrian Younge revisits his 2012 opus Something About April with a Brazilian flair. Reconvening with her former Carolina Chocolate Drops bandmate Justin Robinson, Rhiannon Giddens showcases Tarheel folksongs of yore on What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow.
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
Julien Baker & TORRES – Send a Prayer My Way
CHECK OUT: “Sugar in the Tank” “Bottom of a Bottle”
Tunde Adibimpe – Thee Black Boltz
CHECK OUT: “Magnetic” “God Knows”
Beirut – A Study of Losses
CHECK OUT: “Guericke’s Unicorn” “Caspian Tiger”
Adrian Younge – Something About April III
CHECK OUT: “A Música Na Minha Fantasia” “Nos Somos as Estrelas”
Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson – What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow
CHECK OUT: “Hook and Line” “Marching Jaybird”