Album Release Cycle For March 28th

List of new albums out, playlists of new music for Apple Music and Spotify and my thoughts on some of the music

Happy Sunday! It is a massive week for new music releases. I’m sure this is coming out later than usual since there is so much to dig into. I listen to the new releases all week but really dive in during the weekend, especially Sunday morning. Just getting to the end of the list now.

I go into more detail on some of the albums below, but here is some quick info on other tracks and artists featured on the Apple Music and Spotify playlists linked below.

HERE IS THE APPLE MUSIC PLAYLIST

You will find Chloe Moriondo on there. She put out Blood Bunny in 2021, which I liked a lot. Oyster is her second album since then and is a nice straightforward listen, heading more into the hyperpop world, which is a little less appealing to me than her earlier singer-songwriter bedroom pop. The sisters CocoRosie are back with an album that reminds me of a less weird Björk in places. Dean Wareham of Luna and Galaxie 500 has a new album out that sounds exactly like a Dean Wareham album, and that’s a good thing. He is releasing songs that fans of his other solo work will find satisfying for sure.

There are not many metal bands I listen to these days, but shoegaze black metal band Deafheaven is one of them. I honestly am not qualified to say if one album is better than another with them; I just love the contrast between the gorgeous shoegaze, heavy guitars, and screamo music. This album has all of that.

There is a second album from Chicago’s Discus, which has a very laid-back classic indie rock sound. Folk musician Sofia Jensen is here under the name Free Range. girlpuppy follows up 2022’s When I’m Alone with their album Sweetness. This second album of singer-songwriter indie rock has a lot of potential to be on par with the first one. There’s a bit of post-punk here with Gloin. I thought Great Grandpa was done, but the Seattle indie rock band is back with a sweeping album after six years.

There is a new Lucy Dacus album out called*Forever Is A Feeling. It is good. I am a big fan of her previous albums, and I’ve had this one for a couple of weeks now and listened to it a lot, but I’m not fully connected to it yet. I’m going to keep trying. It’s good, though; I think my expectations were super high. UK singer-songwriter Maya Delilah has a new album out on Blue Note entitled The Long Way Round. John Foxx, who was in one of my all-time favorite bands, Ultravox, has released a new album of solo piano music. Enjoy is an Orange County experimental post-punker, and I think this album might grow on me and become a favorite.

Backxwash is a Zambian-Canadian rapper doing some very interesting things on the new album; I need to dig into this more. Yukimi is from Little Dragon, and I’m looking forward to listening to Mess Esque from Australia, as I really dig their raw, organic sound. There are some interesting things happening here.

There is a new Perfume Genius album out this week entitled Glory. London singer-songwriter Sam Akpro has a unique vibe—mixing post-punk, SoundCloud, jazz, dub, and a lot of other influences. I keep trying with Spelling; I like the experimental pop artist's sound, but I never fully connect. Maybe you will. I’m going to go check out the concert coming up!

Hannah Cohen-Earthstar Mountain-This is one of my favorite albums of the week. I was not aware of this performer, but I she has three other albums out and her partner is musician and producer Sam Evian. I figured that out when I went and looked at who the producer was for the song “Mountain”. I thought for sure it would be War From Drugs guy or maybe Kurt Vile-as it has that vibe. It was Sam Evian. Google put the rest together for me. So this is a solid album of indie pop songs, good songwriting, good production and the songs really vary a lot, but the album is consistent. She also feels in a different lane that a lot of like minded music coming out and it’s a nice change of pace and sound.

Butcher Brown - Letters From The Atlantic

This jazz quintet hails from Richmond, Virginia, and I believe this is their sixth official album. I really enjoyed 2023’s *Solar Music*, and I’m also enjoying this one—though not quite as much as the last. That album had more of a ’70s Blaxploitation vibe, while this one leans more toward smooth jazz (in the best possible way). They feature a lot of guest artists on this album, as well as the last, and perhaps I preferred the guests on the previous one. That said, this is still a good listen. The standout guest on this album is Yaya Bey, who gives the song “I Remember” a Meshell Ndegeocello vibe.

Destroyer - Dan’s Boogie-Dan Bejar is Destroyer and also a member of Canadian indie pop band The New Pornographers. I pop in and out of his career; between Destroyer, The New Pornographers, and other projects, he tends to release multiple albums a year, making it hard to keep up. This album struck me at the right time, and I am all in.

It features his talky style, with his dry, matter-of-fact wit. Lyrics such as “I lie down on the breeze and whisper, ‘Hey, breeze, where are you going?’” in the oddly infectious “Hydroplaning Off the Edge of the World” showcase this well. It’s also interesting how he can sometimes take on a Nick Cave vibe while sounding as unlike Nick Cave as possible. He ends the album with a quick piano jaunt, “Travel Light,” which becomes a highlight with its meandering off and regaining focus, only to leave you hanging. Love it!

List of Albums

Aaron’s Book Club-Doggies

Alien Weaponry – Te Rā

Alison Krauss & Union Station – Arcadia

Arch Enemy – Blood Dynast

Backwash-Only Dust Remains

Bag People – Bag People

Bloodywood – NU DELHI

Boldy James-Hommage

Blue Stones- Metro

Branford Marsalis – Belonging

BRKN LOVE – The Program

Bryan Ferry and Amelia Barratt – Loose Talk

Butcher Brown – Letters From the Atlantic

Carlos Santana – Sentient

Chase Icon-Icon Baby

Chloe Moriondo – oyster

Clothing – La Muerte en Realidad no Existe

CocoRosie – Little Death Wishes

The Darkness – Dreams on Toast

Dead Meadow – Voyager to Voyager

Dean Wareham – That’s the Price of Loving Me

Deafheaven – Lonely People With Power

Destroyer – Dan’s Boogie

Discus – To Relate To

Don Airey – Pushed to the Edge

Eiko Ishibashi – Antigone

Enjoy-The Sound Of Deceit

Free Range – Lost & Found

Fusilier – Ambush

girlpuppy – Sweetness

Gloin – All of your anger is actually shame (and I bet that makes you angry)

Great Grandpa – Patience, Moonbeam

Hannah Cohen – Earthstar Mountain

Jessie Reyez – Paid in Memories

John Foxx-Wherever You Are

Logic1000 – DJ-Kicks

Lucky Cloud – Foreground

Lucy Dacus – Forever Is a Feeling

Maya Delilah – The Long Way Round

Memphis May Fire – Shapeshifter

Mess Esque – Jay Marie, Comfort Me

Mick Harvey & Amanda Acevedo – Golden Mirrors (The Uncovered Sessions Vol. 1)

Ministry – The Squirrely Years Revisited

Moomin – Into The Distance

Mumford and Sons – Rushmere

NAV – OMW2 REXDALE

OHYUNG – You Are Always On My Mind

Palmyra – Restless

Perfume Genius – Glory

poptropicaslutz! – the new 925

Ricky Byrd (of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts) – NYC Made (Wicked Cool Records)

Sam Akpro – Evenfall

Sandwell District – End Beginnings

Serebii – Dime

Sick Puppies – Wave the Bull

Snapped Ankles – Hard Times Furious Dancing

Somebody’s Child – When Youth Fades Away

SPELLLING – Portrait of My Heart

Ten-Stunner

Underoath – The Place After This One

Unknown Mortal Orchestra – IC-02 Bogotá

The Walters – Good Company

Will Smith – Based on a True Story

Yukomi- (of Little Dragon) – For You