Alex G, Headlights

Hushed, gorgeous, and warmly elusive, Alex G’s major label debut is a high watermark in a career full of them. There’s still a treasure trove of childhood memories for the singer-songwriter to dig up, to try and bridge the disparate pieces and fill the missing ones. “I’ve searched far and wide/ For a place like this/ Now I can close my eyes,” he sings at one point on Headlights. And what happens then, in the blackness? Maybe his voice thrives, writing out every word, rescuing his younger self. Maybe it gets all distorted, firing up his imagination. Maybe he’ll get dizzy with the big bright light; maybe he’ll miss the one glaring right at him. Read the full review.

Forth Wanderers, The Longer This Goes On

It took three years after Forth Wanderers dissolved in 2018 for the question of making music again to arise. “It felt like there wasn’t as much riding on the band,” guitarist Ben Guterl said in press materials. “We all felt free to mess around and have fun.” The Longer This Goes On is playful, tuneful, and riveting, experimenting with the edges of the band’s sound. “We had more fun with style and testing what we could get away with, whether it’s bluesy, country, slower, or darker; whatever sounded good,” vocalist Ava Trilling added.

Coral Grief, Air Between Us

The Seattle-based trio of singer and bassist Lena Farr-Morrissey, guitarist Sam Fason, and drummer Cam Hancock have come through with their debut album, Air Between Us. Their music may sound oceanic and ethereal, but it’s just as concerned with the human world as it is with drifting beyond what the eye can see. They recorded the LP at The Unknown in Anacortes, working with engineer Nich Wilbur. “We were committed to the three piece way of doing things, but wanted to make it sound as lush and as full as possible,” Fason explained.

Disiniblud, Disiniblud

Disiniblud, the self-titled collaborative effort of experimental producers and multi-instrumentalists Rachika Nayar and Nina Keith, is the product of what they describe as “wordless conversation.” Overflowing with beauty, wonder, and pain, that back-and-forth is anything but static, harnessing elements of indietronica, neo-classical, and glitch pop to capture immeasurable yearning. Julianna Barwick, Tujiko Noriko, Cassandra Croft, ASPIDISTRAFLY, Katie Dey, June McDoom, and Ponytail’s Willy Siegel appear as guests on the LP.

Vines, I’ll be here

Cassie Wieland fleshes out her sound on her debut full-length as Vines, I’ll be here, adding a real sense of dimension to the melancholy that pervaded 2023’s Birthday Party EP. The opening track is called ‘I’m getting sickness’, but it’s only the start of the journey, which later includes track titles like ‘Happy is hard’, ‘Tired’, and ‘Keep Driving’ one after the other. By the closing title track, the record stretches its wings outward, pushing beyond the mental spiral that weakens its subject. “I’m almost home and I want to turn around,” she sings on ‘King of Swords’. “I’ll do anything to leave my skin.”

Billie Marten, Dog Eared

Billie Marten has released a new album, Dog Eared, following up 2023’s Drop Cherries. The UK singer-songwriter worked on the layered, warmly inviting record with producer Phil Weinrobe in New York in the summer of 2024. At his at his Sugar Mountain studio, they enlisted a cast of collaborators that included Catalan singer-songwriter/guitarist Núria Graham, bassist Josh Crumbly, guitarist Mike Haldeman, multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily, Sam Evian, Maia Friedman, Brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco, drummer/multi-instrumentalist Vishal Nayak, keys/synth player Michael Coleman, and Sam Amidon.

Madeline Kenney, Kiss From the Balcony

Madeline Kenney has followed up 2023’s A New Reality Mind with a new LP, Kiss From the Balcony. Contemplative and beautifully textured, the record was made in collaboration with Ben Sloan and Stephen Patota, growing out of two week-long studio sessions in Oakland. It was previewed by the singles ‘Scoop’, ‘All I Need’, and ‘Semitones’.

DJ Haram, Beside Myself

DJ Haram has dropped her debut album, Beside Myself, via Hyperdub. As playful as it is claustrophobic, the follow-up to 2023’s Handplay EP boasts guest spots from Armand Hammer,, Bbymutha, SHA RAY, her 700 Bliss partner Moor Mother, and Dakn, as well co-production from August Fanon, El Kontessa, Kay Drizz, and musicians including trumpeter Aquiles Navarro, and guitarist Abdul Hakim Bilal. “We have to start organizing outside the frame,” Haram commented. “Music is a liberation technology, a vessel of truth and resistance.”

Other albums out today:

Jim Legxacy, black british music; Raekwon, The Emperor’s New Clothes; Lord Huron, The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1; Cleo Reed, Cuntry; Dream, Ivory, When You Come Back I Have So Much to Tell You; Jade Bird, Who Wants to Talk About Love; Hannah Holland, Last Exit on Bethnal; Styx, Circling From Above; Message to Bears, Tired Eyes, Waking Hearts.