→ August 5, 2021
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Music update, July 2021.

With a slew of artists hitting the road this fall, releasing new albums in the next 2-3 months, or both, July turned out to offer a cornucopia of strong singles, including a couple of unexpected tracks from familiar names. As always, you can access the playlist here if you can’t see the widget below.

Jonah Nilsson feat. Steve Vai – Diamond Ring. Nilsson is one-third of the Swedish jazz-pop (jazzy-pop?) group Dirty Loops, a classically trained musician who sought out guitar virtuoso Vai for the solo at the end of this incredibly catchy, funk-infused gem that is easily one of the best pop songs of 2021.

Little Simz – I Love You, I Hate You. This is the fourth track we’ve heard so far from the British rapper’s upcoming second album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, due out September 3rd, and like the first single “Introvert,” the lyrics are intensely personal.

Amyl and the Sniffers – Guided by Angels. This Aussie punk act’s name is so anachronistic I’m almost forced to admire it. This is the catchy lead single from their upcoming second album Comfort to Me, due out September 10th.

CHVRCHES – Good Girls. I’m just excited for the Scottish trio’s fourth album, Screen Violence, now that we’ve heard three great singles from it; it drops August 27th.

Slow Pulp – At It Again (Again). A quiet track befitting the name of this Chicago indie group, “At It Again (Again)” was one of two tracks cut from their debut album Moveys that the band is releasing this fall as the Deleted Scenes EP.

Maisie Peters – Psycho. I’m not in love with the ableist language here, but this track, co-written with the head of Peters’ record label, some bloke named Ed Sheeran, does a great job of showcasing Peters’ voice and her skill with creating images around stories of teenaged romance.

Nas feat. Cordae and Freddie Gibbs – Life is Like a Dice Game. Okay, but which dice game? That’s Pretty Clever? Encore? Yahtzee? I would play a dice game with these guys. I think.

Big Boi, Sleepy Brown, and Killer Mike – Lower Case (no cap). This is the good stuff from Big Boi, reminiscent of Speakerboxxx.

Abstract Mindstate – A Wise Tale. Kanye West got this duo, last active about 15 years ago, back together by contributing beats and agreeing to produce their new album, Dreams Still Inspire, out this Friday.

Wye Oak – Electricity. I like a lot of Wye Oak’s stuff, but when they increase the tempo and the layering of their instruments, it grabs me more immediately, as did this, the third single from them so far in 2021.

Inhaler – Totally. Bono’s kid may never quite get out of his father’s shadow, but Inhaler is worth listening to on their own merits, not just their lineage. It Won’t Always Be Like This, their debut album, also features the 2019 single “My Honest Face,” which was #63 on my ranking of the top 100 songs from that year.

Gang of Youths – unison. This track also appears on total serene, the new three-track EP from this Aussie indie-rock act, who’ve become extremely popular in their home country.

Foxing – Draw Down the Moon. The title track from the indie quintet’s fifth album, due out this Friday, has a big hook in the chorus and a subtle groove in much of the percussion work.

Lorde – Stoned at the Nail Salon. I can’t decide if I like this track or not. I’m including it anyway, because if nothing else, it’s interesting.

Thrice – Scavengers. Thrice is back with a new record, written during the lockdown, and will be back on the road this fall. I’ll be there when they visit Philly.

The Lottery Winners – Sunshine. A candy-sweet track that lives up to its title, and another little pop banger from this Mancunian quartet, who just keep churning out great song after great song.

Joy Oladokun – look up. Oladokun’s first album in five years, in defense of my own happiness, mostly comprises her signature R&B-tinged folk music, but there are occasional moments where she stretches her voice and shows more of its power and range, as on this anthemic, upbeat track.

The War on Drugs – Living Proof. Perhaps I don’t know TWoD’s catalog enough, but I don’t recall many intimate ballads in the vein of this track. Their fifth album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore, will be out on October 29th.

Turnstile – BLACKOUT. These Baltimore punks, who sound a whole shit-ton like Meantime-era Helmet on this track, will release their third album, Glow On, on August 27th.

Iron Maiden – The Writing on the Wall. Bruce Dickinson sounds every bit of 62, but the music here is still tremendous – a bit slower in tempo than peak Maiden, with an intro that recalls that of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain.”

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→ June 4, 2021
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Music update, May 2021.

I’m not sure if this was a weak month for new tracks or if I just missed a lot as I spent more time seeing games and working on some stuff around the house. It ended strongly, however, with a slew of important album releases on the last Friday in May and the first one in June. As always, if you can’t see the widget below you can access the playlist here.

black midi – Chondromalacia Patella. black midi are back, with their second album, Cavalcade, dropping on the last Friday in May. It’s frenetic, cacophonic, and deeply unsettling music, similar in attitude to their debut record, Schlagenheim, but differing enough in tone and style to mark a real progression in their sound. This was one of the lead singles and remains one of the better tracks on the record, which in some ways is more accessible than the first LP but which, on first listen, doesn’t have enough great hooks in the longer tracks like “Ascending Forth” or “Diamond Stuff.”

Pond – America’s Cup. Pond have always been weird, sometimes to good effect but sometimes to the point where it was easy to dismiss some of their experiments. Whatever the hell this is, though, I want more of it. This is early ’80s funk, still bearing the influence of peak disco, around lyrics about the rapid gentrification of Fremantle in Western Australia after that country’s entry won the America’s Cup sailing race in 1983 and the city hosted the Cup in 1987. This is the good shit.

YONAKA – Call Me a Saint. That’s three new singles this year from this Brighton quartet, whose feminist alt-rock made Don’t Wait ‘Til Tomorrrow one of my favorite albums of 2019. Still no word on a release date for a second LP.

Little Simz feat. Cleo Sol – Woman. The second single ahead of Little Simz’s sophomore album, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, due out in September, “Woman” is also her second collaboration with singer Cleo Sol. Little Simz is easily one of my favorite rappers working today, both for her own vocal style and her choices of backing music.

Bobby Gillespie & Jehnny Beth – Chase It Down. That’s the lead singer of Primal Scream and the lead singer of Savages, respectively, and their album, Utopian Ashes, will be out on July 2nd. There are hints of Primal Scream’s more psychedelic leanings in here – rather than the straight-up Rolling Stones homage they did on “Rocks” – along with a fantastic guitar solo at the end.

Emma-Jean Thackray – Say Something. I’ve seen Thackray called a jazz musician, but this isn’t jazz – this is smart, textured dance music, with elements of jazz, and R&B, and house, and more. She has her own record label, Movementt, and appears to be building up towards a debut album after releasing two singles in the last two months.

Jorja Smith feat. Shaybo – Bussdown. Smith’s EP Be Right Back feels like a tease, as the nine-song, 25-minute release just isn’t enough from the talented R&B singer/songwriter, whose debut album Lost & Found came out three years ago this week. I’ll take any Jorja Smith I can get, though.

Freddie Gibbs, Swizz Beats, and Shoota93 – We Want Justice Dammit! This track comes from season 2 of the series Godfather of Harlem, and both Gibbs and Swizz Beats deliver strong verses despite the near lack of a beat beneath them.

Atlas Genius – Elegant Strangers. I was seriously concerned these guys had hung it up for good, with only one new track in the last four years, but it appears we will get a third album from the guys behind “Trojans,” “If So,” and “Molecules.”

Renée Reed – Neboj. Reed is from Louisiana and sings in both English and French, but it’s the intricate finger-picked guitarwork that drew me to this song, from her self-titled debut album.

The Lottery Winners – Times Are Changing. I was very late to this parade, but damn can the Lottery Winners churn out pop bangers as fast as anyone. Their next album, which will be their second in 18 months (third if you count their lockdown covers record), is due out on September 24th.

The Wombats – Method to the Madness. There’s a distressingly slow start to this new track from Matthew Murphy and the lads, but it picks up in the second half and sounds far more like a Wombats song. They haven’t announced when their next album, which will be their fifth, will appear, but are planning their biggest concert ever at London’s O2 Arena next April.

Cœur de Pirate – Plan à Trois. Béatrice Martin released a surprise EP of instrumental piano tracks last month, and now she’s back with the kind of synth-heavy alternative pop for which she’s known. This isn’t quite up there with “Prémonition,” still my favorite song of hers, but it’s promising.

Greentea Peng – Dingaling. Peng’s debut album MAN MADE came out on Friday, June 4th, so it’s still in my queue, but her lead-up singles have all shown off her incredible ability to combine widely divergent genres. I feel like fans of the short-lived jazz-rap movement that started with Native Tongues and peaked briefly with Digable Planets will especially appreciate this track (and, I assume, the album).

Superbloom – Pollen. The title track from this group’s debut album couldn’t sound any more ’90s – I hear Hum more than anything else – if they tried, but as someone who wanted the music of that decade to last forever, I’m here for it.

Squid – Pamphlets. The British music press loves Squid’s debut album Bright Green Field, but it’s just too much of itself for me. I can do modern punk, I don’t mind music with a sneer, and I certainly like the art-rock stylings of Squid’s guitar work, but the lyrics combined with the deliberately obnoxious delivery just leave me feeling a bit too “oh shut up already” before the record is half done. I thought this was the best song on the record, but it’s nearly eight minutes long, and that is absolutely enough of Squid for me.

Mastodon – Forged by Neron. Mastodon has so many sides to its music that saying this is my favorite style of Mastodon track does something of a disservice to their ingenuity and breadth. But I do like when they pick up the pace a little and ensure their tracks have stronger melodies.

Sabaton – Defence of Moscow. These guys are ridiculous but I love it – it’s right out of a 1989 episode of Headbanger’s Ball. Savatage would be proud.

Gojira – Into the Storm. The French avant-garde metallists returned with the long-awaited follow-up to 2016’s Magma, which Decibel named the best metal album of the decade and which earned the band a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album, a rarity for any extreme metal band. Highlights from the new record, called Fortitude, include this track, “Sphinx,” “Amazonia,” “Born for One Thing,” and “Another World.”

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→ May 3, 2021
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Music update, April 2021.

April didn’t bring quite as much new music as March did, or as May will with its five Fridays, but the first three songs on this list are among my favorites of the year, and I’m guessing they’ll all still be very high when my annual top 100 rolls around. As always, you can access the playlist here if you can’t see the widget below.

Wolf Alice – Smile. I loved Wolf Alice’s first album, My Love is Cool, but was more lukewarm on their sophomore LP, Visions of a Life, which won the 2018 Mercury Prize. This song, though … this is the good stuff. Wolf Alice is at their best when they churn out huge, often heavy guitar riffs, and contrast them with quieter moments that make use of singer/guitarist Ellie Roswell’s impressive range of vocal styles. Now I can’t wait for their third album, Blue Weekend, due out June 11th.

AJ Tracey – Little More Love. The British rapper/singer’s new album Flu Game didn’t live up to this single, but this is a banger.

Manchester Orchestra – Telepath. ManOrch’s latest album, The Million Masks of God, just came out on Friday, and it’s both excellent and a real surprise, showing entirely sides of lead singer/guitarist Andy Hull as a lyricist and a songwriter. This song could have easily come from Lord Huron or Josh Ritter, except for how distinctive Hull’s voice is.

CHVRCHES – He Said She Said. Speaking of lyrics, this feels like a possible return to form for Lauren Mayberry after the disappointing, mailed-in feel of the trio’s last album Love is Dead.

Freddie Gibbs – Big Boss Rabbit. Gibbs is the best male rapper working right now, bar none, and he’s absurdly prolific.

Moses Boyd and SW2 – Bridge the Gap b/w Dirty South. I couldn’t decide which of these two tracks to include – they’re both superb, and yet very different from each other – so I put them both on the list, because I’m the boss here. Boyd’s drum work is revelatory, and he might be even more prolific than Gibbs. I doubt I’ll ever fully grasp jazz the way an aficionado would, but Boyd has made me a bigger fan of the genre than I ever was. (Also, no one seems to know who SW2 are. I wonder if they’re connected to SAULT at all.)

HAERTS – Why Only You. This track comes from the duo’s third album, Dream Nation, which was due out March 12th but doesn’t seem to have actually come out on that date, or any date since. We have four singles so far, and they’re all good, so I’m still eager to hear the full LP.

Paul McCartney feat. Khruangbin – Pretty Boys. I think this the third most-talented Beatle’s first appearance on my playlists, but that’s due to the tremendous work here by Khruangbin.

Royal Blood – Boilermaker. The singles I’ve heard so far from Typhoons, which just came out on Friday, made me think of Queens of the Stone Age’s sonic shift on their last record, Villains, thanks for the production work of Mark Ronson. Turns out that QotSA’s Josh Homme helped produce Typhoons, so I’m not crazy – and just like with Villains, the addition of dance elements and more funk influence in the rhythms really works.

Jorja Smith – Gone. Smith has been all over the place since her Mercury Prize-nominated debut album Lost & Found back in 2018, but she’s finally releasing another EP, Be Right Back, on May 14th, featuring this song and “Addicted,” but neither of the two songs she released in 2020 (“Come Over” and “By Any Means”).

Sarah Chernoff – Remains of the Way. Chernoff just released Transitions, a five-song EP, last April, highlighted by this song, which makes the best use of her voice while bringing a little more uptempo vibe to the backing music.

Jade Bird – Black Star. This lovely acoustic cover of the Radiohead track, from her RCA Studio A Session, remagines the song as a bittersweet ballad.

Little Simz – Introvert. This track starts out almost like a sketch you’d find on old-school hip-hop records, but then transitions into a typically great Little Simz joint, the lead single from the London rapper/actress’ fourth album, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, due out September 3rd.

Teenage Fanclub – In Our Dreams. If you’d played this song for me and told me it was by Teenage Fanclub, I would have assumed it was from somewhere in the mid-1990s – it’s that sort of slightly muted power-pop, and while one of the group’s vocalists, Gerard Love, departed the band in 2018, this still pretty much sounds like Teenage Fanclub to me.

Sports Team – Happy (God’s Own Country). This is Sports Team’s first new track since their Mercury Prize-nominated album Deep Down Happy, and the likely lads, several of whom went to the University of Cambridge, manage to sound reminiscent of Gang of Four, the Libertines, and Art Brut all at once.

Elvenking – The Moon and Magic. An Italian power/folk-metal band, or so Wikipedia tells me, although I would have guessed Elvenking were Norse in origin given their sound and subject matter. I think a lot of bands in this weird niche appeal to me because the guitar work often sounds a lot like the bands I enjoyed while first learning guitar in the late ’80s, before groove & death metal competed with grunge and pulled this sort of music apart at the seams.

Bala – X. I wasn’t familiar with this Galician duo, both women, but I’m into the guitar work here, as well as the rapid tempo shifts, drawing from thrash and punk while incorporating the kind of guitar/drum sound popularized by Royal Blood, the White Stripes, and Drenge.

At the Gates – Spectre of Extinction. These melodic death metal legends have been as good or better in their return (2014 to now) as they were in their heyday (through 1995’s Slaughter of the Soul). It’s not for everyone, not with those throat-shredding vocals, but the guitar work is fantastic.

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→ March 3, 2021
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Music update, February 2021.

My first draft prospect ranking for 2021 is now up for The Athletic subscribers.

I didn’t post a playlist for January, as that month didn’t give me anywhere near enough new tracks even if I’d accepted that I’d have to make the playlist shorter than usual, but now, with two-plus months since my last music post, we’re back to normal again. Three great albums have helped kick off 2021, with a few stragglers from 2020, and a slew of singles heralding upcoming LPs from artists new and old. As usual, I’ve pushed the heavier material to the back of the list. You can access the playlist here if you can’t see the widget below.

Kid Kapichi – Working Man’s Town. This Time Next Year, the debut record from this Hastings quartet, sounds like something Alex Turner might have cooked up if he wanted to do something grittier and more abrasive. The record is brilliant, witty, and surprisingly full of hooks, featuring this track, “Sardines,” and “Don’t Kiss Me (I’m Infected).”

Arlo Parks – Hope. Parks’ debut album Collapsed in Sunbeams dropped in January, featuring all of the great singles she’d released in the preceding eighteen months, including “Hurt,” “Green Eyes,” “Black Dog,” and “Caroline.” This track has more of her gorgeous vocals, sharp lyrics, and soulful, jazzy (but not jazz) backing music, making it the best of the new songs on the record.

Gum Country – Somewhere. As the year came to a merciful close, I found more and more best-of lists to peruse, including some great genre-specific ones over at Paste. Gum Country’s debut album Somewhere took the last spot (that is, #50) on Paste‘s top 50 albums of 2020 list, and it’s worthy of the praise, combining elements of power pop, indie rock, and psychedelia, like Velocity Girl met My Bloody Valentine by way of early Mercury Rev.

Black Honey – Believer. Black Honey have been among my favorite indie pop/rock bands for at least three years now, and they put out two songs since my last playlists went up, this straight-up pop track and the much harsher “Disinfect,” although even that song has an undeniable hook.

HAERTS – Shivering. HAERTS’ third album Dream Nation will be out on March 12th, and I can’t wait, even though I think you could argue their sound hasn’t really changed in the nine years since they first appeared.

The Lottery Winners feat. Frank Turner – Start Again. I missed the Lottery Winners’ self-titled debut album last March, but it’s fun, hooky indie-pop, and their sound works really well with Turner’s vocals here.

Royal Blood – Typhoons. I’m cautiously optimistic that Royal Blood are going to correct course a little bit and get closer to the heavy hooks of their debut album, although nothing will ever touch “Out of the Black.” This song really grooves with more bottom than a good splitter.

FRITZ – Jan 1. FRITZ’s sophomore album Pastel feels like something out of the mid-90s, kind of Lotion meets early Lush, fuzzy, reverbed-out, guitar-driven indie-pop with a coming-of-age theme to it.

Griff – Black Hole. This is Griff’s eleventh single, according to Wikipedia, although she has yet to release a full album, although I suppose we can forgive her since she just turned 20 in January. This was the first track of the pop singer/songwriter’s to cross my radar, but the hook in this chorus – “there’s a big black hole where my heart used to be” – is a hell of an earworm.

Allie X – GLAM! That intro sounds like I’m about to play a video game … 15-20 years ago, maybe? But then the singer/model Allie X starts with a whoa-oh-oh-oh that would have fit in on pop radio in 1985. I mean, listen to this chorus. How is this song not already an enormous hit?

Noname – Rainforest. I confess Noname’s laconic delivery has never done much for me, but the syncopated beat and her somewhat faster tempo here caught my ear in a way none of her previous tracks had.

Potty Mouth – Let Go. Speaking of Velocity Girl, I feel like this Massachusetts all-girl trio is sort of VG’s spiritual heirs with their sunny power-pop tracks, although I think their lyrics slipped a grade here.

Django Django feat. Charlotte Gainsbourg – Waking Up. The third new album of 2021 that’s likely to show up on my year-end list – although I’d rank it third of those three – is the Djangos’ fourth album Glowing in the Dark, which has this surprising collaboration with erstwhile Lars von Trier muse Gainsbourg.

YONAKA – Seize the Power. This Brighton quartet, led by the charismatic singer Theresa Jarvis, plan to release their sophomore album this year, with this first single a slight departure from the style of Don’t Wait Til Tomorrow.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – East West Link. This prolific Australian prog/psych rock band just released L.W., their 17th album in just eight and a half years. I assume the title refers to the vaguely “eastern” sounds – I’d say more south Asian, or even the southwestern part of Asia, but I’m no expert in music from either region – which sort of give this whole thing a Physical Graffiti vibe.

Greentea Peng – Nah It Ain’t the Same. Peng’s debut album MAN MADE is due out this summer, and I’m at least curious after this lead single, which has elements of hip-hop, soul, funk, andthe sort of Thai jazz brought to the mainstream by Khruangbin.

Freddie Gibbs – Winter in America. Gibbs is an unusual but inspired choice to cover Gil-Scott Heron and Brian Jackson’s 1975 track, which originally appeared on The First Minute of a New Day. This cover is part of a partnership between ESPN’s The Undefeated and Hollywood Records and appeared on an EP called Black History Always – Music For The Movement Vol. 2.

Iceage – Vendetta. This Danish post-post-punk band’s fifth album Seek Shelter is due out May 7th, with this tense, sludgy track the lead single.

Death from Above 1979 – One + One. Driven by a guitar riff to make Josh Homme blush, this song also has a real groove to it, like a lost track from the Mark Ronson-produced QotSA album.

Gojira – Born for One Thing. I think Gojira is the most interesting metal band going right now, as they’ve gotten more progressive and creative with each album, moving from straight death metal to more technical material to their current hybrid of thrash, prog, and even “groove” metal sounds. I never got into Pantera, but I can hear the influence of Diamond Darrell on the guitarwork here as I did on Magma.

Angelus Apatrida – Bleed the Crown. These Spanish thrash stalwarts released their self-titled seventh album late last year, showing a strong influence from both Bay Area thrash and the giants of Teutonic metal like Kreator and Destruction, although the vocals are mostly death growls and in many cases overtook the pleasure of the guitar riffs.

Memoriam – Failure to Comply. Memoriam are often tagged as straight death metal because of Karl Willetts’ (ex-Bolt Thrower) guttural vocals, but they have more in common with traditional thrash than current extreme metal. This track is directly inspired by the BLM protests that took place across most of last summer in the US, as Willetts has a friend who participated in and recorded one event, ending up in jail and receiving community service (in his telling) for protesting.

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→ December 6, 2020
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Music update, November 2020.

A quick playlist of new tracks from November, as we head into mid-December and time for my year-end lists of 2020’s best albums and singles, which I’m tentatively planning to run on December 21st and 22nd. As always, you can access the playlist here if you can’t see the widget below.

James BKS feat. The New Breed Gang – No Unga Bunga. French producer and hip-hop artist JamesBKSwas the first signing to Idris Elba’s new record label, and this is now his fourth single for the imprint, following last year’s “New Breed,” with guest spots from Q-Tip, Little Simz, and Elba himself.  

Arlo Parks – Caroline. At this point, I might be looking forward to Parks’ debut album, Collapsed in Sunbeams, due out January 29th, more than any other album scheduled for next year. Her voice is stunning and I love the lush sound of just about everything she’s released so far.

Jade Bird – Headstart. The Welsh singer-songwriter Bird hasn’t announced a new album but this is her first new track in over a year, since her debut album dropped in May 2019.

HAERTS – It’s Too Late. The duo announced a release date for their third album, Dream Nation, of March 21, with this track and “For the Sky” to be included.

Mourn – Stay There. ThisBarcelona punk-rock trio seem to be getting more experimental as they get older – although they’re still all between 20 and 23 years old – with their fourth album, Self Worth, released on October 30th.

Khruangbin – Summer Madness. Khruangbin had already released one of the year’s best albums in Mordechai, and now they’ve put out a full album with 15 covers, including this reworking of a Kool & the Gang track from 1974.

Django Django – Glowing in the Dark. The title track from the Djangos’ fourth album, due out February 12th, is more of the same electronic rock we’ve gotten from the group since their more experimental first record, 2012’s self-titled debut.

Radkey – Seize. The Brothers Radke are at their best when they turn up the tempo, which they do here on this punk-infused track. Their newest album Green Room just came out on November 27th.

Record Heat – Nathan. Record Heat used to be called Spirit Animal, but they changed their name based on criticism of the possible cultural appropriation involved in the old moniker. I find their music a mixed bag – when they try to introduce anything resembling rap, it doesn’t work, but their straight rock tracks can be pretty strong.

Romero – Troublemaker. A new power-pop group from Melbourne, Romero just released this, their third single, in advance of a debut album coming out next year.

The Lounge Society – Burn the Heather. This West Yorkshire teenaged quartet have called themselves “the antidote to The 1975,” which is good enough for me, although I also dig the post-punk vibe on this, their second-ever single.

Pale Waves – Change. This is my favorite song to date from the Mancunian indie-rock band, whose second album, Who Am I?, is due out on February 12th.

Middle Kids – R U 4 Me? I never got this Sydney indie-pop act’s their 2016 hit “Edge of Town,” but this new track, their first since an EP came out last May, is pretty solid.

Zeal & Ardor – Wake of a Nation. The title track from this gospel-blues-metal band’s new EP, released October 23rd, has more of the same righteous anger in the lyrics and tones down the harshest elements (e.g., blast beats) of some of their earlier output.

Moonspell – The Greater Good. The Portuguese doom metal stalwarts announced their 12th album, Hermitage, will come out on February 26st; it’s their first since 2017’s concept album 1755.

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→ October 3, 2020
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Music update, September 2020.

Whew, that was the most loaded month of the year for new music, perhaps as bands and labels have accepted that we’re not getting back to anything like “normal” until 2021, at the least. There’s over 90 minutes of new music here, including four metal tracks at the end (more than I usually have, but it was a better month on that front as well). If you can’t see the Spotify widget below you can access the playlist here.

SAULT – Free. Do we still not know who SAULT are? The just-released Untitled (Rise) is the band’s fourth album in thirteen months, and once again is full of funk and soul tracks laced with strongly political lyrics. They’ve put out so much music I have a hard time keeping up with specific tracks, but this track might be my favorite so far, and the album is their best yet.

Public Enemy featuring Nas, Rapsody, Black Thought, ?uestlove, YG, and Jahi – Fight the Power: Remix 2020. This should be terrible, but it’s not, probably because Chuck D wisely gives up the mic to several other MCs, most of them younger and better rappers than he is right now. The message is what you’d expect, but it hits harder because of the voices delivering it.

Prince – I Need a Man. Prince’s estate released this previously unheard song, which he wrote for the Hookers and later wanted to use for Vanity 6, as part of their mammoth remaster/reissue of Sign O’ The Times. Prince released very few tracks this good after his name change and the end of his contract with Warner Bros. I hope there’s more, since we all know Prince recorded about a billion songs he never released during his lifetime.

Ghost of Vroom 2 – Rona Pollona. That’s Mike Doughty, and this is the closest thing to a Soul Coughing song he’s made since that seminal quartet broke up after El Oso.

Arab Strap – The Turning of Our Bones. I thought Arab Strap was more of a quiet, indie-folk sort of band, but this new track, their first since their last album dropped in 2005, is dark, electronic, and, more in keeping with their prior output, about sex.

Zeal & Ardor – Vigil. Z&A put out two songs in early September, this and “I Can’t Breathe,” both directly aimed at the scourge of police killing unarmed Black Americans with stripped-down backing music with fewer metal elements to it.

Everything Everything – Big Climb. RE-ANIMATOR dropped on September 11th, although by that point I’d already heard half the album from various singles and early releases. This is the best of the remaining tracks, with their normal frenetic combination of fast-sung lyrics and heavy synth work.

Black Honey – Run For Cover. This is Black Honey’s second new single this year, after “Beaches,” so I assume there’s a new album coming soon. I loved their self-titled debut, which was full of great power-pop hooks.

Porridge Radio – 7 Seconds. This new-new-wave track has an intense feeling of desperation to it that elevates it to something more than just another very catchy rock song with a good synth line.

Sunflower Bean – Moment in the Sun. I’ve been on Sunflower Bean’s wavelength pretty much from the start and loved their 2019 EP King of the Dudes, so this one-off single, which has a summery vibe that feels like the soundtrack to a walk on the beach, is right in my wheelhouse.

Cut Copy – Like Breaking Glass. This track is very obviously Cut Copy, but also reminds me quite a bit of St. Lucia’s first album or his song “Dancing on Glass,” which I assume is some sort of subliminal connection in my brain because of their similar titles. Anyway, this is a perfectly adequate Cut Copy song, not “Need You Know” or “Black Rainbows” but good enough for my purposes.

Django Django – Spirals. The Djangos’ first new track since they released an album and an EP back in 2018 is more of the same, as “Spirals” could easily have fit on Marble Skies or Born Under Saturn as one of either album’s singles.

Of Monsters and Men – Visitor. Unlike most good OM&M songs, this one is driven more by its music than by Nana’s vocals, which are understated here.

Sprints – The Cheek. The driving bass line at the start of this track reminds me of Romeo Void’s “Never Say Never,” of early Killing Joke, even a bit of Joy Division, but with the strident vocals of Karla Chubb. The Dublin quartet have said contemporary Irish punk band Fontaines DC are an inspiration, and you can hear that influence here as well.

Bartees Strange – Mustang. A reader recommendation from last month, Bartees Strange is a Next Big Thing, a huge fan of the National who sounds quite a bit like the Hold Steady on this track from his debut album, Live Forever, which just came out on October 2.

The Aubreys – Smoke Bomb. That’s Finn Wolfhard’s new band, since Calpurnia broke up last November.

Courting – David Byrne’s Badside. This new Liverpudlian post-punk quartet look like they’re barely out of middle school, let alone old enough to know who David Byrne is, although the lyrics have nothing to do with him and are instead an indictment of what the band call “pub culture.”

Mourn – Men. As much press as the Spanish band Hinds gets, Mourn is just better. Both bands comprise only women, but Mourn’s three members are superior musicians and have shown musical and lyrical growth over their three albums. This is their second single of 2020, so I presume there’s another LP in the works.

LA WITCH – True Believers. This is a holdover from last month that I somehow forgot to put on the August playlist, but LA WITCH’s sophomore album Play With Fire would be in my top ten for the year so far.

Pallbearer – The Quicksand of Existing. Is this Pallbearer’s most uptempo song? The American doom stalwarts will release their newest album Forgotten Days on October 23rd, and this muscular track is dark and gothic but it’s got more in common with Kyuss/QotSA than true doom metal – and now it’s my favorite Pallbearer track.

Carcass – The Long and Winding Bier Road. Carcass’ new album has been pushed back, probably to 2021, so instead they’re releasing an EP, Despicable, of tracks that didn’t make the latest album.

Dark Tranquility – Phantom Days. One of the pioneers of the Gothenburg melodic death metal sound, Dark Tranquility will release their eleventh LP, Moment, in November. The guitar work and melody here are both superb if you can deal with the death growls.

Vio-Lence – California Über Alles. Yes, it’s a cover of the Dead Kennedys song, but also interesting that it’s the first new material Vio-Lence, one of the more significant Bay Area thrash acts of the late ’80s, have released since 1993.

Napalm Death – Amoral. I have talked about Napalm Death more than I’ve ever listened to their music, really, as their early stuff, which practically defined the genre of grindcore, was way too extreme for me. Their sound has evolved over the last thirty-plus years, and their sixteenth album, Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism, sees them working across a range of metal genres and even going into no-wave/post-punk territory, although you’ll always have to deal with Barney Greenway’s vocals.

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→ September 2, 2020
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Music update, August 2020.

August rallied late to produce enough good new tracks that I ended up cutting a few from the final playlist. There were also some fairly high-profile and/or well-reviewed albums, including the Killers’ Imploding the Mirage, Samia’s The Baby, Bully’s SUGAREGG, Young Jesus’ experimental jazz/rock Welcome to Conceptual Beach, Angel Olsen’s Whole New Mess, Bright Eyes’ oh I don’t care what it’s called. I liked the Killers album, and sort of like the Young Jesus album even if I don’t fully appreciate what they’re doing, and could do without the others. Anyway, here’s my playlist for August; you can access it here if you can’t see the Spotify widget below.

Anderson .Paak – Lockdown. Therehave beenway too many songs about the lockdown, and most of them suck. This one doesn’t.

clipping. – Say the Name. That’s Daveed Diggs of Hamilton and Blindspotting, along with a pair of producers, and I’m a bit ashamed to admit that I didn’t know of this trio’s existence until a few months ago. Diggs is a clever wordsmith whose laconic style calls back to Guru and Kool G Rap. clipping.’s fourth full-length album, Visions of Bodies Being Burned, which takes its title from the sample that opens this song, is due out on October 23rd.

Lupin – May. Lupin is Jake Luppen of the inoffensive alternative band Hippo Campus, but apparently he’s been hiding his inner Neon Indian, at least based on this single from his forthcoming debut solo album, which has an incredibly funky drum machine loop and a bass line to match. No word on whether he’ll hold any concerts during a full moon.

The Naked & Famous – Monument. TNAF’s new album Recover dropped on August 8th and it’s their best and most complete LP yet, with several standout tracks including this one (which showcases Alisa Xayalith’s vocals particularly well), “Death,” “Recover,” “Easy,” and “Sunseeker.”

Space Above featuring Alisa Xayalith – Stolen Days. Xayalith also lends her vocals to her former bandmate Aaron Short, who records as Space Above and just put out a new 7-song EP Glow the same day TNAF released their own record. Maddie North, who records as So Below and has recorded with Space Above, even put out a new single, “Fear,” that same week.

Arlo Parks – Hurt. Parks just turned 20 last month but she’s the most interesting, dynamic new voice I’ve heard all year. This new single combines distinct soul and funk elements with her hypnotic vocals, the gentle nature of which belies the depth of emotion beneath them.

Killers – Dying Breed. Brandon Flowers and company returned with Imploding the Mirage, which took me by surprise as someone who was never a huge fan of their work. The record doesn’t take any huge risks, but also has quite a few strong pop melodies and immaculate production, led by this, the fourth single off the record, as well as “Caution” (with a guitar solo from Lindsey Buckingham!) and “Blowback.”

Doves – Cathedrals of the Mind. A new Doves song is pretty much an automatic inclusion on my playlists, but this isn’t quite what I was hoping to hear from the trio for a single from their comeback album The Universal Want, due out on September 20th, lacking the immediacy or the strong melodies that marked their peak output.

London Grammar – Baby It’s You. I was reasonably sure I’d listed another London Grammar song on a past playlist, but I seem to have made that up. They’re quite popular in the UK, with a #1 album in 2017’s Truth is a Beautiful Thing; I’m surprised how often commercial or critical success in other Anglophone countries can fail to translate into any notice here in the U.S. We can be xenophobic in music, too.

Lucius – Man in My Radio. This Brooklyn indie quartet can be strange, and pretentious, but Lucius seems good for one absolute banger a year, and this one-off single definitely qualifies.

BLOXX – Coming Up Short. This Uxbridge quartet have toured with the Wombats and just released their debut album Lie Out Loud, featuring this very hooky indie-pop track.

Yard Act – Fixer Upper. These guys are post-punk in the Gang of Four/Wire sense, and take it a step further with spoken-word lyrics about suburban real estate. I swear it’s not deliberate that this month’s playlist skews so heavily towards the UK.

Fontaines D.C. – I Was Not Born. These heralded Irish punks made my top 100 of last year with “Too Real,” but their singles prior to this one had missed that song’s hook, lacking something to counter the abrasiveness of their music. They’ve found the balance again here with a more melodic guitar line without sacrificing any of their signature sneering.

Ihsahn & Einar Solberg – Manhattan Skyline. So, this is the lead singer/guitarist of the infamous black metal band Emperor, perhaps better known for their support of arsons of old churches in Norway in the 1990s and their drummer’s conviction for murdering a gay man who he thought made a pass at him than for their actual music; and the lead singer and keyboardist for Norwegian prog metal band Leprous. And they’re covering a minor single from a-ha’s second album.

Gojira – Another World. This French heavy metal outfit’s 2016 release Magma was named the best metal album of the decade in a poll of musicians by MetalSucks.net and even earned two Grammy nominations. They’re often called “death metal” but they don’t have that genre’s blast beats, and the vocals here are more shouted than growled or screamed, although if you think this is a distinction without a difference I won’t press the point. Anyway, the guitar riff here is outstanding, rivaling the riff that opens “Stranded” from Magma.

Carcass – The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue. The greatest death-metal band in history will release an EP of new material, Despicable, on October 30th, featuring this brutal six-minute track that goes through what feels like a half-dozen different movements, some of which I could do without but others feature some of the incredible guitar work that has made me a fan of theirs since Heartwork.

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→ August 9, 2020
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Music update, July 2020.

It seems like new music releases might be slowing down now, perhaps a lagged effect of the pandemic, although I still see a half-dozen or more albums coming out in the rest of 2020 that I’m excited to hear. As always, you can listen to the playlist here if you can’t see the Spotify widget below.

The Beths – Dying to Believe. The praise for the Beths’ new album Jump Rope Gazers is a bit ahead of my opinion of the album, which I liked, but wouldn’t say I loved it; they’re so much better when they use their energy and go uptempo.

Doves – Prisoners. That’s two strong tracks of the three singles they’ve released so far off their comeback album, The Universal Want, due out on September 20th.

Space Above featuring Boyboy – Movements. Aaron Short, who records as Space Above, may sound more like early The Naked and Famous, the band Short left, than TNAF does today – and I’m here for it.

The Naked and Famous – Everybody Knows. And here’s the remaining duo, with one of their most melodic songs since their debut album in 2010. Their latest album Recover, features this, last year’s “Sunseeker,” “Death,” and “Bury Us.”

Everything Everything – Violent Sun. This latest single from these British avant-garde rockers definitely grew on me over multiple listens, further reason to be eager for their fifth album, Re-Animator, which drops on September 11th.

Nation of Language – The Wall & I. Nation of Language’s latest album Introduction, Presence came out on May 24th, and closes out with this track, which feels heavily influenced by peak New Order.

Jorja Smith – By Any Means. This was the singer/songwriter’s first single on her own since last year’s hit “Be Honest,” and I hope it signals her sophomore album will come soon.

Black Honey – Beaches. More indie-pop goodness from one of my favorite bands of 2018.

San Cisco – Messages. Scarlett Stevens takes on lead vocals on this very sunny pop track, although I think her lack of vocal depth shows here when she doesn’t have Jordi Davieson to share singing duties.

PAINT – Strange World. This really sounds like a lost Badly Drawn Boy track from 2000. PAINT is Pedrum Siadatian, formerly of the Allah-Las; this is the best track from his first album under the name, Spiritual Vegas.

Inhaler – Fade Into You. It’s tough to cover a song like Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You,” but Inhaler, led by Elijah Hewson (son of Bono), does a very credible job here.

Hinds – Spanish Bombs. A bit of a different sound for the Spanish quartet, maybe a little more polished than their previous output, although that’s kind of a low bar.

Glass Animals – It’s All So Incredibly Loud. This song is wonderfully weird, and has Glass Animals’ trademark use of unusual percussion sounds, and the more I listen to it the more I like it. The synth lines here are relentless.

Serpiko – Sleep State. Nobody seems to know who Serpiko is, but his debut EP, also called Sleep State, has garnered some positive press for its unusual blend of electronic, funk, and jazz elements. This title track is by far the best on the record, meandering in a purposeful way thanks to a persistent percussion line.

The Go-Go’s – Club Zero. Showtime has a new documentary out on the pioneering all-girl pop/rock group, and the quintet recorded this new track to go along with it … and it’s great. Other than Belinda Carlisle’s vocals, you might guess this was something from their peak years.

Ihsahn – Spectre at the Feast. Ihsahn is one of the founding members of the Norwegian black metal band Emperor, probably as well remembered for their involvement in church burnings and for their drummer’s conviction of the murder of a man who solicited him for sex than for their four albums, the last of which came out in 2001. That’s a long way of saying that this track is nothing like Emperor’s music – it’s progressive rock, not really even metal, with clean vocals and some intriguing guitar work.

Pallbearer – Forgotten Days. The champions of American doom metal are back with this title track from their new album, due out October 23rd. This track was labeled (Edit) so I presume a longer version will appear on the full-length LP.

Ensiferum – The Defence of the Sampo. I really enjoy Ensiferum when they stick to the thrash elements more common in Viking metal and go light on the death growls; it’s like listening to strange Norse metal drinking songs.

Mastodon – Fallen Torches. This is on the heavier side for Mastodon, a previously unreleased track that will appear on the band’s forthcoming B-sides and miscellany collection Medium Rarities, which will also include the band’s cover of Metallica’s “Orion.”

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→ July 2, 2020
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Music update, June 2020.

June started out very slow for new music but finished with a bang, enough that I ended up culling some songs before posting this playlist, which runs the gamut of genres and features a couple of tracks from some of the best albums of the year so far. As always, if you can’t see the widget below you can access the playlist here.

Khruangbin – Pelota. The Thai funk/jazz/rock trio’s third album, Mordechai, is among the year’s best new records, and it’s their first with significant vocals, which should allow them to make real inroads on the commercial side. I’ll do a list of my favorite albums of the first half of 2020 shortly, but Mordechai is on it.

Doves – Carousels. Doves have reunited and released their first new music since 2009’s Kingdom of Rust. The time off has done them some good, as this sounds like peak Doves around the time of The Last Broadcast.

Bananagun – The Master. This weird Australian funk/alternative group sound a bit like someone smashed together folk rock sensibilities with late ’70s funk-rock or early ’80s new wave on their debut album The True Story of Bananagun. It’s very strange, but it works quite well even at different speeds.

Sad13 – Sooo Bad. Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz is set to release her second solo album as Sad13, with three new singles in the last few weeks, headlined by this track. All three songs are poppier than Speedy Ortiz’s music, but still have her offbeat lyrics and signature use of unexpected transitions.

Frank Turner – Bob. Turner and NOFX recorded covers of five of the other’s songs; I’m not a NOFX guy (although their desire to offend is admirable in a quirky way), but this reworking of a snotty track from their debut album into an acoustic ballad that sounds like Turner could have written it himself is impressive.

The Lazy Eyes – Tangerine. This Sydney quartet just released their first EP, cleverly titled EP1, showcasing a psychedelic rock sound that appears to owe a small debt to their countrymate Tame Impala.

Glass Animals – Heat Waves. I tend to like Glass Animals more when they’re a bit restrained, which they are here, as opposed to songs where it feels like they’re trying to be strange or eccentric.

Arlo Parks – Black Dog. Not a Led Zeppelin cover, as it turns out, although Parks did record an acoustic cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” as the B-side to this love song to a partner (or friend?) suffering from the black dog of depression.

Shamir – On My Own. If you know Shamir, it might be from his 2014 song “On the Regular,” which featured him rapping at a pitch that convinced a lot of people – me included – that the vocalist was a woman. He’s honed his sound in the intervening years to create an expansive mash-up that spans indie rock to classic soul to house and beyond, but I’ve been waiting for years for him to write another great hook. This song has it, along with a mid-80s Prince vibe to the music.

Tricky – Fall Please. Adrian Thaws is still at it at age 52, and still capable of producing a banger like this one, which features vocals from Polish singer Marta Z?akowska. It’s just short (2:27) for a song with such a great groove.

Freddie Gibbs & the Alchemist – Look at Me. Gibbs is probably the best MC working today, and continues to challenge himself musically, although I have a hard time buying in fully given how he speaks about women in his lyrics.

Dirty Streets – Can’t Go Back. Bluesy hard rock from a fairly new Memphis trio whose music I first heard while watching Netflix’s Sex Education. This is one of three tracks from their upcoming fifth album Rough and Tumble.

Muzz – Knuckleduster. Muzz is Paul Banks of Interpol, Matt Barrick of the Walkmen, and producer Josh Kaufman; they released their self-titled debut album in early June. It’s a mixed bag, often too lugubrious, but generally lush and often harking back to early shoegaze with more pronounced vocals.

Coach Party – Bleach. A new indie rock quartet from the Isle of Wight, with this song reminding me a bit of their labelmates Wolf Alice (at least from the latter’s first album).

The Beths – Out of Sight. This New Zealand indie group made a small splash in 2018 with their album Future Me Hates Me, with “You Wouldn’t Like Me” appearing on my top 100 for that year; their second album, Jump Rope Gazers, drops on July 10th.

Everything Everything – Planets. E2 will release RE-ANIMATOR, their fifth album, on August 21st; given the first three singles it seems like it might be their weirdest record yet.

Hinds – Take Me Back. I was into this all-female quartet’s earlier work but sort of assumed they’d get more proficient as musicians over time, so the charm of their first two records has started to wear off a bit now that it’s clear that there isn’t another level coming.

Medium – Life After Death. This isn’t the ’90s Minneapolis band Medium, but a project from musician Cotter Phinney, a big Ariel Pink fan who also professes to be into classic metal solos, with the former more evident on this track.

Protomartyr – Michigan Hammers. If there was a moment in some alternate universe when post-punk started to morph into metal – instead of the two strains descending from different ancestors – the result would have probably sounded a lot like Protomartyr.

Mekong Delta – Mental Entropy. I had no idea Mekong Delta, a minor band from the halcyon days of German thrash metal, even still existed, but they sound like they’re still recording in 1989 and I’m here for it.

Ensiferum – Andromeda. This Finnish folk/death metal act show off some great technical guitar work and strong melodic riffs, but the accessibility of their music varies from song to song – “Rum, Women, and Victory,” their previous single, was way more on the death metal side of things, while this has just a little of that and is more traditional metal, which is still my preference.

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→ June 11, 2020
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Music update, May 2020.

This month’s playlist is as long as usual, but the writeup is shorter because of the draft. I thought it was a pretty solid month for new music though, including several tracks I think will end up near the top of my year-end ranking. If you can’t see the widget below you can access the playlist here.

The Eddy featuring Jorja Smith – Kiss Me in the Morning. I haven’t seen The Eddy, the jazz-themed Netflix show from Damien Chazelle, but this song features the Grammy-nominated Jorja Smith, whose Lost & Found was one of my favorite albums of 2018.

Khruangbin – So We Won’t Forget. I have loved both singles from their forthcoming album Mordechai, due out on June 26th, as they seem like the trio are approaching their artistic peak.

Oasis – Don’t Stop (Demo). It feels like this track, a previously unreleased demo recently rediscovered by Noel Gallagher, first resurfaced six months ago, rather than about six weeks ago. It’s very vintage Oasis, which is a good thing in my book.

Fontaines D.C. – A Hero’s Death. There’s something about the line “Life ain’t always empty,” which these retro-punks repeat throughout the song, during this of all seasons.

Little Simz – might bang, might not. I was a little let down by Little Simz’ EP Drop 6, given how great her 2019 GREY Area was, but she’s still a great rapper and rises above the less interesting music on the new record.

Everything Everything – Arch Enemy. This lead single from their upcoming album Re-Animator – due out in August – is very E2, soaring, ambitious, and slightly manic in its instrumentation.

Maisie Peters – The List. I’m still waiting for the world to catch on to Peters, who just turned 20 in May and already has several incredible pop songs to her credit. This isn’t quite at the heights of “The Best I’ll Ever Sing,” but it’s close.

Ten Fé – Nothing Breaks Like a Heart. I didn’t even realize this was a cover of the Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus song because they’ve so completely changed the song, turning into a haunting acoustic number that’s almost dirge-like with its funereal vibe.

San Cisco – On the Line. Even San Cisco’s lesser singles still have great hooks, like this one, which, like most of their best songs, has Scarlett Stevens sharing some of the vocal duties.

LA Priest – Beginnings. When I first heard this track, I was sure it was something from the former lead singer of Wild Beasts,but it’s actually Sam Dust, whose second album Gene just dropped last week.

Spielbergs – Go! This track, part of Adult Swim’s singles series, captures this Norwegian band at their frenetic best.

The Mysterines – I Win Every Time. The Mysterines should be stars by now, with great rock hooks and Lia Metcalfe’s snarling, riveting vocals.

The Naked and Famous – Death. I mean, maybe now wasn’t the right time to release a song so explicitly about confronting our mortality?

Disclosure – ENERGY. Disclosure burst on the scene with 2013’s “When a Fire Starts to Burn,” which featured a sample of preacher and motivational speaker Eric Thomas; they went back to the well for this title track from their upcoming album, using more of Thomas’ words as the vocals above music that absolutely lives up to the title.

Black Orchid Empire – Natural Selection. I wasn’t familiar with BOE before, but this is my kind of metal, with big, muscular riffs, and a real melody in the vocals.

Caligula’s Horse – Valkyrie. Progressive metal from the Australian band’s newest album, Rise Radiant, released on May 22nd.

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