Featured New Releases for
March 25, 2022

mgk

Mainstream Sellout

Interscope

Pop/Rock, Rap

The former rap star continues his transformation into a pop-punk artist on his second Travis Barker-produced full-length.

— Fred Thomas

Maren Morris

Humble Quest

Sony Music

Country

Working with producer Greg Kurstin, Maren Morris chronicles her life in the guise of adult alternative country-pop.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Weezer

SZNZ: Spring

Atlantic / Crush Music

Pop/Rock

Weezer kick off their year-long SZNZ project with a bright, cheerful EP commemorating the start of spring.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Destroyer

Labyrinthitis

Merge

Pop/Rock

The 13th album from Canadian indie chameleon Dan Bejar finds him pushing his established idiosyncrasies into more experimental places than ever before.

— Fred Thomas

Ibibio Sound Machine

Electricity

Merge

International

The Afrofuturist dance band teams with Hot Chip to deliver a soulful, militant dancefloor manifesto.

— Thom Jurek

Loop

Sonancy

Cooking Vinyl

Pop/Rock

On their first album in 32 years, the British drone rockers take away just some of the murky confusion that marked their early sound.

— Fred Thomas

Michael Bublé

Higher

Reprise

Jazz, Vocal

A buoyant 11th album from the crooner, featuring Willie Nelson and a cover of Paul McCartney's "My Valentine" produced by the Beatle.

— Matt Collar

Placebo

Never Let Me Go

Rise Records / Silva Screen / So Recordings / Universal

Pop/Rock

Excellent eighth set from the U.K. alt-rock stalwarts that merges pain and paranoia with impeccable production.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Susanna

Elevation

Susannasonata

Pop/Rock

The singer/songwriter's second volume of Baudelaire interpretations is a meditation on spirituality and a celebration of creative transformation.

— Heather Phares

Cowboy Junkies

Songs of the Recollection

Proper Records

Pop/Rock

The long-lived and low-key Canadian band remind us of their excellence as interpretive artists on these nine covers.

— Mark Deming

Aldous Harding

Warm Chris

4AD

Pop/Rock

Both compelling and confounding, the Kiwi artist's fourth long-player suggests Lana Del Ray by way of Os Mutantes.

— James Christopher Monger

Walter Martin

The Bear

Family Jukebox

Pop/Rock

On his eighth album, the singer/songwriter opens up with some of his finest and most revealing work.

— Heather Phares

Young Prisms

Drifter

Fire Talk

Pop/Rock

After a long hiatus, the shoegaze group return with an album of autumn-glow dream pop mixed with melancholy, somewhat haunted melodies.

— Tim Sendra

Fucked Up

Do All Words Can Do

Matador

Pop/Rock

A collection of eight rare tracks originally released as singles expanding on the storyline of 2011's David Comes to Life.

— Mark Deming

Barrie

Barbara

Winspear

Pop/Rock

A now-solo Barrie Lindsay draws focus to more-personal lyrics without sacrificing warm and woozy atmospheres on her second album.

— Marcy Donelson

Bart / Davenport / Bart Davenport

Episodes

Tapete Records

Pop/Rock

The long-running, chameleonic singer/songwriter adds Baroque strings and jangling 12-string guitar to a batch of relaxed, intimate songs.

— Tim Sendra

Wallows

Tell Me That It's Over

Atlantic

Pop/Rock

The trio's catchy hooks don't miss a beat on a more sonically adventurous second album produced by Ariel Rechtshaid.

— Marcy Donelson

Prins Thomas

Prins Thomas, Vols. 8-9

Prins Thomas Musikk

Electronic

Two short albums from prolific neo-disco producer Prins Thomas, containing some of his sunniest material.

— Paul Simpson

Soul Glo

Diaspora Problems

Epitaph

Pop/Rock

The Philadelphia hardcore outfit reveals an intelligence, depth, and thematic complexity that transcends the genre.

— Mark Deming

Camp Cope

Running with the Hurricane

Run for Cover Records

Pop/Rock

The Aussie alt-rock trio turn in a more relaxed and confident third outing.

— Timothy Monger

Soft Machine

Facelift France & Holland

Cuneiform Records

Jazz, Pop/Rock, Pop/Rock

This three-disc set contains a full-length DVD of a 1970 concert for French television, and audio discs of it and a second concert from Amsterdam.

— Thom Jurek

Ed Schrader's Music Beat

Nightclub Daydreaming

Carpark Records

Pop/Rock

The Baltimore duo intended to make a more danceable album, but it ended up closer to dark post-punk.

— Paul Simpson

Gabriel Kahane

Magnificent Bird

Nonesuch

Pop/Rock

Written during a year spent offline, the follow-up to Book of Travelers captures the zeitgeist despite its more personal origins.

— Marcy Donelson

Guerilla Toss

Famously Alive

Sub Pop

Pop/Rock

Moving in a more accessible direction, the band's Sub Pop debut is focused on self-acceptance and celebrating life.

— Paul Simpson

Homeboy Sandman

There in Spirit

Mello Music Group

Rap

Backed by granulated rhythms from Detroit producer Illingsworth, Homeboy Sandman focuses on self-help themes.

— Paul Simpson

Dennis Bovell

The Dubmaster: The Essential Anthology

Trojan

Reggae

This 38-track anthology compilation culls material from 50 years of wide-ranging material from this reggae and dub innovator.

— Fred Thomas

Leon Vynehall

Fabric Presents Leon Vynehall

Fabric

Electronic

Less a home-listening mix than the producer's DJ-Kicks entry, this offers a multitude of global sounds -- proto-techno to gqom -- with unlikely grace.

— Andy Kellman