Featured New Releases for
May 19, 2023

Gag Order

Kemosabe / RCA
An arty, experimental album that offers an emotional catharsis.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Brandy Clark

Warner Music / Warner Records
Producer Brandi Carlile helps the country singer/songwriter reconnect with the unvarnished spirit of her debut 12 Stories.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Love Language

SoNo Recording Group
R&B
Modern synthesis of classic Southern R&B and Philly soul made with the core group who factored in the neo-soul catalyst's 2015 and 2019 LPs.

— Andy Kellman

Say Less

Mono Mundo Recordings
The Mavericks' lead singer lets his guitar and arrangements do the talking on his first instrumental album.

— Mark Deming

Aperture

Sub Pop
The studio debut from the Texas-raised artist, whose introspective, sweetly catchy songs recall the dreamy side of '90s alternative.

— Paul Simpson

Tracey Denim

Matador
The London trio brings clarity and haunting emotion to their mercurial mix of post-punk, lo-fi, and shoegaze.

— Heather Phares

Calm Ya Farm

ATO
The band capture the swagger of the Faces on a set of classic rock songs that detail the uneasy state of the world around them.

— Tim Sendra

Holocene

Metal Blade / Pelagic
The German metallers complete their paleontology series and embrace electronics along with their incendiary brand of prog metal.

— Thom Jurek

Of Tomorrow

Tapete Records
The 15th album from this English space rock band wanders away from their walls of murky noise for slightly more open songs and subtle details.

— Fred Thomas

Akousmatikous

Brainfeeder
Another cosmic earth-rot fantasia from sci-fi synthesist Lindsay Olsen, this one involves around a dozen collaborators who add rhythmic intricacy and might.

— Andy Kellman

Maria

Crosstown Rebels
The duo's transporting second album explores the different sides of love and ignores the boundaries between rock, pop, and dance music.

— Heather Phares

Villagers

Jealous Butcher
The long-running Chicago post-rock experimentalists turn down their blues influences in favor of 1970s soft rock tropes.

— Mark Deming

Yarn the Hours Away

Carpark Records
The Brooklyn band's offbeat debut impresses with its complex merger of sunny and angular sounds as well as its solid songs.

— Marcy Donelson

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