Featured New Album Releases

Coldplay

Moon Music

Atlantic / MULTIPLE

Pop/Rock

On this sibling set to Music of the Spheres, the band remains in orbit, trying to unite the universe with positivity and love.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Leon Bridges

Leon

Columbia

R&B, Pop/Rock

An inviting, emotionally complex nostalgia trip taken primarily with Kacey Musgraves collaborators Ian Fitchuk, Daniel Tashian, and Josh Moore.

— Andy Kellman

The Smile

Cutouts

XL

Pop/Rock

The Radiohead-affiliated trio incorporate more electronics into their sound on their second album of 2024, recorded at the same time as the first.

— Paul Simpson

Caribou

Honey

Merge

Electronic, Pop/Rock

Dan Snaith extends the club-friendly sound of his work as Daphni into his main project, resulting in his most outwardly expressive music.

— Paul Simpson

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

"NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD"

Constellation

Pop/Rock

The Canadian ensemble's most explicitly political work is triumphant and uplifting rather than bleak and mournful.

— Paul Simpson

The Hard Quartet

Matador

Pop/Rock

Band that includes members of Pavement, Superwolves, the Cairo Gang, and Dirty Three, combining the sum of their parts and then piling on more guitars.

— Fred Thomas

Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980)

Elektra / Rhino

Jazz, Pop/Rock

The fourth volume in the artist's lauded archives series extends its third volume with outtakes, alternates, and concert recordings.

Dawn Richard / Spencer Zahn

Quiet in a World Full of Noise

Merge

Avant-Garde

In three fine-drawn movements, the singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist/composer/producer cope with tragedy and grief with intent to comfort the listener.

— Andy Kellman

Half Waif

See You at the Maypole

Anti-

Pop/Rock

Mixing warm orchestral textures with eerie synths and distorted effects, and themes of loss with aspiration, LP six eludes simplicity.

— Marcy Donelson

A Place to Bury Strangers

Synthesizer

Ded Strange

Pop/Rock

The band's seventh album rails against conformity with ear-bleeding sonics and glowering post-punk.

— Heather Phares

Fred Thomas

Window in the Rhythm

Polyvinyl

Pop/Rock

An expansive and exploratory double LP reflecting on numerous memories, absences, and life changes.

— Paul Simpson

Various Artists

New Jill Swing 1988-1994

Ace

R&B

Classics and deep cuts from SWV, Jade, Karyn White, En Vogue, and other women who exemplified contemporary R&B in the post-Control era.

— Andy Kellman

Yasmin Williams

Acadia

Nonesuch

Folk, New Age

The Virginia guitarist's first release for Nonesuch is effervescent and adventurous with many collaborators.

— Timothy Monger

Alison Moyet

Key

Cooking Vinyl

Pop/Rock

In honor of Alf's 40th anniversary, she revisits her solo catalog with 16 remakes (and two originals) chosen for their current thematic relevance.

— Marcy Donelson

MEMORIALS

Memorial Waterslides

Fire Records

Pop/Rock

The debut album from members of Electrelane and It Hugs Back is a sonically impressive entry in the always fascinating genre of cinematic psychedelia.

— Tim Sendra

Thee Sacred Souls

Got a Story to Tell

Daptone

R&B

On their second long-player, the California trio expand their musical reach in juxtaposing soul and retro-R&B with classic American pop.

— Thom Jurek

Tord Gustavsen / Tord Gustavsen Trio

Seeing

ECM

Jazz

The pianist's trio plays through and combines hymnody, folk song, and post-bop, carving room for sensitive improvisational opportunities.

— Thom Jurek

Pharmakon

Maggot Mass

Sacred Bones

Avant-Garde, Pop/Rock

Harsh noise artist Margaret Chardiet embraces a new level of relative clarity, introducing elements of traditional song structure to her dense walls of sludge.

— Fred Thomas