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New Music Friday: Stream new projects from Yves Tumor, 100 gecs, Lil Keed, and more

New Music Friday: Stream new projects from Yves Tumor, 100 gecs, Lil Keed, and more
Plus new albums from EST Gee, M83, and more.

By The FADER

March 17, 2023

Yves Tumor. Photo via publicist.

Trying to keep up with this week’s new music? Every Friday, we collect new albums available on streaming services on one page. This week, check out Yves Tumor’s Praise a Lord Who Chews…, 100 gecs’s 10,000 gecs, EST Gee’s Mad, and more.

Yves Tumor, Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)

Their transformation from an underground artist combining noise, ambient, and loops into a futuristic glam rock alien has been nothing short of revelatory. After 2020’s breakthrough Heaven For A Tortured Mind (No. 6 on our end-of-year albums list) Yves Tumor builds on their dynasty with Praise A Lord Who Chews…, not just a mere rock reclamation but a wide-spanning celebration of how Black genius fuels so much of what is challenging in modern music.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

100 gecs, 10,000 gecs

In the time since 100 gecs released their debut album 1000 gecs in 2019, an entire subgenre known as hyperpop has sprouted up and withered away, its birth inspired by Laura Les and Dylan Brady’s rambunctious style — it’s a channeling the energy of a million open YouTube tabs and fuelled by a buffet of gas station food. 10,000 gecs arrives in a very different world than its predecessor, but gecs are eager to prove that their art isn’t as fleeting as the sugar rushes it conjures.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

EST Gee, MAD

EST Gee may no longer be a freshman, but the Kentucky rapper hasn’t lost any of the hunger that made him a star and in-demand collaborator. A project he’s billed as “not for the industry,” MAD appropriately doesn’t feature pop-friendly rappers, sticking instead to Boosie Badass and Young Scooter. Gee has shared singles from the project all year: “If I Stop Now,” “Blow Up,” “Undefeated,” and “25 Min Freestyle.”

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Lil Keed, Keed Talk to ’Em 2

Keed Talk to ’Em 2 is the first posthumous album from Atlanta’s Lil Keed, the cult-favorite and quietly influential YSL rapper who passed away from eosinophilia in May 2022. Keed’s mother Tonnie Woods-Reed wrote in a letter shared on Instagram that Keed was working on the album at the time of his death. Young Thug, NAV, Big Sean, Trippie Redd, and more appear across 20 songs.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

M83, Fantasy

M83 rose to prominence as a soaring beacon of sincerity in the bloghouse era with their soul-stirring electronic compositions. They could be shoegaze-inspired, Vangelis-adjacent, or in the case of their most successful albums Saturdays=Youth and Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, love letters to escapist pop music. Bandleader Anthony Gonzalez dips his toes back into that mode for the new M83 album Fantasy, out today.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

deathcrash, Less EP

Less is a seven-song collection of devastating slowcore from the London group, who released their sophomore album Return in 2022. Traces of Elliot Smith and Slint can be found around the contours of tracks like “Empty Heavy,” “Duffy’s,” and “And Now I Am Lit.”

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Tei Shi, Bad Premonition EP

The Columbian-Canadian artist is billing her new six-song EP as a fresh start. It’s hard to argue with that based on the vintage pop crackle of “¿QUIEN TE MANDA?,” the after-hours sensuality of “BAD PREMONITION,” and “GRIP”‘s defiant, Little Dragon-meets-Aaliyah stomp. “I went through another difficult time where I lost control of my work and life,” Tei Shi writes in a press statement, “but eventually found my confidence and focus again. It took me 2.5 years to get through it, but the songs I wrote during that time helped me remember who I am as an artist.”

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Unknown Mortal Orchestra, V

Ruban Nielson’s dreamy psychedelic rock group returns today with a double album inspired by family, mortality, and the roots of oneself. V, UMO’s fifth album, contains the 2021 singles “That Life” and “Weekend Run,” with “Nadja,” “Layla,” and “Captain Cook” also making the cut.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

New Music Friday: Stream new projects from Fever Ray, Nia Archives, MSPAINT, and more

New Music Friday: Stream new projects from Fever Ray, Nia Archives, MSPAINT, and more
Plus new projects from Miley Cyrus, Fatima Al Qadiri, Blxst, and more.

By The FADER

March 10, 2023

Fever Ray. Photo by Nina Andersson.

Trying to keep up with this week’s new music? Every Friday, we collect new albums available on streaming services on one page. This week, check out Fever Ray’s Radical Romantics, Nia Archives’s Sunrise Bang Ur Head EP, MSPAINT’s Post-American, and more.

Fever Ray, Radical Romantics

Karin Dreijer’s third album as Fever Ray does more than uphold their legacy as one of contemporary music’s most thrilling voices; it builds on it, and delivers what’s sure to be one of the best electronic pop albums of the year. Dreijer reunites with their brother Olof, their bandmate in The Knife, for four songs on Radical Romantics, including the singles “What They Call Us” and “Kandy.” A music video for “Even It Out,” one of the album’s two collaborations with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails, arrives today along with the album. Hear Dreijer break down the new project on this week’s episode of The FADER Interview podcast.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp

Nia Archives, Sunrise Bang Ur Head Against Tha Wall EP

One of the faces of the jungle revival, Nia Archives carves an exciting future for the genre with her reinvigorating approach. Rather than get stuck in old-head ideas of the fiercely protected art form, the London musician incorporates emo-pop melodies (“So Tell Me…“) and far-flung samples (“Baína”) to satisfy her restless creative spirit. The new tape’s lead single and title track has a lead piano pulled from the golden age of lo-fi hip-hop beats, until the amen break transforms it into something decidedly not for studying to.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

MSPAINT, Post-American

After Turnstile, could MSPAINT be the next punk act to blow up? The Mississippi band have a similarly kitchen-sink approach to their influence, layering synth-punk, hardcore, and rap into a searing cybernetic stew. Two of the singles from their debut album Post-American, “Titan of Hope“ and “ACID,” were Songs You Need.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp

Miley Cyrus, Endless Summer Vacation

The eighth studio from Miley Cyrus arrives after she secured a recent No. 1 with the project’s lead single, “Flowers.” Sia and Brandi Carlile feature on the new effort.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Fatima Al Qadiri, Gumar EP

A companion piece to experimental electronic composter Fatima Al Qadiri’s 2021 album Medieval Femme, Gumar reunites her with its titular Kuwaiti vocalist. The EP’s songs are “an homage to the influence of lamentation singing that both Fatima and Gumar grew up with and as a teenager, Gumar was formally trained in,” a press release explains. “Mojik (Your Waves),” the second single from Gumar, was a Song You Need in February.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp

Various Artists, Blacklips Bar: Androgyns and Deviants — Industrial Romance for Bruised and Battered Angels, 1992–1995

This new compilation celebrates the Blacklips Performance Cult, a New York City collective co-founded by acclaimed singer-songwriter ANOHNI in 1992. The Cult created a new play every week and showcased some of ANOHNI’s earliest music. That’s collected here in a remastered form along with DJ tracks and studio recordings from James F. Murphy, Dave Vanian, Rozz WIlliams, Joey Arias, and many more.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp

Conway the Machine & Jae Skeese, Pain Provided Profit

Best known as a member of Griselda, Conway The Machine is eager to make a name for his own label, Drumwork. To that end, he’s teaming up with one of his signees, Buffalo’s Jae Skeese, for a new collaborative project. “Metallic 5’s,” the album’s lead single, was a menacing cut of boom-bap and stone-cold assertions of dominance.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Lonnie Holley, Oh Me Oh My

An acclaimed visual artist before beginning a music career in 2006, Lonnie Holley brings his incandescent, blues-inspired vocals back to Jagjaguwar for his third full-length album. The project’s ensemble cast of collaborators includes Bon Iver (“Kindness Will Follow Your Tears”), Moor Mother (“I Am Part Of The Wonder”), and Michael Stipe (the title track, a certified Song You Need.)

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp

Shalom, Sublimation

Shalom’s debut album arrives today via Saddle Creek and comes produced by Ryan Hemsworth. The Brooklyn-based artist displays a firm grip on what motivates even the most casual of indie rock fans to dance with songs like “Soccer Mommy,” “Happenstance,” and “Lighter.”

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp

The Blaze, JUNGLE

Guillaume and Jonathan Alric are French brothers who drew global attention to their electronic project The Blaze way back in 2016 thanks to some eye-popping visuals. Their debut project DANCEHALL came out in 2018, and JUNGLE arrives today behind the singles “CLASH” (M83 for a mosh pit), “DREAMER” (another EDM-adjacent anthem) and “EYES” (a meatier cut inspired by the vivid techno of Four Tet and Caribou).

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Musiq Soulchild & Hit-Boy, Victims & Villains

After helping Nas secure a recent Grammy for Best Rap Album with King’s Disease (as well as a nomination in the same category for that record’s sequel), Hit-Boy is teaming up with another turn-of-the-millennium icon. A shot at the polished neo-pop-R&B mastered by acts like Miguel and Jazmine Sullivan, Victims & Villains is Musiq Soulchild’s first album in five years.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Blxst, Just For Clarity 2 EP

Los Angeles melodic rapper Blxst has collaborated with Kendrick Lamar, Burna Boy, Kehlani, Babyface Ray, and many more superstar (and superstar-adjacent) artists. He inches closer to his spotlight moment with Just for Clarity 2, an EP serving as a sequel to his 2021 two-track tape. Mustard, Terrace Martin, Larry June, and Roddy Ricch show up across the four new songs.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Godcaster, Godcaster

Godcaster’s self-titled sophomore album is a the New York freak-rock sextet’s most emphatic statement of intent to date. At turns overtly sinister and hauntingly beautiful, it’s a record that threatens to burst into flame at any given moment. (For a prime example, see the certified Song You Need “Diamond’s Shining Face.”)

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp

New Music Friday: Stream new albums from Mach-Hommy, Kali Uchis, slowthai, and more

New Music Friday: Stream new albums from Mach-Hommy, Kali Uchis, slowthai, and more
Plus projects from Kate NV, Kenny Mason, Tanukichan, and more.

By The FADER

March 03, 2023

Mach-Hommy. Photo by Erica Hernandez for The FADER

Trying to keep up with this week’s new music? Every Friday, we collect new albums available on streaming services on one page. This week, check out Mach-Hommy & The God Fahim’s Notorious Dump Legends 2, Kali Uchis’ Red Moon In Venus, slowthai’s Ugly, and more.

Mach-Hommy & Tha God Fahim, Notorious Dump Legends 2

Not only is Mach-Hommy the subject of a groundbreaking, revealing, and totally engrossing three-part digital FADER cover feature this week, but the top five-bordering rapper has also reunited with his frequent collaborator Tha God Fahim for Notorious Dump Legends 2, a sequel to their beloved 2018 tape. The project was announced just yesterday with the slick and patois-laced “Olajuwon.”

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Kali Uchis, Red Moon In Venus

The eagerly-anticipated third studio album from Kali Uchis arrives a year after her breakout moment with the ultra-virality of her 2020 track “telepatía.” The Columbian-American singer-songwriter hasn’t lost any of the prowess of her pre-superstardom music, if the sultry and addictive singles “Moonlight” and “I Wish you Roses” are any indication.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

slowthai, UGLY

For his third studio album, the Northampton artist leans even further into the post-punk sounds that he began to explore on singles with IDLES (“Model Village”) and Gorillaz (“Momentary Bliss”). “This album is completely me,” slowthai says in a press statement, “about how I feel and what I want to be… it’s everything I’ve been leading up to.”

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Kate NV, WOW

No one’s currently making pristine experimental pop music quite like Kate Shilonosova, who returns with her fourth full-length album today. The project was preceded by the Yellow Magic Orchestra-channeling tracks “oni (they),” “d d don’t,” “meow chat,” and “early bird,” a Song You Need that The FADER’s Raphael Helfand called “a cheery, symphonic soundscape in miniature.”

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp

Yazmin Lacey, Voice Notes

U.K. singer Yazmin Lacey pulls quite a few pages from the neo-soul songbook, but her personal style is greater than the sum of its Baduistic flairs. The tracks on her debut album Voice Notes are flavored with chilled-out dub bass lines and a jazz harmonies. Drop your needle anywhere on the record — save for the short spoken intro that evidently gives the project its title — and you’ll hear her tactile voice gliding over these grooves with an apparent effortless that belies a rigorous technique and a keen understanding of everything going on underneath her.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp

Tanukichan, GIZMO

Hannah van Loon a.k.a. Tanukichan is one of the dream-pop revival’s most formidable artists, and GIZMO sees her reunite with collaborator Chaz Bear (Toro y Moi) for more noisy and ethereal jams. The Madchester-tinged “Don’t Give Up” was a Song You Need in November, and “Thin Air” enlists the Tacoma rock group Enumclaw.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp

Zulu, A New Tomorrow

Though they made a name for themselves as a standout hardcore band, Zulu displayed a much wider set of talents in the lead up to their debut album A New Tomorrow. After we heard the absolutely ripping singles “Fakin’ Tha Funk (You Get Did)” and “Where I’m From,” Zulu traded in the soul-rending rage for the deeply introspective jazz rap of “We’re More Than This.”

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp

Kenny Mason, 3 EP

Atlanta’s Kenny Mason shares a new three-piece following a successful North American tour. The tracks on 3 act as deft entry-point to Mason’s style: he goes bar-for-bar with pluggnb vet Tony Shhnow on the syrupy “100 or Nun,” transcends rage rap on “Avatar,” and concludes with a powerful alt-rock track called “Back Home.”

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

deem spencer, adultSW!M

The New York rapper crafts a vision of hope on his new project, a collection of pop-laced music like the singles “27” and “To have it all.” “This is the most confident I’ve ever felt in presenting myself to the world,” deem writes. “I feel like all my music previously was me talking to myself. Intentionally, I wanted to represent myself very specifically but also put on for quiet people like me. Right now is the first time I feel like I’ve got something bigger than me.”

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp

Various Artists, Creed III soundtrack

J.Cole’s Dreamville Records are behind the soundtrack for the third film in the rebooted boxing franchise, directed by Michael B. Jordan. J.I.D., Tierra Whack, Black Sherif, Kehlani, Ari Lennox, and more all contribute tracks.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

New Music Friday: Stream new albums from Yeat, Gorillaz, Miss Grit, and more

New Music Friday: Stream new albums from Yeat, Gorillaz, Miss Grit, and more
Plus new albums from Don Toliver, U.S. Girls, Tink, and more.

By The FADER

February 24, 2023

Yeat. Photo by Matt Ty

Trying to keep up with this week’s new music? Every Friday, we collect new albums available on streaming services on one page. This week, check out Yeat’s Aftërlyfe, Gorillaz’s Cracker Island, Miss Grit’s Follow The Cyborg, and more.

Yeat, Aftërlyfe

Yeat didn’t release any singles ahead of his new project, but why bother when you’re one of the biggest rappers in the world? Aftërlyfe is the Portland rapper’s seventh project and features YoungBoy Never Broke Again. Kranky Kranky, Luh Geeky, and Talking Ben App, the rest of the featured artists, are just Yeat himself. Last year his single “Talk” ranked at No. 67 on our best-of-the-year songs list.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Gorillaz, Cracker Island

Work on the eighth album from the virtual pop band began while its co-creators Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett were in Los Angeles working on a full-length Gorillaz film for Netflix. The movie’s been canceled, but at least we’ve got a full length project with appearances from Stevie Nicks, Bad Bunny, Thundercat, Tame Impala, Beck, and more. Here Damon Albarn discuss the record with our Editorial Director Alex Robert Ross on The FADER Interview podcast.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Miss Grit, Follow The Cyborg

Korean-American musician Margaret Sohn explores the intersections in the concepts of cybernetics and identity on their new project Follow The Cyborg, an album of sleek electronica-laced indie rock that doesn’t skimp on the anthemic moments. The album’s title track was a Song You Need back in November.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Don Toliver, Love Sick

As of this writing, Houston melodic rap star Don Toliver has yet to release the official tracklist for his third studio album. But we’ve already heard three singles from Love Sick: “Leave The Club,” a swirly banger celebrating the end of the club night with assists from Lil Durk and GloRilla, the Beenie Man-sampling “4 Me” featuring Kali Uchis, and the sexy, sweltering “Do It Right.”

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

U.S. Girls, Bless This Mess

Meg Remy, the gloriously restless indie songwriter and author known as U.S. Girls, channels her recent conception and delivery of twin boys on her new disco-inspired album Bless This Mess. A whole mess of collaborators join the party, including Alex Frankel of Holy Ghost!, Basia Bulat, and Beck.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Tink, Thanks 4 Nothing

After a successful 2022 that saw the release of her third album, Pillow Talk, Tink is back this year with a new project that shows a different side of the renowned R&B artist. “With this new record,” she says, “I’m really in a different setting. Pillow Talk felt very sensual… and now I’m just approaching everything harder, speaking on real things? That’s how I connect through the music. So the energy is different. It’s up.” Ty Dolla $ign and Yung Bleu feature on the project.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Algiers, Shook

Algiers, the Atlanta group blending post-punk, soul, and rap into a signature sound, enlist a wide range of collaborators for their fourth studio album. billy woods and Backxwash guest on the Songs You Need-playlisted “Bite Back,” with Zach de la Rocha, Samuel T. Herring, Jae Matthews of Boy Harsher, and many more joining the melee.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Key Glock, Glockoma 2

Key Glock continues to carry the torch for Memphis rap and his fallen mentor Young Dolph on his new project, a sequel to his highly-regarded 2018 tape. Like the original installment, there are no features.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Channel Tres, Real Cultural Shit EP

A singer and producer who worships at the alter of classic disco and house, Channel Tres shared three of his new EP’s five tracks before today’s release. The project was announced with “Just Can’t Get Enough,” with “No Limit” and “6am” following soon after.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Sam Gendel, COOKUP

A ridiculously prolific composer and producer, Sam Gendel still excels in giving the listener good reason to keep up with his ever-expanding catalogue. Today he shares COOKUP, a collection of reinterpretations of R&B and soul songs released between 1992 and 2004. You’ll hear new versions of songs by Ginuwine, 112, Aaliyah, All-4-One, Soul 4 Real, Beyoncé, Joe, Erykah Badu, Mario, SWV, and Boyz II Men.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

daine, Shapeless

The new songs that comprise daine’s new mixtape Shapeless make a concerted effort to push past the Australian artist’s early hyperpop leanings. There have been quite a few singles released from the project, with the recent “writhe” standing out for its blown-out melodic nu-metal sound (don’t sleep on “Faceless” either, a formidable blast of keygen techno with SoundCloud-ready melodic rap).

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Shame, Food for Worms

English group shame dial down the post-punk on their third album, the wonderfully-titled Food for Worms. Previously, we heard the bent funk of “Six Pack,” the delicate anthem “Adderall,” and “Fingers of Steel,” one of our favorite rock songs released in December.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

The Necks, Travel

35 years into collaborative career, Sydney, Australia’s premiere progressive jazz trio hasn’t stopped surprising. Their new, four-track, 77-minute LP is glacial in pace, but submitting yourself to tracks like the Song You Need-certified “Imprinting” is an earth-shattering sonic experience.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Model/Actriz, Dogsbody

N.Y.C. industrial dance punks Model/Actriz share their debut album Dogsbody today via True Panther. The hell-raising lead single “Mosquito” was a Song You Need, with “Crossing Guard” arriving soon after.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

New Music Friday: Stream projects from Bktherula, Avey Tare, Skrillex, and more

New Music Friday: Stream projects from Bktherula, Avey Tare, Skrillex, and more
Plus new albums from @, Big Scarr, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, and more.

By The FADER

February 17, 2023

Bktherula. Photo by Timeless.

Trying to keep up with this week’s new music? Every Friday, we collect new albums available on streaming services on one page. This week, check out Bktherula’s LVL5 P1, Avey Tare’s 7s, Skrillex’s Quest For Fire, and more.

Bktherula, LVL5 P1

With infectious energy to spare and an entrancingly raw sound, Atlanta rapper Bktherula is a consistent voice of rap’s new generation. Her new project LVL5 P1 features Destroy Lonely (“FOREVER, PT 2”) and Rico Nasty (“WE MADE IT”), and arrives after her GEN F profile.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Avey Tare, 7s

The Animal Collective co-founder returns to his pop-leaning solo effort for the first time in four years. 7s was written during the pandemic, following the completion of Animal Collective’s Time Skiffs, in Tare’s Ashville home.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Skrillex, Quest for Fire

One of dubstep’s most visible figures, Skrillex hasn’t released a solo album since 2014’s Recess (he did, however, team up with Diplo for Jack Ü in 2015, winning a Grammy for the Justin Beiber collaboration “Where Are Ü Now). His sophomore project Quest For Fire enlists a bunch of collaborators: PinkPantheress and Trippie Redd (“Way Back”), Bobby Raps (“Leave Me Like This”), Nai Barghouti (“Xena”), Missy Elliott and Mr. Oizio (“RATATA”), and Flowdan and Fred again.. (“Rumble”).

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

@, Mind Palace Music

Victoria Rose and Stone Filipczak’s project @ shares a celestial folk delight on their debut full-length Mind Palace Music, a collection of singles that nod at the classics while maintaining the idiosyncratic chemistry between its two creators. “We were pretty aware of trying to make something well-crafted that would hold up,” Filipczak writes in a press release. “I was stoked that I could show some of the tracks to my grandma and she would be able to dig it. It probably doesn’t sound that different from, like, Simon and Garfunkel to her.”

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Pile, All Fiction

Rick Maguire’s celebrated, amorphous underground rock project continues to evade easy categorization on their new album All Fiction. That’s by design, Maguire says: “I’ve been trying to get out of what I think is ‘the rock band format,’ and I was also tired of what I saw as our identity as a band… The confusion about identity combined with existential anxiety led to exploring my imagination as a means of escape.”

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Land Of Sleeper

I will always respect a band with a name that sounds like they’re trolling anyone who says it out loud, and in that regard, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs may be an all-timer. The sludge-psych group’s fourth album was written to provide some illuminating context on the Newcastle group’s previous work. “I know from my perspective, I was trying to write some much heavier and darker music,” guitarist and producer Sam Grant writes. “But this was an aim more as a counterpoint to earlier material, as opposed to any sort of political or social commentary. I still very much see these heavier moments as musically euphoric, and emotionally cut loose or liberating.”

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Big Scarr, The Secret Weapon

The Secret Weapon is the first posthumous album from Memphis’s Big Scarr, the 1017-signed rapper who tragically passed away from an accidental overdose in December. Gucci Mane, Key Glock, Pooh Shiesty, and more feature.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Wesley Joseph, Glow

U.K. artist Wesley Joseph may start from a foundation of melodic, R&B-adjacent rap, but the music on his new album Glow blends house, trip-hop, psychedelia, and more for a potent genre-hopping mix. A.K. Paul produces the track “Monsoon,” a Song You Need.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Code Orange, What Is Really Underneath?

More than a mere remix album What Is Really Underneath? excavates and expands on the Pittsburgh industrial metal group’s 2020 album Underneath. In addition to the revisions and previously unreleased tracks, the new project comes with 14-minute animated short by Code Orange’s Eric “Shade” Balderose and an alternate reality video game.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Runnner, Like Dying Stars, We’re Reaching Out

The full-length debut from Noah Weinman finds the Los Angeles-based musician crafting indie rock-tinged folk that feels like walking through an open door into the messy confines of someone’s heart. “I was sifting through my demos trying to decide what songs would go on the album, and I sort of started to notice this theme about the limits of language,” Weinman says in a press statement. “It’s a pattern I see in my life, just having a hard time expressing myself to the people I’m close with.”

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

New Music Friday: The best new albums out today

New Music Friday: The best new albums out today
Stream new projects from Drake & 21 Savage, Mount Kimbie, Joji, and more.

By Jordan Darville, Raphael Helfand

November 04, 2022

Image from Drake & 21 Savage’s “Jimmy Cooks” music video

Trying to keep up with this week’s best and most exciting new music? Every Friday, we collect the best new albums available on streaming services onto one page. This week, check out Drake & 21 Savage’s Her Loss, Joji’s Smithereens, Mount Kimbie’s MK 3.5: Die Cuts | City Planning, and more.

Drake & 21 Savage, Her Loss

Last month, Drake and 21 Savage surprise-announced their collaborative project Her Loss during a music video for their hit “Jimmy Cooks,” released this year on Drake’s solo album Honestly, Nevermind. It’s the most extensive collaboration from the rap superstars after a handful of singles stretching back to 2016’s “Sneakin.”

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Joji, Smithereens

After debuting as the YouTube comedian Filthy Frank, George Kusunoki Miller made the improbable journey to alt-R&B superstar under the alias of Joji. His third album, Smithereens, contains the top 10 hit “Glimpse of Us” and arrives after a sold-out tour and a rapturously-received performance at Coachella 2022.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Mount Kimbie, MK 3.5: Die Cuts | City Planning

The new project from Mount Kimbie is a double album recorded separately by each member of the electronic duo. On Die Cuts, M.K.’s Dom Maker takes inspiration from his move to L.A. and taps a formidable list of collaborators, including James Blake, Danny Brown, slowthai, wiki, KeiyaA, and Liv.e. For the second album City Planning, Kai Campos doubles down on the sleek electro aesthetic Mount Kimbie is renowned for.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Various Artists, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Music From and Inspired By

The soundtrack for the Marvel superhero sequel is produced by Ludwig Göransson, who helmed the original Black Panther‘s score. The project marks Rihanna’s return to music after an extended hiatus with “Lift Me Up,” with over 40 other artists from around the world joining her on the tracklist, including Burna Boy, Future, Tems, Rema, Fireboy DML, and more.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Special Interest, Endure

New Orleans synth-punk four-piece Special Interest share their first album for Rough Trade today. The group’s fearsome blend of industrial rhythms and radical sensibility have made them a band to watch for years, and two of their latest singles, “(Herman’s) House“ and “Foul,” were both picked as Songs You Need.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Coco & Clair Clair, Sexy

Reunited in their hometown of Atlanta after a few years apart, Coco & Clair Clair find themselves with a new surge of momentum after viral success on TikTok. For Sexy, though, the lo-fi glamour-rap duo seeks to make a name for themselves beyond the world of catchy snippets and flex their songwriting capabilities.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Okay Kaya, Sap

Norwegian-American experimental pop songwriter Okay Kaya dropped her debut album Watch the Liquid Pour Itself in 2020, then spent some time in Europe creating art installations and recording new music. Last year she dropped the mixtape The Incompatible Okay Kaya. And today’s new full-length Sap was recorded in New York and enlists Nick Hakim, L’Rain, Eli Keszler, Leta, and many more.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

R.A.P. Ferreira, 5 to the Eye With Stars

Earlier this year, R.A.P. Ferreira took a break from underground hip-hop to release If I don’t have red I use blue, a country blues album released under the alias Crow Billikin. He returns to rap today with 5 to the Eye With Stars, a nine-track project with beats from Kenny Segal, Rose Noir, Wylie Cable, and more.

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Caleb Landry Jones, Gadzooks Vol. 2

Caleb Landry Jones, an acclaimed actor best known for his roles in Get Out, Nitram, and probably the Joker at some point down the line, shares his third studio album, Gadzooks Vol. 2. His affection for the psychedelic singer-songwriters of the ’70s is apparent in the new project, on which Jones plays every instrument himself.

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Daniel Avery, Ultra Truth

For his fifth solo album, Daniel Avery made a conscious effort to strip out the plainly rapturous moments of his electronic production and aim for something a bit darker. “This is an intentionally heavy and dense album, the hooks often hidden in dusty corners,” he says. “I’m no longer dealing in a misty-eyed euphoria. Ultra Truth is a distorted fever dream of a record: riled, determined, and alive.” We selected “Wall of Sleep” featuring H.A.A.i as a Song You Need in September.

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Tinariwen, Kel Tinariwen

Kel Tinariwen is a reissue of the Toureg collective’s debut album, released on cassette in 1992 in Mali. The desert blues that the group eventually became known for isn’t present on the album’s lead singles. Instead, they adopt a playful and entrancing synth-pop sound.

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Turnover, Myself in the Way

Turnover’s fifth studio album was co-produced by frontman Austin Getz and Will Yip. Known for their jangly take on dream-pop, Turnover upped the sonic polish on the singles “Tears of Change,” “Ain’t Love Heavy,” “Myself in the Way,” “Wait Too Long,” and “Mountains Made of Clouds.”

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Carla dal Forno, Come Around

dal Forno’s third studio album was recorded in the small Australian town of Castlemaine and comes out today on the post-punk artist’s own label, Kallista Records. The project was announced with the dream-dub lead single “Come Around,” followed by the swirling and spacious “Side by Side.”

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dreamcastmoe, Sound Is Like Water

D.C.-based experimental soul musician dreamcastmoe releases the second half of his new album today. “Sound is Like Water is to me a true representation of the different patterns that water takes,” he told The FADER this past summer. “When I describe water, it’s not just describing me as a person. ‘Sound is like Water’ is really descriptive of how I’ve been able to move in and out of different life changes.” His song “El Dorado,” released in August, was a Song You Need.

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Horse Lords, Comradely Objects

Horse Lords have never strayed far from their noble musical mission, hewing close to the just intonation system and the principles of harmonic rhythm since their 2010 inception. On Comradely Objects, their fifth album, they take on a near-impossible task of conveying political theory through purely instrumental music. “The comradely object should promote collective, egalitarian ideals,” the band explained in the press release announcing the new record. Comradely Objects works through what this means for the material of sound, for music, for the album, and for artistic production in the 21st century.” The project’s lead single, “Mess Mend,” was a Song You Need back in August.

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Fleshwater, We’re Not Here to Be Loved

Members of the metal band Vein.fm branch out to anthemic shoegaze in their new project Fleshwater. “The Razor’s Apple,” the second single from We’re Not Here To be Loved, was one of the best rock songs in October.

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Anja Lauvdal, From a Story Now Lost

From a Story Now Lost is the first solo LP form classically trained Norwegian electronic composer and pianist Anja Lauvdal, who’s spent the decade since she graduated from the prestigious Trondheim Conservatory performing with over a dozen groups, including Jenny Hval’s backing band. The new record is produced by Laurel Halo and comprises 10 tracks, most of them evocative synth sketches — though the two that approach the five-minute mark show promise of more expansive efforts to come. “The Dreamer,” in particular, is a dark masterpiece, imbued with a sense of impending doom that hangs just above the titular sleeper’s head.

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Old Fire, Voids

John Mark Lapham, the Abilene, Texas songwriter and composer, has shared his second album as Old Fire. Voids is a genre-blending, 12-track trip that features Emily Cross, Bill Callahan (three times), Adam Torres, and Julia Holter.

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Westside Gunn, Smino, Show Me The Body, and 7 more projects you should stream right now

Westside Gunn, Smino, Show Me The Body, and 7 more projects you should stream right now
Today’s album releases also include Fred again.., Fauness, BabyTron, Nosaj Thing, and more.

By Jordan Darville, Raphael Helfand

October 28, 2022

(L) Westside Gunn. Photo by @photo_tatianakatkova (M) Smino. Photo by Denita Turner. (R) Show Me The Body. Photo by Asha Maura

Trying to keep up with this week’s best and most exciting new music? Every Friday, we collect the best new albums available on streaming services onto one page. This week, check out Westside Gunn’s Ten, Smino’s Love 4 Rent, Show Me The Body’s Trouble The Water, Fred again..’s Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022), and lots more.

Westside Gunn, Ten

Ten is actually the final installment in Westside Gunn’s career-making, unsettlingly titled mixtape series Hitler Wears Hermes. It’s a pragmatic if overdue decision given the news that’s consumed rap in the last few weeks. While Gunn may have felt early on in his career that he needed to court controversy to stand out, his success and influence both solo and as a member of Griselda have proved that to be a miscalculation. Ten boasts an impressive roster of guests, including A$AP Rocky, Black Star, Ghostface, Raekwon, RZA, Swizz Beatz, and The Alchemist as well as the Griselda artists Benny The Butcher, Conway The Machine, Stove God Cooks, Armani Caesar, Rome Streetz, and Jay Worthy.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Smino, Love 4 Rent

It’s been heartening to see the groundswell of love for the St. Louis, Missouri rapper this year. The GEN F alumnus nabbed a J. Cole feature for his third album’s lead single “40 Proof,” and his joint tour with J.I.D. has sold out dates across the United States. “It’s about having fun and recognizing your inner love,” Smino said of the new project during a recent Apple Music interview. “Low key, this album probably just saved my life a little bit.”

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Show Me The Body, Trouble The Water

Equal parts punishing and inspiring, NYC hardcore trio Show Me The Body sound bolder than ever on their new album Trouble The Water, the group’s fourth. The ominous and cathartic banjo-led lead single “Loose Talk” was a Song You Need, and was followed by the blood-pumping mosher “We Came To Play.” You can catch them on tour next year.

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Fred again.., Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022)

Fred again.. has become a massively successful DJ and producer these past few years. His Boiler Room set, released two months ago, currently sits at 7 million YouTube views, and his remix of Future’s “Turn On The Lights” with Swedish House Mafia is currently destroying dancefloors everywhere. His previous album, Actual Life 2 (February 2 – October 15 2021), dropped around this time last year. Listen to Fred Again.. discuss panic attacks at the club with Salvatore Maicki on the new episode of The FADER interview.

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BabyTron, Bin Reaper 3: Old Testament

Thanks to a cutting sense of humor and stern-yet-deadpan delivery, Detroit’s BabyTron has become a rapper to keep a close eye on in a city full of exciting artists. Bin Reaper 3 continues BabyTron’s acclaimed mixtape series with appearances from Icewear Vezzo and Dougie B.

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Nosaj Thing, Continua

Los Angeles producer extraordinaire Jason W. Chung (Nosaj Thing) is back with his fifth full-length album and his first since 2017’s Parallels. Its stacked features list includes Duval Timothy, Julianna Barwick, Pink Siifu, Toro y Moi, serpentwithfeet, Sam Gendel, Slauson Malone, Panda Bear, Eyedress, and Kazu Makino (of Blonde Redhead).

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Fauness, The Golden Ass

Fauness has finally shared her debut album The Golden Ass after spending years creating an esoteric pop world through singles and EPs alone. The new collection feels like a multi-dimensional portrait of Fauness as both an artist and person. The project is inspired by her lonely and tragedy-stricken upbringing in Connecticut, though songs like “Mystery“ use mythological analogies to make a broader comment on the state of the world.

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Cakes Da Killa, Svengali

Cakes Da Killa tracks a relationship from beginning to end on Svengali, the New Jersey artist’s sophomore full-length. The new songs, produced with Sam Katz, collide a sharp lyricism and house-inspired production that will make you do a death drop at work. The singles “Svengali,” “Drugs Du Jour,” and “Sip Of My Sip” appeared on the EP W4TN, which dropped in September.

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Duke Deuce, Memphis Massacre 3

Memphis rapper and crunk aficionado Duke Deuce returns for a new installment of his Memphis Massacre series, just in time for Halloween. “They say we don’t stick together,” he wrote on Instagram, “so I only featured MEMPHIS artist[s] on my album.” ATM Rich Baby, Gloss Up, Big Moochie Grape, and more show up for the party.

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Drugdealer, Hiding in Plain Sight

In the year of our lord 2022, there are too many bands returning to the west coast yacht rock of the ’70s, but few do it as convincingly as Drugdealer. Led by charismatic crooner Michael Collins, they cruise into their third studio LP with more silky savoir faire than ever. The record contains collaborations with Kate Bollinger and Tim Pressely, as well as Bambina, Sedona, and Sean Nicholas Savage, who all appear on the project’s closer, “Posse Cut.”

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Taylor Swift, Armani Caesar, Carly Rae Jepsen, and 13 more projects you should stream right now

Taylor Swift, Armani Caesar, Carly Rae Jepsen, and 13 more projects you should stream right now
Today’s album releases also include Hagop Tchaparian’s Bolts, Dry Cleaning’s Stumpwork, and more.

By Jordan Darville, Raphael Helfand

October 21, 2022

(L) Taylor Swift. Photo by Beth Garrabrant. (M) Armani Caesar. Photo courtesy of Griselda/GxFR (R) Carly Rae Jepsen by TKTK.

Trying to keep up with this week’s best and most exciting new music? Every Friday, we collect the best new albums available on streaming services onto one page. This week, check out Taylor Swift’s Midnights, Armani Caesar’s The Liz 2, Carly Rae Jepsen’s The Loneliest Time, Arctic Monkeys’ The Car, Hagop Tchaparian’s Bolts, and lots more.

Taylor Swift, Midnights

Swift has described her tenth studio album Midnights as “a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams.” It was announced in August, the same month as that hilarious mini-scandal over reports of her prolific private jet usage, which is a great way to change the subject. Midnights was written and produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff, her collaborator on 1989, Lover, and Folklore, as well as her re-recorded albums Red and Fearless.

Stream: Spotify | Apple Music

Armani Caesar, The Liz 2

A lynchpin of the Griselda rap crew, Armani Caesar stormed through 2020 with The Liz, one of our favorite albums that year. Originally scheduled for a September release, The Liz 2 arrives today on the heels of great songs like “Hunnit Dolla Hiccup” with Benny The Butcher and Stove God Cooks.

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Carly Rae Jepsen, The Loneliest Time

Carly Rae Jepsen maintains her presence as a cult-pop craftsperson with her sixth studio album, The Loneliest Time, aptly titled since it was recorded during the pandemic. The singles out prior to today’s release include the balmy and endearingly sedate “Western Wind,” the disco-pop soiree “Beach House,” a track of classic CRJ called “Talking To Yourself,” and “The Loneliest Time” featuring Rufus Wainwright. Listen to Jepsen’s conversation with our Editorial Director Alex Robert Ross on the new episode of The FADER Interview.

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Hagop Tchaparian, Bolts

From skateboarder to member of a punk band that opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers to now an electronic music producer signed to Four Tet’s label Text Records, Hagop Tchaparian has spent a considerable amount of time doing cool shit. Bolts was created using field recordings and samples Tchaparian gathered over the course of 15 years; it was announced with “Round,” a dusty and melancholic space-age dancefloor jam, but Tchaparian turned things up even further with the raucous “Right To Riot.”

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Dry Cleaning, Stumpwork

I’d understand if the horrifying cover art put you off, but I’d encourage you to soldier through: Dry Cleaning are one of the key bands in the U.K.’s wave of sardonic, spoken-word post-punk. But don’t come in expecting just deadpan British humor and piercing irony — the album was written in the wake of the deaths in the family of two of the band members, and reckoning with their passings helped inspire the album.

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Wiki & Subjxct 5, Cold Cuts

N.Y.C. rapper Wiki has already had a banner year with his solo album Half God (hear him discuss it on The FADER Interview here). His second full-length of the year is a collaboration with Subjxct 5, a New Jersey-based producer who creates progressive extensions of ’00s-era East Coast rap. Navy Blue, Papo2oo4, YL, and more feature on the project’s 18 tracks.

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Arctic Monkeys, The Car

The Sheffield indie rock veterans tap into a sweeping orchestral sound for their seventh studio album. The lead singles “There’d Better Be A Mirrorball,” “Body Paint,” and “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am” have all crackled with an intriguing baroque-pop sensibility. Frontman Alex Truner wrote all the album’s ten new songs, recorded with producer James Ford.

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Brutus, Unison Life

Stefanie Mannaerts, Peter Mulders, and Stijn Vanhoegaerden are Brutus, the Belgian post-hardcore trio with an ear for genre splicing and unforced catharsis. Unison Life follows up their acclaimed project Nest, and features “Victoria,” a single that was playlisted for Songs You Need.

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Frankie Cosmos, Inner World Peace

Once the indie-rock solo project of Greta Kline, Frankie Cosmos continues as a four-piece band with their new project Inner World Peace. “To me, the album is about perception,” Kline says. “It’s about the question of ‘who am I?’ and whether or not the answer matters. It’s about quantum time, the possibilities of invisible worlds. The album is about finding myself floating in a new context.” Inner World Peace was recorded in Brooklyn after the pandemic forced a lengthy hiatus with co-producer Nate Mendelsohn.

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Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn, Pigments

Dawn Richard, best known as an experimental R&B artist, takes a dive into avant-garde composing with Spencer Zahn, a multi-instrumentalist based in New York City. Their team-up feels both exciting and natural on the new songs, which were inspired by the music of Talk Talk and ECM Records.

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Nick Hakim, Cometa

Singer-songwriter and producer Nick Hakim is exploring the feeling and practice of love on his new album COMETA (Spanish for “kite”). “I think it’s nice to have love in your life and to have people that are sharing and wanting that,” Hakim explains. “It’s my interpretation of a really romantic way to express love in my own way.” COMETA was announced with the Songs You Need-playlisted “Happen,” and the singles “Vertigo“ and “Feeling Myself“ followed.

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Pinkshift, Love Me Forever

Baltimore trio Pinkshift make pop-punk a la Paramore with a healthy dose of heavy metal energy. Their debut album, Love Me Forever, drops today after the band have crisscrossed the country opening for Pup and Mannequin Pussy. Each member of the group is a person of color, something that frontperson Kumar Houngbedji (they/them) says helps remind them that what they’re doing matters. “We’ve had people of color come up to us after we played saying ‘You make me want to start my own band’ or ‘You made me feel more comfortable being there without being scrutinized.’ And I think that counts for something.”

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Whitmer Thomas, The Older I Get the Funnier I Was

Whitmer Thomas nimbly shed the typical “comedian who wants to be a songwriter” pitfalls on 2020’s Songs From The Golden One, a project which sported “Dumb In Love,” one of our favorites songs of the year. The Older I Get the Funnier I Was explores country folk and Bright Eyes-style indie rock through a playful prism.

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Jeezy, Snofall

Jeezy and DJ Drama have come a long way since The Streets Iz Watchin dropped in 2004. Jeezy is now an Atlanta legend and Drama’s long-running Gangsta Grillz mixtape series has expanded beyond anyone’s wildest imagination. Their new, 17-track collaboration has a short but strong features list: Lil Durk, EST Gee, and 42 Dugg.

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Duckwrth, Chrome Bull EP

DUCKWRTH’s N.E.R.D.-inspired enthusiasm is contagious, so when he sings “You sendin’ me energy” on this EP’s second track, the feeling is mutual. CHROME BULL was originally slated for an August arrival, but the final product is well worth the extra two months’ wait.

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MVW, Connections

Classically trained producer and composer Michael Vincent Waller lives in L.A. now, but he was born on Staten Island, where he developed a love of hip-hop, and trained at NYU under the likes of La Monte Young. Recently, he’s been making trap beats that are informed by his deep knowledge of music theory but better suited for trunk speakers than recital halls. His new LP features ZelooperZ, 645AR, Matt Ox, Xavier Wulf, TiaCorine, Warhol.SS, and Valee, whose album contribution “Oscar” was playlisted as a Song You Need back in June.

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Matthew Olugbemi – Theoretical Christian Lyrics

MATTHEW OLUGBEMI
Theoretical Christian Lyrics

Verse 1:
You call yourself a Kristian
You go to church everyday
Carry bible everywhere
But you’ve got no church in you.
You look so holy from the way you dress
Anytime dem say make you talk
Na so so christianees you dey blow

(bless you, it is well with you, etc )

If somebody step on your toe
Na dirty slap you go give
When it’s come to money matter
Your eye go turn to fire

Chorus:
I don’t want to be theoretical Kristian /2x
Practical Christianity
Go make the world better

Verse2:
I no know o, which kind Kristian you be
I no know o, which kind bible you read
Every Monday, your name na Clinton
Busy busybusy, doing business
Every Friday, your name naRahaman
Every Friday, your name na Amina
Every Friday night, your name na Jackson
Every Friday night, your name na Suzy
Every Sunday morning ooo
Dey call you Brother John
Dey call you Brother Peter
Dey call you Sister Mary
Dey call you Sister Anna
Why you be chameleon
All: Brothering and Sistering Non-Sense
Why you dey change color
All: Brothering and Sistering Non-Sense

{Repeat Chorus}
Bridge:
Niselo’npo (you are only posing)
Niselo’ndemo (you are only demonstrating)
Na shakara be dat (only faking)
No do shakara for me

Chorus2:
I don’t want to be theoretical Kristian
That knows everything but can do nothing
Practice what you preach
Practice what you say
Practical Christianity
Go make the world better