highlighting new music by Maruja, Porridge Radio, Wishy, Cor De Lux, Fib & MORE
An overwhelming amount of music is released daily, and we're here to help you weed through it all. Every week, we share select releases we are all looking forward to and personalized picks from a few of our editors.
Welcome to our new releases guide featuring the most notable music released the week of February 21.
Atticus' Picks
James Krivchenia - "Probably Wizards" (with Sam Wilkes)
Electronic
via Planet Mu
In one of the weirder releases of the year, Big Thief's drummer and producer James Krivchenia creates a bouncy, textured experience with “Probably Wizards,” the lead single for his upcoming album Performing Belief, due out May 2 via Planet Mu.
Devoid of vocals, this track is stuffed full of instruments and percussion sounds that all play a part in the tight rhythms that span the near-five-minute song. Electric bass is provided by jazz multi-instrumentalist and producer Sam Wilkes, who appears to have provided his talents to the rest of the album as well, alongside composer Joshua Abrams.
Krivchenia’s take on electronic music here is exciting and refreshing, as it trades out an overblown synth presence for a more quieter, percussion-focused palette of live samples and drum machines. Keep an ear out for his full project later this spring.
Wishy - "Fly"
Alt. Rock, Baggy
via Winspear
Indianapolis band Wishy are wasting no time after releasing their debut album Triple Seven last summer. The five-piece power pop group just announced a new six-track EP to be released on April 25 via Winspear titled Planet Popstar, after a sleeper single of the same name from last October.
“Fly” is led vocally by Nina Pitchkites, the female singer-songwriter counterpart to Kevin Krauter. The track is very easy-going, with streamlined melodies and a very steady drumbeat. However, the group still throws in some screamy guitar soloing, compelling chord changes, and even some lowkey ad-libs to keep things interesting and entertaining.
Planet Popstar is being delivered physically as a double-EP, with the band’s 2023 Winspear debut EP Paradise included on CD, cassette, and vinyl. These items can be pre-ordered through Wishy’s Bandcamp or through Winspear’s website.
Harto Falión, evilgiane, & Goner - "Un Love Able"
Cloud Rap
via Surf Gang Records
Jadu Heart - "AUX"
Neo-Psychedelia, Alt. R&B
via VLF Records
Terrace Martin - "Full Speed" (ft. DRAM & A$AP Ferg)
Neo-Soul, Jazz Rap
via Sounds of Crenshaw
Dominick's Picks
Fib - "Mutuals"
Math Pop, Post-Punk
via Julia's War Recordings
Another week, more proof Philly is on top? Seems like it, with the announcement of Fib’s debut album. The four-piece started in Portland and put out a S/T cassette in 2021, but have since relocated to Philly.
This week, Fib share the tilted and jerky, but nonetheless smooth “Mutuals.” It is the lead single from their first studio album, Heavy Lifting.
About the track, the band says:
“‘Mutuals’ signifies the turning point of our songwriting. In writing this track, we were trying to put the past to shame and take a step forward in our creativity as a band. “Mutuals” sets the tone of the record with high-arching melodies, fast transitions, and intricate guitars. It truly encapsulates our goal as a band — to write songs that are beautiful, catchy, and complex.”
For the release of their debut, Fib link up with Julia’s War Recordings—one of the finest labels in Philly, run by They Are Gutting A Body Of Water’s Douglas Dulgarian. Heavy Lifting is out April 25.
McKinley Dixon - "Sugar Water" (ft. Quelle Chris & Anjimile)
Jazz Rap, Conscious Hip-Hop, Neo-Soul
via City Slang
Richmond-born, Chicago-based artist McKinley Dixon announces his fifth album, Magic, Alive! Lead single “Sugar Water” features indie folk artist Anjimile and hip-hop vet Quelle Chris.
In Dixon’s words, "'Sugar Water' is a discussion on how to make fleeting moments last forever, and how to carry those not here with you through time and space. It raises the question 'what’s the price to pay for an eternal life lived through others memories?’"
Magic, Alive! is out June 6 via City Slang.
Sextile - "Freak Eyes"
Electroclash, EBM
via Sacred Bones
Los Angeles’ Sextile announce their new album yes, please. this week. The news comes alongside an unrelenting and feverishly pulsating banger titled “Freak Eyes.”
The band’s Brady Keehn says of the track:
“Freak Eyes” is about the pressures of making art, living, and aspiring. The sound was inspired by house parties we went to in NY, where certain tracks had the conversation stopping power. If you were in the middle of convo with a friend and heard certain songs, it didn’t matter what you were talking about, you stopped and joined the party in the collective release of emotion, singing, dancing, and drinks flying everywhere. It was like in that moment, nothing else mattered but that energy that we all collectively felt. And I felt like I hadn’t seen that at a party, or anywhere in a while, and wanted to try to bring that feeling back into the world again.”
yes, please. is the follow-up to 2023’s Push and is out May 2 on Sacred Bones. Watch the video for “Freak Eyes,” directed by Alfredo Lopez, below.
terraplana - "hear a whisper" (ft. Winter)
Noise Pop, Shoegaze
via Balaclava Records
Earlier this month, Winter paired up with Philly duo Hooky for a top-notch EP on Water Season. This week, the singer-songwriter joins Brazilian shoegaze group Terraplana on the latest preview of their sophomore record Natural.
“hear a whisper” follows up the album’s lead single, “charlie,” the band put out about a month ago. Thick, sweeping guitars meet the airy vocals of Winter in a stellar show of dark and swirling guitar-based pop.
Natural is out March 11 via Balaclava Records.
Tape/Off - "Fort Sensible"
Noise Rock, Post-Punk
via Coolin' By Sound Records
Three weeks ago, the Australian band Tape/Off announced their upcoming record Fort Sensible. This week, the Brisbane-based group shared the noisy title track—the third single from the record, following “Paris, Texas, Queensland” and “Flat Earthers.”
Fort Sensible is Tape/Off’s first record since returning from a six-year break, and it’s their third overall. It’s out on March 7 via Coolin’ By Sound Records.
MORE ALBUMS/EPs:
Child Star - 9 (EP)
Bedroom Pop
Self-Released
Dehidratált Fejek - Gondok
Garage Punk, Power Pop
via SZÉGYEN KAZETTÁK
Kiloff - SPITZHACKE
Post-Punk, Garage Punk, Art Punk
via Syf Records
Porridge Radio - Machine Starts to Sing (EP)
Indie Rock, Post-Rock
via Secretly Canadian
SPY - Seen Enough
Hardcore Punk
via Closed Casket Activities
MORE SINGLES:
Cold and subdued minimal synth from the new project of Oakland-based artist Noah Adams on "Safe Way." EP-1 by Brainwash Epiphany Center is out on April 16.
Post-punk/jangle pop band Eel Men share their fifth single to date with “Sore Eyes.” It’s the third single from the London group’s upcoming debut album, Stop It! Do Something, that’s set for release on March 7 via Flippant Records.
Wyatt Shears—also known as Enjoy and one-half of The Garden—announces his first solo record in two years. The lead single “Slip of the Memory” is out now and you can watch the video here. The Sound of Deceit is out March 21 via Vada Vada.
Amsterdam art-punks Global Charming follow up last month’s “Shelf Life” and share two new songs with “Toot Toot” and “Choo Choo.” Their new album, Four Second Fiddles, will be performed in full at Paradiso Amsterdam on March 15. The album isn’t listed on Bandcamp yet and the LP pre-order doesn’t specify a release date either, but (if I were to guess) it will likely fall around the same time. Watch the video for “Toot Toot” here.
Bouncy garage rock on “Tell Me,” the latest single from Rochester band Jerry Big’s World Famous band.
Following last month’s “Feels So Wrong,” Los Angeles psych-pop group Mamalarky announce their third album Hex Key alongside the skittish and slightly off-kilter lead single, “#1 Best Of All Time.” Watch the video here. Hex Key is out April 11 on Epitaph Records.
Dingy, old-school punk from Cincinnati band Motorbike. “Currency” is the first single from their new album, Kick It Over, which is out March 21 via Feel It Records.
Jumpy garage punk is what Private Lives provide on new single “Psychic Beat.” It’s the first single (and video) from the Montreal band’s new album. Salt of the Earth is out March 21 via Feel It Records.
London experimentalists and primal synth-punks Snapped Ankles share “Pay The Rent,” the second single (see lead single, “Raoul”) from their upcoming record. Watch the video/visualizer here. Hard Times Furious Dancing is out March 28 via The Leaf Label.
We get another single from Weatherday in the lead-up to their sophomore record, this one titled "Tiara." Their first album since 2019’s Come In, Hornet Disaster is out March 19 via Topshelf Records.
Peter's Picks
Chalk - Conditions III (EP)
Post-Punk, Industrial Rock, Dance-Punk
via Nice Swan Recordings
Belfast three-piece Chalk have been making a name for themselves through the industrially tinged, electronic-rock sounds of the Conditions series. The seething and serrated edge that the band traverses down harbours urban hypnotics and dwells on dingy corners. With the third and final installment in the Conditions series having been released, is it time for the full-length debut album? Only time will tell....
Conditions III is out now via Nice Swan Recordings.
Beginning in Glasgow on Feb 27, Chalk head out on a UK/IE/EU tour that sees the band visit cities such as Brussels, Lyon, Milan—and, of course, Belfast—where the group will play three nights at the Ulster Sports Club.
Maruja - Tir na nÓg (EP)
Post-Rock
via Music For Nations
Maruja complete the triptych of EPs that brought the band into the light of the music world. Tir na nÓg was performed and filmed at Salford University in September of 2024. Improvised and untethered, the EP feels like a spiritual awakening captured in sonic form; a search for something more than the physical form that holds us in its grips.
Maruja's jams are better than most bands thought through material.
You can watch the performance of Tir na nÓg on Maruja's YouTube channel.
The Murder Capital - Blindness
Indie Rock, Post-Punk
via Human Season Records
Album number three is upon us as The Murder Capital continue their amazing streak of gothic-flecked sonics with Blindness. The singles teased a rather deranged side of the band coming to the surface. From the jump, things have indeed taken a further twisted turn. Abrasive tones swell up inside the song’s guts, twisting and turning in on themselves like roots that refuse to grow outwards. A grungy, swampy sound palette is appendaged to the music. Muddy production. Claustrophobic. Smothered. Words slip from their valued slots into nothingness. No information, just noise. The lips move but nothing is spoken. Fumbled phonetics. Senses dulled, bludgeoned black and blue.
That feeling, that's yours.
Blindness is out now via Human Season.
Dull Mourning - Slow Bullet (EP)
Post-Hardcore, Alt. Metal
via Sunday Drive Records
Cor de Lux - "Long Face People"
Post-Punk, Art Punk
via Crafted Sounds
North Carolina's Cor de Lux muster up an impassioned performance on their latest single "Long Face People."
On the track, Cor de Lux had this to say:
"'Long Face People' is the struggle to get through life and to be able to let go of the fears that hold us down. 'Have faith..Be more,' to become free of the shadows cast by your World. We hope this song brings hope."
Even guitar virtuoso Robert Fripp of King Crimson(!) has boarded the Cor de Lux train. Head over to Cor de Lux's Instagram to witness Fripp put his twist on the track!
Fontaines D.C. - "It's Amazing To Be Young"
Jangle Pop, Indie Pop
via XL Recordings
Fontaines D.C. top-up their recent surge with the release of their first single since 2024's excellent studio album Romance. It comes in the form of "It's Amazing To Be Young." It follows in a similar sonic vein to that which we found on Romance: heavily nostalgic with a breeze of bittersweet effervescence.
The song’s music video completes the trilogy of “Here's the Thing” and “In the Modern World” as the main characters from said music videos cross paths.
“Sometimes I wake up and it's dark.”
Tropical Fuck Storm - "Goon Show"
Post-Punk, Art Rock
via Fire Records
With a thumping backbeat and donning the well-accustomed cynical smile, Tropical Fuck Storm (TFS) release their latest single "Goon Show." It's the band’s first single (of hopefully many) for Fire Records, whom the band has recently signed to. The band refer to "Goon Show" as “a neat little jingle to usher in the dumb phone revolution of 2025.”
“It's the golden age of assholes and the triumph of disgrace.....”
TFS head to North America with Bill Orcutt on a 15-date tour across June and July. It begins at Sled Island (Calgary) on June 19.
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