An overwhelming amount of music is released daily, and we're here to help you weed through it all. Every Monday, we share select releases we are all looking forward to and personalized picks from a few of our editors.
Welcome to our New Releases to Check Out guide featuring the most notable music released the week of August 2.
And don't forget to check out our YouTube, where DeVán reports on the latest music news every Friday.
BLIGATORY Picks
JPEGMAFIA - I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU
Hardcore Hip-Hop, Experimental Hip-Hop
via AWAL / self-released
Peggy is back to scare the hoes! On his lonesome, this time, but LAY DOWN borrows a handful of ideas and motifs from his 2023 album to flesh them out even further, integrating them with his first foray into hard rock instrumentation. Denzel Curry fits right in, with Vince Staples, a clever Future sample, soothing vocalist Buzzy Lee, and longtime collaborator Freaky all guest starring. I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU is a tough pill to swallow, but the highs are ethereal.
MJ Lenderman - "Joker Lips"
Alt-Country, Singer-Songwriter
via ANTI- Records
In about a month, North Carolina based singer-songwriter, musician, Wednesday member, and alt-country rocker MJ Lenderman will release his new album, Manning Fireworks. “Joker Lips” marks the third song from it we’ve heard—following lead single “She’s Leaving You” and “Rudolph,” the latter of which was released last July before the album’s announcement.
Between rhyming “Kahlua shooter” with “DUI scooter” and a chorus that kicks off with “you know I love my TV,” it’s classic Lenderman style. Vulnerable and melancholic, “Joker Lips” captures the sadness and desperation that comes from seeing people slip away. Twangy guitars pull it all together, tugging at your heart as he juxtaposes his love for TV with his heart’s true desires (“See you need me”) as the track comes to a close.
Manning Fireworks is MJ Lenderman’s fourth solo studio album. It is out September 6 and marks his first release with ANTI- Records.
Porridge Radio - "Sick of the Blues"
Indie Rock, Noise Pop
via Secretly Canadian
London-based (via Brighton) band Porridge Radio release the lead single from their upcoming fourth studio album, Clouds In The Sky Will Always Be There For Me. "Sick of the Blues," as frontperson Dana Margolin describes, is about "being heartbroken and taking back some joy, remembering that you're the source of your own happiness, not someone else, even when you're hurt and left with a hole in your heart."
"I'm sick of the blues. I'm in love with my life again."
Clouds In The Sky Will Always Be There For Me is set for release on October 18 via Secretly Canadian.
Beginning on October 31, Porridge Radio head on a tour across Europe, the UK and North America.
Soccer Mommy - "M"
Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Singer-Songwriter
via Loma Vista Recordings
Another fresh album announcement this week, Soccer Mommy’s Evergreen is now slated for release on October 25. The accompanying single “M” is singer-songwriter Sophie Allison’s trademark brand of introspective indie pop laced with masterful vocal melodies and billowing with atmospheric swells of airy reverb. The track takes an interesting turn near the end, as the tempo slows and flutes, organ-esque strings and more assemble to create a blissful instrumental outro.
Allison and co. have always had a knack for potent emotion without overdoing their songwriting, and while the previous Soccer Mommy album felt a bit overthought, “M” is another great example of this skill. Expect some more looks into Evergreen this fall before its late October release.
Atticus' Picks
A$AP Rocky & Jessica Pratt - "HIGHJACK"
Cloud Rap
via AWGE
After years of singles and album teases, Rocky’s highly-anticipated album, Don’t Be Dumb, is less than a month away. In similar fashion to 2018’s TESTING rollout, the auteur has delivered a triumphant, boastful lead single in “HIGHJACK,” complete with an atmospheric outro featuring the vintage-sounding vocals of Jessica Pratt (adding to her hugely successful 2024). The track isn’t anything abnormal for Rocky, but it highlights his strengths as a charismatic vocalist and visionary in the brand of ethereal, booming East Coast hip-hop that he helped popularize during the early 2010s.
Don’t Be Dumb, A$AP Rocky’s first album in six long years, drops August 30 via AWGE. Any further track listings or features have yet to be announced.
Mura Masa - "FLY" (ft. Cherish)
Cont. R&B, Dance-Pop
via Pond Records
London’s renowned producer extraordinaire Mura Masa has finally announced his fourth studio album, Curve 1, due August 23 via his new independent label Pond Recordings. Masa has been consistently leaning more into his electronic dance influences since last April’s “Whenever I Want,” and the newest track, “FLY,” features a vocal sample of 2000’s R&B girl group Cherish’s hit “Killa.” “FLY” feels aggressive yet depleted; it's the late-night boost needed to spark a second wind at the club. The synths and drums are not particularly smooth, but also not painfully sharp.
Curve 1 has yet to hit pre-orders anywhere online, but Masa has revealed the track listing of ten songs through an Instagram post, noting that all previous singles except “rise” will be on the album. With some singles being paired with extended versions, it will be interesting to see which mixes land on the album.
Cam's Pick
Khalid - Sincere
Cont. R&B
via RCA Records / Right Hand Music Group
From even just looking at the cover arts across Khalid's discography, we can see that with Sincere, the velvety vocalist is departing from teenage playfulness and entering an era of maturity. It's a little long and often instrumentally unambitious, but the songwriting does shine through at times. British young blood Arlo Parks also pops in for a cute duet.
Dominick's Picks
Hardcore Punk
via Convulse Records
Denver’s G.O.O.N. deliver a sly but punishing blitz of hardcore on their new record. Stompy and confrontational, God’s Only Option Now comes at you fast. When asked to describe it themselves, the group had only this to say: “HARDCORE IN COLOUR.”
God’s Only Option Now is preceded by their 2019 debut, Natural Evil, and the seven rippers that contained. With this one, they link up with the fellow Coloradans at Convulse Records—easily the most exciting and consistent label in hardcore right now.
Hotline TNT - Somersault (Remix)
EDM, Drum n' Bass, Breakbeat, House
via Third Man Records
Last year, Hotline TNT—the New York indie rock/shoegaze project led by Will Anderson—released the album Somersault. This week, they share a five-track EP of remixes by DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ, They Are Gutting a Body of Water, Poisonfrog, Downstairs J, and Car Culture.
About the remixes, Anderson says: “I had no idea what to expect when we sent the stems out to get the Cartwheel tracks remixed, and all five of these visions messed with my head. When the artists asked me what BPM the song was at or how much headroom to leave in the mix, I didn't know how to answer and probably gazed upon them with a one thousand yard stare as I recalled the horrors of my GarageBand project files, leaving them to their own devices to figure it out.”
The band also announced a new US tour, starting September 29 in Philadelphia and ending October 18 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Allegra Krieger - "Into Eternity"
Avant-Folk, Singer-Songwriter
via Double Double Whammy
In June, NYC-based singer-songwriter Allegra Krieger announced her new album alongside the tender lead single, “Never Arriving.” She’s following that up this week with “Into Enternity,” the second from Art of the Unseen Infinity Machine. Rather minimal, “Into Eternity” revolves around an unsettling guitar melody as she intertwines a series of anecdotes.
About the track, Krieger says:
"This song is an observation of menial and major moments, and how they all fit together in a chaotic world; every individual has their own path, their own story, though we all move through it together under the same sky. For better or for worse. It’s about looking for brightness where there is darkness."
Art of the Unseen Infinity Machine is out September 13 on Double Double Whammy.
Chubby and the Gang - "There's A Devil In The Jukebox"
Punk Rock, Garage Punk
via Flatspot Records
Chubby and the Gang—now the solo project of Charlie Manning Walker—release the second single from upcoming album, And Then There Was…, with “There’s A Devil In The Jukebox.” This one’s somewhat cut and dry, just good quality punk from the born and bred Londoner.
And Then There Was… is the first Chubby and the Gang release on Flatspot Records and it is out on October 4.
Heart to Gold - "TNT"
Indie Rock, Emo, Post-Hardcore
via Memory Music
Minneapolis band Heart to Gold shared the single, "Can't Feel Me," a few months back in February. But it wasn't until this week that the emo/indie rock band shared news of their upcoming third album, Free Help. Their latest offering, "TNT," breaks the news and does so with urgency--though you've got a few months until it's out. Between the crunchy guitars, melodic refrain, and just about every element of this lead single you can feel the grit and passion Heart to Gold is bringing to their new record.
Free Help is out November 15 via Memory Music.
Peter's Pick
Artificial Go - "Pay Phone"
Art Punk
via Feel It Records
"Pay Phone," the debut single from Cincinatti's latest quirksters, Artificial Go, also happens to be the opening track on the band's debut album, Hopscotch Fever. The entire one minute and fifty-four seconds that we get to hear from Artificial Go leaves much to the imagination, but a shy, enticing and somewhat goofy energy playfully toe-taps within it's time-restricted existence.
An in-house experiment of sorts, Artificial Go's debut album Hopscotch Fever will be released on Cincinatti labels Feel It and Future Shock. Hopscotch Fever is set for release on September 6.
1-800 Never Call Again.
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