Notable vinyl releases out this Friday - 16 February (2024)

Hailed as "the reigning heavyweight champions of Southern rock" (No Depression), Atlanta-based quintet Blackberry Smoke is back with their 8th studio album, Be Right Here, produced by Dave Cobb

"Personal Effects" was inspired by a routine comment from a flight attendant ("Please don't forget your personal effects") that struck Dave 1 as a perfect Chromeo song title, he said in a statement. He added, "Adult Contemporary is a meditation on modern, mature relationships, which means: If we gotta sing about curling irons, so be it."

The Mess We Seem To Make is the eagerly anticipated debut album from Crawlers. Digging deeper into what fans already know and love about their eclectic alt-rock sound, it builds on the relationship of trust they have with producer Pete Robinson and engineer Tom Roach at Liverpool's Coastal Studios and takes on a whole range of challenging topics; trauma, sexual politics, mental health, the general goings on in a young person's life. Blue Splatter LP features alternate cover art.

Swedish singer, multi-instrumentalist and composer El Perro Del Mar announces her first album in 8 years "Big Anonymous", out Feb 16th 2024 on City Slang. The musical path taken by this shape-shifter artist encompasses a spectrum: doo-wop redux, mystic ballads, electronic dance, ecstatic love songs, film soundtracks, dance scores, global pop, and more. With this record, she goes places where few dare to venture: dialogues with the dead, musings on her own mortality, and reflections on the inner darkness that she's inherited. It's gothic, crepuscular, moody - and magnificent. And in the end you might just find it uplifting. She does.

Adding to Chicago's long lineage of forward-thinking indie rock, Friko transform each song into a moment of collective catharsis. On their full-length debut, vocalist/guitarist Niko Kapetan and drummer Bailey Minzenberger sustain the combustible energy of their break-out single Crimson To Chrome, merging elements of post-punk, chamber-pop and experimental rock, magnifying their music's exhilarating power with a barrage of spirited ensemble vocals. Poetic, explosive, and sublimely raw in feeling.

2024 release from the legendary indie-rock band Grandaddy. A prolific storyteller, Jason Lytle is inspired by the overwhelming beauty of nature to the mundane moments that spark life's strongest memories. With the album title Blu Wav meant to be a literal mash-up of "bluegrass" and "new wave", the new collection has a distinct feel, a uniform vibe, and a somewhat unexpected sound. It was conceived as Grandaddy maestro Jason Lytle was driving through the Nevada desert, and Patti Page's 'Tennessee Waltz' came across the classic country station on the radio. He was immediately intrigued by the possibilities of what it might sound like to keep the slow sway and sweet, simple lyrics of the bluegrass waltz while adding layers of dense synthesizers and the electronics of new wave. It incorporates the lo-fi lushness and sometimes-psychedelic orchestration Grandaddy is known for with Lytle's first foray into true country. Seven of it's 13 songs are waltzes, and as Lytle notes, "there's an inordinate amount of pedal steel."

TANGK is the righteous and vibrant fifth album from madcap truth-seekers, IDLES. Pronounced "tank" with a whiff of the "g" - an onomatopoeic reference to the lashing way the band imagined their guitars sounding that has since grown into a sigil for living in love - the record is the band's most ambitious and striking work yet. Where IDLES were once set on taking the world's piss, squaring off with strong jaws against the perennially entitled, and exercising personal trauma in real time, they have arrived in this new act to offer the fruits of such perseverance: love, joy, and indeed gratitude for the mere opportunity of existence.

You may think you know the story of Jennifer Lopez, one of the most written about women in the world, but This Is Me…Now shares the real story, a piece of her soul, and she is doing it in her own inimitable style. Jennifer Lopez’s long awaited musical experience THIS IS ME…NOW begins with the release on February 16th, 2024 of This Is Me…Now: The Album and This Is Me…Now: The Film inspired by the music. The album, written and produced by Jennifer Lopez and Rogét Chahayed, along with Angel Lopez, Jeff "Gitty" Gitelman, HitBoy, Tay Keith and INK among others, effortlessly blends R&B, contemporary pop sounds and hip-hop beats. Her signature vocals, combined with intricately crafted lyrics delve into the highs and lows of life, love, and relationships with unflinching honesty and introspection, making this Jennifer Lopez’s most honest and personal album yet.

In the Summer of 2022, a 10-year journey came to an end in Amsterdam. It's final score, as the curtain closed and the lights came up, was comprised of the orchestrations that preceded and followed the final act: the buzz of a barber's razor, the droning resonance of a tattoo machine, and the brush of electric sound from the surprise gift of a friend. - For a decade, a leading figure and frontwoman of post-punk staple band Against Me!, Laura Jane Grace, had been slowly accruing black-laden bodywork by master Japanese tattoo artists Gakkin and Kenji Alucky. Beginning at her feet, Gakkin's freehanded, organic figures and Alucky's high-contrast geometric works had taken the three all over the world together just as it had taken inches all over Laura Jane's figure. Finally, though this artistic exercise in time and tattoo ink came to a head. Literally. The last place Laura Jane Grace needed tattooed, was her head. - Whilst on tour in Europe that Summer, Laura Jane Grace, reached out to Gakkin. His shop had been relocated to Amsterdam and the two agreed to meet while they were both there. Pain of course was a consideration, but the most decisive action was that Laura Jane Grace needed to shave her head. As a prominent figure in the... more.

Les Amazones D'Afrique is a creative force that embraces international voices; sweet, strong harmonies that summon the rights of women and girls; and a meltdown of heritage and new gen talent. They were formed in Bamako, Mali, in 2014 by three renowned Malian music stars and social change activists, Mamani Keïta, Oumou Sangaré and Mariam Doumbia, and the collective has since expanded to involve many female artists from across Africa and the diaspora. While their cause - campaigning for gender equality and eradicating ancestral violence - is worthy enough in itself, their musical creative expression is equally powerful. Richly melodic and far-ranging, it blends pan-African styles and collaborative harmonies with gritty, contemporary pop. Following two successful albums produced by Congotronix innovator Doctor L, the band have worked with renowned pop producer Jacknife Lee (U2, Taylor Swift, Modest Mouse) to present a totally fresh new sound on their third album Musow Danse, which draws inspiration from hip-hop, trap, and electronic music.

Consider this your invitation to Café Molly, a lounge bar likethey don't make them anymore. The lights are low, the martinis are ice cold,the banquettes are velvet, and the stage is set for the electrifying talent ofwhistler Molly Lewis. After the exotica stylings of The Forgotten Edge EP andthe tropicalia-indebted Mirage EP, Molly wanted to encapsulate the sound ofCafé Molly for her debut album On The Lips, a dreamy tribute to classic moodmusic, it conjures up misty visions of classic Hollywood jazz clubs, Italiancinema soundtracks and lingering embraces between lovers. Recorded withproducer Thomas Brenneck of the Menahan Street Band at his newly-builtDiamond West Studios in Pasadena, and with something of an open doorpolicy during the sessions, a stream of acclaimed musicians ended up acrossthe album's 10 tracks, including Nick Hakim, Latin Grammy-nominatedBrazilian guitarist Rogê, Leland Whitty and Chester Hansen of Canadianinstrumental group Badbadnotgood, Chicano soul group Thee Sacred Soulsappear on the melancholy 'Crushed Velvet', experimental jazz pianist MarcoBenevento and El Michels Affair's Leon Michels. With her intoxicating compositions, and wry brand of stagecraft (she might not be singing up there,but she can sure tell a joke) Molly Lewis looks set to join her heroes in thestoried lore of the Los Angeles lounge scene and beyond. So pull up a chair,order your favorite drink, and prepare to fall for On The Lips.

The album deals with heavy themes of death and mourning. Frontman Ryan Guldemond said in a statement, "Death and grief rooted themselves in these songs, but not morosely. It's used more as a reference point for how to live more fully and presently. Life is fleeting, therefore it's precious, and death is the most effective way I know to frame this miracle of living."

The music of Atlanta trio Omni has always swung fast and hit hard. And Souvenir, their fourth album and second for Sub Pop, packs their biggest punch yet. Following pandemic-induced downtime, they approached the album with lots of pent-up energy. Guitarist Frankie Broyles, singer/bassist Philip Frobos, and drummer Chris Yonker converted their creative fuel and affinity for indie titans like REM, the Cure, and Big Audio Dynamite into sharp, driving songs that land immediately, sporting chopping riffs, staccato beats, and wiry melodies. Why does Souvenir sound so sharp? Because each track is a compact unit that stands on it's own, reflecting the time and place in which it was created. That's why Omni called the album Souvenir: it's a collection of audio objects, a stash of musical miniatures. Think of it as a family photo album, a binder of rare playing cards, a shoebox holding precious gems.

The sixth studio album from the British singer-songwriter.

Arms, the fifth full length LP from indie rock mainstays San Fermin, was written by bandleader Ellis Ludwig-Leone in the topsy-turvy months after the end of two relationships, one very long and one very short. To help navigate the ultraviolet days, he turned to longtime collaborator and vocalist Allen Tate, who helped channel the experience into a lean 9-track LP. Written from the multiple viewpoints characteristic of San Fermin’s previous albums, but with stripped back musical accompaniment that exposes the dissociation, humor, and regret of a life turned upside down, Arms is San Fermin’s most emotionally vulnerable album to date, and features some of its most potent songwriting.

Serving up art-pop for the anthropocene, Springs Eternal is the Mercury-nominated artist William Doyle's most ambitious and most playful creation to date. Taking a panoramic view of the ecstasies and agonies of life in the 2020s, the record asks how we exist as fragile flesh and blood - our hearts beating and our minds raci"'ng - in an unprecedented, almost unimaginable time of runaway climate destruction and technological expansion. Springs Eternal presents a strange and thrilling cast of characters - from cowboys to castaways - who just might be Doyle, once or twice removed. "Most of the songs are in the first-person, but rather than being autobiographical, I was trying to imagine hyperreality versions of myself," Doyle says. "What if decisions I made in my life had resulted in the self of each particular song? How many degrees of separation am I from those realities? It's a frightening thought, and frightening thoughts often make for good songs." We hear from narrators teetering on the precipice of global disaster, heartbreak, addiction, indoctrination and mental illness, until they pass into the great unknown. The lyrics, by turns earnest and ironic, upfront and allegorical, are paired with infectious melodies and often outright swagger. Co-produced by indie superproducer Mike Lindsay (Tunng, LUMP), we hear the siren song of the sea washing around pulsating electronics and stirring instrumentation, featuring contributions from musicians Alexander Painter, Genevieve Dawson and Brian Eno. Doyle's sonic odyssey that began with his incarnation as East India Youth and developed under his own name. Doyle also recently produced Anna B Savage's album A Common Turn and plays in Orlando Weeks' band.