Notable vinyl releases out this Friday - 2 May (2025)

‘Scanners’ lands as Naples’ 6th album since his debut ‘Pill’ on Four Tet’s Text Records a decade ago, and sees him continue to place trust in a classic form of club slink for connoisseurs. A similar sort of referential melting pot to Michael J. Blood is knowingly touched on as Naples sashays between strains of vintage Chicago, Detroit, and NYC house whilst infusing his own tactility and rudeness in the process, with irresistible dancefloor traction as his endgame. By the feel of ‘Scanners’ he’s properly up for it right now, summoning a sort of frothy, pill-belly uplift and sleekly toned drive that would distinguish a golden streak of late ‘90s into ‘00s house music, when it got subtly more streamlined, proggier, and made to play for days on end. It was all cooked up in Queens, NYC, and surely carries a flame for that sound which percolated from NYC onto the likes of Panorama Bar’s influential floor back in the day. 

Blondshell’s second album, If You Asked For A Picture, expands on the visceral songwriting and wit that made her 2023 self-titled debut a critical sensation. Its title inspired by a Mary Oliver poem, Sabrina Teitelbaum explores themes of control, relationships, and self-reflection, gesturing towards an even deeper autobiographical story. Reunited with producer Yves Rothman, she embraces a confident sonic range, blending colossal hooks, layered textures, and bold, traditionally masculine aesthetics ripped from Queens of the Stone Age and Red Hot Chili Peppers. The result is a collection of songs from an artist now at the peak of her powers that brim with an urgency, ambition, devastating potency only hinted at until now.

The first studio album from Car Seat Headrest in five years, ‘The Scholars.’ From Shakespeare to Mozart to classical opera, Car Seat Headrest’s Will Toledo pulled from the classics when devising the lyrics and story arc of ‘The Scholars,’ while the music draws, carefully, from classic rock story song cycles such as The Who’s ‘Tommy’ and David Bowie’s ‘Ziggy Stardust.’ “One thing that can be a struggle with rock operas is that the individual songs kind of get sacrificed for the flow of the plot,” Toledo notes. “I didn’t want to sacrifice that to make a very fluid narrative. And so this is sort of a middle ground where each song can be a character and it’s like each one is coming out on center stage and they have their song and dance.” While Car Seat Headrest started as Toledo’s solo project, the four-piece is now fully a band. “What we’ve been doing more of in recent years is just taking the pulses of each other.” says Toledo. “It didn’t really feel to me like things got in sync in an inner feeling way until this record, with that internal communal energy. And it’s become that band feeling for me in a much more realized way. That’s been a big journey.” It is a journey that listeners will want to embark on again and again as they absorb and discover the rich depths and clanging resonances of ‘The Scholars.’

"A Trick of the Light" is the new album by Chicago-based guitarist Eli Winter, an elegantly crafted and vibrant collection that finds the composer and bandleader at the height of his powers. The album opens with a dazzlingly intense arrangement of Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell’s “Arabian Nightingale” – a statement of intent that whips up a sonic storm. From there, Winter showcases his own compositions, from the muscular “Cracking the Jaw” to the dreamy expanse of the title track. Elsewhere, an abstract and concentrated rendering of Carla Bley’s masterpiece “Ida Lupino” forms the literal and emotional centerpiece of the record. Winter remains a natural collaborator, and "A Trick of the Light" welcomes star turns from David Grubbs, Mike Watt, Kiran Leonard (on a left-handed cittern, no less), among others. It’s testament to his restless curiosity and omnivorous musical sensibilities. In his own words, it’s a record that has “nothing to do with genre or idiom or homage or pastiche. It has everything to do with learning what the music wants, how it feels, and trusting when it wants something or doesn’t want it.” This LP follows on the rave reviews received for his prior (self-titled, TLR-140) album on Three Lobed Recordings. That LP featured coverage in Pitchfork (album review, inclusion on “Great Records You May Have Missed Summer/Fall 2022”), Aquarium Drunkard (review, Lagniappe Sessions), The Guardian (editorial coverage from Laura Snapes), Stereogum (reviews, named album of the week), Fader, NPR Music (covered on All Songs Considered podcast), Uproxx, Chicago Reader, The Vinyl District, Raven Sings the Blues, Treble, Podcast appearances (Watt from Pedro, etc.) and many more.

Eric Church's eighth studio album, Evangeline vs. The Machine features 8 new songs, including "Darkest Hour" and "Hands of Time." A seven-time ACM Award-winner, four-time CMA Award-winner (including the highest honor for Entertainer of the Year) and 10-time GRAMMY-nominee, Church has amassed a passionate fan base around the globe known as the Church Choir, plus a critically acclaimed catalog of music. This followed his Gold-certified Desperate Man, which earned a GRAMMY nomination for Best Country Album (his third nod in the category) and prior releases, including the platinum-certified Sinners Like Me ("How 'Bout You," "Guys Like Me"), Carolina ("Smoke a Little Smoke," "Love Your Love the Most") and Mr. Misunderstood ("Record Year," "Round Here Buzz"), the 2x platin-certified The Outsiders ("Like a Wrecking Ball," "Talladega") and the 3x platinum-certified Chief ("Springsteen," "Drink In My Hand"), as well as 36 gold, platinum and multiplatinum songs.

Iris Silver Mist is the new album by Norwegian musician, writer and artist Jenny Hval. Named after the fragrance by Serge Lutens with the same name, the album too moves like a perfume—between flower and smoke, ghostly yet alive. The album didn’t start with music, but with its absence. When live music disappeared during the pandemic, Jenny Hval was left with a void that was hard to pinpoint until she found herself drawn to perfume. Smelling and collecting, reading and writing: she put away the music, and surrounded herself with the notes and accords of fragrances instead. It was only later that she understood why: she was searching for another way to sense presence, to fill the emptiness music had left behind. When she eventually returned to making music, each song was infused with smells. Many of the songs on Iris Silver Mist were created as a mixtape, as one continuous flow of ideas. Before the songs were recorded, they were performed like this, as long, shapeshifting pieces, as part of the interdisciplinary piece I want to be a Machine. The album has kept this feeling of one song seeping into the next. “It is about moving,” Jenny says about the album, but she means it in a more symbiotic way. Moving into the sound, as one song turns into the next, as she turns into the music, and her perfume does so, too. Iris Silver Mist is a record about the stage, the music and how it can change us. About the things that touch us, change us, and settle on or under our skin.

Limited Loser Edition on lavender vinyl. Lael Neale's minimalist drone pop draws inspiration from the Transcendentalists, the alienation of modern life, and a rich array of musical influences-ranging from Dionne Warwick and John Lennon to primitive American gospel and Spacemen 3. Her expansive new record, Altogether Stranger, due May 2, was written and recorded in the early morning quiet of Los Angeles. Clocking in at just 32 minutes, the 9-song LP covers an unexpected breadth of musical and lyrical terrain-from garage rock nursery rhymes and creation myths to Motorik dance dirges and solitary Omnichord meditations. A brilliant lyricist, Neale has a unique ability to uncover the extraordinary within the mundane, tackling themes of polarity that recur throughout her work-country vs. City, humanity vs. #technology, isolation vs. #society. This album is her third collaboration with producer Guy Blakeslee who helps expand the tonal palette while staying true to Neale's commitment to the raw immediacy and hand-made intimacy of home recording.Altogether Stranger - a stunning album filled with dreamlike reverie, Neale's crystalline voice, and echoes of the Velvet Underground - was conceived after four years of oscillating between rural solitude and urban chaos. It finds Neale perched at the piano in a hilltop bungalow, looking down on a rare curve of Sunset Blvd. Here, in this daily ritual of writing, singing, and painting-what David Lynch referred to as "the Art Life"-she creates the space for her most adventurous work to date.Born and raised in Virginia's idyllic countryside, Neale brought the high-lonesome sound of her home state with her when she moved to California to pursue music. After years of writing songs on guitar and playing small venues in Los Angeles, she discovered the Omnichord in 2019, which sparked a new creative direction. This led to her 2021 Sub Pop debut album, Acquainted With Night. That album's 2023 follow-up, Star Eaters Delight, deepened the collaboration with Blakeslee, infusing minimalist soundscapes with a heightened electric energy. The album found a devoted audience, and Neale's subsequent tour included sold-out shows in Los Angeles, New York City, London, and Paris, multiple trips across Europe, and a West Coast run supporting kindred spirit Weyes Blood. This marked yet another return to Los Angeles.Indeed, Los Angeles is not just the backdrop of Altogether Stranger but a lead character. The album's accompanying film - created with Neale's faithful Sony Handycam - builds on her ongoing series of videos, telling the story of Neale as an alien in a suit of mirrors stranded on Earth. Wandering through modern-day LA, she finds both absurdity and beauty in our fragile, untenable way of life. Over the long year it took to write Altogether Stranger, Neale vacillated between childlike optimism and existential melancholy. While she may not have been able to reconcile these opposing states, Altogether Stranger represents an ambitious breakthrough for this singular, self-sufficient artist.

Lights' A6 is exactly what it says it is: Album Six. A testament to years of crafting beautiful, affirming and transportive art, A6 draws from a rich well of Lights' experiences - grief, growth, love, and self-discovery. Sonically, it blends Midwest emo, nostalgic new wave, and immersive synth-wave. Written and produced by Lights from her home in British Columba and inspired by sights and sounds of Berlin, A6 captures life's fleeting moments - like notes kept in a journal, too personal to say aloud. 

"Less than a month after one of the most violent fire events in the history of the continent, new shoots had burst through the scorched hardpan, nourished by the still-vital roots of those flayed and blackened trees." John Vaillant, Fire WeatherLoscil (aka Scott Morgan) returns to Kranky with Lake Fire, a nine-track offering of ash-laden sonics that mine the tension within the cycle of destruction and rejuvenation. Lake Fire is the result of a disjointed creative process. Originally conceived as a suite for electronics and ensemble, most of the original compositions were deserted, save for "Ash Clouds," featuring James Meager on double bass. The remaining tracks were reshaped and remixed, built anew out of the remnants of the abandoned work. The result is a Phoenix, an album burnt to the ground only to be reassembled out of it's cinders. Fragments of the original lurk beneath a densely overpainted canvas of sound.Infused into the resulting rearrangements are impressions from a road trip into the mountains marking a personal half-century milestone, surrounded by the ominous proximity of wildfires and dense smoke; celebrating life while the world burns. The album's title comes from the striking irony that forest fires are often named after regional lakes-perhaps subconsciously referencing ancient lore. The cover photos were taken from this same trip, while sitting in a rowboat staring into the grey abyss of an opposing mountainside outside of Revelstoke, BC, obfuscated by smoke from a nearby lake fire.

"Our fourth studio album is the four of us, just as we first started recording together as a band. It's raw and honest and feels like coming home; something that resonates deeply in this moment of our lives. We are home in so many senses of the word; in the last couple of years we've started setting roots, finding life partners, building families, growing gardens. We got dogs (you can hear them in the background if you listen close). We wrote songs about life and relationships. We recorded them in our home studios. We saw the beginnings and endings of life cycles while making this record, the beauty and fragility of the human experience. So, it's only fitting that this album is self-titled, it's our story, who we are now and how we got here. Welcome to our living room." - LuciusMetallic Eco-Vinyl LP.

"No second-guessing, no overthinking. The way I want to live my life is by doing the things thatare important to me, and I think everyone should live that way," says Mei Semones of herstrengthened self-assurance. Through continuously honing in on her signature fusion of indierock, bossa nova, jazz and chamber pop in a way that highlights her technical prowess onguitar, the 24-year-old Brooklyn-based songwriter and guitarist is quickly establishing herself asan innovative musical force. Since the release of her acclaimed 2024 Kabutomushi EP, a seriesof lushly orchestrated reflections on love in it's many stages, Mei has gone on to tourextensively across the US, cultivate a dedicated following, and write and record her highlyanticipated debut album, Animaru. Meaning "animal" in Japanese, Animaru is the embodiment ofMei's deeper trust in her instincts - a collection of musically impressive tracks that see Meisounding more adventurous, more vulnerable and more confident than ever before.Mei's newfound assertiveness comes in part from her experiences in the past year, as 2024 wasa transformative year for the Mei Semones band. They shared bills with the likes of LianaFlores, Elephant Gym and Kara Jackson, among others, and Mei transitioned to doing musicfull-time. Amidst the frequent touring, Mei and her five-piece band recorded the album in thesummer of 2024 at Ashlawn Recording Company, a farm studio in Connecticut operated by theirfriend Charles Dahlke. To these sessions, she brought a batch of tracks that, not unlikeKabutomushi, are sophisticated declarations of non-romantic love: love of life ("Dumb Feeling"),love of family ("Zarigani"), love of music and her guitar ("Tora Moyo"). Animaru exemplifies Mei'senchantingly wide range as a songwriter and musician, including some of the most challengingand most straightforward songs Mei has ever written.The simpler moments on Animaru are equally as captivating as when Mei is shredding on guitaror her bandmates are carrying out an intricate arrangement. "Donguri," a stripped-down jazzduo performance between acoustic guitar and upright bass, is the simplest song Mei has everwritten, brought to life by Mei sweetly chronicling (mostly in Japanese) what she imagines lifewould be like as a woodland creature living in the forest. The album's penultimate track alsoencompasses themes relating to the titular "animaru." Translating to "crayfish," the bright,effervescent "Zarigani" is a nostalgic expression of love for her twin sister, with Mei singing"We'll always have each other / I love you like my guitar / I love you like no other." Family is oneof the top loves of Mei's life, with her mom, Seiko Semones, making all of her album and singleartwork. Despite Animaru being a statement of Mei's autonomy and confidence at this point inher life, it's the various loves that she surrounds herself with - her family, her friends, her band,her music - that empower her to do things her own way.

Following the release of their critically acclaimed debut, `Dogsbody,' (Pitchfork Best New Music, Rolling Stone Future 25, NME The Cover), Brooklyn-based quartet Model/Actriz's sophomore album `Pirouette' lands sexually commanding and righteously diva-esque. `Pirouette' takes inspiration everywhere from Lady Gaga and Grace Jones to classical ballet and dissonant dance music. Like a well-oiled machine, Model/Actriz's punk aggression surrenders to queer pop, arriving at stunning new ways to be free. Standard black vinyl, gatefold jacket, printed inner sleeves.

Canadian punk stalwarts Propagandhi are set to unleash their latest opus, At Peace, on May 2, 2025. Known for their incisive political commentary and genre-blurring soundscapes, the band continues to challenge both the status quo and their own musical boundaries. At Peace promises a fusion of their signature punk ethos with progressive elements, delivering a sonic assault that's as thought-provoking as it is relentless. As the follow-up to 2017's Victory Lap, this album is poised to reaffirm Propagandhi's place at the forefront of politically charged punk rock.

Toronto alt-rock weirdos PUP return with their brand-new album, Who Will Look After The Dogs? Hot off touring in Europe supporting Jimmy Eat World, and Canada supporting Sum 41, the band deliver their strongest record to date. Featuring singles, "Paranoid," "Hallways," and "Get Dumber," the album sees PUP deliver their classic anthemic yet raw sound across 12 killer tracks. Available on black smoke with black, pink and purple splatter color vinyl.

Having lived within something of a nomadic existence, Samantha Crain's time off the road has given her more time to reflect, connect with the people in her life, and to let her curiosity blossom. It's explored throughout the entirety of "Gumshoe" - her forthcoming 7th studio album and 1st in half a decade, with an apt title that evokes the sense of mystery-solving she's welcomed these last several years of staying put in Oklahoma. 

Some bands find their groove and stick to it; others reinvent themselves constantly.Sextile belongs to the latter camp, embracing the thrill of an ever-changing roadmap. The LA duo of Melissa Scaduto and Brady Keehn craft music with a lust forlife, drawing inspiration from no wave to hardstyle. Their latest album, yes, please,pushes their sound into bold new territory, fusing anarchic electro fire with rawpersonal recollections-and enough beefed-up bass to bust a speaker or two.yes, please. Is an album of contrasts: a vulnerable record that bares it's soul as muchas it revels in excess, showing just how far you can push your sound when youshake off your inhibitions. Together, the pair betray a confidence that never wavers,making a bold splash on the speedy intro with a rave siren cut from a '00s NewYork house party or sweaty Brooklyn warehouse. By the same token, the spirit ofelectroclash stalks the building, flashing it's ID on the cowbell-peppered thunderbolts of "Freak Eyes" and "Rearrange", and turning in a scuzzy dancefloor bombwith "Women Respond to Bass". High on endorphins, "Push Ups"-which featuresvocals from Jehnny Beth-is pure muscle music, fortified by hoover bass andfleshed out by synths that hammer as hard as lumps of hail on a glass roof.But behind the slogans, sass, and monster dance energy lies an intimacy that canonly be found from opening up about painful, life-altering events. "Hospital" and"Soggy Newports" reflect Scaduto's harrowing experience in a New York state-runfacility after a near-fatal accident. "Resist" tackles abortion rights, while "PennyRose" explores US education, AI, and future generations. Scaduto's elastic vocalsshine throughout, from the razor-sharp synths of "S is For" to the trance-popheights of "Kids," featuring Izzy Glaudini from Automatic.yes, please. Is an action-packed dance record stuffed with wild, heady roof-raisersbut is in the same breath a testament to living, and never looking back. In openingthemselves up to a new "freeing" way of making music, Sextile have whipped uptheir most creative offering to date. Then again, you just know they still have somuch more to give.

Widely regarded as one of the foremost songwriters of her generation or any other, Suzanne Vega releases her first studio album of new songs in eleven years. "Each song on Flying With Angels takes place in an atmosphere of struggle", Vega notes, "struggle to survive, to speak, to dominate, to win, to escape, to help someone else, or just live".