Notable vinyl releases out this Friday - 27 September (2024)

Alan Sparhawk has always been a prolific, protean musician. A restless soul eager to explore unfamiliar sonic and psychic terrain. Though he's obviously (and justifiably) best-known for his thirty years as frontman of the legendary band Low, a look at Sparhawk's many side projects across that same span of time shows him experimenting with everything from punk and funk to production work and improvisation. Low itself never settled for a set sound or approach. The band was always a collaboration-a conversation, a romance-between Sparhawk and his wife, Mimi Parker, who was the band's co-founder, drummer, co-lead vocalist, and it's blazing irreplaceable heart. To take the journey from Low's hushed early work, through the tremendous melodies of their middle period, all the way to the late lush chaos of their final albums, is to witness heads, hearts, and spirits in an act of perpetual becoming.Parker passed away in 2022 after a long battle with cancer, and there is no question that WHITE ROSES, MY GOD is a record borne of grief. You can hear it in the title, as well as tracks such as "Heaven", in which Sparhawk describes the afterlife, wrenchingly, as "a lonely place if you're alone." You can sense it too in Sparhawk's decision to create this thing entirely on his own: every note, every lyric, every programmed beat. It would be reductive, even foolish, to see grief as the sole source or the final limit of this taut, brilliant, provocative, thrilling album, whose bold experimentation is powered by profound lyrics and propulsive beats. "Can you feel something here?" Sparhawk asks on "Feel Something." The line repeats over and over, evolving first into "I want to feel something here" and then "Can you help me feel something here?" Meanwhile the musical means he's chosen to convey this message-especially the pitch-shifter-might seem at first like they're making it harder to access that very something he wants us (and himself) to feel. Isn't the vocoder a barrier between us and the deep emotionality we've long associated with an Alan Sparhawk vocal? Maybe, maybe not. Probably not. But even if it is, then it's a barrier worth breaking and the music itself is the hammer. Sparhawk conjures forth the ghosts trapped inside these machines. WHITE ROSES, MY GOD is an exorcism whose purpose is not to banish the spirit but to set it free. In many ways WHITE ROSES, MY GOD feels like a hard break with the past, almost a debut. And yet there's incredible continuity with Sparhawk's past work and his traditional ways of working. He's pathbreaking, yet again, invested as ever in the endless process of becoming himself. As he puts it on "Station": "I can please myself with the things I seek out." Us, too. We are lucky to be here to hear it as it happens.

Being Dead's records are mosaics, technicolor incantations, each song it's own self-contained little universe. And while the dreamlike EELS probes further into the depths of the duo Being Dead's psyche, it is, most importantly, in the year of our lord 2024, a 16-track record that is genuinely unpredictable from one track to the next: a joyous and unexpected trip helmed by two true-blue freak bitch besties holed up in a lil' house in the heart of Austin, Texas.

A Los Angeles singer/songwriter with an acute gift for intimate and detailed introspection, Christian Lee Hutson threads through avenues of light Americana, smart indie pop, and lo-fi folk storytelling. The tone of his music is usually gentle, but there's an insistence and clarity in his lyrics that gives his performances a strength alongside it's newfound indie rock edge. Although he began his solo career in the early 2010s, he gained popularity as a writer and collaborator during the latter part of the decade, working on projects with Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers, the latter of whom helped produce Hutson's Anti- debut, Beginners, in 2020. Bridgers and Oberst teamed up to produce 2022's Quitters, and now Bridgers is back producing his new record 'Paradise Pop.

'Dance, No One's Watching' is an ode to the sacred, yet joyous act of dancing, an album that musically guides you through a night out in the city, from the opening of possibilities as a new evening spans out ahead, to dawn’s final hours as the night comes to a close. Written during a blistering 2023 which saw Ezra Collective tour the world, and become the first jazz act to win the Mercury Prize, Dance, No One's Watching is a documentation of the many dance floors they encountered. From London to Chicago, Lagos to Sydney, dance and rhythm connect us. These songs are a testament to that spirit. The album was recorded at Abbey Road studios, where the band was surprised by a group of close friends and family, turning the sessions into a live communal celebration of love, music, and dancing. 'Dance, No One's Watching' is a record that speaks to the unifying power of dance. Set for release in September 2024, it is a powerful and distinctive addition to a catalogue that continues to blaze a bold new trail in contemporary British music.

Gallant is an American singer-songwriter known for his transcendent falsetto and emotive R&B sound that deftly blends soulful melodies with a modern, experimental edge. Emerging into the spotlight with his critically acclaimed debut album, Ology, in 2016, Gallant captivated audiences with his powerful vocals and introspective lyricism. His standout single, "Weight in Gold," became an anthem of vulnerability and strength, earning him a Grammy nomination and solidifying his place in the contemporary R&B scene. Gallant has collaborated with a diverse range of artists, including Dua Lipa, Zhu, Sinéad Harnett, Brandy, Noah Cyrus and Sufjan Stevens. Most recently, Gallant teamed up with Terrace Martin and Robert Glasper for a project titled "sneek," where he continues to explore the depths of various genres. He has also made notable appearances at major music festivals such as Coachella, Bonnaroo, and Austin City Limits (ACL), to name a few. Additionally, he has made notable television appearances, performing "Weight in Gold" on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," "Later... with Jools Holland," and the "Today" show

JD McPherson has created something unique and amazing with his latest album, Nite Owls. His first album release since 2018’s critically acclaimed Christmas classic, SOCKS. Over the past 5+ years, McPherson has stayed consistently busy writing new songs while at the same time touring with Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. Being a touring musician offers the chance to see the sights, tour the town and pick up some inspiration from the local record shop. With Nite Owls, JD wanted to try something new and different. He wanted to take the inspiration from multiple decades and styles and incorporate them into his own sound. “The initial idea for the record was: It’s like if The late-60s Ventures were the session band on the first New Order record.” Says, McPherson. Idea achieved. Nite Owls delivers the signature sounds of vintage garage-rock while also seamlessly bridging the sounds of Bowie and Alan Vega. Songs such as “Sunshine Getaway”, “The Rock and Roll Girls” and “I Can’t Go Anywhere with You” sound like Chuck Berry is jamming with Buddy Holly. While song’s like, “Nite Owls” and “Don’t Travel Through the Night Alone” give a nod to the Factory sound from the UK. The throwback sound of the lone instrumental track “The Phantom Lover of New Rochelle” would make Dick Dale ride and Link Wray rumble. With Nite Owls, McPherson takes inspiration from multiple genres of the past and combines them together to evolve a sound that is all his own.

On Songs From A Thousand Frames Of Mind, the kaleidoscopic full-length debut from Kate Bollinger, entire worlds lie in the small details. "When I'm recording a song," the Charlottesville-born, Los Angeles-based songwriter observes, "my indication of whether it's worth pursuing is if I'm seeing a movie in my head to go along with it." Blending classic pop songcraft with scrappy punk instincts, Bollinger casts a collage-like vision that's instantly memorable and uniquely mystifying. Ranging from homespun folk songs to warmly rendered psychedelic rock-like early Rolling Stones as fronted by Hope Sandoval-the resulting album can feel like flipping through your coolest friend's record collection, finding a new favorite song with each discovery.In order to summon this majestic blend of styles, Bollinger spent years cultivating material, challenging herself to work with new collaborators while moving across the country from her native Virginia to California. Evolving the hermetic approach of her early EPs and solo performances, she arrived at a fuller sound based on intuitive responses and in-the-moment energy. "I came to this realization that most of my favorite music is the result of friends, or players who have known each other a long time, coming together and playing live in the room," she observes. Armed with endless hooks and wildly shifting textures, Bollinger can seem as much like a songwriter as an art-house auteur, crafting the soundtrack and scenery for a non-existent movie. (Fittingly, Bollinger studied film in college, and she also directed the striking music video for Jessica Pratt's recent single "World on a String.")Several highlights from the record were co-written with Spacebomb Records mastermind Matthew E. White, such as the jangle-pop gem "Any Day Now" and the theatrical "I See It Now." After months of writing in Richmond and Los Angeles, Bollinger traveled to upstate New York to record with producer Sam Evian (Big Thief, Blonde Redhead, Cass McCombs), with whom she developed a similar kinship. Alongside her longtime friend and drummer Jacob Grissom, she formed a group of tight-knit collaborators able to match her wide-ranging inspiration, spanning from '60s icons like Françoise Hardy and the Velvet Underground to '90s touchpoints like No Doubt and Pavement. "In some way, this album feels like my musical debut. I feel that I've finally been able to express all sides of myself in one record."For Bollinger, the connective tissue between this disparate material is often unspoken but always deeply felt. "Songwriting is kind of like dreaming," she explains. "They both tend to reveal to me what I don't yet consciously know. I thought of the album title before most of the songs were written, but it became a self-fulfilling prophecy in a way that tends to happen in a lot of my music." As a lyricist, Bollinger expresses herself through subtle imagery and surrealist stream-of-conscious narratives, allowing listeners to arrive at their own interpretation. When she touches on the rise and fall of romantic relationships, there is an almost therapeutic quality to her writing. In the lilting, empathetic "To Your Own Devices," she follows a sunswept melody to deliver a series of hushed, second-person observations: "Now you're in a pinch/The mirror makes you flinch," she sings. "And all this time, were you not making sense?"

Within the quiet, cascading corners of Pittsburgh lies a community - essentially one large family - that spans neighborhoods and generations.Upon this foundation, Merce Lemon built her latest album: Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild. These are earnest songs, of belonging and longing, in which romantic and familial love rip into and out of themselves in a flurry of reckoning. There is a fierceness, a persistence in this vulnerability, that is matched by the wildness of her band.Merce took a step back from music in 2020, after releasing her debut album Moonth, to reassess. "[Music] was just something I'd always done, and I didn't want to lose the magic of that - but I was just having less fun." In this time of restless confusion, she got back to her roots. "I got dirty and slept outside most of the summer. I learned a lot about plants and farming, just writing for myself, and in that time I slowly accumulated songs." A creative hunger, supported by her community, had been newly fertilized. From this rediscovery, imbued with the vitality of earth's green magic, Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild sprouted forth.

Dunya, the title of Mustafa's masterfully crafted andbreathtakingly tender full-length debut, roughly translates fromArabic to "the world in all it's flaws." It's a lofty subject for a youngsongwriter, but as with every theme at the heart of theSudanese-Canadian artist's work-from religious devotion tochildhood trauma, gang violence to romantic intimacy-heapproaches it through a personal lens. Blending genres andmoods, weaving novelistic details into instantly memorable folksongs, he has crafted a record that feels like a series of personalbreakthroughs, arriving one after the other.The first thing that strikes you about Mustafa's music has alwaysbeen his writing: a simple, piercing tone that can make anystory feel as raw and earnest as the words to a love song. With ahushed delivery that can silence his surroundings, Mustafaevolved swiftly from a child prodigy reciting poems throughouthis native Toronto to a behind-the-songs pop songwriting force.On Dunya, he becomes a full-on auteur in his own right."I'm trying to preserve and celebrate the ordinary life in thehood," Mustafa notes of his lyrical inspiration. Exploring hisupbringing and trajectory onward, these songs are equallydisarming in their simplicity and multilayered in their emotionalbreadth. Featuring appearances from collaborators such asAaron Dessner, Rosalía, Clairo, Nicolas Jaar, and more, alongsideMustafa's longtime creative partner Simon Hessmann, themusic reveals a confident, distinctive voice that's never soundedmore poised for the masses. Even when it sounds like he'staking on the world, Mustafa is speaking only for himself: a storythat he knows is just getting started

Most of the writing of Naima Bocks second album, Below A Massive Dark Land, was a solitary affair. It may not sound like it it's made up of strong, purposeful arrangements with a huge host of musicians, filled with cradling space and warm light. This will also come as a surprise to anyone who has seen Naima perform in the time since the release of her 2022 debut Giant Palm, which was undoubtedly a communal experience.But there's power in the solitary, too. Giant Palm was arranged with collaborator Joel Burton, but going this one alone in search of something that was truly hers, Naima found she was capable of more. After me and Joel stopped working together, she remembers, it was an impossibility to even fathom doing arrangements myself but then I started learning violin and it was possible. Finding that she could go it alone was incredibly powerful for Naima: I think I needed it, to be able to feel proud of something.Beyond the writing process, however, the record is not a stark, stripped back affair. Below still has the majesty that made Giant Palm so remarkable. Having tugged the first record down from the skies and spreading it across the earth, Naima finds a newfound vocal power and confidence born from hundreds of hours on stage, and the music sounds fuller, more tangible, and no less enveloping. This can be heard on the albums lead singles: Kaley feels fresh and surprising in it's rug-pull choppiness but is distinctly Naima in it's swinging, jubilant choruses. The accompanying Further Away takes a different tack, drawing you in with it's simplicity. Finally, the hazy, luxurious beauty of Feed My Release draws on the sepia-toned traditions of The Roches, John Prine and Loudon Wainwright III and imbues them with the kind of stark confessional songwriting of Mount Eerie. These are ambitious, rich arrangements that reach deeper and darker lyrically than Giant Palm.Below a Massive Dark Land was predominantly produced by Jack Osborne (Bingo Fury) and Joe Jones, and recorded at The Crypt in north London, with additional production and arrangement by Oliver Hamilton (caroline, Shovel Dance Collective) and Naima herself. Six of the tracks on Below were mixed by Jason Agel, with the remainder done by Osborne and Jones. The album was mastered by Kevin Tuffy.

It’s a new chapter in the history of Neva Dinova. Although the band are beloved by many, they’ve never had the same name recognition as their Omaha-bred peers and collaborators like Bright Eyes and Cursive. However that’s likely to change with the band’s reinvigorating new full-length Canary, which features a new lineup, fresh perspective and a sound that’s more urgent than anything they’ve created in the past. From the fuzzed-out grandeur of “Edge of Something” that kicks off the record through the electronica/hip-hop accents on album closer “I Can See Further Now,” the album sees Neva Dinova stepping out sonically and condensing their songs in powerful blasts of focused energy. As always, the unifying ingredient is Bellows’s distinctive baritone voice as he croons about existential dread, alienation, and hypocrisy – though offset with moments of levity and hopefulness. “Love and Kindness” is a reference to the ongoing war in Gaza while “Something To Lose” was inspired by the loss of Bellows’s beloved dog, Dragon. “That song is about the idea that maybe you’d rather never love anybody or anything because it’s just another thing to lose, and that really resonated with me at the time,” he says of the latter track. “When you’re involved in the arts there’s some expectation for you to be smart or know stuff and I don’t want to be that poser anymore,” he explains. There’s a liberation in that lack of pretense—and even when Bellows is musing about his own limitations in “Near Me,” there’s a beauty in the imperfections: The subtle buzzing of the amp, the finger noise on the strings and Bellows’s voice rising above all of it in a way that’s distinctly Neva Dinova.

6OOA’s 2020 opus is reunmanaged by sound composer Twig Harper, whose REMIX goes places no other remix record could dare under his unlimited brief. In the process, it affords the wizard of Six Organs, Ben Chasny, the chance to re-present the record in a form as insane as the world into which the record was, and is headed. A soundtrack to California chaos, done two ways, sometimes at the same time! RIYL: Electronic, New Age, Modern Classical

The self-titled second album from the visionary artist, producer and pop pioneer, will be released via Transgressive and Future Classic on 27 September 2024. This album was created by SOPHIE and some of her most cherished collaborators. Close to completion when she tragically died, it has been lovingly finalised by those who hold her closest. As SOPHIE’s studio manager and most trusted sounding board for over a decade, Benny Long was heavily involved in the release of Oil Of Every Pearl's Un-insides, with mastering, production and mixing credits to his name. The two then worked together over several years developing the concept and production of this follow-up album, which Benny has lovingly completed, honouring SOPHIE’s vision.

Over the course of the last two decades, Xiu Xiu's prolific and influential output of acclaimed albums and collaborations has been consistently dazzling. They've released 17 full-length LPs that have been praised in outlets such as The New Yorker, The Wire, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, NME and many others. They have toured the globe relentlessly, performing in places as far off the beaten path as Kazakhstan and Lebanon and places institutionally vital as the Guggenheim and Centre Pompidou. On Xiu Xiu's latest album, 13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips, Angela Seo and Jamie Stewart deliver some of the bands most compelling and mesmerizing music to date. Mixed by John Congleton (Chelsea Wolfe, Swans, Lana Del Rey) this album is unlike anything the band has ever recorded previously and was motivated by the destruction of previous aesthetic notions, as well as the band's recent move from Los Angeles to Berlin.