Notable vinyl releases out this Friday - 29 March (2024)

In their decade-plus together, the four-piece—Julia Shapiro (guitar, vocals), Lydia Lund (guitar, vocals), Gretchen Grimm (drums, vocals), and Annie Truscott (bass, vocals)—have created a resonant body of work. Live Laugh Love is a natural continuation. Against the bizarre backdrop of the past few years, Chastity Belt remained a supportive space for the members to grow and experiment, drawing on the ingredients most essential to their process since the beginning: authenticity and levity. Recorded over three sessions in as many years (January 2020, November 2021 and 2022), the focus became more about enjoying their time together in the studio than making it feel like work. Their ease and familiarity with engineer Samur Khouja in LA, who also recorded their last album, made for a particularly enjoyable process. Once completed, they returned to renowned engineer Heba Kadry who mastered the album.

Every morning when Dent May wakes up, the first thing he says is, “What’s for breakfast?” For the Los Angeles-based songwriter and pop auteur, this question is part inside joke with his girlfriend, part sitcom-style catchphrase, and part mantra about getting up every day and persevering in the face of good or bad is happening around you in your life. It’s also the title of his sixth album. What’s For Breakfast? is May’s most immediate, nostalgic, and rollicking LP yet, one that’s concerned with breaking daily routines and rediscovering the joys of songwriting. “This time around, I was tapping into music from my childhood, like The Strokes, Weezer and Elephant 6 Collective bands,” says May. By revisiting the music of his youth—energetic and infectious guitar rock—he found a vibrant palate to explore for this new LP. What’s For Breakfast? is May’s most collaborative LP yet, featuring appearances from Jordana, Pearl & The Oysters, Jimmy Whispers and co-writes with Paul Cherry.

Ed Harcourt has released music under his own name that blends raw emotions, impeccable songwriting and visionary flights of imagination. He made his debut with the Mercury Prize-nominated, Here Be Monsters, in 2001, and a succession of ten rich, enthralling albums have followed including the intoxicating addictive Strangers (2004); the breathless Back Into The Woods (2013), which was recorded in just eight hours; and Furnaces (2016) which compellingly and entreatingly envisioned family ties confronted by the small matter of the apocalypse. Harcourt then moved onto explore the instrumental sphere with recent soundscape albums Beyond The End (2018) and Monochrome To Colour (2020). While recognizably bearing all the hallmarks that have made him such an admired and prolific songwriter, his new record, El Magnifico, also finds him striving for something new. It is an Ed Harcourt record, but one with a desire to seek fresh reward. "I think as a songwriter you do get to a point where you're aware of your past and what you've done," suggests Harcourt of the album's mixture of assuredness and aspiration. "It's knowing what your strengths are, what your weaknesses are, but also knowing how to better yourself by doing things you haven't done before." The record was produced in his studio at the bottom of his garden, while also making use of the natural resonance of his local church to capture the album's array of string parts. It was completed with the input of friend and producer Dave Izumi Lynch at Eastbourne's Echo Zoo studio. El Magnifico's spirit owes much to Harcourt's initial writing and recording approach, an experience that saw him revel in creative freedom as he indulged his impulses and tried not to outthink instincts. Though it's title was coined in jest, as his new album attests what Ed Harcourt does is proving to be fittingly magnificent.

Final (Vol.2) is the twelfth and last studio album by Enrique Iglesias. Final (Vol.2) has more diverse music genres. It infuse pop, cumbia, bachata and elements of country. The album features 10 tracks, some of which includes collaborations such as Maria Becerra, Yotuel, Belinda and El Alfa. Don't miss the final chapter in the iconic journey of Enrique Iglesias who has left an indelible mark on the Latin music industry.

Opened up by the delirious alchemy of contemporary pop music, Sean O’Hagan leaps back into life with High Llamas, with a set of killer tunes reflecting on dimensional levels how definitions change over time. Arranged by Sean and produced with mix collaborator Fryars to engage the eardrums in non-stop new possibilities, Hey Panda radiates optimism inspired by the joys and sorrows felt in former lifetimes and the diverse conundrums of today alike.

New York-based composer and producer Kelly Moran’s intricate, experimental pieces transcend the piano’s more traditional and classically-imposed school of thought. On her forthcoming new album for Warp, Moran augments her pianistic abilities to superhuman levels in order to create a new strain of her singular experimental piano compositions. Hypnotic and emotive, the coming project solidifies Moran’s role as one of the leading contemporary composers for the piano, constantly pushing the instrument’s creative and sonic boundaries in the realms of classical and electronic music.

Malegría, Reyna Tropical's long-anticipated debut full-length album, is at once a vibrant arrival and an electrifying bridge. The album is a contemporary celebration and continuation of wide-reaching cultural traditions-from Congolese, Peruvian, and cumbia rhythms to revolutionary artists like lesbian Mexican guitarist-singer Chavela Vargas-these influences meld and are remixed through the distinctive lens of trailblazing guitarist and songwriter Fabi Reyna.Traversing themes including queer love, feminine sensuality, and the transformative power of intentional relations to the earth, Malegría spotlights narratives often pushed to the margins and offers them a sonic homeland. The portmanteau, born from a 1998 Manu Chao song by the same name, is akin to "bittersweet" and blends the Spanish "mal" which means "bad" and "alegría" which means "happiness."Malegría marks Reyna Tropical's return to centering creative joy and movement through music. Whether enjoyed during listening parties or infectious live sets, the music will move listeners and irresistibly command a jump-into action in protection of the land, into the arms of a crush, into your own power and fearlessness, into steady body rolls along to the beat. Malegría offers us all a chance to witness history in the making.

With nods to their earlier work, Ride’s 7th album contains some of the best songs they have ever written. It is a record in the old-school sense, a rich listen that flows from start to finish, at times urgent and formidable, at others wistful and melancholic. It’s a record about perseverance, sticking together, finding a way forward. Claudius Mittendorfer’s mix provides the final touches on a startling, stop-you-in-your-tracks LP. This is the sound of a band hitting a new peak of their powers.

Shabazz Palaces is masterminded by Ishmael Butler (Digable Planets), whose relentless drive to reimagine hip-hop - even as he enjoys his fifth decade on Earth - remains undiminished. Exotic Birds of Prey furthers the modus operandi of Robed in Rareness: a respectful eye on the past, an embrace of an ever-evolving present, with it's feet firmly planted in the future. Where Robed warped sounds like shoegaze and ambient music into the Shabazz Palaces multiverse, Exotic cross-pollinates these elements with twisted electro and funk vibes.

Nine-time Grammy Award winner and 2023 Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Inductee, Sheryl Crow, will release her 11th full length studio album, Evolution. The album comes as a welcomed surprise after Crow publicly stated that she would not release another full-length album after Threads (2018) and kicks off with her lead single "Alarm Clock," which is perhaps Sheryl Crow's most radio-friendly pop song since "Soak Up The Sun."

The final album from Canadian punk rock legends Sum 41 album. Spanning 2 discs and 20 tracks, the album features the singles “Landmines” and “Rise Up”.

VIAL is a powerhouse trio, red-hot in DIY scenes after breaking out during unconventional times in 2020. Their sound is a pressure cooker: Indie rock meets punk in soaring melodic hooks ready to sink teeth into all listeners alike. Bite marks burn hotter on the live stage, where they’ve supported acts such as FIDLAR, HUNNY, and Mal Blum. The jury’s in: The insatiable hunger for VIAL’s fresh genre blend will be plentifully satisfied with a steaming-hot sophomore record in 2024.