Notable vinyl releases out this Friday - 18 October (2024)

After quietly releasing their self-titled debut album in 1999 while still in college, American Football disbanded after the album's release to focus on other projects, only to reunite 15 years later to a fanbase that had been consistently growing throughout the underground / emo scene. The album later appeared on Rolling Stone's "40 Greatest Emo Albums of All Time" list at #6, with Pitchfork giving it's deluxe reissue the "Best New Reissue" title, calling it the "most influential album in the genre."To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the album's release, Polyvinyl is thrilled to announce American Football (Covers), a genre-spanning covers album that highlights the importance and wide-ranging influence of the band's debut. The album features covers of each song by critically acclaimed acts such as Iron & Wine, Ethel Cain, Blondshell, Manchester Orchestra, Novo Amor, Lowswimmer, Yvette Young, and others. Each cover wonderfully highlights the beauty and importance of this noteworthy debut while affirming the continued interest in this unexpected groundswell of cultural prominence.

After seven years, Japandroids have returned with Fate and Alcohol, their fourth and final full-length. Written in part while the Vancouver duo-guitarist-vocalist Brian King and drummer-vocalist David Prowse-were touring behind their 2017 ANTI- debut, Near to the Wild Heart of Life, the album is at once a return to form and a thrilling step forward, testament to the sort of chemistry that they've honed over the course of 18 years and hundreds of shows side-by-side. Their aim was simply to write songs that they'd enjoy playing live, without sacrificing any of the nuance or ambition that marked their previous effort. Nowhere on this record is that more deeply felt than lead single "Chicago," a song whose sheer momentum feels inevitable and true-from the inherent romance of it's opening chords to the series of snare-led explosions that see it through. Like the rest of Fate and Alcohol, it was recorded in Vancouver with longtime collaborator Jesse Gander, who also engineered 2009's Post-Nothing and 2012's Celebration Rock. "The very first demo we have of "Chicago" was recorded in our jam space on February 4th, 2020," King says, "and if you listen to that, it just sounds like a rough version of what you hear on the record. But it's all there. That, in some ways, is the most ideal circumstance for a band like us: just having something that really rips in your jam space, something that feels good, something that you're excited about."

Recent Eagle Rock transplant Jordana Nye arrived on the music scene with 2020’s Classical Notions of Happiness, an album of lo-fi pop and hushed folk songs recorded in her then-Kansas bedroom. She’d be back by the end of that same year with Something To Say To You, a compilation of two EPs featuring craggy indie rock and brokenhearted acoustic fare recorded in NYC with friends. By 2022 she was swinging for the fences with the pristine pop of Face The Wall, all while shuttling back and forth between Brooklyn and her soon-to-be new home of LA collaborating on projects with a who’s who of Gen Z music: Magdalena Bay, TV Girl, Yot Club, Paul Cherry, Dent May, Inner Wave. “Through all of these releases, it’s so cool to see which eras I’ve gone through and what I’d experimented with,” says Jordana. “I don’t think I’ll ever settle on a specific sound. I’m just a chameleon.” So her surprising fourth LP, Lively Premonition, which is equal parts Laurel Canyon folk and shimmery yacht rock, should actually surprise no one. “Maybe it’s my LA record,” she says. “I can’t pinpoint exactly what affected it, but I do think the sun has its beam on me.” Recorded over the course of a year with close collaborator Emmett Kai, the album owes a debt to Carole King, The Mamas & The Papas and Hall & Oates or Steely Dan.

The first new music from the post-emo trio in two decades. Out of the brain of Geoff Farina spills 10 new tales from their unlikely reunion, tracked with long-time Karate collaborator Andy Hong. Make It Fit crams 35 minutes of Wes Montgomery homage, Fugazi dub plate party rocking, Lynott lyricism, and Clash city crooning into a graceful seventh album.

.Karl Blau has forever been that of a polyglot, bending funk and folk and pop and punk into experimental forms with total glee. "Vultures of Love begins with a mind-walk on horseback through deserted canyons where the devil is the only judge as you ride side-saddle. Then let my voice escort you up the surf-y coast where we do some time gamblin’ with our lives on the first single, the durgy, pop canon - “Pasadena.” Followed by avant barn burners thatsticktoyourribs,“Taxes”and“Who.” Watchoutforthatsauceofthehotsaxophones!Astherecord progresses with a mix of smooth and chunky crunk, it gets down to business with “Back on Track” - a boogie- woogie like JJ Cale mixes with Dr. John before you flip the record to be welcomed by a jaunty instrumental full of biting hooks, pounding bass and unapologetic synths. “While the Night Is So Long” harkens back to 90s pop which gives way to the title track - a sensuous pop tale of carrion devotion to their bacterial counterparts. And just when you think you’ve heard all the genres an album could float, I take us deep into 60s Meters funk and then leave you with a tropicalia inspired send-off peppered with synth chirps and homemade timpanis and a guest vocalist...”

'Dreamstate’ is Kelly Lee Owens fourth studio album, due to be released on the 18th October at new label home dh2. There’s an incredible feeling of freedom and escapism found throughout Kelly’s upcoming album ‘Dreamstate’. It’s the sound of a person letting loose and letting go while encouraging everyone else to do the same. ‘Dreamstate’ is built on the foundations of collaboration, with producer-writer credits from Bicep, Tom Rowlands from The Chemical Brothers and George Daniel.

Tension II, the high-energy, high-octane partner of the #1 album and global smash Tension, sees Kylie head further into the electronic space and is packed full of dance floor anthems. The collection of 13 songs includes 9 brand-new Kylie studio tracks, as well as the latest dance hit "Edge of Saturday Night," with The Blessed Madonna, plus collaborations with Orville Peck, Bebe Rexha, Tove Lo and Sia.

Transparent Eyeball marks a new era for Liela as she advances into a more daring sonic direction. Working with production duo IYEARA (Mark Lanegan), Liela has created a dramatic, menacing sound characterised firstly by the ominous ‘Reward’ and, now, the atmospheric 'Conditional Love'. Spacey, glitchy and breathtakingly stylish, Conditional Love’s slick production combined with Liela’s powerful vocal, provide a glimpse of what can be expected on the record.

‘Heavy Lifting’ is the new studio album by Detroit’s punk rock pioneers, MC5. Led by MC5 founding member Wayne Kramer and produced by the iconic Bob Ezrin, ‘Heavy Lifting’ signifies a momentous occasion – the release of new MC5 music, a staggering 53 years since their last album in 1971. The music community recently mourned the loss of MC5 founding member Wayne Kramer and Dennis 'Machine Gun' Thompson, the last members of the original MC5 lineup, accompanied by messages of love from the world’s greatest rock stars. MC5's enduring influence and cultural significance are solidified by their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024. ‘Heavy Lifting’ features an all-star lineup of guest musicians including Slash, Tom Morello, William Duvall (Alice in Chains), Vernon Reid (Living Colour), Tim McIlrath (Rise Against), and many more. Format Bonus CD & LP: Disc 2 / LP 2 contains previously unreleased live recordings from the MC50 tour celebrating the 50 th anniversary of ‘Kick Out The Jams’.

Oliver Coates' Throb, shiver, arrow of time is a portal into somatic chiaroscuro, aglow with the embers of imperfect memories and smudged with the plumes of internal echoes, which augment in vast, mercurial dimensions. The ten compositions of Throb, shiver, arrow of time find weightless melodies soaring across after-image gradients, while Coates reaches further to collapse the digital into the analogue and vice versa, allowing serendipity to reorganize the material and push out against the confines of flatness.

All the songs started out as poems," says Margolin of the work thatbecame Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me (2024), "I wantedto challenge myself." In a song, Dana argues, the writer can always hidebehind the tricks of the music and well-worn techniques such as repetition. "Ina poem, though," says Dana, "it's just words and that's it." Recorded in theSomerset countryside in early 2024 by longtime Big Thief and Laura Marlingengineer Dom Monks, Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me isPorridge Radio's new album and first new music in two years. The UK band'snew album is a coming-of-age moment inspired by burnout, the musicindustry, the brutal collapse of a relationship and - crucially - Dana's ownincreasing immersion in her craft as an artist. "A lot of this album is about a more frenetic and desperate kind oflove," says Dana, "it is about completely losing my sense of self in arelationship, and the deep residue of insecurity and pain that lingered andclouded a new relationship." Songs that were written as love songs - like In ADream I'm A Painting - took on new meanings as Margolin viewed the songswith a new distance. "There was a lot of love and confusion, all interspersedwith exhaustion and pain."The Clouds sessions took place in Frome as Winter melted into earlySpring at the beginning of 2024. "There were a few breakdowns," grins Dana,in a fair assessment of recording such intimate and personal songs, "aftersome takes I would just collapse on the floor, so upset." An environment wasfostered where Dana could express herself and be nurtured. "We would havethese big communal meals every night," she says, "it felt very close knit andcaring and warm and special."Our little house looked over a big hill,"remembers Dana, "there was a river running through it, it was big and brightand beautiful." The studio itself was bright - full of beaming natural light fromthe large windows, a blessing for musicians used to the sealed tomb world ofmost recording studios, and for once the band were all able to record in thesame room as the producer.Today, Dana reflects on Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be ThereFor Me with the enthusiasm of a real creative breakthrough. "It feels like thefirst time we've made something," she explains, audibly delighted at thealbum, "it captured something about our friendship and the way that we havelearnt to play together. I love the songs, I love playing them, they haven'tgotten old and it feels like it's a special thing." A pause. "It's taught me somuch. Following your gut to the nth point, trusting your friends and theirloyalty, trusting to be able to fight with people properly. How I want to live ishow I want to make records, because making records is my life because mywork is my play is my job is my life. It all ties together in this thing, and thereare ways to do this that might not kill me.

In April of 1998, fresh off their Grammy win for Best Latin Jazz Performance for their debut effort, Habana, Roy Hargrove's Crisol went into a studio in Guadalupe to record their follow-up album. Until now, that album, Grande-Terre, has never been heard. Featuring an all-star band of Roy's long-time collaborators, Grande-Terre showcases Hargrove's fiery playing, his exquisite writing and the band's incredible power and unique sound. 2 LP set.

Forgive Yourself. Learn to live with yourself. Don't hurt yourself.That's the mantra of Venus Smiles Not in the House of Tears, a deeply relatable exploration of mental health through the paces of a failing relationship. The tale is spun through inner and outer worlds, reminding us how love can't exist if we don't first confront ourselves.This is the 3rd studio album released by Samora who has gained an unmatched reputation amongst artists and those in the know as a truth seeker and truth speaker. While much of Samora's work is centered in speaking truth to power, Venus seeks a different truth, an internal one, that we all can see in ourselves if we look close enough. Samora has gained accolades and notoriety in Jazz and R&B spaces and though they are both present in this album, he and longtime producer Jack DeBoe set a goal of making music outside of genre. Instead the focus is set on beauty, detail, emotionality, movement, tenderness, rhythm, and connection. The album is a masterclass on the craft of writing lyrics, each word carefully chosen and woven together. Every song has a life of it's own, as the album has evolved over 8 years of writing, rewriting, recording, re-recording, reflecting, and reckoning. The difficult, but necessary process to make an album that transmits the artist's internal experience, through the prism of song. As with all of Samora's music, Venus deserves an intentional and openhearted listen, and if you allow it, you may find your own self through the journey of Venus.

Shawn Mendes' new self-titled album, Shawn, was written and recorded over the past two years by Mendes, across many sessions and locations, alongside a small group of collaborators including Scott Harris, Mike Sabath, Eddie Benjamin, Nate Mercereau, Ethan Gruska, Amy Allen and Chris Thile. As his 5th studio album, it is Shawn at his most intimate and honest,

After the breakthroughs of 2020’s wistfully lush Fear of Death, and 2022’s High School, whose tales of nostalgia were never quite as distant as they seemed, the multi-hyphenate comedian and songwriter Heidecker has reached a new peak with Slipping Away, his warmest and fullest record to date. While all of his albums are concept records to some degree, this one tells a story on a larger scale, offering an imagistic framework that allows for some of his brightest melodies, heaviest themes (the feeling of before the fall and after), and most direct and vulnerable lyrics.

Newly remastered deluxe edition of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' classic 1982 album Long After Dark, featuring "You Got Lucky," "Change of Heart," and "Straight Into Darkness." This expanded edition includes 12 rediscovered tracks, 7 of which are previously unreleased (featuring "Never Be You"), along with new liner notes by David Fricke.