Notable vinyl releases out this Friday - 23 August (2024)

Across the 13 tracks that encompass 'Starchris', Body Meat(real name Christopher Taylor) explores the roughest edges of r&b, IDM, club music, experimental pop, trap, footwork, and metal, only to soften them into something remarkably warm and welcoming, finding catharsis amongst chaos. With this record, Body Meat embarks on a multi-dimensional endeavor, partly influenced by the interwoven and complex world-building found in role playing video games. Taylor imagines each song as its own distinct ‘level,’ and himself as the avatar moving through an immersive storyline. In its totality, Starchris evokes both the exhilaration and the emotional challenges that are part of any long, transformative journey. This record follows a string of acclaimed EP releases, which earned Body Meat early profiles with Pitchfork, Clash, Fact Mag, Bandcamp + more.

Fake Fruit’s visceral indie rock operates so firmly in the present that it’s transportive and unmooring. The Oakland trio’s songs careen with volatile energy and lead singer Ham D’Amato’s lyrics are enveloped with acerbic humor and resonant perceptiveness. Their new LP Mucho Mistrust encapsulates the anxieties of daily life, a bloodless music industry, and global capitalism as well as the clear-eyed skepticism needed to rebel against it. Following 2021’s self-titled debut LP, the band’s personal lives hit a turbulent and transformational period. “There were big life changes and I was close to boiling over,” says D’Amato, “I left a bad relationship, entered a more stable one, got diagnosed with alopecia, and I'm turning 30 soon.” “Mucho Mistrust is about toeing the line between opting out and choosing to participate while knowing what the catch is,” says D’Amato. “It's about rolling up your sleeves, dusting yourself off, and starting again.”

Irish indie rock sensation Fontaines D.C. return with new album ROMANCE, their debut on XL Recordings, out on August 23rd. Recorded shortly after their tour supporting Arctic Monkeys, it seizes on the momentum of 2022’s Skinty Fia, which firmly established them as one of today’s most exciting rock bands. ROMANCE represents a bold sonic and stylistic evolution for the band and lead single “Starburster” (out April 17) shows the band at their most electrifying to date, as Chatten’s swaggering stream of consciousness collides with explosive production.

Illuminator, GIFT's sophomore album and first with label Captured Tracks, is the long-awaited payoff of GIFT's ever-growing musical and human chemistry. Nods are apparent to label forerunners such as Beach Fossils, DIIV and Wild Nothing, but GIFT are shepherding those elements into wondrous new vessels for the present moment - sleek, often danceable and frequently mesmerizing.

Tenderpunk pioneer - Illuminati Hotties is the musical project founded by producer/writer, Sarah Tudzin. The new self produced album Power with co-production by John Congleton (St. Vincent, Death Cab For Cutie) features the Hotties trademark wit, vibrancy, and is undeniably fun. Tuzdin says about lead single Let Me In, "I find that something I have in common with most people that I talk to lately is the immense fear of and inability to be alone with ourselves. Constant motion, avoidance, restlessness - anything to keep myself from stagnating have always been my coping mechanisms when my inner monologue starts to get loud." Power features Cavetown on single Didn't. To support the album, the band is confirmed for a NPR Tiny Desk performance and kicks off their US/Canada headlining tour on September 25 running through November. Previous tours include support dates for boygenius, Death Cab For Cutie, Julien Baker, The Linda Lindas, The Beths, & Carly Rae Jepsen + Festival appearances at Pitchfork Music Festival. Songs by Illuminati Hotties appear in Fortnite and Netflix as well. The previous album, 2001's Let Me Do One More, landed on multiple Best Of lists, including NY Times, LA Times, NPR, Spin, Paste, Consequence, Pitchfork, & Esquire. Tuzdin contributed a song for Star Wars spinoff show "Ashoka", collabed with Duck's LTD, and produced music for Pom Pom Squad, Speed Ortiz, and Boygenius. Her work with Boygenius was nominated for 3 Grammy awards and won Best Alternative Music album. For Fans Of: Mannequin Pussy, The Beths, Ratboys

When the onset of the pandemic brought about the dissolution of the band he’d fronted since eighth grade, Joe P found himself in isolation with time to step out and experiment on his own. From the refuge of his New Jersey basement studio, he threw himself into writing, recording and producing his most personal material to date. Posting homegrown ideas to TikTok, Joe P watched as his raw acoustic videos drew millions of views and over 300K followers in just a few months. Among those new fans was Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, who kicked Joe’s career into hyperdrive by duetting alongside his self-made “Fighting In The Car” video (streaming HERE). A deal with Neon Gold/Atlantic was quickly followed by the acclaimed release of Joe P’s acclaimed debut EP, Emily Can’t Sing, highlighted by such singles as “Leaves,” “Fighting In the Car,” and “Off My Mind,” the latter of which went #1 at Triple A radio outlets nationwide.  Joe P has been on a roll since his 2022 project French Blonde - which was heralded by the anthemic “Happy People,” and includes the pulse-pounding title track, “French Blonde,” joined by an official live performance video, directed by longtime visual collaborator Anthony Yebra. The video for “French Blonde” can also be seen as part of the opening scene of Joe P’s short horror film, “If We Run,” starring Michael Gandolfini (The Many Saints of Newark), Kevin Interdonato (The Sopranos), and Joe P as himself.

Multi-platinum Grammy award-winning artist, Lainey Wilson delivers Whirlwind, a daringly honest look into the singer’s life and journey through Nashville. The 14-track album produced by Jay Joyce follows on the heels of Wilson’s seven Country Music Association (CMA) awards including “Entertainer of The Year,” six Academy of Country Music (ACM) awards, and Grammy for “Best Country Album.”

Magdalena Bay, the Los Angeles-based duo of Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin, create magical pop music that floats in the ether of our collective social cosmos. While they call California home, their essence lies in the clouds, emitting unique yet familiar frequencies of synthesized nostalgia, kitschy catchiness, and warped neo-hooks. Suited for the times, Magdalena Bay blends the known and felt with innovative sonic landscapes. Tenenbaum and Lewin met as teenagers in a Miami high school music program. Tenenbaum, who moved from Buenos Aires to Florida at age one, and Lewin, a guitar shredder influenced by his dad’s prog and concept rock records, quickly recognized their kindred spirits. They formed a prog band called Tabula Rasa and began a romance. Both were skilled musicians; Tenenbaum a pianist and singer, and Lewin self-taught in production and music theory. Despite attending different colleges, they maintained their band, traveling hours to rehearse before realizing two things: their relationship was undeniable, and prog rock wasn’t resonating with young audiences. Shifting their focus to pop, they explored its craft, leading to the creation of Magdalena Bay. They learned the complexities of pop writing and production, striving to create something interesting within the genre. Describing their music broadly as "pop," they released several EPs and singles before debuting their album, "Mercurial World," in 2021. Praised for its melodic hooks and meticulous production, it was often labeled as "synth-pop." Their success is reflected in streaming numbers, social media followers, and festival appearances. Magdalena Bay's stylized online aesthetic complements their music, creating a cohesive artistic vision. Tenenbaum says, “We love extending the world of our music past sound into videos or graphics.” Lewin adds, “We’re trying to create an atmosphere or an emotional quality with it.” This integrated approach, termed "world-building," is central to their artistry.

For Nicole Miglis, the multi-instrumentalist and voice of the beloved indie pop group Hundred Waters, writing the songs for her debut solo album Myopia evolved in bits and pieces: travel to a new city, gather field recordings, spark an idea, refine and repeat in an ever-changing order. Many of the songs poured out over the span of a few weeks, while the rich instrumentation developed patiently as Miglis tinkered with the layered soundscapes. Lived experiences recontextualized loose lyrics or snippets, letting the compositions grow organically. Her field recordings further modify the mood with their geography. Ambient street noise conjures visions of lovesick nights along moonlit city blocks, whereas plucking harp points to a restorative afternoon in the mountains; the sense of time and place is vivid. The result is her debut Myopia, an album that explores the complex intersections of desire, melancholy and identity while showcasing her mesmerizing ability to synthesize experimental production, pop melodies and classical form into a musical language completely her own.

Short n’ Sweet showcases the scintillating spirit of Sabrina Carpenter, the pocket-sized popstar with a larger-than-life artistic presence. One gold album and multiple platinum singles later, it’s no wonder that ‘Espresso’, the debut single from the album, has it all: lyrics that make you giggle and blush and songwriting that makes you wish you’d thought of it first.

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Sofi Tukker, the GRAMMY-nominated duo comprised of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern return with their ambitious forthcoming new album, BREAD. BREAD’s acronym, “Be Really Energetic and Dance,” encapsulates the full album experience, inviting listeners into the duo's pleasure-filled, immersive world.

For the past decade, SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE have honed an aesthetic like no other. They’ve chopped up samples, chewed them up, spit them back out again, baby birded it. Across four albums and a smattering of EPs, Zack Schwartz, Corey Wichlin, and Rivka Ravede have fully solidified their stance as some of rock’s weirdest and best deconstructionists. Their last release, 2023’s i’m so lucky, explored the breakup between Schwartz and Ravede, setting the stage and emotional territory for the band’s fifth record, YOU’LL HAVE TO LOSE SOMETHING. This latest offering is the most crystallized version of the band’s aesthetic, a continued meditation on the end of relationships and the unsteadiness that follows. It is a meticulous, beautiful, and quietly heartbreaking collection of songs. More often than not, it sounds like listening to a walkman from inside of a hurricane, like the YouTube videos you’d watch in bed for 18 hours straight after you break your wrist from a skateboarding accident. YOU’LL HAVE TO LOSE SOMETHING is a record of provocations. Despite being written all over the globe, with Ravede in Portugal and Schwartz and Wichlin back in Philadelphia, the trio arrived at the same themes: that of the brutality of coming to terms with reality, that of what it means to lie to protect yourself and your heart. Schwartz says he writes songs more or less in a stream of consciousness. The band listens to very little outside music when working. The result is a record that very much is its own world. Where chaos is carefully organized, where being able to ever actually chill out is totally illusory, a trick mirror.

The Softies, comprised of Rose Melberg and Jen Sbragia, embody timeless themes of friendship and self-discovery through their minimalist pop soundworld. Since their formation in 1994, they've created uncluttered and fearlessly vulnerable music, contrasting with prevailing trends. The Bed I Made, The Softies' first new studio album in 24 years, showcases growth while reflecting on life's complexities with lyrics drawn from real experiences. Despite individual pursuits and personal losses, Melberg and Sbragia reunite, channeling grief and rejuvenation into an album that captures the essence of their enduring friendship and offers hope and renewal amid life's challenges. Through their perfectly-paired harmonies and telepathic playing, they navigate the present, past, and future, offering a poignant continuation of their musical legacy, resonating like time spent with an old friend who knows you best.

.One of the most engaging and consistent country chart-toppers of the last 10 years, Thomas Rhett has emerged as a superstar with as much songwriting prowess as stadium-rocking charisma. Marking the start of a fresh creative chapter, his upcoming seventh studio album ABOUT A WOMAN is full of heart-pounding country with a progressive edge, high-energy anthems and quick-hitting lyrics amid lush soundscape, proving why Thomas Rhett once again leads the evolving genre without forgetting its roots.

Throbbing Gristle unveils a brand new reissue of The Third Mind Movements, released commercially for the first time on CD and vinyl via Mute. Formed in 1975, Throbbing Gristle, aka Chris Carter, Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson (1955-2010), Cosey Fanni Tutti, and Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (1950-2020), fully delivered on punk’s failed promise to explore extreme culture as a way of sabotaging systems of control. Their impact on music, culture, and the arts has been immeasurable and still felt today. Having reformed in 2004, Throbbing Gristle’s The Third Mind Movements initially emerged as an exclusive release only available on the band’s last ever American tour in 2009, before they split again in 2010. The tour, which saw them perform in the US for the first time in 28 years, included their first shows in NY and an appearance at Coachella festival. The Third Mind Movements album, recorded during the Desertshore sessions at the ICA, London several years earlier – a series of six live recordings from the ICA attended by an attentive audience - journeys through manipulated, time-stretched and distorted samples, with rhythmical breakbeats and hypnotic oscillations of electronics. The Third Mind Movements is released alongside TGCD1 - both vital additions for dedicated Throbbing Gristle and industrial music fans.