Here’s a rundown of new releases on DSPs and physical releases in record shops this week.
New Albums
Feist – Multitudes
Canadian artist Feist’s sixth full-length took shape soon after the birth of her daughter and sudden death of her father. The album was largely written and workshopped during an intensely communal experimental show of the same name through the last two years.
Metallica – 72 Seasons
The twelfth studio album by the biggest metal band in the world, features song titles like ‘If Darkness Had a Son’, ‘Screaming Suicide’ and ‘Crown Of Barbed Wire’. It’s 77 minutes long and produced by Greg Fidelman with Hetfield & Ulrich.
El Michels Affair & Black Thought – Glorious Game
Jazzy hip-hop instrumentals and The Roots rapper at the top of the craft combine for a full-length on Big Crown Records.
The Tallest Man On Earth – Henry St.
The Swedish singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson releases his sixth studio album album, recorded with a full band, ahead of Sunday’s Vicar Street gig.
Grandbrothers – Late Reflections
The German-Swiss duo make contemporary classical ambient music using altered pianos. Their fourth album was made in the old Cologne Cathedral. Since the Cathedral remained open during the daytime—the landmark routinely brings in 20,000 visitors a day—duo recorded at night, alone with seven centuries of history. ‘Daybreak’
Jinx Lennon – Walk Lightly When The Jug Is Full
Dundalk’s finest alt-punk-poet latest album features ‘The Man Who Loved ABBA’. Bandcamp. Jinx is on an Irish tour.
Dave Okumu & The 7 Generations – I Came From Love
UK artist, also known as one of The Invisible, releases an album that is “a tapestry of the Black experience that explores ancestry, the legacy of slavery, what it means to exist in an unjust society, and Okumu’s own family history”. Guests include Grace Jones, Eska, Kwabs, Wesley Joseph, Robert Stillman, Anthony Joseph and Raven Bush.
Petite Noir – MotherFather
Petite Noir is the architect of Noirwave – a musical and cultural movement that draws creative energy from punk aesthetics and the fragmented identity of today’s African diaspora. The Congolese artist was born in Belgium, raised in South Africa, and is now based between London and Paris. ‘Blurry ft. Sampa The Great’.
Kid Koala – Creatures of the Late Afternoon
Canadian turntablist and cut and paste artist, releases a double album of collage-rap beats and polychromatic music vibes. Ostensibly the album is a soundtrack “to an accompanying board game centered around a cast of creatures who band together through the power of music to save their habitat from destruction.” ‘Jump & Shuffle’
Rodney Owl – Truth Is Broken
Galway-based singer-songwriter Mark McConville’s music traverses acoustic, electric folk, indie and pop. Album is released on Black Gate, was produced by Alex Borwick (Niamh Regan) and cites influences as diverse as Aldous Harding, Lumen Drones, Velvet Underground, The Smiths and Sly & The Family Stone. Bandcamp.
Shygirl – Nymph_o
Deluxe version of Nymph from UK experimental pop artist Shygirl features Björk, Arca, Erika de Casier, Eartheater and more.
Shannon Lay – Covers Vol. 1
American songwriter releases a 9-track covers album on Sub Pop of Elliott Smith, Nick Drake, Arthur Russell, Vashti Bunyan and more. Lay is playing The Cobblestone next Wednesday April 26th.
Patrick Wolf – The Night Safari
I’d just read this Guardian interview as background to the Canadian artist’s return.
OZmotic & Fennesz – Senzatempo
Austrian electronic producer and Italian duo’s album was conceived during the pandemic. Bandcamp.
Temples – Exotico
Psychedelic alt-rock English band’s fourth album.
Xylouris White – The Forest In Me
Frequuent visitor to these shores, Melbourne-based folk rock band’s latest. Bandcamp.
GoGo Penguin – Everything is Going to Be Okay
Break-beat minimalist trio arrive with the optimism of new beginnings, with a new drummer, a new record label, and a subtly updated and developed sound. Title track.
Kara Jackson – Why Does The Earth Give Us People To Love?
Debut album by Illinois poet and singer-songwriter Kara Jackson, who formerly served as the U.S. National Youth Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2020. Bandcamp.
Seafret – Wonderland
Third album from UK indie acoustic folk band.
Fenne Lily – Big Picture
Bristol singer-songwriter’s new album on Dead Oceans, “delineates the phases of love and becomes a map of comfort vs claustrophobia.” Bandcamp.
EP & 12″ Releases
Angel Olsen – Forever Means EP
Four song companion to last year’s Big Time album, the Forever Means EP features songs from those sessions.
“I was thinking ‘what does ‘forever’ really mean? What are the things I’m seeking in friendship or love, and how can ‘forever’ be attainable if we’re always changing?,” said Olsen. “Forever remains curious while trying also to be kind and honest.” Bandcamp.
Blood Donor – Baby No More EP
Ex Otherkin singer Luke Reilly’s solo project Blood Donor has taken a more synth-indie pop tack, and this EP collates some previous singles, with two new songs., ahead of a debut album later this year. Spotify.
Pet Shop Boys – Lost EP
Features four previously unreleased songs recorded from their 2016 album Super.
Proc Fiskal – Rt Hon
Edinburgh producer releases a 4-tracker on Hyperdub. Bandcamp.
amy michelle – felicity stories EP
London-based Mullingar artist with the penchant for purple releases an EP that takes it title from “the made-up collection of tales that amy’s granny would tell her as a kid.” Spotify.
Kay Young – We Meet At Last EP
An English artist who played Other Voices in Dingle a couple of years ago. Bandcamp.
Jean Deaux – Heavy EP
Chicago artist’s new 7-track of future soul and R&B EP is on Soundcloud.
Magdalena Bay – mini mix vol.3
A new seven-song mixtape from the US synthpop duo.
R. Kitt/ Richie Kaboogie – Signs of life: Part 5
Kilkenny label Moot Tapes releases two ambient songs from Irish producers. Bandcamp.
Enny – We Go Again EP
British rapper on the rise enlists Loyle Carner for this new EP. ‘Charge It’
Audiobooks- Gulliver EP
David Wrench and Evangeline Ling’s wonky electronic project on Heavenly Recordings. Bandcamp.
Chris Kabs – Y Not?
Dublin artist of Afropop and soul persuasion drops a seven-track EP, ahead of a headiner at Academy Dublin on April 22nd.
Famille Rose – Debut EP
A new project by Dublin musician Paddy Ormond ( Postcard Versions, The Claque, Jet Setter) “born out of the idea that sometimes songs don’t quite fit right in other ventures, but still deserve a place out there, rubbing shoulders with all the other rough and ready efforts, shrugging and smiling; and that sometimes the quiet idle thoughts have the most meaning.” Stated influences include Aldous Harding, Cate Le Bon, and Yo La Tengo. Bandcamp.
SIIGHTS – Somewhere Between Lost & Found EP
Scottish Irish pop duo. ‘Stay A While’
