There are more than 110 albums, EPs and singles being released next week. Mark your calendars and pre-order your favourites — but don’t blame me if things change at the last minute:
TOP ALBUMS
Cage the Elephant
Social Cues
I’ve never really understood why these guys are popular. Maybe their latest album will clue me it. Though I kinda doubt it, based on the backstory.
SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “The majority of the material on Social Cues was written during the unravelling of singer Matt Shultz’s relationship. In order make sense of such a difficult experience, he explored the hidden recesses of his psyche, creating characters to tell different parts of his personal story. He explains, “it can be a vehicle to act out things that are hard to confront.” He went on to say, “when I’m creating, I try to put myself in a reactive state of improvisational thought. I let images just arise in my mind and wait for it to evoke an emotional response and then when it does, I know I’m on to something. I was watching a lot of Fassbinder films, like World on a Wire and The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant. I was thinking about their beauty coupled with the graphic surrealism of Aronofsky.”
Lizzo
Cuz I Love You
You gotta love a pop star who breaks the mold. And Lizzo has been doing that for years. Based on the pre-release hype, it looks like this third album — which seems more pop-oriented and less aggressive than previous releases — will be the one to put her over the top. Good for her.
SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Lizzo hit the studio in late 2018 to record her third full-length, Cause I Love You. For the first time, she enlisted the production talents of X Ambassadors’ Sam Harris. Recording in a “haunted ass studio,” the producer encouraged her to break out of her comfort zone. “He reached inside of me and brought out a vulnerability I didn’t realize I had,” she says. “He called out my lyrics by name and pulled them out of my life experiences … I want people to know this process is all because I love them—and because I love me,” she says. “It’s a double-sided statement. You can say Cause I Love You to millions of people, or you can say it to yourself in the mirror. It’s about what you go through when you’re trying to love yourself in a world that makes it so hard. You can persevere and come out stronger on the other side though.”
The O’Jays
The Last Word
Here’s one way to get people to pay attention to your 657th album: Announce it’s your final release. Though honestly, they could have saved time and just reissued their last album. It’s not like anybody would notice.
SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “The Last Word, The O’Jays’ first studio album in 15 years and what the band has announced will be their FINAL album, emotes the same hunger and vocal craftsmanship as the 2005 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee’s greatest ‘70s and ‘80s works. “It’s almost like having a bucket list,” Eddie Levert explains, when asked why the group decided to return to the studio one final time to create some magic. “We wanted to do an O’Jays album that’s fantastic from beginning to end. This project definitely does just that.” Walter Williams Sr. takes an even more irreverent view on The O’Jays’ defiant, and celebratory musical statement. “We wanted another hit record,” he muses. “We wanted attention from the world and the music industry. Feeling like you’re still able to perform—certainly live, but also on record—you just want to compete with the new artists that are out there. The recording industry should embrace The O’Jays because we have paved the way for a lot of the artists that are having extraordinary success today.”
The Rolling Stones
Honk
Just what the world needs: Yet another compilation of Rolling Stones songs, updated with recent singles nobody cared about, meaningless live recordings and — best of all — bonus tracks from previous compilations. Seriously?
SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “36 essential Stones’ tracks – including eight Top 10 singles, Brown Sugar, Tumbling Dice, Angie, It’s Only Rock’n’Roll (But I Like It), Fool To Cry, Miss You, Emotional Rescue and Start Me Up. Bringing the band’s story up to date, Honk also contains hit single Doom & Gloom – recorded in 2012 – as well as Just Your Fool, Ride ‘Em On Down and Hate To See You Go from Blue & Lonesome. The bonus disc of the Deluxe 3CD edition includes 10 live tracks recorded at packed-out stadiums round the world during the band’s more recent sold-out tours. These include Dead Flowers, with Americana star Brad Paisley, recorded in Philadelphia in June 2013 and Bitch with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, both during the 50 And Counting tour as well as an electrifying version of Wild Horses, featuring Florence Welch, from the band’s show in London in May 2018 during last year’s leg of the No Filter tour.”
Sad Planets
Akron, Ohio
Psst … It’s a new duo featuring Patrick Carney, drummer from The Black Keys.
SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Sad Planets — John Petkovic and Patrick Carney — rolls out its brand of “psychedelic trash” — a mix of psych, pop, garage and experimental rock that pairs hook-heavy songwriting with Eno-esque synths and layers of guitars. Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis (who plays guitar with Petkovic in Sweet Apple) adds guitar to the album.”
THE COMPLETE LIST
Abyssmals | Gospels, Hymns and Other Trash!
After the Burial | Evergreen
Allegaeon | Apoptosis
Ann My Dice | Thorn EP
Atlas West | Music Songs
Attacca Quartet | Caroline Shaw: Orange
Tim Baker | Forever Overhead
Bananarama | In Stereo
bbymutha | muthaland
Bells Atlas | The Mystic
Bilmuri | Wet Milk
Jade Bird | Jade Bird
Pi’erre Bourne | The Life of Pi’erre
Jonatha Brooke | Imposter EP
Buck-O-Nine | FunDayMental
Cage the Elephant | Social Cues
Alex Cameron | Live in San Francisco
Loyle Carner | Not Waving, But Drowning
Maren Celest | I Saw The Sun
Sarah Mary Chadwick | The Queen Who Stole The Sky
Chalice of Suffering | Lost Eternally
Chastity | Dust Lust Cuts
Chokehold | With This Thread I Hold On
Diane Coffee | Internet Arms
compltr | Rogue
Countless Goodbyes | Cycles
Cringe | Everywhere You’ve Never Been
Gus Dapperton | Where Polly People Go To Read
Tomoyoshi Date & Stijn Hüwels | hochu-ekki-tou
Dead Man’s Chest & Posse | SNKR018
Dead To A Dying World | Elegy
Drugdealer | Raw Honey
Ludovico Einaudi | Seven Days Walking Tour (Day Two)
Faith Eliott | Impossible Bodies
Fat White Family | Serfs Up!
Field Medic | Fade Into the Dawn
Flaural | Postponement
Bernard Fowler | Inside Out
Polly Gibbons | All I Can Do
Glitter Wizard | Opera Villains
Peggy Gou | Moment
Grand Magus | Wolf God
Jason Gray | Untitled
Gary Gritness | The Legend of Cherenkov Blue
Jeffrey Halford & The Healers | West Towards South
Sarah Haras & Traer | Haram Girls Do It Better
Rip Hayman | Dreams of India & China
Richie Hawtin | Dimensions
Heart Attack Kids | Bad Luck Like Gold
Heart Attack Man | Fake Blood
Heavy As Texas | Heavy As Texas
Izzy Heltai | Only Yesterday
Hosemen | Saturday Nite Conformity
The Hot Sardines | Welcome Home, Bon Voyage
JOHNNYSWIM | Moonlight
Khidja | In The Middle of the Night
Angélique Kidjo | Celia
Will Kimbrough | I Like it Down Here
Kinbrae | Landforms
Lee Boys | Live On the East Coast
Lizzo | Cuz I Love You
Lovers Leap | Lovers Leap EP
Kelsey Lu | Blood
Massive Attack | Mezzanine 20th Anniversary Edition
Chuck Mead | Close to Home
MØ | Theme Song (I’m Far Away)
Tito Montana | Why Not Me?
NCT 127 | Awaken
Daniel Norgren | Wooh Dang
The O’Jays | The Last Word
1000Eyes | Jesus On Mars
Pamplemousse | High Strung
Mark Peters | New Routes Out Of Innerland
Sloan Peterson | Midnight Love, Vol. 2
Raffi | Motivational Songs
The Resonars | No Exit
The Rolling Stones | Honk
Sabbath Assembly | A Letter of Red
Sad Planets | Akron, Ohio
Seaway | Fresh Produce
Shotgun Sawyer | Bury the Hatchet
Stealing Sheep | Big Wows
Matthew Sullivan | Matthew
The Tallest Man On Earth | I Love You. It’s A Fever Dream.
Tech N9ne | N9NA
38 Spesh | The Trust Tape 3
Anna Tivel | The Question
Russ Tolman | Goodbye El Dorado
Tripsitter | The Other Side Of Sadness
TR/ST | The Destroyer 1
Unspoken Tradition | Myths We Tell Our Young
Various Artists | BC35: Volume Two
Various Artists | Brown Acid: The Eighth Trip
Various Artists | Moominvalley Soundtrack
Various Artists | Poppies: Assorted Finery From the First Psychedelic Age
Wand | Laughing Matter
Wargirl | Wargirl
We Are Scientists | Megaplex Deluxe
The Wildwoods | Across a Midwest Sky
Darcy Windover | Cope
The Wolf Howls When I Scream Your Name | To Be Where There Is Pale Light
Heather Woods Broderick | Invitation
Mitch Woods | A Tip of the Hats to Fats
Yawpers | Human Question
Yes We Mystic | Ten Seated Figures
Your Heart Breaks | Drone Butch Blues
