Record Store Day is nigh once again. And you know what that means: Another crapload of vintage reissues, archival live albums, one-off singles and coloured-vinyl cash-grabs for the discerning (and, in many cases, undiscerning) music lover. But let’s not forget: There are also plenty of artists who are just dropping new albums as if it were any other week. To me, that makes about as much sense as debuting your movie on Oscar night, but hey, what do I know? Well, I know that this list includes RSD and regular releases, so you can have the best of both worlds. You’re welcome.
Bon Iver
Sable, Fable
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Bon Iver’s recent three-song collection Sable was an act of vulnerability and unburdening. Written and recorded at a breaking point, they were songs of reflection, fear, depression, solitude, and atonement. The word “sable” implies darkness, and in that triptych, Justin Vernon sought to unpack some long-compounded pain. Then, at the tail end of its final track Awards Season, there’s the barest thread of a lighter melody — a drone, a glimmer, an ember, hope for something more. Sable was the prologue, a controlled burn clearing the way for new possibilities. Fable is the book. Stories of introduction and celebration. The fresh growth that blankets the charred ground. Where Sable, was a work of solitude, Fable is an outstretched hand. Radiant, ornate pop music gleams around Vernon’s voice as he focuses on a new and beautiful era. On every song, his eyes are locked with one specific person. It’s love, which means there’s an intense clarity, focus, and honesty within Fable. It’s a portrait of a man flooded and overwhelmed by that first meeting. There’s a tableau defined by sex and irrepressible desire. This is someone filled with light and purpose seeing an entire future right in front of him: A partner, new memories, maybe a family.”
Jeff Bridges
Slow Magic, 1977-1978
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Slow Magic, 1977-1978 is a collection of never-before-heard songs that Jeff Bridges wrote and recorded with a band of his oldest and closest friends. At turns unruly, inventive, vulnerable, and joyfully weird, the tapes capture him singing and playing with total joy and abandon. The ragtag exuberance of these recordings not only evokes L.A. at a specific place and time — they reveal a missing link in the life of Bridges, an actor who has always considered himself a musician. The music on Slow Magic, 1977-1978 comes from a single decaying cassette labeled “July 1978.” It represents a cross-section of those lost 1970s sessions. Though he’s on a tight filming schedule, Bridges completely devoted himself to every aspect of this release — sharing stories for countless hours, studying mixes and sequences, and even contributing to the artwork.”
Patsy Cline
Imagine That: The Lost Recordings (1954-1963)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “This unprecedented, limited edition two-LP set, fully endorsed by the Patsy Cline Estate, features 48 unissued tracks by the country music legend, all released legitimately for the first time. They survey the full breadth of the singer’s artistry, from her first days as a professional musician with Bill Peer And The Melody Boys And Girls in the early ’50s to the apex of her popularity, just weeks before she tragically died at the age of 30 in a plane crash on March 5, 1963. Drawn from radio broadcasts, TV shows, and private recordings, these meticulously restored performances cast a fresh spotlight on Cline’s luminous, powerful voice, and eschew the opulent strings and vocal choruses of Owen Bradley’s productions in favor of an intimate, unadorned, earthy sound.”
Cold Specks
Light For The Midnight
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Singer-songwriter and producer Cold Specks (aka Al Spx) is about to release her fourth studio album Light For The Midnight, a 10-track collection of fervent ballads and atmospheric songs, with Spx’s soulful voice channelled into expansive sonic worlds. At its core, it is a raw and deeply emotional personal reflection on endurance, survival, and transformation. Light For The Midnight was conceived during a challenging period in Spx’s life, with work beginning amidst struggles with her mental health, experiences that are deeply embedded in the music. Spx emphasises its universality, despite its personal origins: “I definitely wanted to reflect on the last couple of years because it impacted me so much, but I also wanted the audience to walk away with this album. You know, the songs belong to them once I release them.”
The Doors
Strange Days 1967: A Work In Progress
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Doors’ Strange Days 1967: A Work In Progress is an album of early alternate mixes from the Strange Days sessions before the overdubs were complete. The recently unearthed tracks were mixed by Bruce Botnick back in ’67, and feature new liner notes by him as well.”
Marianne Faithfull
Burning Moonlight EP
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Marianne Faithfull returns to the label which made her name with a posthumous EP to commemorate the 60th anniversary of her debut pop and folk albums released by Decca simultaneously on April 15, 1965. These four new recordings all have their creative roots in those first two albums: Side 1 is a homage to Marianne’s pop past featuring Burning Moonlight, a song inspired by her debut recording As Tears Go By, and Love Is, an upbeat pop song written with her grandson Oscar Dunbar. Side 2 of the EP reconnects Marianne to her folk background with Three Kinsmen Bold, a traditional song learned from her father Glynn Faithfull, who had been a formative influence on her folk recordings, and a new interpretation of She Moved Thu’ The Fair, a song Marianne has performed throughout her life, and which she first recorded in 1966. Marianne’s recording career now stretches over 60 years: An amazing achievement. “It’s a good time to look back,” she agreed shortly before her passing. “I am enjoying this period of reflection — it actually helps me move forward.”
Galactic & Irma Thomas
Audience With The Queen
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Crescent City’s chameleonic funk-rock-pop veterans Galactic reunite with the “Soul Queen of New Orleans” Irma Thomas for a full album of new music on Audience With The Queen, an uplifting joint effort that shines new light on the Grammy-winning singer’s timeless sound. Now 84, Thomas has contributed era-defining hits to New Orleans’ R&B Golden Age, earned worldwide acclaim for her blues masterpiece After The Rain and remains among the city’s most celebrated gospel singers. With Galactic at her side across right high-energy, groove-laced originals and a dazzling revamp of Nancy Wilson’s How Glad I Am, Thomas sounds more vibrant than ever. This unique full-length LP featuring two of New Orleans’ most beloved music acts is a must-have for fans of any genre.”
Håndgemeng
Satanic Panic Attack
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Håndgemeng are five damned dudes, banished from the pits of hell, smelling of brimstone and cheap beer. Brought up on heavy metal and rock ’n’ roll brewed together with a bad attitude and devil worship, they emerge from that cauldron with guitars in hand. Get ready to experience a doom ’n’ roll extravaganza as they play to entertain the devil himself! With riff after riff after riff, Oslo’s Håndgemeng will take you from the depths of hell to the farthest reaches of space. Together we will escape prison planet Earth, if just for a little while. Satanic Panic Attack “is even more ambitious than its predecessor Ultraritual,” the band say. “No longer constrained by genre or expectations, it presents a more self-defined sound and narrative, as we’ve returned to our earliest influences for inspiration.”
Valerie June
Owls, Omens, And Oracles
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Rooted in the belief that what we focus on is what we manifest, Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Valerie June dreams a songpath forward with Owls, Omens, And Oracles that leaves no one behind. Halfway through a decade of immense and rapid global change, June asserts a multidimensional Blackness steeped in laughter, truth, magic, delight, and interdependence. This album is a radical statement to break skepticism, surveillance, and doom scrolling — let yourself celebrate your aliveness. Connect, weep, change, open. This newest work shows her own spiritual growth and the opening of ancestral channels into both her dynamic and distinct voice and her tender lyrics. June is not alone in crafting this sacred field for the contemplation of love and being human. Produced by M. Ward (Mavis Staples, She & Him) and engineered by Pierre de Reeder (Rilo Kiley, Jenny Lewis), Owls, Omens, And Oracles also features a cast of contributors, including The Blind Boys of Alabama and Norah Jones.”
