10) Shredded Sun – “Wilding” (2024)
A trio of artists hailing from Chicago, Illinois make up the Shredded Sun lineup. Leaning into a more garage-rock sound, this group weaves the noisiness of your favorite local house show with sickly sweet guitar riffs.
Their hooks work in tandem with the sometimes gentler vocals, effortlessly bridging the gap between rough instrumentation. Switching between male and female vocals, this group brings a psychedelic energy with their jangling melodies.
The highlight track of this week, “Walking the Dog”, has a playful quality with a syncopated melody and cheeky lyrics describing suburbia.
9) Greg Mendez – “First Time / Alone” (2024)
This latest EP from Philadelphia offers introspective lyrics with a piano to create a melancholy atmosphere for the listener. Mendez began formally releasing music in 2016 with the album “Phone Records”. Since then listeners have come to appreciate the moody feeling associated with the singer/songwriter’s work.
Mendez’s self-titled 2023 album garnered attention from bigger publications like Pitchfork, even landing him a place on their list of “10 New Albums You Should Listen To Now”. This EP, “First Time / Alone” is the artist’s first release since signing to Dead Oceans Records.
The highlighted track, “Alone”, features an acoustic guitar with Mendez’s melodies to blend the smooth and gentle sounds with abrasive and powerful lyrics.
8) Kishi Bashi – “Kantos” (2024)
Since 2012, singer-songwriter Kishi Bashi has orchestrated extensive and complex arrangements, often utilizing gentle vocals and rising strings. Having worked with artists like Montreal and Regina Spektor, Bashi has been an active figure in the realm of indie rock and electronic music.
His most recent release, Kantos, brings bright instrumentation and upbeat melodies to showcase the beauty of human-created art in an increasingly artificially-intelligent world. Rife with textures of 70s funk and Japanese city pop of the 80s, this album is a danceable and groovy sonic experience.
This week’s highlighted track, “Tokyo Love Story”, has a city pop vibe with its upbeat nature. This one is sure to get you on your feet.
7) Hippo Campus – “Flood” (2024)
Hailing from St. Paul, Minnesota, bedroom pop band Hippo Campus is back with the release of their 4th full-length album, “Flood”. On this album the band attempts to step away from any preconceived notions of how their music ‘should’ sound, instead deciding to start creating this album from a clean slate.
With themes of vulnerability across the record, the group aimed to capture a universal feeling that everyone can relate to. This new set of songs demonstrates what can be made when you have a tight-knit group that has been growing together both musically and personally, strengthening their bond with their art and their fans.
The highlighted track, “Fences” explores feelings of melancholy and the prolonged feeling of frustration that comes with being trapped in a disappointing situation.
6) The Harlem Gospel Travelers – “Rhapsody” (2024)
This trio, Ifedayo Gatling, Dennis Bailey, and George Marage, got their musical journey started back in 2019. They began as a duo when Gatling and Marage were studying under the same mentor learning about the combination of 60’s inspired gospel music and more contemporary funk and soul.
The group released their first album, “He’s On Time”, in 2019 earning them comparison to some of the greats such as Elton John, and even slots of music festivals like Telluride Jazz. This new album is the group’s attempt at making music that bends genres and makes the listener reconsider the idea of categorizing music.
The highlighted track, “Somebody’s Watching You,” features some beautiful singing that sticks with you even after the song ends.
5) Crumb – “AMAMA” (2024)
Back with their third album, Brooklyn-based psychedelic-rock band Crumb brings a lighthearted vibe to “AMAMA”. The band consists of Lila Ramani, Bri Aronow, Jesse Brotter, and Jonathan Gilad. With poetic lyrics written by Ramani, and hypnotic instrumental, this album is full of bright spots.
The title of the album, “AMAMA”, is the word for ‘grandmother’ in many Dravidian languages, including Malayalam, which is reflective of Ramani’s Indian heritage. The title makes more sense when you dive into the title track which opens with a sample of Ramani’s grandmother singing in Malayalam.
This week we’re highlighting the track “Genie”, which features chirping birds and some stretched-out synths.
4) Khalid – “Sincere” (2024)
Since debuting in 2016 with his hit “Location”, Khalid has been a star of the R&B world. His subsequent album “American Teen” was certified as quadruple platinum and earned the artist a Grammy nomination for “Best Urban Contemporary Album”. Following that, Khalid found success with the singles “Love Lies” featuring Normani and “Eastside” with Halsey and Benny Blanco.
More recently, the singer notably co-wrote the song “Outside” for Zayn and his album “Nobody Is Listening”. He also had a song featured on the soundtrack of “Barbie” (2023) entitled “Silver Platter”. This album came out in April of this year with the lead single “Please Don’t Fall In Love With Me”.
The highlighted track, “Breathe”, features Arlo Park and has a calming quality with breathy vocals and relaxed piano notes.
3) Jamie XX – “In Waves” (2024)
Since 2006, James Thomas Smith has been a part of the musical world. Beginning with the band The xx, Smith honed his talent for sampling and remixing before going out under the name Jamie xx to release solo work. He received acclaim for remixes of a Gil Scott-Heron album, “I’m New Here”, entitled “We’re New Here”. Most notably his remix of the song “I’ll Take Care of You” was used as the base of Drake and Rihanna’s 2011 hit “Take Care”.
In this new album, Jamie xx uses the staple sounds of house music with some R&B samples to create an irresistibly danceable set of songs. The use of horn also adds a lot of flare to the album on tracks like “Baddy On The Floor” and “Life”. “In Waves” also features many of the artist’s longtime collaborators like The Avalanches, and Romy who was also a member of The xx.
The highlighted track this week, “Dafodil” features Kelsey Lu, John Glacier, and Panda Bear. The sample makes the song instantly memorable.
2) Amyl and the Sniffers – “Cartoon Darkness” (2024)
This pub-rock band from Melbourne is led by Amy Taylor along with Bryce Wilson, Declan Mehrtens, and Gus Romer. The band was formed out of a roommate dynamic turned musical group and they quickly became locally known for their high-energy performances and edgy lyrics. Their self-titled debut album got the band some more widespread recognition and Taylor was even included on the list of “The 15 Australian female artists changing the game right now” from Happy Mag.
Their newest album expands on the sound fans have come to love, ample in attitude and intensity. The singles “Facts” and “U Should Not Be Doing That” became instant fan favorites to excite listeners for their upcoming tour. They also sparked some controversy with the music video of the song “Jerkin” which featured nudity and obscene language, something Amyl and the Sniffers have proven they do not fear being judged for.
This week’s highlighted track, “Me and the Girls” is a punk rock feminist anthem, touching on empowerment as well as some social issues women face, all while maintaining their signature sound.
1) Magdalena Bay – “Imaginal Disk” (2024)
Pop duo Magdalena Bay is back with their 3rd studio album, “Imaginal Disk”. Following the release of “Mercurial World” (2021), fans of Magdalena Bay have been waiting to see what the synth-pop duo had in store for their next album. Expanding on themes previously explored, the new album offers both more personal themes lyrically and a much richer sound on the instrumental side.
Both of us on the music team got to see the duo bring the songs to life on the Denver stop of their “Imaginal Mystery” tour. With elaborate staging, lighting, decor, and costuming the show was truly unforgettable. The album is full of bright spots making it hard to pick just one song to spotlight.
The highlighted track, “Cry For Me”, is a glamorous pop piece that takes on the view of a villain pondering the idea of forgiveness.