Graphic by Tuana Özcan
It's Friday, y'all! The best of the day week for new music! Here are some of our pics for the bets new tunes to add to your playlists this weekend.
"coogie," Dijon
Great googly fuckin' moogly, I don't know what I'm going to do with myself if we get another Dijon album this year so soon after 2021's Absolutely. "coogie" is raspy and hungry, it's all the sincerity fans have come to expect from Dijon's baggy tee and baseball cap past, soundtracked by his fishing vest and unbranded can present. A gorgeous track and a perfect follow up from his last album. And yes, I am aware this is the third Dijon rec' in the span of, like, three articles. This is a Dijon stan account.
"Again," Mac Ayres
Mac Ayres has always taken the 'white boy with a guitar' trope to the new heights. We've heard very little from him since his 2021 album, Magic 8ball (a must listen, by the way), save for a single and appearances on Conor Albert's Collage 2 and UHMEER's Something Bout Nothing (also must listens). But "Again," Ayres' latest single and first from his upcoming 5th studio album Comfortable Enough, marks the start of something new in the great Ayres lore-- not the silly-summertime-smiley-boy from 2019's Juicebox, not the jealous elusive recluse from Magic 8ball-- a simpler self and a more introspective take on the beaten path.
"Impurities," Arlo Parks
Arlo Parks spent all of 2022 leading up to this year. "Impurities," the second single off her upcoming sophomore album, My Soft Machine, is a true-to-form soft spoken single, but by no means is it a stale addition to her expanding discography. "Impurities" is simple, a slow-stepping instrumental bolstered and brought to life by Parks' calm yet moving vocals. "Impurities," paired with her January single, "Weightless," show all the signs of what could be one of the more memorable albums of the year.
"Since I Have A Lover," 6LACK
6LACK has been so busy the last few years, doing everything but putting out the damn album!! Since 2018's East Atlanta Love Letter, 6LACK put out two-- count em-- two Christmas albums, collaborated with every singer and producer in the industry, from Elton John and Gorillaz to Jessie Reyez and Calvin Harris, a 6pc Hot EP, and a double single. With the release "Since I Have A Lover," 6LACK is back in peak form, with an album soon to follow. His latest single is the title track for his third album, Since I Have A Lover, hitting shelves and streaming later this month, March 24.
"Don't Stop (Live in London, 2022),"
Bad Nerves
God, I love Bad Nerves. There's just something about a bunch of English dudes playing screaming over some distorted three chord punk. And damn, if it ain't the year of the live album-- as a follow up to their self titled debut album, Bad Nerves is putting out a live record, recorded at Sebright Arms on their "Apathy in the UK" tour last year. Alive in London hits shelves on 10" vinyl April 7, and streaming April 21.
3 Feet High And Rising, De La Soul
Shut up, I know its not a new album, but it's their first and it's finally on streaming, and dammit, they deserve it all. De La Soul's 1989 debut album literally changed the game, its regarded as one of the most influential hip-hop albums of all time, with its boundary pushing and sample heavy experimental sound. Spotify does not deserve them, but I am so glad I can finally hear "Transmitting Live from Mars" any time.
FOREGROUND MUSIC, Ron Gallo
Ron Gallo has finally come full circle since HEAVY META. Take all the kumbaya out of Stardust Birthday Party and the faux-Nashville turned New Jersey indie-blues from HEAVY META, and you get FOREGROUND MUSIC. Thank god it's finally cool to be a blues singer again, even though his spawn point (New Jersey) goes against everything I believe in (plot twist: I go to school in New Jersey).
Red Moon In Venus, Kali Uchis
It's rump shakin' and hip gyratin' and it's all Kali Uchis. This album is damn pretty, so pretty, in fact, it got three listens during the writing of this review. Red Moon In Venus capitalizes on all the things that made 2018's Isolation a cult classic and 2020's Sin Miedo a worldwide commercial success, and and then put Omar Apollo, Don Toliver, and Summer Walker on it. Damn good. Better see this at the Grammy's next year.
One Thing At A Time, Morgan Wallen
I actually don't like this album and very do not recommend it, I just came on to poke some fun at it. To sum it all up, that bitch broke my heart, and I need a drink, so "Man Made a Bar (feat. Eric Church)." This is an album for yankee dudes who are just desperate to identify with anything other than the city of Philadelphia, or anyone over the age of 23 who wear backwards fitted trucker hats to a bar in an affluent side of town. Drink your sorrows (and, coincidentally, all your joys too) to another faux-country album once again diluting the country sound.
Live at SoFi Stadium, The Weeknd
I told you already, and I'll say it again, it is the year of the live album! And who better to hammer that in than the Super Bowl Halftime champ himself? Live at SoFi Stadium is as electric as the studio recordings, and proves that the medium's not dead. Live sets forever.
Rob Lucchesi
Tuana Özcan