64 Albums We’re Anticipating for Summer 2024
With the year hitting a midway point, we recently posted a list of our 40 favorite albums of 2024 so far (and highlighted even more in our genre-specific lists), and now that we’re done looking backwards, there’s so much to look forward to. We’ve put together a list of 64 albums that we’re anticipating that are coming out this summer through the end of September, presented here in alphabetical order. We kept the list to albums with official release dates, but we’re still crossing our fingers that we’ll get or learn more about long-teased albums like Joanna Newsom, My Bloody Valentine, The Cure, Rihanna, Cardi B, Frank Ocean, Sky Ferreira, Michael Stipe, King Diamond / Mercyful Fate, and Death Grips soon too.
Read on for the list…
A$AP Rocky – Don’t Be Dumb
due 8/30 via A$AP Worldwide/RCA
It looks like A$AP Rocky’s first album in six years is finally set to arrive this summer. Rocky told Complex last year that it features production from Tyler, the Creator, Madlib, Hit-Boy, Boi1da, Alchemist, Metro Boomin, Mike Dean, and more, as well as a collab with his partner Rihanna. Rocky’s got some recent singles out that may or may not appear on Don’t Be Dumb, but no confirmed tracklist yet.
Allegra Krieger – Art of the Unseen Infinity Machine
due 9/13 via Double Double Whammy
Allegra Krieger says her new album is “more outward looking” than 2023’s fantastic I Keep My Feet On The Fragile Plane. That’s apparent from first single “Never Arriving,” which brings a more fleshed out sound to her delicate folk, and sounds very promising.
The Black Dahlia Murder – Servitude
due 9/27 via Metal Blade
After The Black Dahlia Murder vocalist Trevor Strnad’s untimely 2022 passing, the band chose to continue on with co-founding guitarist Brian Eschbach moving to lead vocals and former member Ryan Knight rejoining the band on guitar. They’ve been touring with that lineup, and now they’re finally ready to release their first new album since Trevor died. The first single is “Aftermath,” and it’s a melodeath rager that sounds like something Trevor would’ve been proud of.
Bright Eyes – Five Dice, All Threes
due 9/20 via Dead Oceans
Bright Eyes returned in 2020 with their first album in nine years, the ambitious, maximalist Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was. Thankfully we don’t need to wait quite as long for its follow-up; Five Dice, All Threes arrives four years later, and first single “Bells and Whistles” finds the band sounding refreshed, energized, and in heartland rock mode. Conor Oberst is one of the best songwriters of our generation, and this time around Cat Power, The National’s Matt Berninger, and So So Glos’ Alex Orange Drink will each guest on a song, an extremely appealing prospect. You can pre-order Five Dice, All Threes on red and orange vinyl in the BV store.
The Bug Club – On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System
due 8/30 via Sub Pop
The full title of scrappy Welsh duo The Bug Club’s first album for Sub Pop is On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System By Means of Popular Music Or the Contemplation Of Pretty Faces, Tinned Bubbles and Strife which, as they note, is “long as fuck” even it it doesn’t quite approach Fiona Apple length. It’s definitely the longest thing about the album which, like previous records, delivers two-minute DIY-punk blasts about mundane subjects (this time topics include beer and “the worst shoes in the UK.”)
Cassandra Jenkins – My Light, My Destroyer
due 7/12 via Dead Oceans
Since releasing one of 2021’s most widely loved indie rock albums with An Overview on Phenomenal Nature (on Ba Da Bing), Cassandra Jenkins signed to Dead Oceans (Mitski, Phoebe Bridgers, Japanese Breakfast, Wednesday, etc) and is about to make her label debut with My Light, My Destroyer. Judging by the lead singles, her gripping songwriting style and sophisti-pop tendencies are both still in great form.
Chrystabell & David Lynch – Cellophane Memories
due 8/2 via Sacred Bones
When David Lynch teased the world this spring that he would have “something for you to see and hear” soon, most fans were probably hoping he would be announcing a new film or TV project. Instead, it’s his first album since 2013’s The Big Dream and a collaboration with his current muse, Chrystabell (who you may remember as FBI Agent Tammy on Twin Peaks: The Return). Still, Lynch brings a unique vision to anything he does and sometimes, like on his records with the late Julee Cruise, that magic is in the music.
Clairo – Charm
due 7/12, self-released
Clairo’s new album is her first to be self-released, and she co-produced it with Leon Michels of El Michels Affair. He brings some of his vintage soul stylings to the two tracks we’ve heard so far, but they also incorporate some of the intimate, woodwind-adorned sounds of 2021’s fantastic Sling. It’s a winning mixture, as first single “Sexy to Someone,” the kind of song that gets stuck in your head for days, is proof of.
Clothing – From Memory
due 7/26 via Water Level
Clothing, the duo project of Aakaash Israni of Dawn of Midi and Ben Sterling of Mobius Band/Cookies, have been working on the songs that make up their debut album, on and off, for nearly a decade and the long gestation period was due in part from trying to find the right vocal collaborators. “We learned that it’s incredibly hard to imagine a voice singing a song that it hasn’t sung yet,” says Sterling. From Memory features contributions from Amber Coffman (Dirty Projectors), L’Rain, Anna Wise (Kendrick Lamar’s “These Walls”) and Elliott Skinner (Thirdstory), and judging by tracks they’ve shared so far, that time and care has paid off.
Combat – Stay Golden
due 8/16 via Counter Intuitive
Baltimore’s Combat are one of the most exciting new emo bands around and their upcoming sophomore LP Stay Golden is shaping up to be a big leap from their 2022 debut LP Text Me When You Get Back. As we said in our review of the title track: It’s an indie/emo/punk (and sometimes ska) rager that sounds like a cross between Bomb the Music Industry! and Prince Daddy & the Hyena, and band leader Holden Wolf’s scream-sung, soul-baring vocals are pure catharsis the whole time.
Crack Cloud – Red Mile
due 7/26 via Jagjaguwar
After two acclaimed self-released albums and gaining a reputation for their killer live show, Canadian art collective Crack Cloud have signed to Jagjaguwar for their third album which will be their first to get a physical release in North America. Being on a big indie hasn’t changed this band’s process, though, which remains staunchly DIY. Their way is also not repeating themselves: they left Vancouver for Calgary and recorded much of Red Mile in the Mojave desert in a shorter time than it took to make either of their previous two albums, resulting in their most “rock” record yet.
Denzel Curry – King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2
due 7/19 via Loma Vista
Denzel Curry is putting out a sequel to his underground 2012 mixtape King of the Mischievous South, and it’s loaded with homages to the South and other Southern rappers, including Juicy J, Project Pat, Ski Mask the Slump God, Maxo Kream, That Mexican OT, Mike Dimes, 2 Chainz, Kenny Mason, and more. The singles have been great, and if you like what you hear, you can pick up one of our two exclusive vinyl variants in the BV shop.
Destroy Boys – Funeral Soundtrack #4
due 8/9 via Hopeless
Destroy Boys have deservingly become modern punk staples, and their fourth album finds them teaming up with producer Carlos de la Garza (Paramore, Jimmy Eat World, etc) and it also includes a song that features both Mannequin Pussy and Scowl. We’ve also got an exclusive red & gold vinyl variant of this one up for pre-order in the BV shop.
Dummy – Free Energy
L.A. band Dummy say new single “Nullspace” is the “sonic mission statement” for their upcoming Free Energy. While they didn’t elaborate, the song has a bit of that baggy shuffle-beat sound that was so prevalent in the UK in the late-’80s and early-’90s (Happy Mondays, Stone Roses, etc), while still keeping Dummy’s hazy, drony sound.
Fake Fruit – Mucho Mistrust
due 8/23 via Carpark
Fake Fruit’s 2021 debut was one of the year’s best surprises, and we’ve been waiting for its follow up ever since. They worked with producer Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Home Is Where) and where their debut was mostly singer/guitarist Heather D’Amato, Mucho Mistrust was a collaboration with the now-stable lineup of the band. “Through all of our extensive touring with so many bands we look up to, we have grown so much as musicians and people,” says D’Amato. “There’s a lot more confidence and direction for how we write.”
fantasy of a broken heart – Feats of Engineering
due 9/27 via Dots Per Inch
The gentle vocal harmonies of Al Nardo and Bailley Wollowitz power fantasy of a broken heart’s shimmering indie rock, and Nate Amos (This is Lorelei, Water from Your Eyes) and Jordana contributed to their debut LP. Songs like the light-hearted “Ur Heart Stops” have us very much looking forward to hearing it.
Fat Dog – WOOF.
due 9/6 via Domino
Fat Dog have been on the rise thanks to a string of thrilling industrial/punk-infused singles that would fit nicely alongside peers like Model/Actriz, MSPAINT, Lip Critic, and Working Men’s Club. The album will include four of those recent singles and a little birdie tells us it’s got plenty more where those came from.
Fontaines D.C. – ROMANCE
due 8/23 via XL
After three albums on Partisan Records made with producer Dan Carey, Fontaines D.C. mixed things up on Album #4, which is their first for XL and first made with James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Beth Gibbons, Depeche Mode). Likewise both singles from it shared so far are new directions for the band: “Starburster” dabbles in ‘90s electronica and hip hop, while “Favourite” is sweet janglepop. As for lyrical themes, singer Grian Chatten says, “I’m fascinated by that – falling in love at the end of the world. The album is about protecting that tiny flame.”
Gel – Persona EP
due 8/16 via Blue Grape Music
Gel are deservingly one of the most talked-about hardcore bands around, and their upcoming EP Persona is shaping up to be the best thing they’ve done yet. Its lead singles find them sounding a little cleaner, tighter, and more melodic without pivoting away from fast, caustic hardcore. We’ve also got an exclusive violet vinyl variant of this one up for pre-order in the BV shop.
GIFT – Illuminator
due 8/23 via Captured Tracks
“I don’t want to feel sad when I’m listening to music. That’s never been the goal for GIFT,” singer/guitarist TJ Freda says of his band’s second album (and first for Captured Tracks). “It was always meant to be this escapist yet freeing euphoria that anyone could go out and dance to and feel amazing. But I also wanted to talk about some real feelings. There’s this duality between darker lyrics underneath a joyous pop structure.” Devotees of the current shoegaze scene will find lots to like in Illuminator singles “Later” and “Going in Circles,” as will fans of classic ‘80s alt-rock like New Order and Echo & The Bunnymen.
GUM & Ambrose Kenny-Smith – Ill Times
due 7/19 via p(doom)
Aussie musicians Jay Watson and Ambrose Kenny-Smith stay plenty busy with Tame Impala/Pond and King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard, respectively, but with this new duo project they’re aiming to “explore stuff our other bands hadn’t really touched on before.” Watson, who also goes by GUM, specifies that stuff is “funk, soul…groove-based music.” GUM / Ambrose Kenny-Smith’s debut album also has the distinction of being the first release on King Gizzard’s newly launched p(doom) label.
Heems – VEENA LP
due 8/23 via Veena Sounds
Heems returned earlier this year with the great, Lapgan-produced LAFANDAR, the Das Racist and Swet Shop Boys member’s first solo album in nine years, and it won’t be nearly as long a wait for his next album. His second album of 2024 arrives in August, this time produced entirely by Sid Vashi. Lead single “MANTO” features jazz great Vijay Iyer, and it’s a very powerful one.
Heriot – Devoured by the Mouth of Hell
Century Media
We’ve been excited about UK band Heriot for a minute, and now they’re finally ready to release their first full-length album. They’ve been churning out singles that show off a futuristic blend of metalcore, death metal, industrial, and more, and fans of bands like Code Orange, Knocked Loose, Vein.fm, and Candy should take note.
Ice Spice – Y2K
due 7/26 via 10K Projects/Capitol
In the two years since “Munch (Feelin’ U),” Ice Spice went from a promising new rapper to a household name with several hit songs, and it’s because her style is just so distinct and addictive. Her first proper album Y2K arrives this summer, featuring recent singles “Think U The Shit (Fart),” “Gimme A Light,” and “Phat Butt.”
Illuminati Hotties – POWER
due 8/23 via Hopeless Records
Sarah Tudzin’s list of production credits continues to grow as she works with artists like boygenius, Speedy Ortiz, and Eliza McLamb, among others, and her own music as Illuminati Hotties is also very much worth hearing. She’ll follow 2021’s Let Me Do One More with POWER in August, and second single “Didn’t” has her sounding right at home delivering an anthemic, shout-along chorus.
The Jesus Lizard – Rack
due 9/13 via Ipecac
The Jesus Lizard are set to release their first album in a whopping 26 years, and first single “Hide & Seek” finds them sounding as delightfully gnarly as they ever have, and just as lively as all the younger bands that have come in their wake (like Pissed Jeans, METZ, IDLES, Gouge Away, Citizen, Chat Pile, and Couch Slut, to name seven). The album will be out in September, and here’s a quick spoiler: the whole thing is just as good as “Hide & Seek.” Pre-order it on silver vinyl.
Joan as Police Woman – Lemons, Limes & Orchids
due 9/20 via Play It Again Sam
“I was ready to make an album that truly featured my voice,” Joan Wasser says of her 10th album. For it she enlisted a band of ringers including Meshell Ndegeocello on bass, Chris Bruce (Seal, Trevor Horn, Alanis Morisette) on guitar, Daniel Mintseris (St. Vincent, David Byrne) on keys, and drummers Parker Kindred (Jeff Buckley, Liam Gallagher) and Otto Hauser. “The basics were recorded like they used to be – with me singing live along with the band,” says Joan. “My good friend told me this is the sexiest album I’ve ever made. Honestly, I think she’s right.”
Joe Goddard – Harmonics
due 7/12 via Domino
“With all the different people on this record, I’ve been working on how to respect the contribution they make and not trying to be the one who has to lead everything,” Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard says of his third solo album. There are indeed lots of guests on Harmonics, including Barrie, Ibibio Sound Machine, Hayden Thorpe (ex Wild Beasts), Alabaster DePlume, and his Hot Chip bandmates Alexis Taylor and Al Doyle, but single “Follow You” shows Joe does more than fine on his own.
Johnny Blue Skies (Sturgill Simpson) – Passage Du Desir
due 7/12 via High Top Mountain
Sturgill Simpson has a new album arriving soon, except it’s not coming out under the name Sturgill Simpson; it’s coming out under the name Johnny Blue Skies. We haven’t heard a note of it yet, and Sturgill’s known to hop around stylistically, so we don’t know what to expect but we’re very excited to find out.
Kate Bollinger – Songs From A Thousand Frames Of Mind
due 9/27 via Ghostly International
Kate Bollinger says her debut album was designed to resemble an old-school, hand-made cassette mixtape. “I came to this realization that most of my favorite music is the result of friends, or players who have known each other a long time, coming together and playing live in the room.” In this case, on Songs From A Thousand Frames Of Mind, she’s giving the mixtape to us, with the tracks representing the wide array of influences she’s absorbed from people she knows and respects, citing everything from ’60s psychedelia and Francophone pop to ’90s UK indie. “In some way, this album feels like my musical debut,” says Kate, who’s been dropping singles and EPs for the better part of a decade. “I feel that I’ve finally been able to express all sides of myself in one record.”
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – FLIGHT b741
due 8/9 via p(doom)
FLIGHT b741 is insanely prolific Aussie band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s 26th album since 2012 but only their first this year. Their last album, 2023’s The Silver Cord, was all electronic and KG’s albums tend to have a theme. What will this one bring? Is there a genre or style where it seemed like “when pigs fly” would be the answer to the question? Maybe the time is now.
Los Bitchos – Talkie Talkie
due 8/30 via City Slang
For their second album, London-based group Los Bitchos have added a decidedly glossy, ’80s patina to their world-traveling instrumental sound with help from producer Oli Barton-Wood (Wet Leg, Nilüfer Yanya). Single “Don’t Change” and its very fun video have those euphoric ’80s vibes front and center.
Los Campesinos! – All Hell
due 7/19 via Heart Swells
Los Campesinos! have spent their nearly-20-year career in a lane of their own and at this point they’re cult-classic heroes. All Hell is their first album in seven years, and judging by the singles, LC! are still giving it 110%.
Major Murphy – Fallout
due 7/19 via Winspear
Grand Rapids, MI’s Major Murphy have been delivering sophisticated, satisfying guitar pop that flies just under the radar since the mid-2010s, but they may finally catch a little more attention with their third album. “This is our most modern collection of songs,” says frontman Jacob Bullard. First single “Time Out” is an irresistible two-minute slice of laid back guitar pop, with wonderful harmonies in the chorus and a synth line that tips a hat to The Cars.
Manu Chao – Viva Tu
due 9/20 via Because Music
French-Spanish artist and onetime Mano Negra leader Manu Chao is back with his first album in 17 years, and it features songs sung in Spanish, French, Portuguese and English, not to mention a duet with Willie Nelson. First single “São Paulo Motoboy” is a tribute to the Brazilian city’s bike couriers that also tips its hat to Chao’s most famous song, “Bongo Bong.”
MAVI – Shadowbox
due 8/9 via self-release
Abstract rapper MAVI is gearing up to follow one of the best rap albums of 2022 with Shadowbox this August, and lead single “drunk prayer” finds him in somber, pensive mode over a gospel-tinged backdrop.
MJ Lenderman – Manning Fireworks
due 9/6 via ANTI-
MJ Lenderman has been everywhere lately–busy with his solo career, busy with Wednesday, busy collaborating with Waxahatchee–and the singles from his upcoming LP Manning Fireworks are some of his best songs yet–ragged, Americana-tinged indie rock at its finest. You can pre-order it on vinyl in the BV store.
Macseal – Permanent Repeat
due 7/12 via Counter Intuitive
Long Island’s Macseal have made great emo songs, but right now they seem most interested in making great power pop songs (in a Gin Blossoms/Goo Goo Dolls kinda way), and pre-release singles like “Golden Harbor” are some of the most casually infectious songs in this style to come out lately.
Melt-Banana – 3+5
8/23 via A-Zap Records
Japanese noise rock legends Melt-Banana have been doing it for over 30 years, and they’re now set to release their first album in 11 years. Lead single “Flipside” finds them sounding as chaotic as ever… no small feat!
Mercury Rev – Born Horses
due via Bella Union
It’s been nine years since psych greats Mercury Rev’s last album of originals but they’ve never been a band to rush things. “Since our beginning in the mid 80’s with David Baker through the recording of Born Horses, we’ve celebrated this unspoken trust in the ‘statue already inside the marble,’” says bandleader Jonathan Donahue. “We didn’t make Born Horses by throwing clay on top of clay; we allowed Time to reveal what was always there.”
Molchat Doma –Belaya Polosa
due 9/6 via Sacred Bones
Belarusian group Molchat Doma exploded beyond Minsk in the early days of the pandemic thanks to TikTok and have continued to gain a larger global presence. They’ve also continued to grow beyond their synthwave beginnings. “It’s a different band,” Molchat Doma say. “A different sound and context, but the same style and the same emotions.” Not that different – first single “Son” scratches most of the same itches “sudno (Boris Ryzhy)” did in 2020.
Nada Surf – Moon Mirror
due 9/13 via New West
Thirty years into their career, Nada Surf have a signature style and inquisitive worldview that allows them to pull off the difficult trick of “same, but different” with each new record. “Every time we make an album, I’m asked (and ask myself) what it’s about,” says frontman Matthew Caws. “I never know how to answer that question. I’m still trying to figure everything out, and that’s probably as close to a theme as there is…I’m just trying to stay honest with myself and take my best guess at making sense of the world.” Moon Mirror is the band’s 10th and first for New West.
Nails – Every Bridge Burning
due 8/30 via Nuclear Blast
Todd Jones is finally ready to release the first Nails album in eight years–with the new lineup of drummer Carlos Cruz (Warbringer), bassist Andrew Solis (Despise You, Apparition), and guitarist Shelby Lermo (Ulthar)–and it’s clear from lead single “Imposing Will” that the long gap between albums and lineup shakeup have done nothing to tame the band’s grindy intensity.
Naima Bock – Below a Massive Dark Land
due 9/20 via Sub Pop
After working closely with Joel Burton on her wonderful debut, Giant Palm, former Goat Girl bassist and current archaeologist Naima Bock says that her second album was a bit of a learning process. “After me and Joel stopped working together,” she says, “it was an impossibility to even fathom doing arrangements myself, but then I started learning violin. Playing it isn’t easy but writing melodies on it is. I think I needed it, to be able to feel proud of something. Like, that’s me! That feels good.” Soulful first single “Kaley” is unlike anything Naima has done before.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds- Wild God
due 8/30 via PIAS
Last we heard from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds was on 2019’s Ghosteen, an album that completed a trilogy of 2010s albums that were all among the best of the band’s four-decade-long career. Now they’re set to begin a new chapter with Wild God, and they sound as stirring as ever on the recent singles.
Nick Lowe – Indoor Safari
due 9/13/ via Yep Roc
While the cover art to Indoor Safari, Nick Lowe’s first studio album in 11 years, nods to the early-’60s exotica craze, Nick sticks to what he does best – expertly crafted guitar pop played with pizzazz. Helping him out in the latter are his longtime collaborators, luchador-sporting surf band Los Straitjackets. “The Straitjackets like all kinds of music, and are very good, open-minded musicians, apart from being very agreeable people,” Lowe says. “And they also have a sort of punk rock ethos, which, unfortunately, I do too. I’ve tried to shrug it off so many times, but I just can’t get rid of it.”
Nicole Miglis – Myopia
due 8/23 via Sargent House
Hundred Waters vocalist Nicole Miglis reemerged recently with some seriously promising solo music. It’s the kind of sparkling, ethereal electro-pop that would’ve sounded at home alongside the band’s work, but with her own unique spin, which has us very much looking forward to hearing more on her debut solo album.
Nilüfer Yanya – My Method Actor
due 9/13 via Ninja Tune
Nilüfer Yanya’s last album PAINLESS was our #3 album of 2022, so we’re very excited for its followup, especially since she calls it “the most intense album.” She made it with her longtime creative partner Wilma Archer, and both singles she’s unveiled so far sound fantastic and keeping in her distinctive dreamy art rock style, with “Method Actor” being one of her most rocking songs yet.
OSEES – SORCS 80
due 8/9 via Castle Face
“This album was a self imposed ambitious project for us. Something to kick in the creative flow,” says OSEES bandleader John Dwyer. “The last few years, having been a challenging time in general, felt like a good time for a pivot. The last two albums were so guitar and keyboard centric, I wanted a weird and fun set of parameters for us to work with.” What’s new this time? Among other things, saxophone for a sound that, according to Dwyer, is “Sort of a Dexy’s Midnight Runners meets Von LMO meets The Flesh Eaters meets the Screamers kinda punk junk.” Got that?
Respire – Hiraeth
due 7/26 via Dine Alone
Respire owe as much to ’90s screamo as they do to Godspeed-style orchestral post-rock, and the first taste of their upcoming Dine Alone debut is one of their most towering, uplifting songs yet.
Robber Robber – Wild Guess
due 7/26 (self-released)
Burlington, VT’s Robber Robber are hard to pigeonhole. They began 2024 with “Sea of War” which had elements of shoegaze, but their rhythm section – a drummer prone to breakbeats, a bassist who plays the instrument like a lead – kept them out of the ether. Then “Backup Plan” incorporated elements of clanking industrial while maintaining a dreamy element. What will the rest of their debut album sound like? Your guess is as good as ours, but it’s sure to surprise.
The Softies – The Bed I Made
due 8/23 via Father/Daughter
Nineties indiepop royalty The Softies (Rose Melberg and Jen Sbragia) are back after 24 years and, at least on the album’s first single “I Said What I Said,” it doesn’t seem like a day has passed. Guitars jangle lightly and Melberg and Sbragia’s harmonies are as wonderfully winsome as ever. Welcome back.
SOPHIE – SOPHIE
due 9/27 via Transgressive/Future Classic
We tragically lost electronic visionary SOPHIE in 2021, and in the time since then, her influence on both pop and experimental music has just kept growing and growing (especially in a post-Brat world). Before she passed, she was close to finishing a new album, which some of her close collaborators have since helped see to completion.
Speed – Only One Mode
due 7/12 via Flatspot/Last Ride
Australian hardcore band Speed have built up a reputation off the strength of their wild live show and some killer EPs, and now they’re releasing their first full-length. Three songs are out now, and all of them capture the energy that this band is already known for. You can pick up an exclusive black & white vinyl variant of this LP in the BV shop.
Spirit of the Beehive – You’ll Have To Lose Something
due 8/23 via Saddle Creek
Since releasing their 2021 breakthrough album Entertainment, Death, Spirit of the Beehive’s Zack Schwartz and Rivka Ravede ended their decade-plus-long romantic relationship but managed to keep the band going, and they’ve been exploring “the end of relationships and the unsteadiness that follows” with their recent I’m So Lucky EP and this new album. Lead single “Let the Virgin Drive” finds the band’s trippy, experimental indie rock sounding as mind-bending as ever.
State Faults – Children of the Moon
due 7/26 via Deathwish
State Faults are developing a reputation for long gaps between albums (first because of a hiatus, then because of a pandemic), but that doesn’t matter, because no matter what happens, the world never passes them by. Every time they drop, they sound like a fresh new band, and the singles from this album are no exception.
The The – Ensoulment
due 9/6 via Cinéola / earMUSIC
For his first The The album in nearly 25 years, Matt Johnson assembled a crew of longtime collaborators including producer Warne Livesey (who worked on Infected and Mind Bomb), bassist James Eller, keyboardist DC Collard, drummer Earl Harvin, and guitarist Barrie Cadogan, plus Gillian Glover (backing vocals), Terry Edwards (horns), Sonya Cullingford (fiddle) and Danny Cummings (percussion). “We live in fascinating times,” says Johnson. “Things are becoming more and more strange, inverted, and hallucinogenic. But it is vital to be hopeful. I hope people get out of this album what we put into it. It was created under happy circumstances, with a great atmosphere amongst the band and all the people who worked on it.”
Thurston Moore – Flow Critical Lucidity
due 9/20 via Daydream Library Series
Sonic Youth is no more, but all the former members have remained busy and continue to release great music. Thurston’s next solo LP arrives this September, and his unmistakable voice and guitar style are in great form on the album’s recent singles.
Tinashe – Quantum Baby
due 8/16 via Nice Life
Over a decade into her solo career, Tinashe has had one of her biggest breakthroughs yet, with recent single “Nasty,” which became her first charting hit since 2014’s “2 On” after going viral on TikTok (you may know it as the “Is somebody gonna match my freak?” song). That song and its followup single “Getting No Sleep” will both appear on her next album Quantum Baby.
Tindersticks – Soft Tissue
due 9/13/ via City Slang
What to expect from sophisticated indie vets Tindersticks’ 14 album? Leader Stuart Staples offers up these lyrics from the album’s opening lines: “Baby I was falling, but the shit that I was falling through / Thought it was just the world rising.” He elaborates, “it seems all the songs on Soft Tissue inhabit this confusion somehow – despairing at the destruction, suspecting you are responsible.” Musically he says Tindersticks looked “to marry the rigor of the songwriting and the joy of the band playing together with a more hard-nosed experimental approach.” Soulful single “New World” suggests they nailed it.
The WAEVE – City Lights
due 9/20 via Transgressive
UK indie power couple Graham Coxon (Blur) and Rose Elinor Dougal (Pipettes) compliment each other whether at home, in the studio or on stage. The WAEVE lets them stretch their musical wings as well. Did you know Coxon blows a mean sax? It’s all over the title track to City Lights, their second album, which like their debut was made with producer James Ford (who also worked on Fontaines D.C.’s new album).
Wand – Vertigo
due 7/26 via Drag City
California band Wand left the garage years ago and have been making complex, compelling and muscular guitar rock for at least a decade but still feel criminally underrated. 2024 may change that, both with their sixth album (which adds a string section to the mix) and with a few opening gigs on Red Hot Chili Peppers’ summer stadium tour. The band’s riffage certainly plays to the cheap seats but they’re even better up close.
Wishy – Triple Seven
due 8/16 via Winspear
After releasing a pair of EPs last year, Indianapolis band Wishy deliver their debut album in August, which means there will be just enough summer left to luxuriate in the ear-worm melodies of their shimmering dream-pop. Those vibes are very apparent on both singles they’ve shared so far, “Love On The Outside” and “Triple Seven.”
worlds greatest dad – Better Luck Next Time
due 9/13 via SideOneDummy
Atlanta’s worlds greatest dad have signed to long-running punk label SideOneDummy (whose current roster includes Carpool, Cliffdiver, Walter Etc, and more) for their sophomore album, Better Luck Next Time, and it finds them leaning into their self-proclaimed “redneck emo” vibes. If you’re into stuff like Ratboys, Wednesday, and Waxahatchee, take note.
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