Joan Shelley - The Spur (No Quarter)

Joan Shelley returns with "The Spur" her first new album in three years. The twelve-song set is a profound meditation on light and darkness, recorded in the spring of 2021 at Earthwave Farm in the Kentucky countryside. James Elkington serves as co-producer (alongside Shelley) and the album features collaborations with Bill Callahan, Meg Baird and the British novelist Max Porter along with Shelley's musical partner Nathan Salsburg.

Just Mustard - Heart Under (Partisan)

The music this Ireland band makes is strikingly untraditional. Though to look at them, it appears that the band are a five-piece with uniform make-up of a vocalist, two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer, not a single one of them utilizes their instrument in a confined or regular fashion. The guitarists make their six-strings shriek and wail, the sounds produced sounding like everything from whirring machinery to horror movie monsters. Behind them, the drummer uses the rim of his drums almost as much as the skins, providing a clattering, metallic backbeat. The album presents a coherent style and ethos but still incorporates a wide and untethered vision. There are brooding, atmospheric rock songs and others that apply a lighter, dreamier touch, all tied together with impeccable instrumentation and a united vision.

Hollie Cook - Happy Hour (Merge)

With Happy Hour, her ravishing new LP, London's Hollie Cook matures into the queen of modern-day "lovers rock" - the lush girly harmony reggae style beloved in Britain since the 1970s. Evolution rings from the bittersweet opening title track; tender yet assertive, Hollie's voice caresses evocative lyrics through the arrangement's tumbling changes. Dreamy and serene, this is Lovers' Rock for the Covid generation. Available on CD or super lovely orchid & tangerine swirl color vinyl while they last!

Martin Courtney - Magic Sign (Domino)

The second album written, performed and produced by Real Estate singer Martin Courtney, following 2015's Many Moons. He develops his craft taking it to new heights, making it more cerebral and mature than his 2015 debut Many Moons or his work in Real Estate. The dulcet tones he has consistently proven himself adept at creating are akin to a sonic comfort blanket. Interestingly, Courtney retains that unmistakably heady vibe that makes his work in Real Estate so noteworthy. However, on Magic Sign, the sense of nostalgia is so palpable that, like Courtney, you find yourself floating down memory lane, thinking of the sun bouncing off the lush flora as you glide down a country lane as a teenager on a warm day. Indie exclusive violet LP or CD.

Automatic - Excess (Stones Throw)

Excess is Automatic's new album following their 2019 debut Signal. The band distills themes of 70s and 80s corporate excess, dystopian sci-fi and climate change into catchy, fresh alternative electronic songs sure to find fans among rock lovers of all stripes. The motorik and icy atmospheres of Automatic's debut Signal remain, but Excess sees the band widening their scope, folding catchy pop hooks into their sound. The result is a tighter, punchier Automatic: danceable synth-punk for the end of days.

Linda Hoover - I Mean To Shine (Omnivore)

In the summer of 1970, Linda Hoover, then 19, entered the studio to cut her first album with Gary Katz, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen leading a team that also included guitarists (and future Steely Dan members) Denny Dias & Jeff "Skunk" Baxter. I Mean To Shine includes 3 original compositions by Linda alongside The Band's "In A Station" (from Music From Big Pink) and Stephen Stills' "4+20". Almost half of the album was penned by the pre-Steely Dan songwriting duo of Becker and Fagen. Sadly, the release was shelved over a business disagreement. For the production team of Katz, Becker, and Fagen one success built on another and Hoover's album disappeared, until now.

Soccer Mommy - Sometimes, Forever (Loma Vista)

Sometimes, Forever - the immersive and compulsively replayable new Soccer Mommy album - cements Sophie Allison's status as one of the most gifted songwriters in rock today. It finds her broadening the borders of her aesthetic without abandoning the unsparing lyricism and addictive melodies that made earlier songs so easy to obsess over. To support her vision, Sophie enlisted producer Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never) whose recent credits include the Uncut Gems movie score and The Weeknd's Dawn FM.

Also New This Week

Arooj Aftab - Vulture Prince [Deluxe] (Verve)
Alexisonfire - Otherness (Dine Alone)
The Animals - [reissues] (Abkco)
Blake Babies - Sunburn LP (American Laundromat)
Caamp - Lavender Days (Mom + Pop)
Capital Theatre - A Hero's Journey (Amplified)
Coheed and Cambria - Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind (Roadrunner)
Converge - Bloodmoon: I (Deathwish)
Dream Syndicate - Ultraviolet Battle Hymns And True Confessions (Fire)
Ella Fitzgerald - Ella at the Hollywood Bowl: The Irving Berlin Songbook (Verve)
G. Love - Philadelphia Mississippi (Philadelphonic)
Goose - Dripfield (No Coincidence)
Jack Johnson - Meet The Moonlight (Brushfire)
Glenn Jones - Vade Mecum (Thrill Jockey)
Charles Lloyd - Trios: Chapel (Blue Note)
Muna - s/t (Saddest Factory)
Michael Rault - s/t (Wick)
Redd Kross - Neurotica LP (Merge)
Reverend Baron - From Anywhere (Karma Chief)
Regina Spektor - Home, Before And After (Sire)
Thin Lizzy - Songs For While I'm Away + The Boys Are Back In Town [Live] 2CD+DVD (Mercury)
Tyler the Creator - Call Me If You Get Lost LP (Columbia)
Kanye West - Donda 4LP (Def Jam)