New Releases & Staff Picks - 4/24/26

STAFF PICKS
 DARIO - Resavoir
ASH - Kenny Dorham
 JAKE - Friko and Portrayal of Guilt 
KIMBER - Angelo De Augustine
MARY - John Coltrane
ZACH - Friko
DREW - Portrayal of Guilt 
PAT- Friko

FOO FIGHTERS - Your Favorite Toy  CD/LP (RCA)
Preceded by it's addictive new title track and last year's incendiary ‘Asking For A Friend,’ Your Favorite Toy is Foo Fighters' 12th album - and quite possibly their hardest rocking to date. Burning through 10 absolute bangers in under 40 minutes, Your Favorite Toy demands and rewards repeat listens in equal measure. It's Foo Fighters pushing boundaries as they pin the volume meters, adding new dimensions to their timeless signature sound.

FRIKO - Something Worth Waiting For CD/LP (ATO Records)  
Chicago's Friko returns with their anticipated sophomore album, produced by Grammy winner John Congleton, embracing a bolder sense of abandon, exploring noise-rock, avant-garde classical & 70s-era symphonic balladry. Their debut introduced a galvanizing new voice into the indie-rock canon, landing them on the cover of NME & Pitchfork's best of year list. Something Worth Waiting For locates an elusive balance between the wide-eyed idealism of youth & the self-possessed grit of lived experience

BY STORM - My Ghosts Go Ghost CD (Deadair)
[CD available today, LP on May 8th] The rap duo By Storm, made up of Injury Reserve emcee RiTchie and producer Parker Corey debut their first album My Ghosts Go Ghost.

DESCENDENTS - Enjoy CD/LP/Cass (Org Music)  
Originally released in 1986, Enjoy! Finds Descendents leaning fully into their instincts. While the band had already helped define what would become pop punk, Enjoy! doubled down on short, fast, melody-driven songs, pairing juvenile humor with sharpened songwriting and unmistakable urgency. Tracks like ‘Hürtin' Crüe’ and ‘Get the Time’ channel irreverence through speed, melody, and tension, while subtle new wave and pop influences, including a punk take on ‘Wendy' by The Beach Boys, broaden the band's sound without dulling it's edge. Now, 40 years later, Descendents are reclaiming and reissuing Enjoy!, a defining entry in their catalog.

NOAH KAHAN - Great Divide CD/LP (Mercury)  
The Great Divide, the highly anticipated album from Noah Kahan. A reflection on Noah's past, his now-complicated relationship to family, friends, his native Vermont, as well as the disconnect and distance that silence and unspoken truths create between people. Produced by Stick Season collaborator Gabe Simon as well as new collaborator Aaron Dessner.

METRIC - Romanticize The Dive CD/LP (Metric Music)  
Metric's relentless pursuit of timeless songwriting and fiercely independent ethos have cemented their place as one of the most essential and ahead-of-the-curve bands of the last two decades. The trailblazing Toronto outfit was founded by songwriting and production partners Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw, along with bandmates Joshua Winstead and Joules Scott Key. Though both were also founding members of the influential and sprawling Canadian indie rock outfit Broken Social Scene, Metric was always the top priority, and shortly after they met and cemented their mission, they left Toronto for New York in search of like-minded artists. Their 10th studio album Romanticize The Dive harkens back to the free spirit of that era, kicking off with Haines nostalgically imploring the listener to let me take you back, it was the start of something... before pulling back the curtain on a band that has consistently stayed true to each other and their ethics for decades.

JESSIE WARE - Superbloom CD/LP (Interscope Records) 
Jessie Ware returns with her new album, Superbloom, the crescendo of her latest era. Superbloom erupts into a glittering rush of Studio 54-inflected groove-pop, expanding Ware's increasingly euphoric body of work as she explores our shared craving for touch, pleasure, intimacy and connection. The album features recent single "I Could Get Used To This," hailed as her "ultimate entry into divahood" and the first track to fully capture the record's assured, expansive spirit, carried by cascading strings and a sense of full-bodied release.

ANGELO DE AUGUSTINE - Angel In Plainclothes LP (Asthmatic Kitty)  
Angelo de Augustine returns with Angel in Plainclothes, his fifth album and most inspired work yet-a deeply felt rendering of his multi-year journey of healing and renewal. Themes explore life's fragility, second chances, and picking up the pieces after an undiagnosed illness forced him to re-learn basic abilities: “I’m trying to figure out who I am now, de Augustine says. I feel like I may have been given a second chance at life, and I'd like to live it.”

PORTRAYAL OF GUILT - Beginning Of The End LP (Run For Cover)  
Over the last decade, Portrayal of Guilt have solidified themselves as a pillar in the extreme underground music scene. With relentlessly consistent releases like 2023's orchestral nightmare Devil Music, and year-round world touring with the likes of Deafheaven, Uniform and Pg. 99, POG have unquestionably carved their own path. De- fying accurate categorization since formation, the three piece blends elements of black, death and nu metal with crust, screamo, powerviolence and hardcore, with the bands forthcoming LP. The Beginning of The End continuing to further obscure genre lines.

SETTING - Setting LP (Thrill Jockey)  
The North Carolina trio Setting brings together their substantial collective skills as musicians and their collaborative mindset to bear in their inventive and rich improvisations. Known for work in Mind Over Mirrors, Califone, Black Twig Pickers, Pelt, Peeesseye, Sylvan Esso, and Jake Xerxes Fussell, multi-instrumentalists Jaime Fennelly, Nathan Bowles and Joe Westerlund subvert expectations while creating a sense of wonderment. Their intricate interplay of synthesizers, cassette loops, banjo, keyboards, electronics, zithers, and a litany of percussive instruments form a tactile amalgam of celestial transcendence and terrestrial rhythm, a loamy pulse fluidly guiding every minute fluctuation in feel.

FATBOI SHARIF & CHILD ACTOR - Crayola Circles LP (Backwoodz Studioz)   Backwoodz Studioz is excited to announce the release of Crayola Circles, a collaboration between rapper Fatboi Sharif and producer Child Actor. While both artists have long standing connections to Backwoodz, this album marks their first collaboration of any kind and breaks new artistic ground for all parties. Sharif's previous album, Decay, released on Backwoodz in 2023, was a haunting experimental rap masterpiece, an acid trip in a mental hospital. On Crayola Circles Sharif trades menacing psychedelia for a simmering stew of blacklight expressionism, his verses slipping effortlessly through the swells and tides of Child Actor's masterful production.

GIA MARGARET - Singing LP (Jagjaguwar) 
Every artist has to discover their voice. Gia Margaret didn't find herself until she lost hers. With a vocal injury that kept her from singing for years, she developed other musical languages, mastering the grammar of an intricate, homey form of ambient music pioneered by Ernest Hood and perfected by The Books. Now, her physical voice healed and her artistic voice honed, she comes full circle with Singing, her first vocal album since 2018's There's Always Glimmer. Led by soft piano lines that fall like breath on glass, the music on Singing evidences the same jeweler's sensitivity to detail that she developed in her silence.

GLEN HANSARD - Don't Settle (Vol. 1 - Transmissions East) CD/LP (Plateau Records)   Don't Settle - Transmissions East is the first release of two volumes coming out this year. Highlighting an incredibly prolific and diverse career, this isn't just a 'Best Of' - it's a live studio album, it's no second takes, no autotune, no editing. Just live, raw, direct energy that captures the magic of Glen like nothing released before. Recorded at the legendary Funkhaus in Berlin, a historical East German radio and recording studio, with a huge acoustically perfect orchestral live room - the album was captured in a controlled studio environment, yet recorded and filmed across two nights in the round, with 600 fans in the room each night. This release is not only supported by a nearly sold out UK/EU tour (London show is The Roundhouse) + underplay run in the US, but a feature length film and Making of, documenting this special time in Glens' career where we look to both the past and the future.

CHET FAKER - Love For Strangers LP (BMG) 
A Love for Strangers is a complete reinvention for Nick Murphy. His first record as Chet Faker in four years expands his previously established sound in thrilling new directions, with moonlit saxes recalling legendary acts like Prefab Sprout and the Blue Nile as well as the lush, breakbeat-laden pop of David Gray's classic White Ladder. These 12 songs find Murphy ruminating on heartbreak and uncertainty on a grand, sweeping scale - asking questions about how we relate to each other, examining the ways in which we fail to do so, and extending a necessary sense of hope when it comes to repairing our relationships with the world around us.

CHET BAKER - Two A Day LP [Reissue/1980]  (Diggers Factory) 
On December 29, 1978 At The Château D'hérouville with Jean-Louis Rassinfosse on bass, Jeff Brillinger on drums and Phil Markowitz on piano, then mixed at Studios Davout on December 8, 1979, Two A Day has not been reissued on vinyl since 1980. This little-known but remarkable album from Chet Baker brings together instrumental and vocal tracks, all infused with the swing and emotional depth that define his finest recordings. To fully highlight the qualities of this masterful session, a high-quality remastering has been carried out, restoring the warmth and intimacy of the legendary Château d'Hérouville studios, which also hosted artists such as David Bowie and Pink Floyd. The LP edition features hot gold foil numbering.

RESAVOIR - Themes For Dreams LP (L'Univers)  
Themes For Dreams marks another left turn for Chicago-based musician, composer, and producer Will Miller, finding him at his most meditative, patient, and intentional. Across 13 gorgeous and strikingly cohesive tracks, the album eschews drums in favor of immersive melodies that float, dissipate, and linger. It's an album meant for rest, with arrangements so welcomely enveloping they feel like a warm blanket. While it's Miller's sparsest record yet, it still keeps his wildly collaborative ethos, enlisting guests like Marta Sofia Honer, Jeremiah Chiu, Macie Stewart, Matt Gold, William Corduroy, Molly Rife, and others.

YOUNG LIONS - Young Lions (Original Jazz Classics) LP [Reissue/1961]  (Craft Recordings)  
The Young Lions was originally released in 1961 on Vee-Jay Records and features Wayne Shorter, Frank Strozier, Lee Morgan, Bobby Timmons, Bob Cranshaw, Albert Heath and Louis Hayes. The album contains 5 original cuts by Shorter, Timmons and Morgan. This new edition of the album is released as part of the Original Jazz Classics Series on 180-gram vinyl pressed at RTI with all-analog mastering from the original tapes at Cohearent Audio and a Stoughton Tip-On Jacket.

CORY WONG - Lost in the Wonder LP (Diggers Factory) 
Lost in the Wonder spotlights Wong's remarkable gifts as a producer, writer, arranger, band leader, and master of modern pop craftsmanship, while of course never losing sight of his trademark guitar virtuosity. Lost In The Wonder further affirms Wong's enduring love of musical collaboration, boasting a truly eclectic range of guest artists that includes Taylor Hanson, Devon Gilfillian, Stephen Day, Cody Fry, Yam Haus, Louis Cato, Ellis, Elysia Biro, Benny Sings, Theo Katzman, and Magic City Hippies.

JERSKIN FENDRIX - Bugonia O.S.T. LP (Waxwork Records)  
In collaboration with Milan Records and Sony Music, Waxwork Records is proud to present the premier vinyl release of Bugonia Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Jerskin Fendrix. Music by Jerskin Fendrix (Poor Things, Kinds Of Kindness).

JOHN COLTRANE - Africa/Brass (Verve Acoustic Sounds Series) LP [Reissue/1961] (Impulse Records)  
Africa/Brass, released in 1961, was John Coltrane's first album for Impulse! Records and a turning point in his recorded output. Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's studio and produced by Creed Taylor, the project expanded Coltrane's working quartet into a large ensemble, pairing his searching tenor and soprano saxophone with dense, brass-heavy orchestrations by Cal Massey. Arrangements by Eric Dolphy and McCoy Tyner helped shape the album's distinctive sound, weaving tuba, euphonium, French horns, and more into a powerful backdrop for Coltrane's improvisations. One of the most important early Impulse! Releases, Africa/Brass announced Coltrane's arrival on the house that Trane built with radical clarity. Verve Acoustic Sounds Series is remastered from the original analog tapes and pressed on 180g vinyl.

KENNY DORHAM - Complete 'Round About At The Cafe Bohemia LP [Reissue/1956] (Blue Note Records)  
Triple vinyl LP pressing. Kenny Dorham's sublime 1956 live album, The Complete 'Round About Midnight At The Cafe Bohemia, features the trumpeter with J.R. Monterose, Kenny Burrell, Bobby Timmons, Sam Jones & Arthur Edgehill. This Blue Note Tone Poet Edition 3-LP set was produced by Joe Harley, remastered by Kevin Gray from the original tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket. Includes a booklet with never-before-seen photos by Francis Wolff and an essay by Syd Schwartz.

RINGO STARR - Long Long Road CD/LP (Ringo Starr)  
Long Long Road, the brand-new album from Ringo Starr, was co-written and produced by T Bone Burnett with Daniel Tashian and Bruce Sugar. The 10-song album includes collaborations with Billy Strings, Sheryl Crow and St Vincent and is the highly anticipated follow-up to last year's chart topping Look Up. With solid roots in Country, Long Long Road layers an easy Americana vibe alongside Ringo's classic rock roots with songs about life's many journeys and finding love along the way.

COMING NEXT WEEK
AMERICAN FOOTBALL - IV LP
BLACK KEYS - Peaches CD/LP
KNEECAP - Fenian CD/LP
FUNKADELIC - Free Your Mind CD/LP reissue
YOUNG THE GIANT - Victory Garden CD/LP
KACEY MUSGRAVES - Middle Of Nowhere CD/LP
EMILY NENNI - Movin’ Shoes CD/LP
TORI AMOS - In Times Of Dragons CD/LP
TAJ MAHAL -Time CD/LP
ALCEST - Ecallies De Lune LP
CRANES - Future Songs LP reissue
MAYA HAWKE - Maitreya Corso CD/LP
HEAD & THE HEART - S/T LP reissue