New Releases & Staff Picks - 9/12/25

STAFF PICKS
 DARIO - Jeremiah Chiu and Marta Sofia Honer
ASH - Devendra Banhart reissue
 JAKE -  Jeremiah Chiu, Devendra Banhart reissue, and Kassa Overall
 KIMBER - Stereolab and Jens Lekman
MARY - Jens Lekman and King Princess
ZACH - Guerilla Toss, Michael Hurley and La Lom
DREW - Angel Bat Dawid reissue and Kassa Overall

FRUIT BATS - Baby Man CD/LP (Merge Records)  
Baby Man, the new album by Fruit Bats, is like nothing else in Grammy-nominated songwriter Eric D. Johnson's catalog. Little in the arc of his career-including Fruit Bats' evolution from home recording project to rollicking roadshow, his solo output, and his work with Bonny Light Horseman-points the way to this album, in which his only accompaniment, aside from the occasional blush of synthesizer, is a guitar, banjo, or piano. Save for producer Thom Monahan, reuniting with Johnson for the first time since Fruit Bats' 2019 breakthrough Gold Past Life, it's just Johnson in the room, meaning that when the turntable's needle meets Baby Man's groove, it's just him and the listener, mutually in for a reckoning.

DEVENDRA BANHART - Cripple Crow (20th Anniversary Deluxe) LP [Reissue/2005] (Heavy Flowers)
Can you believe it? Devendra Banhart's Cripple Crow - originally released by XL in 2005 - is turning 20 years old. This was the 5th album from the Venezuelan American artist who is considered the pioneer of the Freak Folk and New Weird America movements. To celebrate - Devendra has compiled a reissue of the out of print release that features a 3rd Bonus LP (on Clear Green Smoke!) featuring 9 bonus tracks, including 1 B-Side, 5 previously unreleased demos, 2 previously unreleased live tracks, and 1 unearthed smash hit from the recording sessions. This release is the first on his newly created Heavy Flowers label.The album received a Best New Music 8.4 review from Pitchfork upon it's release. The release date will fall 1 day prior to the actual 20th Anniversary, which will be the first time Devendra is early for anything. Now THAT is something to celebrate!

STEREOLAB-  Fed Up With Your Job b/w Constant and Uniform… 7” (Warp)  
[Announced and released TODAY!]
Following on from the release of their first studio album in 15 years this year, Stereolab return with two brand new songs ‘Fed Up With Your Job’ and ‘Constant And Uniform Movement Unknown’ recorded during the Instant Holograms On Metal Film sessions. The limited edition double A-side 7” is announced and released on the eve’s of the groop’s 37-date North American tour.

TWENTY ONE PILOTS - Breach CD/LP (Atlantic)
hello Clancy. Hello Blurryface. Meet Breach. Following the epic cliffhanger from the band's last record Clancy, new album Breach brings the highly anticipated finale to the 10-year-long saga the band has crafted since 2015's Blurryface. Twenty One Pilots, one of the most influential modern acts in rock, with the #1 Rock album of the 2010s, is back with their genre-bending sound and masterful storytelling. Through themes of rebellion, freedom and healing, we meet Clancy where they are, and notice there has been a breach in the system... let's finish this.

BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME - Blue Nowhere CD/LP (Inside Out)  
2025 release, the 11th studio album by progressive metalcore band Between the Buried and Me.

SPINAL TAP - End Continues O.S.T. CD/LP (Interscope Records)  
The End Continues is the newest album from Spinal Tap, in conjunction with the forthcoming sequel, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues released on September 12, 2025. The 13-track album includes new original songs and classics with features from Elton John, Paul McCartney, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

ED SHEERAN - Play CD/LP (Atlantic)
After closing the chapter on his Mathematics era, Ed Sheeran is finally back and stepping boldly into a fresh new phase for 2025. By exploring the common threads of scale, rhythm, and melody that connect musical traditions throughout history, Sheeran has crafted a collection of songs that seamlessly blend these influences into a bold, pop-driven sound.

LA LOM - Live At Thalia Hall LP Reissue (Verve) 
La Lom's Thalia Hall concert marked a milestone for them. Starting from small LA bars and going to sold-out shows nationwide, the band brought dance-floor energy to a packed Chicago theater. The night featured unreleased originals, debut LP tracks and classic cumbia covers - capturing the vibrant spirit that defines their sound.

DANCE GAVIN DANCE - Pantheon CD/LP (Rise Records)  
Sacramento rock virtuoso's Dance Gavin Dance return with new album Pantheon, their first since 2022's Billboard Top 10 album, Jackpot Juicer. The band's previous 4 albums have all charted Top 15 in the Billboard 200 chart. Pantheon will be the band's 11th studio album and their first with new frontman, Andrew Wells. The album will feature upcoming single 'Midnight At McGuffy’s' as well as the song Space Cow Initiation, which will feature funk legend George Clinton.

MICHAEL HURLEY - Broken Homes & Gardens CD/LP (No Quarter)  
Broken Homes and Gardens, the final studio album from Michael Hurley, was completed in March 2025 just before Hurley left for his final shows in Asheville and Knoxville. He had been working on these 11 tracks for the past three years at The Rope Room studio in Astoria, Oregon with the same crew as his 2021 LP The Time of the Foxgloves (Kati Claborn and Luke Ydstei of The Hackles and engineer Brian Bovenizer). As was common with Hurley LP's: there are re-workings of older compositions (Indian Chiefs and Hula Girls, Abomidable Snowman) alongside new songs (Fava, The Monkey) making for a brilliant final collection, and capping off one of the most consequential bodies of work of any American songwriter.

KING PRINCESS - Girl Violence CD/LP (Section1)  
Girl Violence is the third album from King Princess. Written after walking away from a long-term relationship, a major label deal, and a city that dulled her spark, the album captures the chaos, clarity, and catharsis of starting over. Since her breakout with ‘1950’ - a Platinum-certified anthem with over a billion streams - King Princess has carved out a singular space in modern pop. Now, she takes full creative control with a record that's emotionally feral and sonically fearless.

JENS LEKMAN - Songs For Other People's Weddings CD/LP (Secretly Canadian)
Jens Lekman is an accidental wedding singer. But he’s also a wedding singer for a reason. Ever since his 2004 song ‘If You Ever Need a Stranger (To Sing at Your Wedding)’ he has had a side gig fielding requests from strangers to sing at their weddings. For over twenty years, he's had a particular vantage point from which to see the role love songs can play in our lives. In 2020, he and novelist David Levithan co-conceived a novel-with-music, Songs from Other People's Weddings. Originally this album was meant to contain the songs from the weddings in the book, but as the novel came together, Lekman began to imagine what happened between the book's chapters. The book and the album eventually became intertwined but also found their own paths. The book remained the structure of the story, but the album sometimes snuck behind the scenes. Stories from the songs made their way into the book and vice versa. The result is an exploration of what we sing about when we sing about love - euphoria, doubt, dislocation, tenderness, conflict, playfulness, gratitude, ingratitude, longing, belonging, questioning, answering. It's very much about a relationship and how it's reflected through the relationships and weddings of others, but most of all it's a love song to love songs.

MARK WILLIAM LEWIS - Mark William Lewis CD/LP (A24 Music)  
Already deemed one of the best releases of 2025 (Vulture), Mark William Lewis' timeless self-titled album moves between nostalgic, deep-rooted poems and upbeat, indie rock grooves. Presented as A24 Music's first independent artist release.

JOHN PRINE - Lost Dogs + Mixed Blessings CD/LP [Reissue/1995] (Oh Boy)  
Oh Boy Records is proud to announce the upcoming reissue of John Prine's Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings, arriving in a special digital deluxe edition on September 12, 2025, in celebration of the album's 30th anniversary. A Grammy-nominated fan favorite, Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings is widely cherished for it's warmth, wit, and depth, and this new edition offers fans an even closer look at one of the most joyful and creatively fertile periods in Prine's storied career.

KARATE - If You Can Hold Your Breath 5LP Box Set (Numero)  
Karate's first five years, boxed in classic Numero fashion and annotated by frontman Geoff Farina. Collaging DC post-hardcore, de Stijl, and Django Reinhardt, this five LP set includes their self-titled debut, In Place of Real Insight, The Bed Is In The Ocean, period 7s, and previously unissued 1993 demo. 41 late millennium accounts of 2am bike rides, punk house floors, skinny dipping, regrettable tattoos, and Interstate 95 commuting, all remastered from the original tapes and housed in sturdy tip-on sleeves for the discerning Karate enthusiast. Don't drown.

AESOP ROCK - Roadwork Rappin' 7" (Rhymesayers) 
After delighting fans of all ages with the surprise children's hit Long Legged Larry, underground hip-hop icon Aesop Rock returns with ‘Roadwork Rappin’,' a joyful ode to construction vehicles and the kids who love them. Inspired by the fascination many children have with bulldozers, front loaders, and cranes, the track delivers clever rhymes and vivid descriptions in classic Aesop fashion-this time with a whimsical twist. Over a minimal beat with bouncing bass lines that evoke the lumbering roll of oversized construction tires, Aesop celebrates the sights and sounds of work zones, bringing dump trucks and backhoes to life with vivid wordplay. The song is part educational, part imaginative storytelling, capturing the wonder of watching giant machines reshape our surroundings.

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Alts 'N Outs: The Other Side Of Blue Note LP (Blue Note Records) 
Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Alts 'N Outs: The Other Side of Blue Note is a compilation of alternate takes & outtakes from iconic Blue Note sessions by Cannonball Adderley, Grant Green, Wayne Shorter, Art Blakey, Jimmy Smith & Sonny Clark.

GUERILLA TOSS - You're Weird Now LP (Sub Pop)
A band so imaginative and unapologetically themselves, they're basically the real-life manifestation of a utopian, post-snob world where all musical ideas are worthy of expression and everyone is welcome. You're Weird Now powers this message. Guerilla Toss' fifth album and second for Sub Pop is a hugely creative and joyful statement about the joy of creativity. With You're Weird Now Guerilla Toss reclaim the word weird for everyone brave enough to let their freak flag fly and stay true to their artistic vision no matter what-a way riskier act than it's ever given credit for, and one that requires a certain amount of serene self-confidence that it takes time and effort to cultivate and sustain.

LYN CHRISTOPHER - Lyn Christopher LP [Reissue/1973 ] (Real Gone Music)
Let’s start with this fact: this 1973 record is one of the most sought-after collector’s items of its era. Why? Well, first of all, Lyn Christopher’s self-titled release on the Paramount label is a really fine album, a beguiling blend of pop and R&B sounds featuring the artist’s winsome vocals backed by some of New York’s finest studio cats, like guitarist Hugh McCracken, Blood Sweat & Tears multi-instrumentalist Lou Marini Jr., and future Back Street Crawler keyboardist Mike Montgomery. And “Take Me with You,” the penultimate song on the album, has been sampled by Mobb Deep’s Havoc, LL Cool J, 50 Cent, The Game, and, memorably, by the Smut Peddlers on their 2001 underground classic “One by One.” But there is another very big reason why original copies of Lyn Christopher command a king’s ransom (and no, it’s not because it’s never been reissued in any format). If you know who Chaim Witz and Stanley Eisen are, then you probably already know the answer. That’s right…this album marks the first appearance on record of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS! They sing background vocals on two tracks, “Celebrate II” and “Weddin’”; and supposedly that’s Peter Criss doing handclaps. What’s more, this album introduced legendary engineer Eddie Kramer—who, though unbilled, was engineering the sessions—to Simmons and Stanley, who were still calling their band Wicked Lester. Kramer then produced the four-song demo that got KISS signed to Casablanca, and the rest, as they say, is history!

BOBBY MATOS - My Latin Soul LP [Reissue/1968] (Mr Bongo) 
When it comes to Latin soul, Bobby Matos and The Combo Conquistadores’ 'Tema de Alma Latina', has to be up there as one of the heaviest tracks ever recorded. This much-loved Latin workout has been rocking dance floors for years with it's infectious, driving energy and pulsating rhythms. Released in 1968, the My Latin Soul album on Philips Records now receives a welcome reissue on Mr Bongo. It's a sheer delight throughout and a premier example of the Nu Yorican sound that was thriving in New York in the ‘60s.

TONY RICE - Backwaters LP (Craft Recordings)
Backwaters is the 1982 album from the Tony Rice Unit. Led by the bluegrass guitar master, Tony Rice, the Unit explores the intersections of jazz, country, new wave, and more, creating a truly unique listen. The all-instrumental album features both originals and the band's rendition of widely known tunes such as ‘My Favorite Things.’ This pressing has been newly remastered and pressed on 180-gram vinyl.

BUSCABULLA - Se Amaba Así LP (Domino )  
Se Amaba Así—which loosely translates to "The way they loved"—sees Buscabulla co-founders Raquel Berrios and Luis Del Valle devoting their eagerly awaited second album to the ruthless examination of their private life as a couple, instrumentalizing myriad strains of Latin music to explore their most intimate struggles as both artists and lovers.

JEREMIAH CHIU & MARTA SOFIA HONER - Recordings from the Åland Islands (IA11 Edition) LP [Reissue/2022] (International Anthem)  
Recordings from the Åland Islands, the duo debut by synthesist Jeremiah Chiu and violist Marta Sofia Honer, is a truly unique series of pieces that marry acoustic and electronic sounds with field recordings, all captured on a trip to the titular Baltic archipelago. By the time Åland Islands was released in 2022, Honer had already been working with Makaya McCraven and Daniel Villarreal, but this project brought her to the front as a lead artist. And Åland Islands was the label's first collaboration of any kind with Chiu, who has since released the solo outing In Electric Time and the genre-breaking debut of his co-led supergroup SML.

ANGEL BAT DAWID - The Oracle (IA11 Edition) LP [Reissue/2019] (International Anthem)  
Angel Bat Dawid’s International Anthem debut The Oracle introduced her multifaceted voice to the world. The response to its modest, initial cassette/digital release in January of 2019 was immediate, and immense. Within a month of its announcement, Dawid was being featured on magazine covers and receiving offers from international festivals; and her subsequent activity marked the beginning of an epic run of creative output that continues through the present.

ALGERNON CADWALLADER - Trying Not to Have a Thought (Saddle Creek) 
Trying Not to Have a Thought, arriving September 12th via Saddle Creek, isn’t just the first Algernon Cadwallader album since 2011’s Parrot Flies. It’s also the first with their original lineup—vocalist-bassist Peter Helmis, guitarists Joe Reinhart and Colin Mahony, and drummer Nick Tazza—since Algernon’s seminal 2008 debut, Some Kind of Cadwallader. Shortly after that album was recorded—and long before it was heralded as a lodestar for the 2010s “emo revival”—Tazza and Mahony departed the band. Despite their looming influence on the aforementioned “revival,” Algernon broke up in 2012 following the release of Parrot Flies and remained stubbornly deceased until their fiendishly anticipated resurrection in 2022.

KASSA OVERALL - Cream  LP  (Warp) 
GRAMMY-nominated jazz visionary and Doris Duke Artist Award winner Kassa Overall presents Cream. Eight interpretations of hip-hop classics by The Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang Clan, Dr. Dre, A Tribe Called Quest, OutKast, Digable Planets, and Juvenile.

JOVIALE - Mount Crystal  LP (Ghostly Intl)  
Joviale makes music that feels like a show; drama lies in the tension between pop impulse and something more cerebral and sensorial. A multidisciplinary artist from North London, they came up as a theater kid and now harness their prismatic creative expression across mediums, fusing components of visual art, performance, and recording into a singular world. In 2025, out from behind the curtains comes Mount Crystal, their full-length debut on Ghostly International, an ascendant conceptual album that reintroduces Joviale’s point of view. Songs are electric and soulful, dashed with jazzy experimentation, rhythmic rock, and vibrant sound design, all realized alongside co-producers John Carroll Kirby and Jkarri and a cast of collaborators, including Sam Wilkes, Carter Lang, and Will Miller, among others.

CARSON MCHONE - Pentimento  (Merge Records)
All of the songs of Pentimento began as poems against the backdrop of global crisis, national borders, civil unrest, birth, death, bad love, new love, true love. They were written in the desert during spring and summer. There, history and time are visual in the drama of great boulders, in layers on a rock face- the potential and past energy of the ancient sea-floor. Some of these lyrics were written on postcards and in letters. Others began as embellishments on watercolor paintings, or captions for a photograph in a diary, or were written as responses in the margins of a journal to a child, newborn, from a generation past. These artifacts from writing/living informed what would eventually become material for this record. Later, beside the ocean, and during the first snow of the season, a special group of musicians gathered to bring the album to life.

SELECTOR DUB NARCOTIC - When Boys Cry 12" (K. Records)  
Selector Dub Narcotic once again collaborates with Northwest hip hop producer extraordinaire Smoke M2D6, blasting When Boys Cry full of unbalanced bombshells. Selector Dub Narcotic presents When Boys Cry, four song EP of unparalleled splendor, perfect for your next social function or anti-social broodfest. Sit down and have yourself a good cry.

SORROWER - Thoughts And Prayers LP (Sorrower)  
2025 album from Phoenix grind-core outfit Sorrower.

COMING NEXT WEEK!
WEDNESDAY - Bleeds CD/LP
DESCENDENTS - Milo Goes To College CD/LP Reissue
BUCKINGHAM NICKS - LP Reissue
NINE INCH NAILS - Tron: Ares Soundtrack CD/LP
NATION OF LANGUAGE - Dance Called Memory CD/LP
REAL ESTATE - Wee Small Hours LP
PATRICK SHIROISHI - Forgetting Is Violent LP
KENDRA MORRIS - Next CD/LP
JOAN SHELLEY - Real Warmth CD/LP
ATMOSPHERE - Jestures CD/LP
CHIODOS - All’s Well LP Reissue
 JR THOMAS - In The Eraserhood CD/LP
RAEKWON - Emperor’s New Clothes CD/LP
MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK - Same Old Wasted Wonderful World CD/LP
TITANIC - Hagen LP