New Music Alert: Charli XCX, Jill Scott, and a Fresh Wave of Album Releases
Dive into the latest album releases from Charli XCX's cinematic 'Wuthering Heights' to Jill Scott's soulful return, plus new sounds from Feng, August Ponthier, and more.
With a constant stream of new music hitting the airwaves, sifting through the noise to find the gems can be a challenge. This week, we spotlight a diverse array of new releases, spanning genres from pop and R&B to hardcore and experimental electronica. Here's a closer look at some of the standout albums:
Charli XCX: Wuthering Heights [Atlantic]
Charli XCX Wuthering Heights
When Emerald Fennell needed a musician to score her Wuthering Heights adaptation, Charli XCX was the clear choice. The British pop innovator embraced the project, crafting a soundtrack that explores love's many facets: grandiose, moody, and elusive. As Charli XCX described on her Substack, the soundtrack is a deep dive “into persona, into a world that felt undeniably raw, wild, sexual, gothic, British, tortured and full of actual real sentences, punctuation and grammar.”
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Buy at Rough Trade
Feng: Weekend Rockstar [Regularisperfect]
Feng Weekend Rockstar
"I take the mundane things and feelings in life and make them interesting,” Feng told Pitchfork’s Alphonse Pierre last year. The Croydon rapper continues his homespun ethos on his debut album, Weekend Rockstar. Co-produced with Bilal Hamdi, the album navigates twee pop and breezy drill, all while keeping its purpose in sight: getting to Friday.
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Jill Scott: To Whom This May Concern [The Orchard]
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After releasing Woman in 2015, Jill Scott returns with To Whom It May Concern. The Philadelphia native delivers wisdom and authenticity, offering the kind of positivity that has aided multiple generations on their healing journeys. With guitar chords and strings weaving through love jams, Scott raps over boom-bap, and even brings in DJ Premier and Tierra Whack to kick off a multi-generational party. As she reiterates on the opener: “I be good / I do dope shit.”
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Buy at Rough Trade
August Ponthier: Everywhere Isn't Texas [Nowhereland Sounds]
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August Ponthier’s Everywhere Isn't Texas captures the country-pop of Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan. Ponthier embraces the role of an outsider, singing lyrics fantastical enough to satisfy sci-fi enthusiasts while penning Gen Z non-binary ballads to cry to. Across 10 tracks, Ponthier sings like an old friend unloading their worries at a dive bar.
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Listen/Buy at Bandcamp
Angel Du$t: Cold 2 the Touch [Run for Cover]
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The music Justice Tripp makes as Angel Du$t often feels like a reprieve. Cold 2 the Touch isn't interested in hardcore “crossover:” this is the spiky, shouted real thing. There are still forays into the zonked-out psych rock Tripp explored on 2023’s Brand New Soul. But the core thread of no-fuss no-muss punk remains strong here, in part thanks to guest vocalists from Terror, American Nightmare, God’s Hate, and Restraining Order.
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Buy at Rough Trade
Converge: Love Is Not Enough [Epitaph]
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Calling Converge veterans of the Boston metalcore scene might be an understatement. Love Is Not Enough marks their 36th year playing together. Although the opening suite sticks close to the “no frills, no BS” ethos frontman Jacob Bannon presented in a recent interview, Love Is Not Enough’s back half expands into lingering melodies and longer-form riffs. Throughout, emotion churns and chafes against a backdrop of political unrest, corporate malfeasance, and the everyday horrors that erode modern life.
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Hemlocke Springs: The Apple Tree Under the Sea [AWAL]
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When we last heard from Hemlocke Springs, she was a subterranean Rapunzel with a bass synth. The Apple Tree Under the Sea casts her not as a damsel in distress, but an Odyssean heroine. According to a press statement, it follows brave Hemlocke as she ”confront[s] the chaos and repression of her past in order to claim the full, liberatory life she once didn’t even know was possible.”
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Worm: Necropalace [Century Media]
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The black-metal band Worm are back four years after the release of their their last album, Foreverglade. Expect the never-ending guitar solos and monstrous growling members Phantom Slaughter and Wroth Septentrion are known for—plus one sprawling, 14-minute track featuring Marty Friedman. Before you listen, we present to you a disclaimer written in Necropalace’s press release: “Enter if you dare but be warned, the darkness may consume your mortal soul forever. The ultimate evil has returned…”
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Sk8star: Designer Junkie [W4th/Island]
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A cosign from Young Thug? Baseless rumors he's from England based on his taste for Vivienne Westwood vintage? As far as Atlanta rap upstarts go, Sk8star has all the goods, and his new tape Designer Junkie synthesizes them into one of the smoother leaps into the big leagues. Save for drop-in contributions from fellow ØWay collective members Tezzus and diamond*, Designer Junkie is a solo outing steeped in local lore.
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Danny L Harle: Cerulean [XL]
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Despite releasing a solo album back in 2021, Danny Harle is positioning Cerulean as a debut. It’s at the very least a shift in form and approach, largely ditching the sliced-and-diced pop and trance of his earlier work for prog, electro, and layered chorale arrangements influenced by Philip Glass’ Einstein on the Beach. One thing that remains unchanged, however, is his roster of vocal muses: regular collaborators Caroline Polachek and Oklou join newer recruits Clairo, Dua Lipa, and Julia Michaels across the guest list.
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Femtanyl: Man Bites Dog [entitii]
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Femtanyl is a polarizing band. The music is unabashedly loud, abrasive, and chiptune. Drawing from much more than the caustic hardcore the group have made their name on, Man Bites Dog throws jock jams, late-aughts electro-pop, and industrial into a huge Margaritaville-sized blender.
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Brent Faiyaz: Icon [ISO Supremacy / UnitedMasters]
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Since 2017, Brent Faiyaz has developed a reputation as a debaucherous player. Icon unveils a new level of maturity from Faiyaz, who ponders marriage, how to weather the storm of an enduring relationship, and basks in the comfort of having someone to come home to. He looks to the oldies to capture his new romantic glow, channeling Michael Jackson’s power and sincerity on “World is Yours”, while crooning over nu-disco, dusty ’80s toms, and twinkling guitar that recalls the best of ’90s Usher.
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