It’s Memorial Day Weekend, and that means summer is unofficially here, it means a bunch of festivals are happening (Boston Calling, Maryland Deathfest, Punk Rock Bowling, Movement, Lightning In A Bottle, Bottlerock, Sueños, and Gazebo included), and it also means this is a slightly lighter week for new albums. I highlight a few below, and Bill tackles more in Indie Basement, including La Luz, Finom, The Chameleons, Paul Weller, Girl and Girl, and Aluminum.

For more, this week’s honorable mentions include Sexyy Red (ft. Drake), Andrew Bird’s jazz trio album, Carlos Niño & Friends, Shenseea, Black Dresses, Rotting Christ, Juicy J, Drunk Uncle, Machinedrum, Bill MacKay, Gastr del Sol, Joshua Moshier, Lionlimb, Anastasia Coope, System Exclusive, Mortal Wound, Say Anything, Sango, Aquaserge, The Janitors, James Devane, Boycomma, TAKA, Rami Gabriel, Motorists, Tiny Habits, Kim Richey, Cosmo Midnight, Lenny Kravitz, RM (of BTS), Wallows, Twenty One Pilots, Bring Me the Horizon, the final Deap Vally EP, the Pardoner EP, the Coi Leray EP, the Smoke DZA EP, the Lower Automation EP, the Softcult EP, the Káryyn EP, the Halima EP, the Fly Over States EP, and the Winter EP.

Read on for my picks. What’s your favorite release of the week?

Young Jesus – The Fool
Saddle Creek

After releasing his more electronic-leaning 2022 album Shepherd Head, John Rossiter (better known as Young Jesus) had apparently decided to quit music for good. That is, until he received an email from Shahzad Ismaily. The two struck up a collaborative relationship after meeting in New York, and John meanwhile also started working on new material back home in LA with Alex Babbitt and Alex Lappin (aka Albon). The bicoastal writing sessions not only helped reignite John’s interest in making music, it led to one of his best albums yet, The Fool. Produced by John, Shahzad, Alex Lappin, and engineer Phil Weinrobe (and featuring a cast of guest musicians and vocalists that includes Shahzad, Lappin, Babbit, Aaron Roche, Ida’s Daniel Littleton, former Porches drummer Cameron Wisch, and more), the album ranges from ragged heartland rock anthems that sound like a crazy-eyed Springsteen (“Brenda & Diane,” “Two Brothers,” “Sunrise”) to gorgeously ethereal indie folk (“Rich”) to strummy folk rock (“MOTY,” “God’s Plan”) to woozy, piano-fueled art pop (“Am I The Only One”). It’s beautiful, messy, tight, and loose all at once, with storytelling lyricism that’s full of that same energy. (John makes the line “This place fucking stinks!” sound just as impactful as the profundity of “True love is a little bit like hell.”) Young Jesus have made multiple great records throughout their 15-year existence, but they’ve never made an album that jumps out and grabs you like this one does. It’s some of their most gripping, provocative, and flat-out most enjoyable music yet.

Vince Staples – Dark Times
Blacksmith/Def Jam

Vince Staples has made so many different types of rap songs over the years, and lately he seems most interested in making personal, introspective rap songs that favor lyrical depth over easily-digestible hooks. That’s very much the vein that his 2021 self-titled album and much of his 2022 album Ramona Park Broke My Heart were in, and it’s also the vein that his new album Dark Times is in. He’s pillowed by some background singers and spoken word clips, but Vince is the only rapper on the album, and he lays out dense stories that require (and deserve) multiple listens to fully dive into. He’s had his crossover tracks over the years, but on these last few albums, it feels like he’s really making music for himself and his loyal fanbase. His whole career has been a journey and Dark Times is an intriguing new chapter of it, a series of soul-searching tales set to a chilled-out backdrop that’s perfect for immersing yourself in.

mui zyu – nothing or something to die for
Father/Daughter

For her second album as mui zyu, Eva Liu built on the eerie lullabies that soundtrack her debut LP, last year’s Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century. She’s still making hypnotic dreamscapes and off-kilter bedroom pop, working again with her Dama Scout bandmate Luciano Rossi as co-producer, but this time the songs are more immediate, and fleshed out with lush string arrangements. Liu told Wonderland Magazine that “Immersive video-games you can lose yourself in and books/films that haunt you years after you’ve let them into your life have been really influential for me,” and this album has a similar transportive effect of bringing you into its own distinct world. [Amanda Hatfield]

For more on this album, read Eva’s track-by-track breakdown.

DIIV – Frog in Boiling Water
Fantasy

The shoegaze resurgence has seemingly helped make DIIV bigger than ever, and their first album in five years arrives as one of the most anticipated indie rock albums of this year. Produced by Chris Coady (Beach House, Grizzly Bear), it’s DIIV’s prettiest sounding album yet, and it feels like it really meets the moment. For more on this one, Bill’s got a longer review in Indie Basement.

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Read Indie Basement for more new album reviews, including La Luz, Finom, The Chameleons, Paul Weller, Girl and Girl, and Aluminum.

Looking for more recent releases? Browse the Notable Releases archive or scroll down for previous weeks.

Looking for a podcast to listen to? Check out our new episode with Saosin.

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