#7 New Albums You Should Listen to Now: Lorde, Angel Olsen, Deafheaven, and More

Lorde: Solar Power [Republic]

Lorde is back with her long-awaited follow up to 2017’s Melodrama. Solar Power was co-produced with Jack Antonoff. Leading up to the release, she shared the title track, “Stoned at the Nail Salon,” and “Mood Ring.” The new album features guest contributions from Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo, as well as Robyn, who speaks on “Secrets From a Girl (Who’s Seen It All).”

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Angel Olsen: Aisles EP [somethingscosmic]

Aisles is Angel Olsen’s ode to the 1980s. Olsen recorded a handful of covers from the decade, including Billy Idol’s “Eyes Without a Face” and Men Without Hats’ “Safety Dance.” She cut the EP in the winter of 2020 at Asheville’s Drop of Sun Studios with co-producer and engineer Adam McDaniel. Olsen is donating all of her Bandcamp proceeds from the first 24 hours of Aisles sales to the International Refugee Assistance Project.

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Deafheaven: Infinite Granite [Sargent House]

Infinite Granite follows Deafheaven’s 2018 LP Ordinary Corrupt Human Love. The new album is produced by Justin Meldal-Johnsen, and was recorded at longtime Deafheaven producer and engineer Jack Shirley’s Atomic Garden East studio in Oakland, California. Longtime Deafheaven fans will notice a new, more melodic turn on the songs on Infinite Granite, as well as frontman George Clarke’s more subdued vocals. Read Pitchfork’s interview “How Deafheaven Made Their Least Metal Album Yet.”

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quickly, quickly: The Long and Short of It [Ghostly]

quickly, quickly is the project of Portland, Oregon singer, songwriter, producer, and arranger Graham Jonson. Jonson played almost every instrument on his new 11-track album The Long and Short of It. Read Pitchfork’s track review of “Everything Is Different (To Me).”

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Nathan Salsburg: Psalms [No Quarter]

Psalms is a collection of Hebrew psalms recorded by Louisville-based singer-songwriter Nathan Salsburg. He created the album with contributions from Will Oldham, Joan Shelley, James Elkington, Spencer Tweedy, and Israeli singer Noa Babayof. “I wanted to do something Jewish, even if only for myself,” Salsburg said in press materials. “It occurred to me that the psalms would be a great place to look as they’re written in a largely first person voice and part of what they are are injunctions to sing. It made for a wonderful, almost daily practice.”

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James McMurtry: The Horses and the Hounds [New West]

The first full-length release from folk rock singer-songwriter James McMurtry in over six years finds him returning to electric guitar after the gentler production of 2015’s Complicated Game. As with his past releases, the songs focus on the Texas artist’s storytelling. Ross Hogarth returns as producer.

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Lil Bean: Still Campaignin’ [Empire]

Lil Bean is a San Francisco rapper who grew up listening to all manner of California rap: In a recent interview with Steven Louis for Passion of the Weiss, Lil Bean cited fellow Bay Area artists Mac Dre, Husalah, and the Jacka as influences, while also showing love for Los Angeles’ Nipsey Hussle. Lil Bean’s full-length Still Campaignin’ arrives after he featured all across Zaytoven’s April project Fo15.

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