6 New Albums We Demand You Listen to Immediately
Though 2016 has only barely hit the halfway point, it's clear this is one of the most consistently thrill-inducing years for new music in a long time—and not just for the big-name, big-hype records that tend to monopolize the pop-culture conversation. Here are six recent releases—from big-country pop to smooth electronic tunes to hard rock—that deserve a spot on your summer must-listen lists.
White Lung, Paradise
The most fiercely defiant lyric you'll hear this summer comes courtesy of "Kiss Me When I Bleed," a track that pops up about halfway through this Vancouver punk band's sumptuous, savage fourth album: "I will give birth in a trailer/huffing the gas in the air," howls a defiant Mish Barber-Way, as a careening riff tailspins underneath. Like every song here, it's as sleek and jumbo as a territorial orca, and just as pissed-off, especially on tracks like “Dead Weight” and “Sister,” which feature full-throated snarls and alluringly mosaic guitar lines. For hard-rock fans, Paradise is the most aptly titled album of the year. —Brian Raftery
DominoMaren Morris, Hero
If you sent a vinyl copy of Tom Petty's *Full Moon Fever *down to Nashville, let it soak in the sun and the songs for a week, and then threw it on the turntable, it might sound like this front-to-back country-pop classic, which has more attitude than a 10th-grade classroom, and more hooks than Mutt Lange's tacklebox. The hyper-buoyant “Rich” finds the sweet spot between back-of-the-truck daydreaming and big-city braggadocio, while “80s Mercedes” has the sort of crisp, yearbook-ready chorus that will likely be impossible to avoid at proms and traffic jams for the next year. Full of heart and sweat, and 100 percent free of duds, *Hero *never backs down. —Brian Raftery
Columbia Records
Imarhan, Imarhan
Full of blissed-out rhythms and deeply satisfying guitar-nerdery, this southern Algerian outfit's breakthrough album—a mix of traditional Tuareg music and assouf, or desert blues—can be pretty much whatever you want it to be: a transportive, trance-inducing mood-setter ("Assossamagh"); a groove-locked dance-demander (the title track); or a blistering funk workout ("Tahabort"). Frontman Iyad Moussa Ben Abderahmane, who performs under the name Sadam, has a quietly penetrative voice, capable of folding numerous melodies into a single line, and his intricate, precise guitar playing proves that six-string heroes still exist—you just have to be willing to do a little extra traveling in order to find them. —Brian Raftery
City SlangVarious Artists, Wake Up You! The Rise and Fall of Nigerian Rock, 1972-1977. Vol. 2
In the years after the Nigerian Civil War of the late 1960s, the country saw a burst of reactive rock and roll that parlayed funk, pop, and psychedelica into something fiery and demanding. This 16-song compilation—which comes with a 98-page book packed with historical details and liner notes—features one rapturous track after another, from the organ-propulsed anxiety of the Funkees' "Slipping Into Darkness" to the fuzzy power-chord pleadings of Jay U Experience's "Baby Rock." Everything here sounds fresh but also distantly familiar—the sound of far-away art forms being reclaimed and reinterpreted, and infused with a vibrant urgency that never flags. —Brian Raftery
Now-Again Records
Disclosure, Moog for Love
Really, this isn’t an album recommendation; Moog for Love is just a three-song EP. And really, it’s just a recommendation for one song, but “Feel Like I Do” is such a smooth track, it’s exactly what you need to ease your way into summer. Essentially a laid-back beat and a rolling sample of Al Green’s “I’m Still in Love with You,” Disclosure's latest cut sounds like AM radio fused with a 1AM-in-the-Coachella-Sahara-Tent vibe. In other words, it's the best Avalanches song the Avalanches didn’t make—and the top-down, sun-kissed track you need in your life right now. —Angela Watercutter
Capitol RecordsPUP, The Dream Is Over
Last week the Polaris Music Prize, which recognizes the year’s best Canadian full-length album, unveiled its 40-album shortlist for 2016. It includes big-time pop stars like Justin Bieber and Carly Rae Jepsen, and critical darlings like Grimes and The Weeknd. But tucked in amongst the far more established artists is PUP, a Toronto punk quartet that just released its sophomore album The Dream Is Over. It wasn’t totally a surprise—the band’s self-titled debut also made the Polaris longlist back in 2013, thanks to thundering tracks like "Reservoir." But The Dream Is Over is an even more confident step forward, following years of aggressive touring and near-destruction. The album title is allegedly a quote from singer Stefan Babcock’s doctor, who gave a grim diagnosis when the vocalist suffered hemorrhaging vocal chords that threatened to derail the band forever. But the band defiantly regrouped and continued, leading off the new record with, “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will,” which emphasizes both the tongue-in-cheek humor and intensity of a typical PUP song. —K.M. McFarland
SideOneDummy Records
