Best New Releases

Check out some of our on-air and music teams’ favorite releases of this season!

From Ray Gill Jr., host of Rudeboy Radio

MICHELLE – SEA SHANTY

The six-member New York pop music collective Michelle recently dropped this mesmerizing single. According to the band, “Sea Shanty” is a “tense, pensive” performance. “Maybe a daydream, or a nightmare, the song soundtracks the calm before the storm — the moment before a journey, the moment after a sobering realization.”

Stella Talpo – Where Did I GO

Italian-born and London-based singer Stella Talpo’s new single “Where Did I Go” is a painfully beautiful song. The lyrics in Talpo’s song depict a gut-wrenching story of self-destruction and desperation, amplified by impressive, soulful production. This banger is one of six tracks on her new EP “FINE” which was released in June.

Panda Bear & Sonic Boom – Edge of the Edge

Animal Collective’s Panda Bear and English Producer Sonic Boom’s single “Edge of the Edge” is a nostalgic soundscape featuring a creatively manipulated sample of Randy & the Rainbows’ 1963 doo-wop track “Denise”. Their treatment contains a modern sensibility that distinctly elevates the track beyond the categorization of previous throwback attempts in less artful hands.

From Veronica Bisesti, host of Subculture

Arctic Monkeys – The Car

The band teased new music at a recent show in Switzerland – “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am” – and the audience loved it! The new 10 song album “The Car” is set to release late October; it’s the first full length album from AM since 2018’s “Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino”. A press release describes the album as Arctic Monkeys “running wild in a new and sumptuous musical landscape,” adding that it “contains some of the richest and most rewarding vocal performances of Alex Turner’s career.” Can’t wait…CANNOT WAIT!!!

Jann S. Wenner- Like a Rolling Stone: A Memoir

Rolling Stone magazine became a musical bible for many of us, certainly myself. Jann revolutionized rock & roll journalism, founding Rolling Stone magazine in the late 60’s and taking us through the ups and downs of more than just music. Through his guidance, RS has provided readers with digestible bites of pop culture and politics. His memoir, out mid September, takes us inside his decades of work and spotlights the lens in which he viewed what readers needed to see, hear AND pay attention to without their headphones on.

From Jenna D, host of Theme for a Tuesday

Metric – Formentera

“The whole album is pulsing with both those elements [energy and emotion] and comes across like the group’s most important album, only without the kind of pretension that kind of thing often entails. It’s more that Formentera captures the warring emotions, steady fears, and crushing uncertainty of the era it was made in and delivers it all wrapped up in triumphant and true songs that one will want to spin again and again.” -All Music

“Formentera is a gratifying record stuffed with perfectly crafted songs by a band completely at ease in their own skin.” -The Telegraph

Beach Bunny – Emotional Creature

“It’s empowering to see [lead singer Lili] Trifilio own the full spectrum of her emotions, and it’s what cements Beach Bunny’s latest record as a masterclass in confessional rock and roll.” -Rolling Stone

“Even if they switch things up, this band seems destined to be a presence on social media for years to come; Emotional Creature makes it clear [Lili] Trifilio has a gift that’s not going anywhere. Keep an eye out for Beach Bunny on a phone near you.” -Paste

From John Stringer, Revenue Development Manager

This summer marked the beginning of the big reveal of new projects and ideas formed during the pandemic. Many predicted a sort of creative renaissance as a “silver lining” from the isolation induced from the global pandemic. There does appear to be a bounty of new music and new artists emerging from the abrupt interruption to our lives over the past two years.

Here are a few people who’ve hit my radar over the summer.

S.G. Goodman – All My Love is Coming Back to Me

S.G. is a singer-songwriter from Hickman, Kentucky who released her first album, Old Time Feeling at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. Her songs are steeped in southern gothic imagery and have a surprising sonic quality. Goodman’s shaky howl of a voice is shimmering with rock’n roll energy and it creates something entirely new. She just released her new record Teeth Marks in 2022. Goodman performed at Pickathon in early August. She’s a fresh voice as a gay woman from a deeply red state. There is no disdain for her traditional roots but by embracing a new direction of her generation with empathy and compassion.

Sons of Kemet – From the Basement

Since 2006 music fans have relished the live performances produced as a part of the London-based video podcast series From the Basement. This concert series has featured The White Stripes, Radiohead and Beck to name a few. It’s a fantastic way to catch live performance in their most natural, artist-friendly way besides actually being at a live performance. On June 30th Sons of Kemet offered a full set of their muscular, and hypnotic jazz. If you didn’t see them at Pickathon in early August, this is the best way to experience this band. I highly recommend you play it at high volume, and clear the room to move around a bit.

Slender Gems – Rosario

This Portland band has just released a new single as of August 27, 2022. It’s pretty fresh. Rosario is a tight pop song with nice hooks that sounds like an FM radio hit, from back when such a thing existed. If you’ve been missing a heavy portion of electric guitar from your songs, this song will leave you in full air guitar mode. The single precedes the second full length release from Jordan LeVeque’s band now with a slightly revised line up. It’s been hard to catch them live. Many of their performances were impacted by COVID flare-ups at local venues or with the band. LeVeque’s songs are packed with lyrics but seem perfectly balanced and precise super pop, in the vein of classic bands such as Big Star, or now, Kurt Vile. They are lots of fun.

From Brooke Carlson, host of Petit Dejeuner Club

Requin Chagrin – Crush

The latest single release from Paris-based indie pop group Requin Chagrin is the perfect end-of-summer track. The dreamy, airy and snyth-y sound paired with Requin Chagrin’s powerful vocals makes this track entirely effective, and entirely addictive.