It is the mid-2024 and we have had quite a good number of releases this year. Wondering what could your playlist look like for the next half of the year? Well, we will make the decision easier. This week’s releases include new albums from NxWorries, Normani, the Decemberists, Zsela, This Is Lorelei, Cola, Sideshow, and Fana Hues.
1. NxWorries: Why Lawd? [Stones Throw]
Smooth rap&B which is sure to make you move with its plush beats – that would be a good way to describe the soundscape of this album. “Why Lawd?” is the second album from NxWorries, the duo which is a collab between Anderson .Paak and Knxwledge following their carefree new age 2016 debut “Yes Lawd”. Dylan Green writes, “Knxwledge supplies .Paak with some of the most breathtaking production of his career. The beats on Why Lawd? are ornately constructed, each a treasure hunt for the tell that it’s all made from tiny bits of other songs.” He further adds “Why Lawd? leans into a rawness and fear Yes Lawd! only hinted at.” Eight years after the release of “Yes lawd”, with more individual experiences, the new album expands the vision further. With more thoughtful lyrics on emotionally heavier lyrics, this is a must listen.
Listen on :
Apple Music
Spotify
Tidal
Amazon Music
Listen/Buy at Bandcamp
Buy at Rough Trade
2. Normani: Dopamine [RCA]
The girl group Fifth Harmony won many accolades, including a record for the most top ten albums on the U.S. Billboard 200 for any girl group in the 21st century. After spending 6 years here, Normani’s time with the girl group came to an end in 2018. The same year the band went on a hiatus, Normani also dropped a collab with Calvin Harris called “Normani x Calvin Harris”. Fast forward to six more years and Normani comes up with her own 13 track debut album titled “Dopamine”. This album also includes “Wild side”, a collab with Cardi B with with Gunna (“1:59”), James Blake (“Tantrums”) and star songwriter and producer Starrah (“Big Boy”).
Listen on:
Apple Music
Spotify
Tidal
Amazon Music
3. The Decemberists: As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again [Yabb]
Their first album in six years, “As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again” is inspired by a painting of Joan of Arc’s visitation by angels. No wonder they even released a 19 minute pro epic called “Joan in the Garden”. Brilliant storytelling, epic melodies and beautiful choruses are some highlights of the album. Guests featuring on this album include the Shins’ James Mercer and R.E.M.’s Mike Mills.
Listen on:
Apple Music
Spotify
Tidal
Amazon Music
Listen/Buy at Bandcamp
Buy at Rough Trade
4. Zsela: Big for You [Mexican Summer]
After her promising 2020 debut “Ache of Victory”, the New York singer-songwriter had been preparing for this full length album release. This April she dropped her new single “Lily of the Nile”, accompanied by a video directed by Chester Raj Anand. Zsela has produced the album together with Daniel Aged and sometime War on Drugs producer Gabe Wax. Marc Ribot, Nick Hakim, Casey MQ, and Slauson Malone 1’s Jasper Marsalis are some guest collaborators for the album. Zsela’s words on the title “Big For You” were that it “touches on the causal versus intentional dance we play between being ‘full of you’ and ‘full for you’—the complexity and magnitude of the space we take and fill up for love.”
Listen on:
Apple Music
Spotify
Tidal
Amazon Music
Listen/Buy at Bandcamp
Buy at Rough Trade
5. This Is Lorelei: Box for Buddy, Box for Star [Double Double Whammy]
This Is Lorelei is the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Nate Amos, one half of the New York art-pop duo Water From Your Eyes. Amos has been releasing his solo works under the name “This is Lorelei” for quite sometime but this is the first album the project released. Focusing on classic sturdy songcraft, Amos sang and played everything on this album. His diverse taste in music is quite obvious from the sound. His singer-songwriter side, the autotuned pop, a meditative piano interlude everything shines bright through the songs. As per Amos he “lay on the ground at Stonehenge for 40 minutes”. This experience where he runs into this megalithic structure made him quit weed as per his words. No doubt the album comes from a deeply personal space, although a very straightforward way of storytelling it yet manages to keep up the musical wit.
Listen on:
Apple Music
Spotify
Tidal
Amazon Music
Listen/Buy at Bandcamp
Buy at Rough Trade
6. Cola: The Gloss [Fire Talk]
Vocalist Tim Darcy and bassist Ben Stidworthy released their debut album, Deep In View, as Cola in 2021 with Evan Cartwright on drums. “The Gloss” is their second album. A mix of new wave and post punk, while their first album had kind of a neutral emotional pallette, this time the trio is back with a murkier and pulsating sound. Quite like the band’s synth-pop counterpart Destroyer, nostalgia meets absurdism in this album.
Listen on:
Apple Music
Spotify
Tidal
Amazon Music
Listen/Buy at Bandcamp
Buy at Rough Trade
Also check out our album reviews: “The Drawer”, by Kelsie Kimberlin: A powerful showcase of pop music
7. Sideshow: F.U.N. T.O.Y. [10k]
Tigrayan rapper Sideshow released his new album, F.U.N. T.O.Y., with producers Popstar Benny, Tony Seltzer, Ayochillmannn, and Jam associate Alexander Spit. Ryosuke Tanzawa, whom we have seen collaborate with Sideshoaw before as well, directed the video for single “Sell Me Sickness Sell Me Health (Eazy T).” “Lex(Every Workhouse Goes To Heaven)” has a video released last year. Last year Sideshow had released the album “2MM Don’t Just Stand There!”
Listen on:
Apple Music
Spotify
Tidal
Amazon Music
Listen/Buy at Bandcamp
8. Fana Hues: Moth [Bright Antenna]
Fana Hues’s debut album “Hues” was released in 2020. On “Moth”, Fana Hues takes us to the R&B paradise with its vibrant energy with singles like “Rental” and “Paper Tiger”. A follow up to 2022’s “Flora + Fana”, the Californian multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter herself executive produced the new album. About the name, she says, “Moths fly through darkness constantly searching for light even at the risk of harm. I’m always en route on a journey to find the reason for a feeling in its purest form, even if it hurts.”
Listen on:
Apple Music
Spotify
Tidal
Amazon Music
