Lily Allen – No Shame CD/LP (WB)
English singer-songwriter Lilly Allen returns with her fourth album, No Shame. Working with collaborators Fryars, Mark Ronson, Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, Burna Boy, P2J and Cass Lowe, Lily says her goal was to make an album that is “as truthful as possible.” Speaking about the sense of catharsis that came with making the record, she adds, “I believe that we as humans work through things by talking about them, and that’s what making music is for me. It’s sharing things that you hope are going to connect with people, not that are going to connect with algorithms.” It includes lead song “Trigger Bang” featuring Giggs, which The Guardian describes as, “a return to the melancholic pop that made her so intriguing.” A departure from the bold, brash lyricism and sun-soaked melodies Lily is known for, “Three” flips perspective in a way only she can, while the hazy, stripped back “Higher” finds the singer as vulnerable as ever.

Kadhja Bonet – Childqueen CD/LP (Fat Possum)
Kadhja Bonet’s second album, Childqueen, is something of a hero’s quest. In the opening “Procession,” above a muted drummer’s march, an unseen oracle announces to you, the listener: “every morning is a chance to renew, a chance to renew.” This is your first clue, setting you upon a path not to treasure, nor a grail, nor even a long-lost love, but highest of all, what Kadhja has christened the Childqueen, that innermost self that you were truthfully and instinctively before the press of the world came crushing in. As with her 2016 debut The Visitor, the songs on Childqueen are never casual, never ditties. Instead they invite us into a world not wholly our own, a half-mythical atmosphere where past and future meet in a parallel, yet faraway, present. Acting as a sort of diffuse chanteuse, Kadhja’s almost painfully lovely voice achieves what can only be described as ambient song. Particularly in songs like “Delphine” and “Nostalgia,” we hear the jazzier intricacies of the vocal melodies brushed soft at the edges, at times so soft they vaporize into pure mood, or merge with other instruments or with backing vocals that seem emanate from celestial bodies.

The Get Up Kids – Kicker CDEP/12”+MP3 (Polyvinyl)
The four-song Kicker EP is the newest addition to The Get Up Kids’ catalog of influential EPs (such as 1997’s Woodson and 1999’s Red Letter Day), as well as their first new release since 2011’s LP There Are Rules. While the band’s early releases were written when the band members were entering their 20s, Kicker sees them in their 40s, and the songs show a perspective that can only be learned from experience.

Ghost – Opvs Eponymous [Reissue/2010] CD (Rise Above)
A daringly beautiful combination of Satanic rock music with an almost unthinkable pop sensibility, 2010’s Opvs Eponymous is where it all began for the beautifully dark global phenomena. Litanies of sexually pulsating heavy rock music and romantic lyrics, which glorify and glamorize the disgusting and sacrilegious. [Vinyl reissue due July 27.]

Howlin Rain – The Alligator Bride CD/LP (Silver Current)
Oakland, California’s Howlin Rain return with their fourth album of swampy, ragged, unapologetic rock ‘n’ roll.

Lykke Li – So Sad So Sexy CD (RCA)
“It’s rare that an album title can summarize the essence of a musician, but ‘so sad so sexy’ has been Lykke Li’s MO since the release of her debut album Youth Novels in 2008. However, this time round, instead of indie songs that contain a twee frailty, Li dives right into a pool of Tumblr-stylised depression that echoes within a spacious electronic soundscape, leaving us with nothing else to do but doggy-paddle behind her in support. In the sad pop and R&B era of Drake, The Weeknd, Lana Del Rey and SZA, Lykke Li has long worn the crown, and her fourth album plays into the self-inflicted misery of dead-end relationships and blind devotion, all the while owning the title of a Bad Woman.” – The Irish Times

Dave Matthews – Come Tomorrow CD (RCA)
The Dave Matthews Band’s long-awaited ninth studio album Come Tomorrow serves as their first since 2012’s Away From The World. Working between tours at studios in Seattle, Los Angeles and Charlottesville, DMB chose to record with several different producers, including John Alagia, Mark Batson, Rob Cavallo and Rob Evans. Brandi Carlile harmonizes with Matthews on the shimmering title track which finds hope in our youth and the impact they will have on the world while fan favorite “Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin)” has been hailed by Rolling Stone as an “understated plea for compassion and tolerance.” The cover art for Come Tomorrow is by Béatrice Coron, who creates narrative allegories in silhouette to render archetypal stories. [Vinyl edition due June 29.]

Gruff Rhys – Babelsberg CD/LP (Rough Trade)
Fifth album from the Welsh singer-songwriter. Lean and laser focused, Babelsberg is a playful ten-song set recorded in a feverish three-day burst of activity early in 2016 and features orchestral scores by Swansea-based composer Stephen McNeff and the incredible work of the 72-piece BBC National Orchestra of Wales. The result is something close to perfection; a place where Gruff found himself “in service to the song and the emotion above anything else” (Mojo).

Shannon Shaw – Shannon In Nashville CD/LP (Nonesuch)
Shannon Shaw, the vocalist, bassist, and founder of Shannon & The Clams, strikes out on her own with her first solo album, Shannon In Nashville. In a nod to Dusty Springfield’s 1969 classic Dusty In Memphis, Shaw made her own pilgrimage down South to collaborate with The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach and a congregation of revered old-school session musicians which have played on notable records by Elvis, Willie Nelson, John Prine, Herbie Mann, Aretha Franklin, and Johnny Cash, to name just a few. Shannon In Nashville exudes a self-possessed melancholy that sets the scene for Shaw to comb through a personal history of love lost to time, circumstance, fear or neglect. “I Might Consider” reigns as the most hauntingly beautiful rendition of this recurring theme as it retraces the fading lines of who-did-what-to-who in hopes of a truce. Lyrically reminiscent of Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner’s heart-breaking duet, “Just Someone I Used to Know,” Shannon In Nashville‘s kick off song, “Golden Frames,” illustrates the dilemma of dealing with love’s artifacts that torturously outlive the relationship from whence they came.

Colin Stetson – Hereditary: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD/2xLP (Milan)
Colin Stetson (Arrival, La Peur, Outlaws and Angels) has developed an utterly unique voice as a soloist, principally on saxophones and clarinets, his intense technical prowess matched by his exhilarating and emotionally gripping skills as a songwriter. Over the years he has worked extensively live and in studio with a wide range of bands and musicians including Tom Waits, Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, TV On The Radio, Feist, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Bill Laswell, Evan Parker, The Chemical Brothers, Animal Collective, Hamid Drake, LCD Soundsystem, The National, Angelique Kidjo, Fink, and David Gilmore. Stetson’s unique saxophone compositions were an inspiration for writer-director Ari Aster Aster when he was creating his new horror film, Hereditary.

YOB – Our Raw Heart CD/2xLP (Relapse)
From tragedy to triumph, YOB’s eighth full-length recording was conceived amidst dire circumstances that it nearly killed frontman Mike Scheidt. Suffering from an extremely painful and potentially fatal intestinal disease, Scheidt miraculously recovered and reinvigorated the Oregon trio with a new sense of purpose for Our Raw Heart, an album informed by the will to survive. More exposed than ever both physically and emotionally, YOB bleed out seven riveting tracks of enormous volume and pensive, transcendental beauty across 75 minutes of ultimate doom. The riffs are massive, the vocals captivating, and the songwriting sublime.

EPMD – Strictly Business [Reissue/1988] 2xLP (Capitol)
EPMD – Unfinished Business [Reissue/1989] 2xLP (Capitol)
Vinyl reissue of the first two albums by the hip-hop duo. The group’s name is a concatenation of the members’ names E and PMD or an acronym for “Erick and Parrish Making Dollars”, referencing its members, emcees Erick Sermon (aka E Double) and Parrish Smith (aka Parrish Mic Doc).

GUM – The Underdog LP (Spinning Top)
“It’s a well-known secret at this stage that Kevin Parker masterminded the majority of their studio records and continues to be active in solo projects as well as in POND, but Cameron Avery is a lesser-known Impala cog who released a fantastic record last year and now Jay Watson, drummer with both Tame Impala and POND has released his fourth album under the moniker GUM. Featuring expressive and choppy beats, colorful arrangements, and pop melodies to rival some of the best out there, The Underdog pitches Watson, for the first time, as an artist in his own right.” – Under The Radar

Liz Phair – Whip-Smart [Reissue/1994] LP (Capitol)
Liz Phair – Whitechocolatespaceegg [Reissue/1994] 2xLP (Capitol)
Liz Phair – Liz Phair [Reissue/2003] 2xLP (Capitol)
Vinyl reissues of the second, third and fourth albums from the singer-songwriter.

Tom Waits – Small Change [Reissue/1976] LP (ANTI-)
After signing with Asylum Records in the early 1970s, Tom Waits recorded a series of acclaimed albums whose noir tales about the after-midnight underworld transformed the seedy into the sublime in songs laced with both dark humor and profound longing. Decades and several musical evolutions later, Waits’ Asylum years still hold a special place in the hearts of many fans. Waits’ first seven albums on Asylum have been remastered and are being re-released via Anti-Records. 1976’s Small Change is a masterpiece that contains some of Waits’ best early work. Classic jazz, Tin Pan Alley, and Stephen Foster filtered through Tom’s unique worldview and lyrical genius.