After an exceptional haul of January albums and a slew of great February records we’re still digesting, it’s time to get our hopes up about what’s to come this month. March will see the release of debut albums from Australian singer/songwriter Stella Donnelly, British pop quartet Indoor Pets, Los Angeles lo-fi rocker SASAMI and London-based guitar-soul artist Nilüfer Yanya. We’re also set to receive albums from some big names we haven’t heard from in a while like former Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis and Oxford indie-rockers Foals. And though we didn’t have time to look forward to it, we also got a surprise album from Solange today. Scroll down to read about the 10 LPs we’re most excited about in March plus a breakdown of additional notable releases, all listed by album release date below.
MARCH 1
Hand Habits: placeholder
You may have seen Meg Duffy in the past, shining on stage as Kevin Morby’s touring lead guitarist. But with Hand Habits, Duffy has shown their own polished arsenal as a songwriter and their sophomore record, placeholder, dropped today on Saddle Creek. Hand Habits’ music gives rise to calming evenings and humble wanderings of the mind. Duffy’s sweet melodies provide a solace for a troubled heart and a salve for a heavy conscious. The gently operatic “what lovers do” and the wonderfully reprised version of “yr heart” are notable doses of what Hand Habits does best: provide sheer comfort through song. —Adrian Spinelli
More notable March 1 releases: Weezer: The Black Album, Hozier: Wasteland, Baby!, Royal Trux: White Stuff, Durand Jones & the Indications: American Love Call, Frankie and the Witch Fingers: ZAM, Lomelda: M for Empathy, Pond: Tasmania, Solange: When I Get Home, TEEN: Good Fruit, The Japanese House: Good at Falling, Gang of Four: Happy Now
MARCH 8
SASAMI: SASAMI
Los Angeles-based artist SASAMI (a.k.a. Sasami Ashworth) has a distinct way of meshing grunge and lo-fi pop that sounds like something reserved for only your coolest friends. But secret’s out: SASAMI is releasing her self-titled debut this month for all to hear on Domino Records. The former Cherry Glazerr keyboardist is stepping out on her own after sharing tour bills with the likes of Mitski, King Tuff and Japanese Breakfast, and, so far, it sounds pretty damn good—two songs in, she was already attracting a great deal of buzz and being labeled the next big thing in rock. She has since shared another single/video, the spooky, lo-fi “Jealousy,” followed by the thoughtful, slow-burning “Free.” It’s all leading up to SASAMI, what Ashworth calls “a mix of a diary and a collection of letters, written but never sent, to people I’ve been intimately involved with in one way or another.” Blunt, ballsy and totally badass, SASAMI’s confessional debut is bound to be a rock smash. —Ellen Johnson
Foals: Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 1
It’s been four years since Foals put out their last album (2015’s What Went Down), but fans will be rewarded for their patience as the band is putting out not one, but two albums in 2019. Their first of two, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost—Part 1, is out on March 8 while the second, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost—Part 2, drops this fall. These are their first releases as a foursome—long-time bassist Walter Gervers left the band in January 2018. The Oxford indie-rockers have released three new songs thus far—”Exits,” “On The Luna” and “Sunday.” The lead single “Exits” is a sprawling electro-pop number that alludes to new sonic frontiers, “On The Luna” is the snappy, glistening indie-pop that Foals are known for, and “Sunday” is a hard-hitting, intensely anthemic cross between the two. —Lizzie Manno
Stella Donelly: Beware of the Dogs
Australian singer/songwriter Stella Donnelly first caught our attention with her stunning #MeToo anthem “Boys Will Be Boys,” a song that puts victim-blamers in their place, from her 2018 EP Thrush Metal, which we named one of the year’s best. On “Old Man,” the album opener off Beware of the Dogs, Donnelly serves up more of that biting critique with extra helpings of humor and ballsiness. “Oh are you scared of me old man, or are you scared of what I’ll do?,” she sings, almost teasing, but meaning business. Another timely lyric follows: “You grabbed me with an open hand. The world is grabbing back at you.” Donnelly sings sweetly, but the men in her songs—ranging from a mean boss in “Mechanical Bull” to the powerful desk-dwellers in “Old Man”—are anything but. Donnelly sticks up for herself with grace and wit, and if the first single is any indication, Beware of the Dogs will be a smart, satirical introduction to what’s sure to be an exciting career in music. —Ellen Johnson
Helado Negro: This Is How You Smile
When This Is How You Smile (RVNG Intl.) comes out on March 8, it’ll be Roberto Carlos Lange’s seventh Helado Negro LP in the past 10 years. The Ecuadorian-American experimental songwriter has been nothing short of prolific, making often-bilingual music that speaks to a multitude of cultures. Lange’s hushed vibrato is as gorgeous as ever on “Running” and his deeper coo on the tropicalia-soaked “Pais Nublado,” have This Is How You Smile primed to be not just one of this year’s best releases, but a continuing triumph of Helado Negro’s music as a vastly important hallmark of the Latino American experience in our country. —Adrian Spinelli
Indoor Pets: Be Content
Indoor Pets (formerly known as Get Inuit) will check boxes for those who love classic Weezer but cringed at their recent attempts at relevance, as well as those who prefer some extra sugar in their indie-rock tea. The British quartet are set to release their debut album, Be Content, on March 8 via Wichita Recordings. With vibrant guitars and frontman Jamie Glass’ high-pitched wails, tracks like “Hi” and “Being Strange,” prove they know their way around a syrupy pop hook. It’s not exactly revolutionary to pair angsty lyrics with bubbly pop melodies, but one thing Indoor Pets can claim for themselves is Glass’ distinct, sugary pipes, cheery hooks that are anything but flimsy and riffs that add just enough biting clamor to counteract their highly carbonated pop. Paste recently featured Indoor Pets on our list of 15 New British Acts You Need to Know in 2019, and the band recently stopped by the Paste Studio to perform songs from Be Content. —Lizzie Manno
More notable March 8 releases: Amanda Palmer: There Will Be No Intermission, The Coathangers: The Devil You Know, Meat Puppets: Dusty Notes, Dido: Still On My Mind, Maren Morris: GIRL
Notable March 15 releases: Stephen Malkmus: Groove Denied, Karen O & Danger Mouse: Lux Prima, The Faint: Egowerk, The Brian Jonestown Massacre: The Brian Jonestown Massacre
MARCH 22
Jenny Lewis: On The Line
Late last year, Jenny Lewis teased that her new album, one of our most anticipated of 2019, was on its way early this year. Last month, she finally announced On The Line will arrive March 22, and we are brimming with excitement to hear what the former Rilo Kiley frontwoman and all-around musical savant has cooked up this time. On The Line features an impressive supporting cast, including Beck, Benmont Tench, Don Was, Jim Keltner and Ringo Starr. The first single, “Red Bull & Hennessy” is Lewis’ first new music since her 2014 album The Voyager, and on this love song-turned-party song, she makes an invigorated return in a fit of bluesy electric guitar, “high on Red Bull and Hennessy.” She teases and taunts (“Don’t you wanna kiss me? Don’t you wanna even try?”), only to proclaim she’s “higher than you.” The slower tempoed “Heads Gonna Roll” has Lewis singing the blues in a lounge-style drawl, seeking debauchery and suggesting “Maybe a little bit of hooking up is good for the soul.” And who are we to argue with the one and only Jenny Lewis? After five silent years, she’s back and burning brighter than ever. —Ellen Johnson
Nilüfer Yanya: Miss Universe
23-year-old Londoner Nilüfer Yanya (who Paste featured on our list of 15 New British Acts You Need to Know in 2019) has made waves with her eccentric, indie-rock-tinged soul and pop. Her debut album, Miss Universe, will drop on March 22 via ATO Records, and it’s filled with hard-hitting, glistening pop songs with a mature and one-of-a-kind artistic vision (the album is interwoven with spoken-word interludes from a fictional medical company, WE WORRY ABOUT YOUR HEALTH TM). Paste featured her frantic new single, “In Your Head,” on our list of 15 Best Songs of January for her sassy vocals, glittery synths and driving indie-rock riffs. Other standouts include the headbanging “Heavyweight Champion of the World” with its wonderfully bare guitar plucks, charming vocal flutters and punchy melodies as well as the electro-rock stunner “Paralysed.” —Lizzie Manno
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah: Ancestral Recall
Back in May of 2017, the Christian Scott Quintet graced the Paste New York City studio with one of the greatest Paste sessions you’ll ever see. Back then, the New Orleans born and bred trumpet player was in the midst of his ambitious three-album series entitled, “The Centennial Trilogy” (the 3rd installment, The Emancipation Procrastination was just nominated for a Grammy), which commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first jazz recordings. But the music that Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah makes (his name has been expanded to reflect the traditions of the Black Indian tribe in NOLA he recently became a chief of) is much more than just jazz. Adjuah uses custom-made trumpets to enable the precise sounds he seeks to make, merged with West African drums and hip-hop finesse, including vocals from Saul Williams on the lead single, “Ancestral Recall.” The future of jazz is here and Adjuah is shattering boundaries in incredible ways. —Adrian Spinelli
More notable March 22 releases: Ex Hex: It’s Real, American Football: American Football, Orville Peck: Pony, Lucy Rose: No Words Left, Strand of Oaks: Eraserland, The Murlocs: Manic Candid Episode
MARCH 29
Son Volt: Union
Alt-country veterans Son Volt are prepping the release of their ninth studio album Union, and a press release describes it as “a combination of politically inspired material balanced by a cluster of new songs reflecting the power of love, time and music which sustains us.” Led by founder and singer/songwriter Jay Farrar, the roots rock of Union is as much a call to stick together through tough times as it is a permission slip to loosen up and enjoy the present. Interestingly, eight of the 13 songs on Union were recorded at places associated with two American historical figures that inspire Farrar—labor and community organizer Mary Harris (a.k.a. “Mother Jones”) and folk legend Woody Guthrie. Union’s closing song “The Symbol” was also inspired by the Guthrie classic “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos).” —Lizzie Manno
More notable March 29 releases: Billie Eilish: When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, Steve Earle and the Dukes: Guy, Edwyn Collins: Badbea, Ty Segall and Freedom Band: Deforming Lobes