10 New Albums to Stream Today

10 New Albums to Stream Today

Another Friday, another batch of brand spankin’ new albums! Today’s New Music Friday brings 10 releases ranging from rap to indie pop to folk, and we’re pretty dang excited about all of them. There’s a posthumous release from the late Jason Molina, a new album from folk veteran Mary Chapin Carpenter, a lovely new live album from trio Mountain Man, a mixed-bag metal album from Year Of The Knife and so much more. Check it all out below.

1. Aminé: Limbo

Rapper Aminé has finally released his long-anticipated “sophomore-ish” album, Limbo, via Republic Records, following the release of singles “Riri” and “Shimmy,” as well as his most recent single featuring Young Thug, “Compensating.” Aminé also recently appeared on “My High,” a three-way collaboration with Disclosure and British rapper slowthai. Best known for his 2017 smash hit “Caroline,” Aminé has released two full-length studio projects prior to Limbo. While his 2017 breakout album Good For You established Aminé as a musical and cultural force, trademarking his playful lyricism and infectious positivity, his surprise 2018 EP/Mixtape, ONEPOINTFIVE, showed off his versatility as an artist expanded his sound into the mainstream. —Lia Pikus

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2. Glass Animals: Dreamland

English indie-pop outfit Glass Animals have finally shared their new album Dreamland. The single “Heat Waves” arrived alongside an uber creative music video directed by Colin Read, in which frontman and producer Dave Bayley wanders the deserted streets of London as residents quietly observe and film his journey. “The ‘Heat Waves’ video is a love letter to live music and the culture and togetherness surrounding it,” Bayley says. “It was filmed at the peak of the lockdown in my neighbourhood in East London by the lovely people who live around me, just using their phones. These are people who are usually out at shows, in galleries, going to cinemas, etc. These venues are left empty now, and many of them will not survive. The song is about loss and longing, and ultimately realizing you are unable to save something…and this video is about that but for art, being together and human contact.” Although initially set for an earlier release, Glass Animals decided to push back their third album out of respect for the Black Lives Matter Movement. —Lia Pikus

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3. Jason Molina: Eight Gates

It can be difficult to hear never-before-heard music by an artist who has since passed. But it can also offer a glimmer of beauty. This month Secretly Canadian will release the last known collection of Jason Molina songs recorded before his death due to alcoholism-related issues in 2013. Recorded in London, these nine songs don’t quite have the coherence of an album, but they all sound like Molina, featuring his signature humor and heartbreak. Featuring such interesting sounds as tropical bird chirps and Molina’s characteristically dry studio banter (“Alright, everybody shut up, this is my record,” he chimes on “The Crossroad + The Emptiness”), Eight Gates doesn’t necessarily feel fully complete, but that’s because it wasn’t. We never got to hear what Molina might have accomplished with these songs if he had survive. But we’re still damn lucky to have ‘em. —Ellen Johnson

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4. Mary Chapin Carpenter: The Dirt And The Stars

Veteran folk singer/songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter strapped on her boots for a new album called The Dirt And The Stars, and so far the singles have been promising. That includes “American Stooge,” a classic Americana rocker about a jaded all-American guy who can’t quite find the right avenues for his cynicism. Or, as Carpenter puts it, “‘American Stooge’ is a song dedicated to those experts in sycophancy who roam the halls of Congress and government, attaching themselves to any powerful interest that suits their need to be relevant and feeds their appetite for power.” —Ellen Johnson

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5. The Microphones: Microphones in 2020

Phil Elverum today releases the first new music under his long-hibernating moniker, the Microphones, in 17 years. The new album is titled Microphones in 2020 and is out today via his own label, P.W. Elverum & Sun. This new album follows The Microphone’s previous record, 2003’s Mount Eerie. Elverum has toured and released music under the name Mount Eerie since 2003, but he briefly revived the Microphones moniker for a show at What the Heck Fest in his hometown of Anacortes, Washington last year. The album consists entirely of a 44-minute-long track. “We all crash through life prodded and diverted by our memories,” Elverum says. “There is a way through to disentanglement. Burn your old notebooks and jump through the smoke. Use the ashes to make a new thing.” —Jack Meyer

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6. Mountain Man: Look at Me Don’t Look at Me

Folk trio and a capella angels Mountain Man—aka Sylvan Esso’s Amelia Meath, Daughter of Swords’ Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Molly Sarlé—today release a new live album called Look at Me Don’t Look at Me recorded in November of 2018 at Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle. It contains songs from their 2018 studio album Magic Ship, as well as covers of Fiona Apple’s “Hot Knife” and Michael Hurley’s “Blue Mountain,” which you can hear below. —Ellen Johnson

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7. Tough Age: Which Way Am I?

Toronto indie-punk trio Tough Age have shared their new album Which Way Am I?,via Mint Records, following singles “My Life’s a Joke & I’m Throwing it Away,” and “Repose.” Which Way Am I? is the follow-up to 2017’s Shame. Taking cues from Flying Nun indie-pop and speedy ’80s punk, “My Life’s a Joke & I’m Throwing it Away” is the sound of melancholy whiplash. It’s part happy-go-lucky breeziness and part painful self-destruction, and either way, it’ll get you all riled up. —Lizzie Manno

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8. Video Age: Pleasure Line

The New Orleans-based indie-pop outfit Video Age have released their third album, Pleasure Line, a follow-up to 2018’s Pop Therapy, via Winspear. The title track is a bright love song with a bouncing rhythm in line with the group’s usual funk-infused, retro sound. “Pleasure Line is a song about discovery,” Video Age said in a statement, “A space where we can really start to see ourselves, and see others; where we can open up to the possibility of deeper love. The pleasure line is a new beginning.”Their new album is being billed as a shift away from the introspection of their first two releases in favor of a more optimistic sound, drawing from influences such as Janet Jackson, David Bowie and Paul McCartney. —Jack Meyer

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9. Washed Out: Purple Noon

After dribbling out only singles for three years, Washed Out has finally released his first full-length album since 2017’s Mister Mellow. The 10-track album, called Purple Noon, is out now via Sub Pop. Including the already released singles “Too Late” and “Face Up” (released on Adult Swim a few years ago), the album alsos feature lead single “Time to Walk Away,” a breezy summer bop with a shimmer of euro-club released earlier today. “Time to Walk Away” was also released alongside an accompanying music video from Australian director Riley Blakeway, condensing and retelling one of Blakeway’s short films that he shot a few years back about a disintegrating relationship. —Lia Pikus

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10. Year Of The Knife: Internal Incarceration

Delaware metal five-piece Year Of The Knife have releasedd their debut album, Internal Incarceration, via Pure Noise Records, ahead of the single “Virtual Narcotic.” About the track, bassist Madison Watkins said in a press release: “Almost every straight edge person I know has been touched by loss. Those experiences can make you feel alone, but they’re something a lot of people within hardcore have gone through and can relate to. People that gravitate towards this music often have this darkness in their lives, but hardcore can be a beacon where they can find community and relief. It can be a really incredible outlet for getting that negativity out and finding people who understand you.” The less-than-two-minute song is a dark, energetic flash of pure metal that picks up speed with each second. This follows the release of the equally crazy “Sick Statistic.” —Danielle Chelosky

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