Notable Releases of the Week (7/18)

It’s been a busy week that I began by seeing Tyler, the Creator’s first of six NYC-area arena shows (at Madison Square Garden, just days before the Wu-Tang Clan played there on their “final” tour), and which here in BV land we also spent putting together a list of 10 artists shaping the new indie-country boom. We also talk more about that topic and other music news from this week on the new episode of BV Weekly.

As for this week’s new albums, I highlight five below, and Bill tackles more in Indie Basement, including Jonathan Richman, Billie Marten, Håvard Volden, and the compilation All the Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985, curated by former Lush bassist Philip King. On top of those, this week’s honorable mentions include Laura Jane Grace, Raekwon, Benny the Butcher, Zac Farro (Paramore), Blind Equation, Walter Mitty and his Makeshift Orchestra, Nodega (aka Bodega), GELO, FLETCHER, Che, Jim Legxacy, $ilkMoney, Slikback, Jade Bird, Sofie Birch & Antonina Nowacka, Two Shell, Vines (not to be confused with The Vines), Madeline Kenney, Jamie Lidell, Daron Malakian And Scars On Broadway, Disiniblud (Rachika Nayar, Nina Keith), Samora Pinderhughes, Erode, Mawiza, Cam, One More Satellite (Stone Temple Pilots’ Dean DeLeo), Coral Grief, Cleo Red, Dream Ivory, Hannah Holland, Dead Tooth, Jessie Murph, Healy, Hard Life, Rio Romeo, Panic Shack, Groceries!, Hamid Al-Saadi, Alex Warren, Niko Moon, Above & Beyond, Joyner Lucas, We Are Scientists, Joe Bonamassa, Styx, Bush, the Kelcey Ayer (ex-Local Natives) EP, the Album Leaf EP, the Cell Rot EP, the Puzzled Panther EP, the Avalon EP, the Luke Tyler Shelton EP, the Ally Salort EP, the Kanii EP, the Nectar Woode EP, the Dougie Poole live album recorded at Tubby’s in Kingston, NY, Colin Hay’s Man @ Work Volume 2 album of re-interpreted tracks, and the unearthed Sly and the Family Stone live album.

Read on for my picks. What’s your favorite release of the week?

Alex G – Headlights (RCA)
The prolific DIY veteran’s major label debut is a cleaner, smoother Alex G, but Alex G all the same.

Alex G’s new album Headlights is not just notable because it’s the long-running indie rock artist’s major label debut, but it because Alex G is the first indie rock artist in a long time for whom the phrase “major label debut” has stirred up a real commotion. The novelty of an indie artist on a major label had sort of worn out by the dawn of the 2010s, Outside of the occasional indie-to-major jumps from artists who you probably thought were on majors anyway (like Vampire Weekend), the major label world’s interest in indie rock has mostly faded into the rearview, and we almost never see a major picking up an artist who came up through the DIY ranks in the way that Alex G did. It makes me think of the way that Epic took a chance on Modest Mouse’s genuine weirdness and subtle pop smarts 25 years ago, and who knows, maybe Alex will have his “Float On” moment. Headlights does kind of make me think of Good News for People Who Love Bad News in the way that it sounds like an Alex G record but puts a little more emphasis on his ability to write catchy songs like his previous album’s breakthrough indie hit “Runner.” It might not replace longtime fans’ favorite Alex G record, but it does feel like the perfect record to rope in some new ones with. It’s loaded with “Runner”-esque, ever-so-slightly off-kilter indie folk songs that go down very smoothly, as well as forays into noisier indie rock (“Louisiana”), bedroom synthpop (“Bounce Boy”), jammier territory (“Logan Hotel,” recorded live with his touring band), and a waltz with weirdo crooner vocals that barely sound like Alex G (“Far and Wide”). It’s a cleaner, smoother Alex G, but Alex G all the same. Also: the album’s usage of mandolin is a nice touch.

You can also pick up our exclusive, limited “opaque fruit punch” vinyl variant of the Alex G album in the BV shop.

Lord Huron – The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1 (Mercury)
Ben Schneider & co.’s latest concept album is a cosmic trip through sci-fi themes and dark psychedelic rock.

After the dark psychedelic rock of 2018’s Vide Noir and the vintage folk vibes of 2021’s Long Lost, Lord Huron are back with a sci-fi-tinged concept album that has a little bit of the latter (“Nothing I Need”) but largely feels like a kindred spirit of the former. The title, “The Cosmic Selector,” is the name of a fictitious machine that allows you to “choose your fate like choosing a song on a jukebox.” The machine appears on the album cover, illuminated in the middle of an otherwise dark forest, blurring the lines between the natural and the supernatural–it’s an image that perfectly matches the vibe of this album. There’s also a little bit of a jukebox feel to the album’s variety, which ranges from the cosmic folk rock of “Bag of Bones” to spoken word from Kristen Stewart on the powerful, propulsive “Who Laughs Last” to the soulful psychedelia of “Fire Eternal,” which features harmony and duet vocals from Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino. Long Lost was a cool detour, but I’ve spent the last seven years craving a little more where Vide Noir came from and this album has that and more.

Forth Wanderers – The Longer This Goes On (Sub Pop)
The NJ indie band end a 7-year hiatus with a great new album, made fully on their own terms.

Montclair, NJ’s Forth Wanderers arrived in 2014 with Tough Love, a future classic indie-emo debut album so fully formed that the band signed to Sub Pop and made a fan out of Lorde in its wake (and in the wake of 2016’s Slop EP). They were clearly on the rise, but after making their Sub Pop debut with their 2018 self-titled album, they cancelled a tour and then disappeared. Fast forward to 2021, when Forth Wanderers were three years into a hiatus and the pressures of being a rising band had faded away, the members got to talking about making new music again. This time, they allowed themselves to do everything on their own terms–they’ve said that they aren’t even sure if they’ll tour behind the new material. The result is The Longer This Goes On, an album that toes the line between indie rock, dream pop, and grunge and puts Ava Trilling’s ever-soaring voice in the forefront. It’s some of their best music yet, and absolutely an album worth coming back for.

The Longer This Goes On by Forth Wanderers

ShrapKnel & Raphy – Lincoln Continental Breakfast
The underground rap duo of PremRock and Curly Castro deliver their first of three 2025 albums, each one made with a different producer from a different region.

It’s already been a big year for PremRock, whose recent solo album Did You Enjoy Your Time Here…? is one of our favorite albums of 2025 so far, and now ShrapKnel–his duo with Curly Castro–have released their first of three 2025 albums. Each one was made entirely with a different producer they met on tour, and this one was made with Raphy, a Detroit producer who’s part of Danny Brown’s Bruiser Brigade collective. Raphy’s production is eerie and disorienting, and Prem and Curly’s bars are just as ominous as the beats.

Lincoln Continental Breakfast by ShrapKnel & Raphy

DJ Haram – Beside Myself (Hyperdub)
The first full-length album from the New Jersey-born producer/DJ is a collage of sounds, regions, and styles that features Armand Hammer, Moor Mother, Bbymutha, and more.

DJ Haram has been a staple of the New York/New Jersey club scene for years, underground rap fans have probably heard her work on Armand Hammer records or as one half of 700 Bliss (her duo with Moor Mother), and today sees the release of her first-ever full-length album, released on the influential Hyperdub label. Moor Mother and Armand Hammer make appearances on the album, as do other rappers (Bbymutha, Sha Ray), other producers (August Fanon, El Kontessa, Kay Drizz), jazz trumpeter Aquiles Navarro (of Irreversible Entanglements with Moor Mother), and more, and the result is a sound collage that moves from experimental club to experimental rap to Middle Eastern music (DJ Haram herself is of Syrian and Circassian descent). It’s a smooth transition into album-oriented electronic music, after years of banger DJ sets and short-form releases, and it’s an album that’s hard to imagine coming from any other beatmaker.

Beside Myself by dj haram

Read Indie Basement for more new album reviews, including Jonathan Richman, Billie Marten, Håvard Volden, and the compilation All the Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985, curated by former Lush bassist Philip King.

Looking for more recent releases? Browse the Notable Releases archive.

Looking for a podcast to listen to? Check out our new podcast BV Weekly.

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