New Music Friday: Feb. 7, 2025
This Week's New Releases, Reissues + More
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NEW RELEASES
Olly Alexander | “Polari” (Years & Years frontman’s first album under his own name; producers: Danny L Harle, EASYFUN; new single: “Cupid’s Bow”; See here; Coke Bottle Clear Vinyl; Transparent Purple Vinyl; Amazon UK; Download; Apple Music; On Tour; Interscope)
Tommy Castro and the Painkillers | “Closer to the Bone” (producer: Christoffer “Kid” Andersen; new single: “Woke Up and Smelled the Coffee”; See here; Clear Blue Vinyl; Amazon UK; Amazon.ca; Download; Apple Music; On Tour; Alligator)
Dream Theater | “Parasomnia” (their 16th album; drummer Mike Portnoy returns to the lineup; producer: guitarist John Petrucci; new single: “Night Terror”; See here; Read here; Deluxe Edition, two CDs + one Blu-ray, with instrumentals and Surround Sound and hi-res stereo mixes; Deluxe Box Set, two CDs + Blu-ray and Dark Green Vinyl; Double Vinyl; Amazon UK; Amazon.ca; Download; Apple Music; 40th Anniversary Tour; InsideOutMusic)
Joe Ely | “Love and Freedom” (Download; producers: Ely, Lloyd Maines; guest: Ryan Bingham; new single: “Shake ‘Em Up”; Hear here; Rack ‘Em Up / Thirty Tigers)
Andy Fairweather Low | “The Invisible Bluesman” (new single: “Gin House Blues”; Hear here; Vinyl; Amazon UK; Download; The Last Music Company)
Kyle Falconer | “The One I Love the Most” (Download; third solo album from the lead singer of The View; new single: “Grace”; Hear here; CD and Vinyl out March 28; Rough Trade-Exclusive Chick Yellow Vinyl; Amazon UK; Download; La Sierra Recording)
Guided by Voices | “Universe Room” (their 41st album, and their 18th in the past 10 years; new single: “Fly Religion”; Hear here; Read here; Vinyl; Amazon UK; Amazon.ca; Download; Apple Music; GBV Inc.)
Inhaler | “Open Wide” (Irish rock quartet’s third album; producer: Kid Harpoon; new single: “Wide Open”; See here; Read here; Vinyl; Amazon UK; Amazon.ca; Download; Apple Music; On Tour; Interscope)
JOHNNYSWIM | “When the War Is Over” (their fifth album; new single: “Los Feliz”; Hear here; Pink Vinyl; Amazon UK; Download; Apple Music; On Tour; Mr & Mrs Swim LLC)
Kendrick Lamar | “GNX” (his sixth album; producers: Jack Antonoff, Soundwave, et al; guests: SZA, Roddy Ricch, Dody6, Lefty Gunplay, Wallie the Sensei, AzChike, Hitta J3, YoungThreat, Peysoh, Siete7x; Hear here; Read here; Vinyl; Indie Exclusive Blue Vinyl; Target-Exclusive Grey Vinyl; Amazon UK; Amazon.ca; Download surprise-dropped on Nov. 22; Apple Music; On Tour, with SZA; pgLang / Interscope)
Michigander | “Michigander” (Michigan-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Jason Singer’s debut album; producer: Jeremy Lutito; guests: Lutito, Trent Dabbs, Chris Koo, Sam Hollander, Butch Walker, Aaron Senor; Vinyl; Amazon UK; Amazon.ca; Download; Apple Music; On Tour; Totally Normal / Thirty Tigers)
Alice Sara Ott | “John Field · Complete Nocturnes” (18 tracks; new single: “Nocturne No. 9 in E Minor, H. 46”; See here; Read here; Double Vinyl; Amazon UK; Download; Apple Music; Deutsche Grammophon)
Gino Vannelli | “The Life I Got (To My Most Beloved)” (his 22nd album and first since 2019; dedicated to his wife, Tricia, who passed away just as the album was completed; producers: Vannelli, Peter Fil; new single: “Stormy River”; See here; Vinyl; Amazon UK; Amazon.ca; Download; Apple Music; COA Productions / BFD / The Orchard)
Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory | “Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory” (with percussionist Jorge Balbi, bassist Devra Hoff, and multi-instrumentalist Teeny Lieberson; producer: Marta Salogni; new single: “Afterlife”; Read here; Vinyl; Amazon UK; Amazon.ca; Download; Apple Music; On Tour; Jagjaguwar)
Wilder Woods | “Curioso” (third album from singer-songwriter Bear Rinehart of NEEDTOBREATHE; guests: Jim James, Maggie Rose, Anna Graves; new singles: “Swimming in the Ocean”; Hear here; Vinyl; Amazon UK; Amazon.ca; Download; Apple Music; On Tour; Dualtone)
REISSUES + MORE
Cactus | “Evil Is Going On: The Atco Albums 1970-1972” (U.K. repressing of 2022 compilation; eight-CD box set contains four studio albums and four discs of live recordings, captured at Ellis Auditorium in Memphis, at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, the 1972 Mar y Sol Pop Festival in Puerto Rico and Gilligan’s Club in Buffalo, NY; Read here; HNE / Cherry Red)
Clannad | “Clannad in Concert” (recorded during their 1978 tour of Switzerland; Vinyl; Amazon UK; Third Floor Music)
Dee Clark | “Four Classic Albums Plus” (“Dee Clark,” “How About That,” “You’re Looking Good” and “Hold On … It’s Dee Clark” on two CDs, with seven bonus tracks; Amazon UK; Avid R&B)
Drop Nineteens | “1991” (“lost” album from 1991, made up of demos recorded before they signed with Caroline/Hut and worked on their debut album, “Delaware”; remastered; Hear here; Read here; Gray Vinyl; Amazon UK; Amazon.ca; Download; Apple Music; Wharf Cat)
Fleetwood Mac | “Tango in the Night” (Hybrid SACD; 1987 album, featuring “Big Love,” “Everywhere,” “Seven Wonders” and “Little Lies”; sourced from the original master tapes and housed in mini-LP-style packaging; Double Vinyl; Amazon.ca; Merch; Mobile Fidelity)
Amy Grant | “The Hits” + “The Journey” (Amazon-Exclusive Edition; a collection of deep cuts throughout her career; On Tour; Amy Grant)
Dave Matthews Band | “Where Are You Going: The Singles” (Download; 32-track compilation; Double Vinyl, 22 songs; On Tour; Bama Rags / RCA / Legacy)
Don McLean | “Prime Time” (1977 album; remastered; Vinyl; Amazon UK) + “Chain Lightning” (1978 album, featuring “Crying,” repackaged and released in the U.S. in 1981; remastered; Vinyl; Amazon UK) + “Believers” (1981 album, featuring “Castles in the Air”; remastered; Vinyl; Amazon UK; On Tour; BFD)
Melanie | “Autumn Lady” (Double CD; abandoned album from 1973, featuring 30 songs, including singles “Bitter Bad” and “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”; Deep Red Vinyl; Amazon UK; Amazon.ca; Download; Apple Music; Easy Action / Neighbourhood Records)
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart | “Perfect Right Now: A Slumberland Collection 2008-2010” (10-track B-sides compilation; See here; Milky Clear with Blue and Yellow Splatter Vinyl; Amazon UK; Download; Slumberland)
Randy Starr + various artists | “Presley Style: Lost Elvis Songwriter Demos Vol. 2” (31-track compilation, recorded with full band or orchestra; Bear Family)
Various artists | “The Best Country Classics Album in the World … EVER!” (62 hits on three CDs; Amazon UK; Sony Music)
Various artists | “NOW That’s What I Call An Era: The Sound of the Suburbs 1977-1980” (four CDs, 80 songs, featuring The Clash, Elvis Costello, The Boomtown Rats, The Jam, The Cure, The Police, Rezillos, The Specials, The Beat, Japan, Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers, et al; Hardcover Book Version; Triple Vinyl, 51 tracks on black, white and red LPs; Amazon UK; Sony Music / EMI)
Various artists | “There’s No Stopping Us Now: The Female Mods’ Forgotten Story” (four-CD box set containing 98 original soul and beat tracks by pioneering female singers and groups; with track-by-track sleeve notes; Read here; Amazon UK; Edsel / Demon Music Group)
WAR | “Live in Japan 1974” (Double CD; previously unreleased concert featuring all seven original members; Read here; Double Vinyl; Amazon UK; Amazon.ca; Download; Apple Music; On Tour; Rhino / Avenue)
Wilco | “A Ghost Is Born (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)” (nine-CD box set features the original 2004 album, alternates, outtakes and demos, plus the complete October 2004 concert at the Wang Center in Boston and the complete Fundamentals; Double Vinyl; Amazon UK; Amazon.ca; Download, 31-song expanded edition; Apple Music; On Tour; Nonesuch)
Pete Wylie & The Mighty WAH! | “Songs of Strength & Heartbreak (Deluxe Edition)” (shelved album from 1998 that was released in 2000 after Wylie acquired the master tapes from Columbia; with 14 previously unreleased demos, including a cover of Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Alone Again [Naturally]”; Hear here; Read here; Double Vinyl; Amazon UK, double CD; On Tour; Chrysalis)
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Dedicated to the loving memories of Winnie & Ginny Galipault