6 albums you need to hear this week
In the age of streaming, it’s never been easier to listen to new music — but with over 60,000 new songs added to Spotify every day, it’s also never been harder to know what to put on. Every week, the team at Rolling Stone UK will run down some of the best new releases that have been added to streaming services.
This week, we’ve highlighted records by Aitch, Hot Chip, and Phoebe Green.
Aitch, Close to Home
The Manchester rapper’s debut has been a long time coming, promising last year that it would be his love letter to the city that made him. He might have been unsuccessful in swinging a £7 million Liam Gallagher feature, but there’s plenty of Manny gems throughout the 16 tracks, including ‘1989’ which samples The Stone Roses and boasts a music video introduction from Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder. Charting his rise from New Moston mischief maker to internationally touring rapper and back again, Aitch returns to his roots on an album that shows as much of the 22-year-old’s soft interior as it does his tough outer shell.
Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | TIDAL | Amazon Music
Hot Chip, Freakout/Release
The synthpop five-piece welcome a new chapter on Freakout/Release, channelling restlessness and shared sorrow to find a middle-ground between elation and reflection. “We were living through a period where it was very easy to feel like people were losing control of their lives in different ways,” Joe Goddard said of the space between the new record and 2019 album A Bath Full of Ecstasy. “There’s a darkness that runs through a lot of those tracks.”
Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | TIDAL | Amazon Music
Lauran Hibberd, Garageband Superstar
Lauran Hibberd’s debut album is a showcase of the Isle of Wight songwriter’s natural charisma. Hibbard writes raucous, festival-ready songs indebted to nineties grunge, alt-rock, and nu-metal heroes (Brendan B. Brown of Wheatus and DJ Lethal of Limp Bizkit both feature on the record, while representing the nu-school revival is Dirty Hit artist Viji). Yet it’s all held together by Hibberd’s own sharp and satirical tongue.
Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp | TIDAL | Amazon Music
Panic! at the Disco, Viva Las Vengeance
On their latest album, Brendon Urie’s Vegas group take a definitive move away from their formative emo sounds to channel the spirit of classic rock giants. “Keep your disco / Give me T.Rex, ” comes his defiant call on ‘Middle of a Breakup’.
Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | TIDAL | Amazon Music
Phoebe Green, Lucky Me
Phoebe Green’s studio debut is a total reinvention of who the singer once thought she was. Unpacking all the baggage and examining herself under a microscope, the Manchester-based singer sets out to confront all her agonising quirks and contradictions. Green also draws from a whole new sonic palette, ditching the guitar and instead embracing everything from indie pop, retro hip-hop and cosmic dance synths.
Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp | TIDAL | Amazon Music
Röyksopp, Profound Mysteries II
The second volume in the Norwegian duo’s Profound Mysteries music/multimedia series sees Röyksopp play with everything from club bangers to mournful piano tracks to outright references to their electronic music forebears. This volume features collaborations with the likes of Susanne Sundfør, Astrid S, and UK singer Pixx. But it’s still a Röyksopp record, with all the wonky style, sly sense of humour, and moments of bittersweet profundity that comes with that.
Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp | TIDAL | Amazon Music
