In this segment, we showcase the most notable albums out each week. Here are the albums out on July 29, 2022:
Beyoncé, Renaissance
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Beyoncé is back. Renaissance, the follow-up to 2016’s Lemonade, is out now and features the previously released single ‘Break My Soul’, as well as contributions from Jay-Z, Drake, Skrillex, 070 Shake, The-Dream, and others. “Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world,” Beyoncé said in a statement. “It allowed me to feel free and adventurous in a time when little else was moving. My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment. A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom. It was a beautiful journey of exploration.”
Florist, Florist
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Florist’s self-titled album has arrived via Double Double Whammy. Composed of Emily Sprague, Jonnie Baker, Rick Spataro, and Felix Walworth, the New York four-piece previewed the LP – a companion to 2019’s Emily Alone, which was essentialy a solo album for Sprague – with the singles ‘Red Bird Pt. 2 (Morning)’, ‘Spring In Hours’, ‘Sci-Fi Silence’, and ‘Feathers’. “We called it Florist because this is not just my songs with a backing band,” Sprague explained. “It’s a practice. It’s a collaboration. It’s our one life. These are my best friends and the music is the way that it is because of that.”
Maggie Rogers, Surrender
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Maggie Rogers has returned with her sophomore album, Surrender, out today via Capitol/Polydor. The follow-up to 2019’s Heard It in a Past Life was recorded in three different locations – her parents’ garage, Electric Lady Studios in New York City, and Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios – and was co-produced with Kid Harpoon. The tracks ‘Horses’, ‘That’s Where I Am’, and ‘Want Want’ preceded he album. “There was no public life to write about,” Rogers said in an interview with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe. “It’s about me and my fears and my love life and my friends and my anger and my joy.” Read our review of Surrender.
Chat Pile, God’s Country
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God’s Country is the debut LP from Oklahoma noise rock band Chat Pile, following a couple of EPs and the soundtrack for the 2021 film Tenkiller. Released via the San Francisco-based label The Flenser, the album includes the early tracks ‘Wicket Puppet Dance’, ‘Why’, and ‘Slaughterhouse’. Describing the themes of the album, bassist Stin told New Noise Magazine: “More than anything, we’re trying to capture the anxiety and fear of seeing the world fall apart. Raygun is especially talented at that, even if the lyrics are fantasy based at times. I think that that specific type of anxiety comes through no matter what.” In press materials, the band describes it as “Oklahoma’s specific brand of misery.”
King Princess, Hold On Baby
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King Princess – aka Brooklyn vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter Mikaela Straus – has followed up her 2019 debut Cheap Queen with Hold On Baby, which is out now via Zelig/Columbia. Straus co-produced the LP with Mark Ronson, Ethan Gruska, Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, Dave Hamelin, Shawn Everett, and Tobias Jesso Jr. The record also features contributions from Zach Fogarty, Amy Allen, and Fousheé, as well as the advance tracks ‘Too Bad’, ‘Cursed’, ‘For My Friends’, ‘Little Bother’, and ‘Change the Locks’. Read our review of the album.
Friendship, Love the Stranger
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Philadelphia-based band Friendship have released their first album for Merge, Love the Stranger. The group – led by Dan Wriggins and featuring guitarist Peter Gill, drummer Michael Cormier-O’Leary, and bassist Jon Samuels – co-produced the LP with Bradford Krieger (Horse Jumper of Love, Ian Sweet). Ahead of its release, Friendship shared the singles ‘Hank’ – which came with a Joe Pera-directed video – ‘Chomp Chomp’, ‘Alive Twice’, and ‘Ugly Little Victory’. Love the Stranger follows 2017’s Shock Out of Season and 2019’s Dreamin’.
of Montreal, Freewave Lucifer F<ck F^ck F>ck
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Of Montreal have put out their latest album, Freewave Lucifer F<ck F^ck F>ck, via Polyvinyl. It follows last year’s self-released I Feel Safe With You, Trash as well as the 2020 LP Ur Fun. The album was informed by the isolation bandleader Kevin Barnes felt during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The experience of just trying to keep my head above water and navigate through the last couple years played a huge role in this record,” Barnes commented. The band previewed the album with the singles ‘Marijuana’s a Working Woman’ and ‘Blab Sabbath Lathe of Maiden’.
Amanda Shires, Take It Like a Man
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Singer-songwriter and Highwomen member Amanda Shires has issued her new album Take It Like a Man via ATO Records. Featuring the singles ‘Hawk for the Dove’, ‘Empty Cups’, and the title track, the follow-up to 2018’s To the Sunset was written and recorded during lockdown and includes guest vocals from Brittney Spencer, Maren Morris, and Natalie Hemby. It was produced by Lawrence Rothman, who said of working Shires: “I was just mesmerized. I thought she was the new Dolly Parton; Dolly for a new generation.”
Other albums out today:
Jemima Coulter, Grace After a Party; Tallies, Patina; Hayley Kiyoko, PANORAMA; Ithaca, They Fear Us; Precipitation, Glass Horizon; DC Gore, All These Things; Nav, Demons Protected By Angels; Warren Hue, Boy of the Year; Beach Rats, Rat Beat; PHONY, AT SOME POINT YOU STOP; Josh Rouse, Going Places; Naked Flames, Miracle in Transit; Murder By Death, Spell/Bound; $uicideboy$, Sing Me a Lullaby My Sweet Temptation; Cheerbleederz, Even in Jest; Wiz Khalifa, Multiverse; Wombo, Fairy Rust; Suemori, Tawamure; Lava La Rue, Hi-Fidelity.
