With so much good music being released all the time, it can be hard to determine what to listen to first. Every week, Pitchfork offers a run-down of significant new releases available on streaming services. This week’s batch includes new albums from Clairo, Willow, Wavves, Jodi, Rey Sapienz & The Congo Techno Ensemble, and Midwife. Subscribe to Pitchfork’s New Music Friday newsletter to get our recommendations in your inbox every week. (All releases featured here are independently selected by our editors. When you buy something through our affiliate links, however, Pitchfork earns an affiliate commission.)
Clairo: Sling [Fader Label/Republic]
Sling, the second full-length from Clairo, was recorded at a moment when the young singer-songwriter was unsure if she wanted to continue pursuing music at all. Produced by Clairo and Jack Antonoff and recorded in a remote studio in upstate New York, the new LP takes sonic inspiration from those woodland surroundings. Across Sling, whose “Blouse” features background vocals from Lorde, Clairo describes depression and being a young woman navigating the music industry.
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Willow: Lately I Feel Everything [Msfts Music/Roc Nation]
On her fourth studio album, Lately I Feel Everything, Willow Smith embraces the pop-punk and emo revival wholeheartedly. The 20-year-old cites acts from her childhood, like Paramore and My Chemical Romance, as inspirations for the new record, which features appearances by Blink-182’s Travis Barker and Avril Lavigne.
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Nathan Williams returns to Fat Possum with Hideaway, his seventh album with Wavves. Produced by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek, the new album was recorded in the garden shed in Williams’ parents’ backyard where he wrote much of his early work and, of course, released on the label that originally made him famous.
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Jodi: Blue Heron [Sooper]
Jodi is the moniker of musician Nick Levine, a former member of Pinegrove. The singer-songwriter flirts with alternative country and slowcore throughout their debut album, which was recorded at Lazybones Audio in Silsbee, Texas and co-produced with Tommy Read. The cover artwork bears the titular heron, as tattooed on Levine’s back.
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Rey Sapienz & The Congo Techno Ensemble: Na Zala Zala [Nyege Nyege Tapes]
Rey Sapienz is many things: producer, educator, and Hakuna Kulala label co-founder. Now, the East African artist is releasing his debut album, Na Zala Zala. It was created in collaboration with two musicians he’s dubbed the Congo Techno Ensemble: percussionist, vocalist, and dancer Papalas Palata and rapper Fresh Dougis.
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Midwife: Luminol [The Flenser]
Midwife is New Mexico–based multi-instrumentalist Madeline Johnston. Her latest album Luminol was written and produced under quarantine in 2020. It features the gauzy vocals and slow-moving, distorted goodness of past Midwife records, a sound she’s previously dubbed “heaven metal.” Luminol includes contributions from Diiv’s Zachary Cole Smith, Have a Nice Life’s Dan Barrett, and more.
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