10 New Albums to Stream Now: Rolling Stone Editors’ Picks
Beck, Colors
The follow-up to Beck’s Grammy-winning Morning Phase is a “brilliant attempt to reckon with – and put his own stamp on – modern pop in the late 2010s,” writes Will Hermes, who praises the alt-rock mainstay’s “off-kilter pop craftsmanship,” as well as the way that he and producer Greg Kurstin (Adele, Tegan & Sara) “jampack each song with sonic ideas, even as they zero in on pop simplicity.”
Read Our Feature: Beck Talks “Complex” New Pop Opus Colors
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Robert Plant, Carry Fire
Starting with “The May Queen,” a sort of bluegrass-meets-North African trance jam delivered in signature high tenor that wouldn’t feel out of place on Physical Graffiti, Plant isn’t afraid to conjure ghosts on his latest solo LP. That said, like most of his post-Zeppelin work, Carry Fire is about alternate ways forward, from the hypnotic chamber folk of “A Way With Words” to the electric desert blues of “Bones of Saints.” But it’s still that dude, and with his versatile electro-folk-rock band the Sensational Space Shifters holding the map, he’s never sounded more comfortable in his skin. Oh, and that duet with Chrissie Hynde on “Bluebirds Over the Mountain” is a keeper. Will Hermes
Read Our Feature: Robert Plant Talks “Wild” New Solo LP, Looks Back on 2007 Led Zeppelin Gig
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St. Vincent, Masseduction
Annie Clark’s fifth album as St. Vincent, which was produced by pop whisperer Jack Antonoff, is “a masterpiece of confrontational intimacy,” writes Brittany Spanos, who adds that songs like “New York” and “Los Ageless” are “the most direct Clark has ever been with her lyricism, savagely cutting to the core of her feelings and her own mythology.”
Read Our Feature: How St. Vincent Battled Anxiety and Made Her Best Album Yet
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Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile, Lotta Sea Lice
This collaborative album between the Australian shredder-poet and the Philadelphia-based slacker-pop troubadour is “a perfect match,” writes Jon Dolan. “Kurt Vile is a master of zoned-out fingerpicking and droll longhaired jive; Courtney Barnett is a Dylanesque image ninja who can turn everyday stuff like making ramen noodles into rich, personal meditations. The idea of a Kurt and a Courtney making a record has a darkly funny resonance but the Nineties fantasy-rock pairing they really evoke is Stephen Malkmus and Liz Phair, the languid guitar surgeon and the causally incisive lyrical realist.”
Read Our Review: Great Indie Talkers Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett Have Conversational Collabo
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Gucci Mane, Mr. Davis
The prolific Atlanta MC’s second release of 2017 features the fiery Migos collab “I Get the Bag” and guest spots from Nicki Minaj, Monica, Big Sean and other hip-hop luminaries.
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William Patrick Corgan, Ogilala
Rick Rubin produced the second solo album from Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, which features stripped-down songs that maintain the loose, spare vibe of his demo recordings.”I had no idea we’d do that,” Corgan told Rolling Stone. “But I really grew to love it. Rick has a special, almost spectral-like quality of getting to the heart of a song in a way that’s really, really unique.”
Read Our Feature: Billy Corgan Talks Solo LP, Making Peace With Original Smashing Pumpkins
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Carly Pearce, Every Little Thing
This Nashville singer-songwriter’s long-awaited debut is a testament to her tenacity and a showcase for her rich voice, which shines on the heartbroken title track and the flirtatious “Catch Fire.””I am a poster child for how you can get every single door slammed on you five times in a row from every single person in town, and you can be told that you’re old news and you’re past your time,” she told Rolling Stone Country.
Read Our Feature: How ‘Every Little Thing’ Singer Carly Pearce Defied Odds With Risky Song
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Dvsn, Morning After
The Drake-approved duo’s second album doubles down on their love of R&B, particularly the emotion-packed strain that ruled the Nineties. “Dvsn is a part of music that has been missing for a long time,” producer Noah “40” Shebib told Rolling Stone. “[Their] shit is just good R&B music.”
Read Our Feature: How Dvsn Carved Out Their Own Niche With Emotive, Throwback R&B
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Squeeze, The Knowledge
As one of pop’s premier songwriting duos, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook have spent the last four-plus decades examining humanity’s big moments and quieter disappointments up close, and using their findings to animate their exquisitely constructed songs. On their 15th studio album under the Squeeze name, Difford, Tilbrook and their collaborators celebrate and mull over present-day doings amidst grandly arranged tableaus. The brass-accented “A&E” dings the underfunding of Britain’s National Health Service; the jittery clamor of “Rough Ride” provides a sharp (and opera-aria-assisted) contrast to its lyrics about the ills of London life; and the ska-tinged bounce of “Two Forks” helps the duo’s take on their own decades-long relationship land gently. Tilbrook’s spry voice and Difford’s basso profundo still make sweet harmony, leavening The Knowledge‘s serious songs while adding heart to its more winking offerings. Maura Johnston
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L.A. Guns, The Missing Peace
The onetime Sunset Strip darlings’ first record since 2002 to feature the powerful pair of raspy-voiced Brit Phil Lewis on vocals and axe-slinger Tracii Guns on lead guitar is lean, hooky and covered in the sort of gutter-glam grime that made their earlier albums some of hard rock’s most satisfying releases. Speedy tracks like the breakneck “The Devil Made Me Do It” and the swaggering “Baby Gotta Fever” combine three-chord punk’s no-nonsense charge with marauding gang vocals and Guns’ guitar pyrotechnics, while the wistful “Christine” and the sweeping “Give It All Away” are darkly hued power ballads that show off Lewis’ still-robust howl. Maura Johnston
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