11 New Releases You Need to Hear (August 2024)

So much good music to check out.

Hello! 😊👋

Welcome to another installment of my new release rundown column on the Best Music of All Time newsletter.

This post showcases some recent releases (i.e., albums that dropped in the current calendar year) that I’ve been enjoying during the past couple of months. This edition is so packed with music recommendations that I don’t have time to waste on a long intro.

Just make sure you hit that subscribe button if you haven’t already to get all my new music updates delivered right to your inbox.

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Let’s dive in!

1. “Diamond Jubilee” by Cindy Lee

Genre: Pop, Lo-Fi, Experimental

Label: Realistik Studios

Release Date: March 30, 2024

Vibe: 💯

👉 Stream the album

Earlier in 2024, I wrote that *Cowboy Carter* was unlikely to be dethroned as the year’s best album. That sentiment looked like it would hold up in the months since—until I heard Diamond Jubilee. The acclaimed double album from Cindy Lee, the “drag queen hypnagogic pop project” of Canadian musician Patrick Flegel, is lo-fi pop as a transcendent experience.

It’s not purely about the music, either, which is frequently brilliant in its own right. The sequencing is built to replicate the sensation of listening to a radio station through a closed door—you hear just enough for the songs to make an impact, but it’s also shrouded in a surreal textural haze. The result was one of my most genuinely unique listening experiences this year. Maybe in my entire life.

Note that this instant classic is only available through YouTube or Flegel’s GeoCities site and not on other streaming services.

2. “The Year I Turned 21” by Ayra Starr

Genre: Afrobeat, Amapiano, R&B

Label: Mavin Global Holdings

Release Date: May 31, 2024

Vibe: 💃

👉 Stream the album

“In my head, I was looking at this album like a TV show,” the Nigerian Afropop star told Apple Music. “Every song is like an episode.” As far as album summaries go, it’s an apt one. The Year I Turned 21 builds on Ayra Starr’s 2021 mega-success with 19 & Dangerous, blending poignant, introspective ballads with rock-solid club numbers that rank among some of the year’s best crossover tracks.

Highlights include “Goodbye (Warm Up),” a track Starr said was “one of my [favorites] I’ve ever recorded,” “Woman Commando,” and “Last Heartbreak Song,” with the latter being Exhibit A for how much she’s grown as a performer. Like Tyla’s self-titled release from earlier in the year, this LP is another strong outing from an artist on the rise.

3. “Frog in Boiling Water” by Diiv

Genre: Alternative, Shoegaze, Noise Rock

Label: Fantasy

Release Date: May 24, 2024

Vibe: 🫨

👉 Stream the album

Some comeback records cater strictly to nostalgia, primarily for cash-grab reasons. The artist wants to put out a new record to remind us how good their material used to be back in their heyday (e.g., Eminem’s new eye-roll of an LP). Others signal the beginning of an entirely new era, blazing confident stylistic trails. This excellent DIIV release, Frog in Boiling Water, falls into the latter category.

Delicate one moment and challenging the next, this record keeps you on your toes, pushing you into some fraught sonic atmospheres. As the title suggests, the music grapples with how to overcome one’s inner demons, not unlike frontman Zachary Smith’s struggles off-stage. Ultimately, the central theme here is the power of evolution and how it can lead to salvation.

4. “Brat” by Charli XCX

Genre: Pop, Electronic

Label: Atlantic

Release Date: June 7, 2024

Vibe: 🪩

👉 Stream the album

Though I’m not necessarily as gaga about Brat as most critics, I’ll give Charli XCX her props. It’s among her most potent material to date, with production that balances what so many artists attempt and often come up short doing: threading the needle between looking back and moving forward. There are certainly odes to (ahem) club classics, but there’s also a futuristic bent to this record that sounds incredibly fresh.

I was most struck by the insecurity and near-dread that seeps into her lyrics and attitude. On several tracks, Charli decries the weight of expectation that comes with being the “cool girl,” or at least projecting that image publicly at a breakneck pace. You only need to watch a few minutes of her recent Boiler Room appearance, with a million smartphone cameras turned on her, to get it.

5. “Night Reign” by Arooj Aftab

Genre: Jazz, R&B, Experimental

Label: Verve

Release Date: May 31, 2024

Vibe: 🌃

👉 Stream the album

It’s safe to say that Arooj Aftab is on a creative heater right now. Her 2023 collaboration with Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily, Love in Exile, was my pick for the year’s best record. This spring, she returned with a new record, Night Reign, that, in many ways, expands upon themes that continually turn up in Aftab’s music: solitude, loneliness, and how those states can be positives for emotional growth.

Interestingly, Sade was the first reference point that came to mind when listening to Night Reign. The production here leans into the same velvety sensuousness that made the 80s group so universally adored, deepening Aftab’s sonic repertoire by folding in exciting new creative choices. It’s not going to hit you over the head with affect, but anyone willing to give themselves over to the beautiful nuances on display here will be rewarded.

6. “Please Don’t Cry” by Rapsody

Genre: Hip-Hop, Neo-Soul

Label: Jamla

Release Date: May 17, 2024

Vibe: 🧐

👉 Stream the album

Over the past decade, Rapsody has quietly become one of the most respected figures in hip-hop and R&B. From Kendrick Lamar co-signs to multiple Grammy nominations for 2017’s Laila’s Wisdom, the North Carolina native has nothing to prove. That in-point is a big part of why Please Don’t Cry worked so well for me. It’s a culmination of lessons learned, both personally and professionally, that translates into her most powerful record yet.

The expansive tracklist covers a lot of stylistic ground, mixing elements of reggae, trap, vintage soul, and even gospel to elevate her template for R&B craftsmanship. Those aesthetic choices serve as a backdrop for Rapsody to wax poetic on the value of positive affirmation within yourself and your community. After multiple listens, this one continues to grow on me.

7. “Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going” by Shaboozy

Genre: Country, Hip-Hop

Label: Empire

Release Date: May 31, 2024

Vibe: 🤠

👉 Stream the album

If there’s a modern use case for the futility of trying to sequester artists and their music within the confines of genre, it’s Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going. The sophomore album from Shaboozey features his No. 1 hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” but it’s also much more than a vehicle to prop up one good single. Like Cowboy Carter, it’s fearlessly blazing a new trail for country and Americana.

Beyond the drinking and brawling anthems like “Horses & Hellcats,” there’s unexpected tenderness waiting around several corners, too. For example, the Noah Cyrus duet “My Fault” is one of the LP’s highlights, falling somewhere between a Lionel Richie ballad and Luke Comb’s “Fast Car” cover. Other oddities, like “Let it Burn,” can’t be classified whatsoever, and that’s exhilarating.

8. “Breathe… Godspeed” by Verraco

Genre: Electronic, Techno

Label: Timedance

Release Date: May 31, 2024

Vibe: 😵‍💫

👉 Stream the album

The term “Latin club” has been floated around (and, rightfully, called out as problematic by music writers) to (re)categorize house music that’s dominating underground electronic scenes worldwide. JP López, operating under the stage name Verraco, is an act at the forefront of this movement, whatever you want to make of it. That said, it’s easy to see why this strain of house is rapidly gaining a huge audience.

Though it only clocks in just over 20 minutes, Breathe… Godspeed should be required listening for anyone looking for a little more excitement in their electronic music, especially when so many mainstream acts have gone the shameless cut-and-paste-from-known-classics route. Opener “0∞” is unique in how it makes you wait for the bass to kick in, while “Climaxing | Breathe” slows the tempo down to give your body and mind a chance to exfoliate after a rush of intensity.

9. “Mahal” by Glass Beams

Genre: Alternative, Jazz, Psychedelic Rock

Label: Ninja Tune

Release Date: March 22, 2024

Vibe: 🥲

👉 Stream the album

This release came to me by way of The Honest Broker, who consistently delivers intriguing genre entries that defy conventional wisdom. Mahal is an interesting beast in that sense because of its willingness to experiment in real time. It’s jazz fusion with strong psychedelic rock and traditional Indian folk influences thrown in for good measure.

Fans of the Mahvishnu Orchestra and Return to Forever will find plenty to like here. From the irresistible groove on “Orb” to the guitar and vocal interplay on the near-perfect closer, “Black Sand,” this EP is best enjoyed if you give it your full attention. Listen on your best speakers or pair of headphones to ensure you’re picking up all the intricacies on display.

10. “Lives Outgrown” by Beth Gibbons

Genre: Alternative, Singer/Songwriter

Label: Domino Recording Co.

Release Date: May 17, 2024

Vibe: 🥲

👉 Stream the album

If you’re familiar with Portishead’s work, you know that singer/songwriter Beth Gibbons doesn’t shy away from exploring the darker themes intrinsically linked with the human experience. But, even by her standards, Lives Outgrown is a heartwrenching work. A meditation on her responsibilities as a parent and her own mortality, it’s as clear-eyed as it is arresting.

Despite being on the heavy side, Gibbons offers moments of warmth that moved me almost to tears. Whether it’s the children’s choir kicking in on single “Floating on a Moment” or the violin solo on “For Sale,” it’s not hard to appreciate the vulnerability it takes to get to such a raw place creatively. It’s frequently hypnotic to the point of taking your breath away.

11. “Power to the People” by Joe Henderson

Genre: Jazz, Post-Bop

Label: Craft

Release Date: March 22, 2024

Vibe: 🥲

👉 Stream the album

Finally, this one’s a bit of a cheat because it’s a new record in the strictest sense of the term. Initially released in 1970, this jazz classic is available on physical media for the first time in many years, thanks primarily to the good folks at Craft Recordings and Jazz Dispensary. It’s a terrific snapshot of Henderson, who was partaking in an electric renaissance at the dawn of the 70s.

The saxophonist isn’t the only superstar participating in these sessions. Miles Davis disciples Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter hold it down on the keys and bass, respectively. At the same time, drummer Jack DeJohnette was about to become a mainstay in the famed trumpeter’s latest ensemble. With outstanding Fender Rhodes and upright bass sonics, this LP stands out as one of the year’s best reissues.