11 New Releases You Need to Hear Right Now [September 2024]
Behold: A metric ton of outstanding recent releases.
Hello! šš
Welcome to another installment of the 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 Iāve enjoyed. This edition is so packed with music recommendations that I donāt have time to waste on a long intro.
If you havenāt already, hit the subscribe button to get all my new music updates delivered to your inbox. You can also check out last monthās new release round-up post for more music recommendations.
Letās dive in!
1. āTimelessā by Kaytranada
Genre: Alternative, R&B, Electronic
Label: RCA
Release Date: June 7, 2024
Vibe: šŖ©šŖ©šŖ©
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Iāve been bullish on Kaytranada since the beginning of his career (and not solely because heās from my hometown). Even in the face of a solo discgraphy thatās certainly not lacking in quality, thereās a good chance that his latest studio effort, Timeless, is the best LP heās cut to date. The reason is simple: Itās a muscular, hyperfocused collection of banger after club banger.
Featuring a whoās-who of contemporary R&B and pop cameos, including Anderson .Paak, Childish Gambino, and Thundercat, thereās no shortage of memorable moments. However, what may surprise listeners is that the strongest material gives Kaytranada space to fly solo and do his own thing, leaning into his instincts for crafting pitch-perfect dancefloor fillers.
2. āErbilā by Omar Souleyman
Genre: Dabke, Electronic
Label: Mad Decent
Release Date: March 29, 2024
Vibe: š«Ø
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For the uninitiated, Omar Souleyman is a living legend. He started off as a wedding singer in Syria, performing what many describe as a modernized, more electronic-oriented style of traditional dabke music. Heās since inked a deal with Diploās label, gained a sizeable Western following, and, according to legend, recorded somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 albums. Talk about work ethic.
His 2024 release, Erbil, should satisfy both devoted fans and more casual listeners who may be engaging with Souleyman (and his trademark sound) for the first time. The main reason for that is his adherence to a winning formula: smooth, commanding vocals sung over layered saz playing and some of the most infectious dance music instrumentals youāll hear this month.
3. āBorn in the Wildā by Tems
Genre: Afrobeats, R&B, Neo-Soul
Label: RCA
Release Date: June 7, 2024
Vibe: š
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Iām probably biased, but itās been an exceptional 24 months for the Afrobeat and amapiano scenes. Artists like Asake, Uncle Waffles, Amaraae, Tyla, and many more have dropped career-defining albums that assert or reaffirm their considerable talents, not to mention put them on a course for crossover superstardom. With Born in the Wild, you can add Tems to that list.
The Nigerian multi-hyphenate is the latest artist to succeed with a fluid approach to genre assimilation, proving sheās as much as home with R&B arrangements that draw on templates from Lauryn Hill and Jill Scott as she is with traditional African influences. Her vocal performance radiates confidence throughout and enables her to transcend a bloated tracklist that couldāve been trimmed.
4. āWhy Lawd?ā by NxWorries
Genre: Neo-Soul, R&B, Psychedelic
Label: Stones Throw
Release Date: June 7, 2024
Vibe: š
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I name-checked him earlier in the post, but Anderson .Paak is quietly having a nice year. He contributed a song for the Paris Olympics, guested on other tracks for the likes of SiR and Fred again ā¦, and is embarking on a new tour with the Free Nationals where theyāll play 2016ās Malibu in full. If those commitments werenāt enough, he managed to drop one of the best R&B records of the year as one half NxWorries.
Titled Why Lawd?, this album sees .Paak teaming once again with producer Knxwledge, whose left-field takes on classic soul and funk grooves give everything a sheen of bubbling psychedelia. Underneath the aesthetic, the duo balance mentions of lustful late-night activities among the jetset sect with paranoid looks inwards at deeply personal insecurities.
Depsite not reinventing any wheels, this record is fresh and exciting in its execution.
5. āBlack & Whitesā by Big Hit, Hit-Boy & the Alchemist
Genre: Hip-Hop, Gangsta Rap
Label: Surf Club
Release Date: May 30, 2024
Vibe: šŖ
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Sometimes, the veterans need to take a moment to show the kids how itās done.
Black & Whites, the collab from veteran emcee Big Hit and two of hip-hopās most respected producers, his son Hit-Boyand the Alchemist, is an exercise in pure craftsmanship. No single track is going to blow you away with flashy bars, obvious samples, or swampy effects dialed up to an 11. Instead, the trio lean into a quality thatās long been the hallmark of compelling rap music: tough storytelling.
Hit-Boy, who also produced a J-Lo track in 2024, says the albumās multigenerational appeal is being felt in communities nationwide. āI literally see the comments like, āMan yāall gelling even more now, Big Hit sounding harder and harder.,āā he explained. āIām out in Atlanta right now, I ran into a dude, he like āMan they rocking with Big Hit out in Atlanta. That n**** rapping way better too.ā Iām really seeing it in real time.ā
6. āRileyā by Riley Mulherkar
Genre: Jazz, R&B
Label: Westerlies
Release Date: February 16, 2024
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Recorded in the last gasps of 2020 across two sessions in New York, Riley Mulherkarās solo debut straddles the line (however thin) that separates improvisational jazz, contemporary classical, and avant-garde experimentalism. The trumpeter, best known for his work as part of the Westerlies, this record is both a love letter to his past and a look ahead to jazzās future.
Even if youāre not a jazz fiend like me, thereās likely something on the tracklist that will pull you in. The groove behind āRide or Dieā may remind some listeners of the Purple One, while his interpretation of āKing Porter Stompā turns the trumpet into a percussion instrument. But, by far, my favorite cut was the most traditional-soundingāa breathtaking cover of āStardust.ā
7. āAt the Drolma Wesel-Ling Monasteryā by Howie Lee
Genre: Electronic, Experimental
Label: Mais Um Discos
Release Date: April 26, 2024
Vibe:
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I almost donāt want to talk about this record too much, because I think itās best if you go into the listening experience completely cold. I say that not to obsfucate or give in to my inherent laziness as a writer, but because thereās so much going on here that Iām not sure I could do it justice. Instead, Iāll let Howie Leeās Bandcamp listing for this albumsummarize for you:
Recorded over two weeks at Drolma Wesel-Ling Monastery in the mountains of north-eastern Tibet, Beijing-based multi-disciplinary artist/producer, Howie Lee combines Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist singing with mutating bass/footwork science, glitched-out hyper-rhythms and sampled Chinese-Tibetan instrumentation for his latest album [ā¦] Lee connects parallels in electronic music, deep meditation and devotional chanting to present eight reconstructed, IDM-warped Vajrayana mantras, journaling the beginnings of his journey into buddhism [ā¦].ā
Thatās it. No more spoilers from me.
8. āHere in the Pitchā by Jessica Pratt
Genre: Folk, Singer/Songwriter
Label: Mexican Summer
Release Date: May 3, 2024
Vibe: š³
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Some artists turn distance into a hallmark. Their songs pull you in despite staying frustratingly out of your reach, like a memory etched in an out-of-focus Polaroid. Jessica Prattās Here in the Pitch is a collection of songs that prize this effect, keeping you both engrossed and off-balance, invested emotionally yet unable to escape the feeling that she hasnāt quite let you in.
Despite how impenetrable that sounds, this record is actually quite pop-friendly. The production choices, which have the same lush quality of 60s records from the Becah Boys and Astrud Gilberto, frame Prattās melancholic vocals with ironic sunshine. It leaves you with the distinct impression that youāre looking at an inescapably gorgeous reflection in a broken mirror.
9. āDeath Jokesā by Amen Dunes
Genre: Art Rock, Experimental
Label: Sub Pop
Release Date: May 10, 2024
Vibe:
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Of all the new releases recommended this month, Death Jokes will undoubtedly be the most challenging for most listeners. Itās not like ADamon McMahon, the creative force behind Amen Dunes, would have it any other way. His debut under that title, DIA, is as antagonistic as experimental noise-rock albums get. Somehow, this release may be even denser.
But donāt mistake ādenseā for āconfusingā or āincomprehensible.ā Death Jokes doesnāt necessarily deliver overt narrative themes or any closure in that regard, but it does make you think about the current state of American culture and its increasing obsession with forcing everyone living in it to pick sides.
āGetting stoned/On their phones/Theyāre so lonely and donāt know why,ā he says of kids today. How we got there, and what it means for our future, is up to you to decide.
10. āBando Stone and New Worldā by Childish Gambino
Genre: Pop, Hip-Hop, Experimental
Label: RCA
Release Date: July 19, 2024
Vibe: šŖØ
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When it was announced that Donald Glover would be gracing this universe with another album, I was catiously optimistic. His Atavista revamp of 2020ās rough-around-the-edges 3.15.20 gave me hope that heād once again approach the greatness heād tasted with Awaken, My Love! While not quite in that league, Bando Stone is worth the listen for its fearlessness alone.
You know youāre in for a wild ride when the second track, āLithonia,ā functions as Gloverās ode to grunge music. Or is it Weezer? Or maybe Lenny Kravitz? Or maybe itās none of those at all and exists purely as a vehicle for the startling music video that blew up comment threads earlier this year. As a whole, the album is equal parts soulful and tormented, inviting and off-putting.
In other words, a fitting send-off for Gloverās beloved, shapeshifting character.
11. āStarfaceā by Lava La Rue
Genre: Alternative, Pop, Psychedelia
Label: Dirty Hit
Release Date: July 19, 2024
Vibe: š
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Letās wrap on a nice synthy palette cleanser.
Starface is the latest LP from West Londonās Lava La Rue, an artist whoās clearly pushing their creative boundaries alongside their audienceās expectations of what her music can be. Across 17 tracks, this is less a sci-fi concept album and more an exercise in spacy style, blending funk, ska, dance, pop, and a half-dozen other genres to extraterrestrial effect.
To their credit, there are far more hit and misses. Tracks like āManifestation Manifestoā and āAerial Headā are expansive grooves that are equally adept at calming you down or getting you up for a night out. āFLUORESCENT / Beyond Spaceā is as cinematic a rap-pop hybrid as youāll find, while āPush N Shuvā is one of my favorite singles of the year so far.
Whatās a recent release youāve been playing on repeat? Share titles and links in the comments.
Iām currently digging the new Jack White album No Name.