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 projects from MGMT, Erika de Casier, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Rafael Toral, Aya, Real Estate, Geotic, Laetitia Sadier, and Mary Timony. 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.)
MGMT: Loss of Life [Mom+Pop]
After teasing their return with a goofy anagram (“elf of soils”), MGMT have released Loss of Life—their first studio album since 2018’s Little Dark Age. MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser co-produced the new LP with Patrick Wimberly, while longtime collaborator Dave Fridmann mixed the record. The 10-track Loss of Life includes singles “Mother Nature,” “Bubblegum Dog,” “Nothing to Declare,” and the Christine and the Queens–featuring “Dancing in Babylon.” In a lighthearted statement about their new album, VanWyngarden and Goldwasser said that “musically speaking, we are running at around 20% adult contemporary and no more than this, please.”
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Erika de Casier: Still [4AD]
Danish artist Erika de Casier follows her excellent 2021 full-length Sensational with Still. Like her prior album, the new one nods to 1990s and early-oughts R&B, with askew electronic touches on tracks like “Lucky” and “Ice.” The latter single features bars from Florida hip-hop duo They Hate Change, while Blood Orange appears on “Twice,” and London’s Shygirl hops on “Ex-Girlfriend.” De Casier co-produced Still with N, and enlisted players like Kirsten Nyhus Janssen, Nick León, Jonathan Jull Ludvigsen, Carl Emil Johansen, Christian Rhode Lindinger, and Tobias Sachse to fill out the record.
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Hurray for the Riff Raff: The Past Is Still Alive [Nonesuch]
The Past Is Still Alive is the new album from Alynda Segarra’s project Hurray for the Riff Raff, following 2022’s Life on Earth. Segarra recorded their new LP the month after their father died, working in the studio alongside veteran producer Brad Cook. They also enlisted the talents of collaborators like Meg Duffy, Conor Oberst, Anjimile, S.G. Goodman, Phil Cook, Libby Rodenbough, Matt Douglas, Mike Mogis, and Yan Westerlund. Last fall, Segarra released lead single “Alibi,” which they referred to as “a plea, a last ditch effort to get through to someone you already know you’re gonna lose.” Segarra also shared “Snake Plant (The Past Is Still Alive),” “Colossus of Roads,” and “Hawkmoon.”
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Rafael Toral: Spectral Evolution [Moikai]
Spectral Evolution marks Rafael Toral’s return to the electric guitar. The instrumental work took three years to record fully, and incorporates over three decades of Toral’s research into the nuances of tone and texture. Working with his newly re-adopted strings, as well as saxophone, double bass, drums, trumpet, ocarina, and a collection of self-built instruments, Toral crafts rippling expanses of sound that feel simultaneously organic and alien.
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Aya: Lip Flip EP [YCO]
Lip Flip is a new EP from London-based DJ Aya, following her 2021 release Im Hole. Her debut record on UK electronic label YCO includes four clubby, beat-driven tracks—one of which “features” Aya’s former alter ego, Loft. Proceeds from the sale of Lip Flip will go towards Aya’s facial feminization surgery (FFS).
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Real Estate: Daniel [Domino]
Daniel is the sixth studio album from indie mainstays Real Estate. The 11-track LP follows 2020’s The Main Thing and the group’s 2021 EP, Half a Human. The New Jersey five-piece announced the record in November, sharing the catchy lead song “Water Underground” along with a music video inspired by The Adventures of Pete & Pete. The Edmond Hawkins–directed visual even featured the show’s title stars, Danny Tamberelli and Michael C. Maronna, who acted alongside the band. Daniel also contains recent singles “Haunted World” and “Flowers.”
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Geotic: The Anchorite [Basement’s Basement]
Geotic—aka prolific Baths mastermind Will Wiesenfeld—is back with a new collection of warped and gossamer instrumentals. The Anchorite follows Wiesenfeld’s 2023 Geotic record, Oversight, and his latest Baths LP, 2017’s Romaplasm. Across 12 pastel-hued pieces, Wiesenfeld layers featherlight guitar, piano, staticky textures, and the occasional piercing synthesizer for an effect that’s both tranquil and bracing.
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Laetitia Sadier: Rooting for Love [Drag City]
Rooting for Love is the first solo album from Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier since 2017. Sadier announced her follow-up to Find Me Finding You (which she recorded as Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble) with lead single “Une Autre Attente”—her first new track since she issued “New Moon” in 2021. Sadier will kick off a North American tour in support of Rooting for Love next month.
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Mary Timony: Untame the Tiger [Merge]
Mary Timony, of influential bands like Helium, Ex Hex, and Autoclave, has released her first solo studio album in 15 years. She preceded the LP with three singles: “Dominoes,” “The Guest,” and “Summer.” Timony recorded and co-produced Untame the Tiger with Joe Wong and Dennis Kane. The sessions coincided with a difficult period during which Timony was caregiving for both of her parents, who have since died. She referred to the process in press materials as “the hardest thing” she’s ever been through. “The record became my anchor in a time when I was losing so much around me,” she added.
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Source : Pitchfork
