Fresh off re-upping their current record contract, AKMU delivers an EP in Next Episode that marks a career milestone. Although they’re under the K-pop umbrella, sibling duo AKMU (brother Lee Chanhyuk and sister Lee Suhyun) make music that’s different from the usual idol-pop sound you…
Seek Shelter all but confirms Iceage’s existence as a commercial outfit, but also proves their continued ability to surprise and thrill. Suspicions surrounding Iceage’s “authenticity” have gone hand-in-hand with the band’s rise to (indie rock) fame, even all the way back to the Danish punk…
Even the simple moments of Bruno Pernadas’ latest release are treated with care and originality, leading to an album that constantly surprises. On his fourth album, Private Reasons, Portuguese songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Bruno Pernadas reunites with collaborators old and new to craft an audacious psychedelic pop…
Mdou Moctar’s transition from solo artist to full band brings an added depth to already expert musicianship. The Saharan Shredder, Mahamadou Souleymane aka Mdou Moctar (also the lately-formed full band’s moniker), returns with his sixth studio album, Afrique Victime, recorded largely during small breaks in his tour…
CHAI’s latest continues to reevaluate genre boundaries with catchy experimentation and through sly feminist modes. CHAI is a band guided by an explicit mission statement. Announced immediately on their website and surfacing in much of their publicity, the Japanese J-pop-punk-house-rap rock band are celebrants…
Gojira’s latest record is their least brutal, but also arguably their most cohesive, mature effort to date. Five years after they released 2016’s Magma, French extreme metalheads Gojira are back again with their seventh studio album, Fortitude. And for anyone who has not been…
Menneskekollektivet is a heady, carefully-calibrated study of and gorgeous exercise in the act of creation. “In the beginning, there is no word, and no ‘I’ / In the beginning, there is sound / In the beginning, we create with our mouths” prolific Norwegian singer…
Welfare Jazz is a progressive tweak of the punk ethos, embracing much of the genre’s texture but reconceiving of its messaging. Viagra Boys’ sophomore effort Welfare Jazz — coming after their debut Street Worms — is a messy post-punk experience that samples elements from myriad…
Egyptian producer Amr El-Alamy has been involved with his country’s dance music scene for years, but his debut album under the 1127 moniker is the first time many will get a chance to hear his own original work at length. Those who listened to…
Puerto Rican singer-songwriter/trap star Bad Bunny characterized his recent collaborative effort with Columbian reggaeton idol J Balvin — rather dramatically — as “a transcendental and refreshing album; it is a rescue, a relief.” While Oasis isn’t the profoundly life-changing event that this lofty description might…
