A year ago, the LA-via-Philadelphia five-piece uploaded a few songs to Spotify on a whim. Now their music has tens of millions of streams, and they have played Newport Folk Festival, Bonnaroo, Made In America and Lollapalooza. The group’s self-titled debut is an adventurous, road trip-ready rock journey through addiction, politics and mental health.
Contact: Greg Jakubik
The critically acclaimed songwriter converts crippling anxiety into gritty pop gold on her debut LP for Arts & Crafts. Recording her new album at La Frette studios in Paris (Feist, Nick Cave), she comes to terms with heartbreak, mental illness and the changing tides of adulthood; NPR Music calls lead single “Paranoia” “bold in both sound and subject.”
Contact: Ally Norton
On the momentous road to the 2018 GRAMMYs – where his soulful opus Gumbo (Morton Records) earned nominations for Best R&B Album and Best R&B Song for "First Began" – the multi-faceted musician linked up with a 22-piece supergroup to add sweeping orchestral touches and transform the album in one seamless take. This recording session will now be released as a live album and film, featuring Matt Jones Orchestra, BJ The Chicago Kid, Anthony Hamilton, The Hamiltones, Lecrae, Keyon Harrold and more.
Contact: Greg Jakubik
The acclaimed bassist/vocalist makes his Chesky Records debut with a new album of originals and compelling takes on classics such as “I Put A Spell On You,” “Georgia On My Mind” and “Nature Boy.” “I wanted to put a spell on the audience with the new record,” Abrams says. “I’m mixing a lot of covers that fans have heard live with originals that they’ve never heard before…everything should put you in that kind of wonderful trance.”
Contact: Kerri Brusca
The singer-songwriter and guitarist’s first LP in a decade is an evocative collection of heartfelt songs. With an endearing and honest intimacy, Stills crosses a wide range of ups and downs through love and hardships he describes as “a self-reflective, atmospheric spacewalk.” The album features three co-writes showcasing new and old friendships, two with David Saw on “The Weekend” and “In Love Again” and Ryan Adams on “Criminal Mind.”
Contact: Kerri Brusca
What began as an open-ended experiment by the German-born, LA-based electric soul prodigy has now transformed into a complete narrative about love, intimacy, sex, heartbreak and euphoria – and, according to i-D, “an eclectic mix of sexy soul, slick R&B and Afrocentric rock and roll.” Each song on this LP tells a different story about the women who have shaped his life, from godmother Chaka Khan to high-school crushes, summer flings, his girlfriend and his mother.
Contact: Jael Goldfine
The multi-instrumentalist, historian and co-founder of the GRAMMY-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops explores the history of the American West with a collection of African-American cowboy songs. The first of its kind, this album takes the listener on an illuminating journey through the Old West via re-worked string-blues music, old-time square-dance music and cowboy poetry, along with original music written specifically for the album.
Contact: Andrea Evenson
One of CMT + Pandora’s 2018 Artists to Watch returns to the Opry, where, backed by the house band, she’ll play brand-new material that will appear on her forthcoming LP. Rose’s most recent songs have earned acclaim from Rolling Stone Country (“Dusty Springfield-worthy vocals”), American Songwriter (“a quiet force in the country world”), Wide Open Country (10 of the Best Unsigned Artists in Country Music) and more.
This reinvigorated group including Julian Casablancas releases its most indelible work to date. Produced by GRAMMY-winner Shawn Everett (Alabama Shakes, The War On Drugs), the album shapeshifts into bold and exciting new forms from song to song, from “fearless” (Stereogum) “QYURRYUS” to “Leave It In My Dreams,’ which Rolling Stone hails as “infectious…balanc[ing] pop with deft forays into the surreal.”
Contact: Amy Bailey
The two polymath MCs and longtime creative partners release their first collaborative hip-hop LP to declare that no, everything is definitely not fine. The album, deftly balancing withering satire and abstractionism, features cameos from Michael Che, Nick Offerman, John Hodgman, Anna Wise and Hannibal Buress.
Contact: Spencer Roth-Rose
The Calgary-based artist and her “fiery and dramatic take on modern country” (Rolling Stone Country) return with an ambitious three-part concept LP. Inspired by her Mexican lineage, her new marriage and the epic works of Ennio Morricone, Ortega refines her boot-stomping sound as she ponders loss, séance, resurrection and freedom.
Contact: Jaclyn D. Carter
Assembled and led by Cuban vocalist José “Pepito” Gómez, Orquesta Akokán is a big-band mambo collective of Cuba’s finest musicians. The NPR Music-approved group’s debut LP features original music and was cut live to tape over a three-day session at Havana’s hallowed, state-run Estudios Areito.
Contact: Spencer Roth-Rose
The avant-garde folk duo makes its Folkways debut. The album, with Anna Roberts-Gevalt’s multi-instrumental curiosity and Elizabeth LaPrelle’s traditional vocal roots, is a spellbinding reconfiguration of ancient folk ballads, sourced primarily for this album from archives in New England, that sees the duo’s immersion in Appalachian music move to a place of boundless experimentation.
Contact: Andrea Evenson
Steeped in the techniques of timeless R&B records and analog recording, these NPR Slingshot artists, a young New York City band whose members are barely into their 20s, create subversive, masterful pop replete with what NPR Music calls a "timeless, multi-generational warmth."
Contact: Greg Jakubik
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