Best New Releases, Sept. 6: MJ Lenderman, Nala Sinephro, and more
Well folks, we’re here—for the foreseeable future, it’s going to be a nonstop flood of new releases. We expected it, we’re prepared for it, it’s happening, and we’re just going to go with it. After all, why would we protest a good thing? This week’s best new releases include the latest from one of the best singer/songwriters of the moment, a blissful ambient jazz record, some affecting slowcore, the latest from a few veteran artists, and so much more.
Note: When you buy something through our affiliate links, Treble receives a commission. All albums we cover are chosen by our editors and contributors.
MJ Lenderman – Manning Fireworks
MJ Lenderman’s fourth album arrives this week, following his excellent 2022 record Boat Songs as well as recent work as a member of Wednesday and collaborator with Waxahatchee. His latest is rife with instant-classic songs about love, vulnerability and the absurdity of present day. It’s our Album of the Week, and in our review we said, “it brings an upgrade in production to the lo-fi sound of his previous records, while finding his songwriting as strong as its ever sounded, steeped in a classic folk-rock sensibility as observed through a skewed, inventive lens.”
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Nala Sinephro – Endlessness
Following the release of her remarkable debut album Space 1.8 in 2021, jazz artist Nala Sinephro makes her return with Endlessness. Expanding on its predecessor’s exploration of atmospheric arrangements with jazz instrumentation, Endlessness is broken up into separate tracks but ultimately serves as one continuous piece of music, built around similar motifs and recurring arpeggios. It’s both ethereal and soulful, and consistently gorgeous. We’ll have more on this one soon.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Turntable Lab (vinyl)
Midwife – No Depression in Heaven
Madeline Johnston has released a number of excellent, fuzz-coated slowcore records as Midwife, most recently collaborating with Vyva Melinkolya on last year’s Orbweaving. Her latest solo release eases back a little on the doom in favor of something that nonetheless provides a heavy emotional release. In our review of the album, Langdon Hickman said, “This is not music of ego; the real work of these pieces hides itself to foreground that haunting thing instead.” Plus make sure to read our interview with Midwife while you’re at it.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
The The – Ensoulment
The The’s Matt Johnson hasn’t released new music in over two decades, his last full-length Nakedself arriving in 2000 via Trent Reznor’s now-dormant Nothing Records. Twenty-four years later, the new wave and art-pop legend offers a fascinating update of his sound, still bolstered by big hooks and rich, maximalist arrangements cloaked in darker aesthetics. Opener “Cognitive Dissident” is a tense and compelling entry point, whereas elsewhere he delves into Western noir and electronics-tinged psychedelia. It’s a welcome return from a stylistic shape-shifter who still has a lot more to say and explore.
Listen/Buy: Spotify | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Public Opinion – Painted On Smile
Denver punks Public Opinion release their debut album Painted On Smile today, delivering a supercharged 25 minutes of driving garage punk and shout-along anthems loaded with hooks. The album is produced by Militarie Gun’s Ian Shelton, and it carries a little bit of that band’s muscular take on alt-rock. But throughout, the group finds a seamless alchemy between infectious melodies and surging energy. Read our track-by-track breakdown of the album with Public Opinion for more background on each of the songs on Painted On Smile.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Party Dozen – Crime in Australia
Australian noise-rock duo Party Dozen released an absolute motherfucker of an album in 2022 with The Real Work, and their follow-up to that sonic firecracker is comparably intense while showcasing even more depth and rhythmic complexity in their sound. On Crime in Australia, Party Dozen reach even deeper into hypnotic, shoegaze-like textures, funkier percussive pulses, and of course, more hard-driving noise rock freakouts driven by distorted saxophone squalls. This album rules, and we’ll have more on this one soon.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Dummy – Free Energy
Four years after their excellent debut Mandatory Enjoyment, Los Angeles’ Dummy return with an even greater emphasis on the noise in their noise pop, and on the danceable rhythms that underpin their dense array of dreamy melodies. The group intertwines elements of shoegaze with late ’80s/early ’90s baggy and Madchester, finding the place where stoned groove and bright and buoyant melodies intersect. It’s a big step forward and a spectacular set of songs, and we’ll have more to say on this one soon.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Fat Dog – WOOF.
UK group Fat Dog make their debut with WOOF., an intense, electronics-addled take on post-punk that’s eclectic and eminently danceable. On tracks like “King of the Slugs” and “All the Same,” the group takes a decidedly gothic approach to dancepunk, like LCD Soundsystem or Viagra Boys after a Sisters of Mercy bender. This is hedonistic fun with an unmistakably sinister side, and it’s the kind of debut with the potential to get a lot of mileage in your (and my) earbuds.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
