New Releases - 6/17/22

Hitting The Racks

Here's your weekly rundown of what's hitting the new release racks at Grimey's

New Releases

Yaya Bey - Remember Your North Star LP (Big Dada)

2022 release from Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Yaya Bey, her most expansive work to date, Remember Your North Star is a body of work that showcases Yaya's experimental approach to R&B, Hip Hop, Jazz, Reggae and Afrobeat music. The album explores the landscape of Black music via Yaya's storyteller approach and examines themes of romantic turbulence, female empowerment, fraught parental relationships and self-actualization, with production primarily from Yaya, Aja Grant (of Phony Ppl) and DJ Nativesun.

Cola - Deep In View LP/CD (Fire Talk)

Deep in View is the debut album from former Ought members Tim Darcy (vocals, guitar) and Ben Stidworthy (bass) alongside Evan Cartwright (drums). Titled after philosopher Alan Watts' anthology of the same name, the record is built on a foundation of elegant guitar grooves and knotty rhythms, offering commentary on modern life and technology through curious lyrical vignettes, where quotidian objects and scenes are never just as they seem. Deep In View is equally a product of introspective songwriting as it is a consideration of the abstract landmarks of an increasingly media-mediated society. It also presents the most concise and melodic songs Darcy and Stidworthy have written to date.. The album sounds streamlined and intentional, as the rhythms of the punchy and exuberant guitar parts, urgent basslines, and unexpected drum patterns all tangle with each other in an elegant dance. At the center of all these elements is Darcy, whose characteristically wry voice shifts from detached to decisive to distressed, throughout the album's course. Both enigmatically dense in meaning but precisely intricate in sound, Deep in View is an album that sparks novel interpretations with every listen, like an art object that takes on new shape with each angle from which you hold it. [Limited edition cloudy clear vinyl.]

Flasher - Love Is Yours LP/CD (Domino)

The band's 2018 debut, Constant Image, was a triumph - a set of songs both dizzy and explosive, balancing new-wave lushness and post-punk frenzy. Love is Yours steps up the ambition and reaches for the horizon. The record is ablaze with mood, melody, and carefully threaded hooks, finding the band foregrounding the pop sensibilities that had always been present in their previous releases. The album was written and recorded amid a moment of flux for the band. Now a duo, guitarist Taylor Mulitz and drummer Emma Baker had to reimagine Flasher's voice. When it was first completed, Mulitz was shy about sharing the album, worrying that old friends would find the new sounds unrecognizable. Love is Yours is unquestionably made up of Flasher's DNA, but it's true that something pivotal has shifted. If Constant Image found the band tightening up and transcending it's basement-punk roots, Love is Yours marks another, major moment of ascent, this time toward something that's easy to embrace, but harder to pin down - still thrilling, but newly illuminated and entirely their own. [Limited edition baby blue vinyl.]

Foals - Life Is Yours LP/CD (Warner Records)

Foals take a fresh, thrilling new direction on with their upcoming album 'Life Is Yours' which will be released on June 17th via Warner Records. 'Life Is Yours' is the follow-up to the triumphant, two-part 'Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost', which proved to be a pivotal pinnacle in the band's story. Not only did it result in the band's first ever UK #1 album, but the ambitious scale of the Mercury-nominated album saw Foals win their first BRIT Award for Best Group. 'Life Is Yours' feels like a natural evolution for Foals, it's disco-tinged guitars, tight syncopated rhythms and punchy, insistent hooks echoing their roots as purveyors of rambunctious house party chaos. Thematically, it's escapist, transportive and in rapture at life's endless possibilities. It's a record that's perfectly in tune with the prevailing atmosphere of this moment in time - a life-affirming celebration as the world is reunited [Indie exclusive white vinyl.]

Horse Jumper of Love - Natural Part LP (Run For Cover)

There's a space between literal and abstract where art often resides, and few bands excel at navigating that surreal territory more deftly than Horse Jumper of Love. On their third full-length, Natural Part, the Boston-based three-piece revels in the act of grasping at something that can't be held, smudging the lines between rich details, hazy memories, vivid moments, and intangible feelings to create their most captivating record to date. Sonically, Natural Part feels even more expansive than anything Horse Jumper of Love has done before, which is no small feat for a band whose music has often hinged on billowing guitars and roomy drums. Opener Snakeskin gently welcomes the listener with an enveloping atmosphere, before a sharply angled guitar riff in the towering second track Ding Dong Ditch fractures the aura. Familiar influences like Duster and David Berman can still be heard throughout, but new elements like cello-performed by Emily Dicks Thomas and inspired by both Nirvana's unplugged album and listening to Oasis' Wonderwall in preparation for a Halloween cover set)-add different textures to the band's reverberating sound. A sense of mystery and the inevitability of change permeates much of The Natural Part, with vocalist / guitarist Dimitri Giannapoulos often capturing snapshots that take note of a flickering feeling in the mundane, and then letting his imagination expand it into something profound. It's those kinds of details that makes Natural Part such a compelling listen. It's an album planted firmly in small moments that feel big: the unexpected flashes that somehow feel authentic and esoteric all at once, and cut through our busy lives to ground us in something that seems meaningful-even if we can't fully articulate why. [Limited edition translucent red vinyl.]

J. ROCC - A Wonderful Letter LP (Stones Throw)

DJ and producer J Rocc revisits his LA underground hip-hop roots on A Wonderful Letter. The album is a love letter to the city that constantly inspires him. J Rocc has been a center of gravity for the LA beat scene for over 20 years, and a staple of the Stones Throw roster for nearly two decades. [Indie exclusive smoke & orange color vinyl.]

The Logic - Vinyl Days CD (Def Jam)

2022 release. Vinyl Days is the highly anticipated seventh studio album from Grammy-nominated, multiplatinum artist Logic. Hosted by Funk Flex and driven by samples from the vinyl collection of MadLib collaborator, Egon, Vinyl Days boasts appearances from Wiz Khalifa, The Game, RZA, Action Bronson, Morgan Freeman, Earl Sweatshirt, Nardwaur, Anthony Fantano and more.

Corb Lund - Songs My Friends Wrote LP/CD (New West)

Songs My Friends Wrote is an album I've been threatening to make for years. It's a bunch of tracks that are my versions of a bunch of songs my friends wrote. I'm fortunate to count a lot of world class songwriters as good pals and I wanted to shine a little light on some of my favorite examples of their work. In most cases I've picked relatively obscure songs that have always spoken to me, even though many of them won't be so familiar to people. The best part about recording all these tunes was that they reminded me of all the people who I haven't been able to hang out with for the past two years because of the plague we've all been dealing with. All of these tunes bring a smile to my face and I hope they do the same for you. - Corb Lund. [Autographed black & clear smoke color vinyl.]

Brad Mehldau - Jacob’s Ladder 2xLP (Nonesuch)

Previously released on CD, now on vinyl. The album features new music that reflects on scripture and the search for God through music inspired by the prog rock Mehldau loved as a young adolescent, which was his gateway to the fusion that eventually led to his discovery of jazz. Jacob's Ladder is made up of original compositions by Mehldau alongside interpolations and covers of songs by Rush, Gentle Giant and Yes. Featured musicians on the album include Mehldau's label mates Chris Thile and Cécile McLorin Salvant, as well as Mark Guiliana, Becca Stevens, Joel Frahm, and others.

Perfume Genius - Ugly Season 2xLP (Matador)

Perfume Genius returns with Ugly Season, the follow up to 2020's overwhelmingly praised Set My Heart On Fire Immediately. Called his strongest work to date by Pitchfork (9.0, best new music) and stunning by The Wall Street Journal, Set My Heart... marked the continued elevation of Mike Hadreas' powers. Ugly Season was born out of the 2019 dance and music collaboration The Sun Still Burns Here.

Calum Scott - Bridges CD (Capitol)

2022 release. Bridges is the sophomore album from British singer/songwriter Calum Scott, featuring the single, Heaven. [Vinyl due August 12.]

Slang - Cockroach In A Ghost Town LP/CD (Kill Rock Stars)

Slang's debut Cockroach In A Ghost Town is a force of nature that came, seemingly, out of nowhere Lyricist/singer/guitarist Drew Grow and drummer/singer Janet Weiss started the band over a decade ago in Portland, OR - both having spent more than half their lives dedicated to making and performing music. Through the years, Weiss has played with everyone from her bands Quasi, Wild Flag, and Sleater-Kinney, to collaborators like Elliott Smith, Stephen Malkmus, and others. ; Grow has fronted his own groups Modern Kin and the Pastors' Wives, producing other bands along the way. Starting as a moonlighting collaboration, the meeting of this particular group was kismet if not totally cosmic. In their first iteration as a duo, Slang hammered the Everly Brothers inside-out; they put a keen new light on songs by the Traveling Wilburys and Jackson C. Frank - setting out to harmonize together and just play. [Limited edition deep purple vinyl.]

The Smile - A Light For Attracting Attention 2xLP/CD (XL Recordings)

A Light for Attracting Attention - The Smile - Not The Smile as in ha-ha-ha, more The Smile as in the guy who lies to you every day... so speaks Thom Yorke on the inspiration behind the name of the new trio consisting of himself, his Radiohead bandmate Jonny Greenwood and drummer Tom Skinner of UK jazz outfit Sons of Kemet. The description is borne out by The Smile's acerbic first single You Will Never Work In Television Again, a 2:48 blast of ragged, raw energy that moved The New York Times to rave: Over a bruising 5/4 beat and flailing guitars climbing through three chords, Yorke snarl-sings his avenging fury at 'some gangster troll promising the moon' who'd devour 'all those beautiful young hopes and dreams,' and you can almost feel the spittle flying. Additional singles The Smoke, Skrting the Surface and Pana-Vision - which epically closed the series finale of hit show Peaky Blinders - followed with equal critical acclaim; all are collected on The Smile's first album, A Light For Attracting Attention, produced by Nigel Godrich. [Indie exclusive yellow vinyl available in the shop and in the Grimey's webstore.]

The Waterboys - All Souls Hill CD (Cooking Vinyl)

2022 release. After blazing a trail with 2020's critically acclaimed Good Luck Seeker, The Waterboys waste no time in delivering their brand new record All Souls Hill. The album is nine tracks of Waterboys brilliance, all mixed by Scott himself. All Souls Hill is current, on the money social commentary, but with an air of hope. All Souls Hill is mysterious, otherworldly, tune-banging and emotional. comments Mike. I made it with Waterboys old and new and my co-producer, brilliant sonic guru Simon Dine. It's nine songs tell stories, explore dreamscapes, and cast a cold but hopeful eye on the human drama. [Indie exclusive color vinyl due August 19.]

Hank Williams Jr. - Rich White Honky Blues LP/CD (Easy Eye Sound)

2022 release. Hank Williams, Jr.'s sound has always been built on the blues and his album Rich White Honky Blues is a sonic testimony to that. The project came together over three hot days in Nashville, recorded live with the finest blues session players in the country at producer Dan Auerbach's Easy Eye Sound studio. Never one to rest on his laurels, even after 56 studio albums, the acclaimed Country Music Hall of Fame member is still finding new creative ground to explore. [Indie exclusive gold splatter vinyl. Available in the shop and in the Grimey's webstore.]

Pete Yorn - Hawaii LP/CD (

Pete Yorn's first record in 3 years. Features the first sing "Elizabeth Taylor, the Petty and Speringsteen-esque "Ransom' and Never Go. The making of the video for Never Go is featured in 3 episodes of the Netflix series Drive Hard With Sammy Maloof which starts in May. Hawaii is a highlight of Pete's 20 plus year career. LP comes in a splatter with the colors of the official fish of Hawaii, The Reef Triggerfish. [Limited edition Hawaiian fish color vinyl.]

Reissues, Compilations, Live Recordings & Vault Excavations...

The Beach Boys - Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys 6xLP/2xLP/3xCD (Capitol)

UMe has updated the classic Sounds Of Summer compilation by The Beach Boys. The Expanded Edition 3 CD set features 80 key tracks from their storied career (all newly remastered) with 24 new stereo mixes, including two first-time stereo mixes. Includes updated photos and liner notes. Also available in a 6 LP set and a distilled double vinyl LP.]

Black Marble - Bigger Than Life LP (Sacred Bones)

When Chris Stewart set out to write and record his third album as Black Marble, he was newly living in Los Angeles, fresh o a move from New York. The environment brought much excitement and possibility, but the distance had proved too much for the car he brought along. With it out of commission indefinitely, he purchased a bus pass and planned his daily commute from his Echo Park apart- ment to his downtown studio, where he began to shape Bigger Than Life. The route wound all through the city, from the small local shops of Echo Park to the rising glass of the business district, to the desperation of Skid Row. The hurried energy of the environment provided a backdrop for the daily trip. When Stewart finally arrived at his studio, he'd look through his window at the mountains and the sky, seeing the beauty that makes L.A. unique - the same beauty his fellow commuters, some pushed to the edge of human endurance, had seen. That was the headspace he was in when he began to map out the syncopated drums and staccato arpeggiation of Bigger Than Life, an ode to his new condition and a shim- mering synth-pop response to it's cacophony. As with every Black Marble album, Stewart recorded, produced, and played everything you hear on Bigger Than Life using entirely analog gear, though the process was new. This time around, he wrote everything on his MPC and sequenced it lie to his synths - only using the computer to record, not to create. I try new approaches every time, which helps me stay engaged but also it's kind of a trick I play on the creative side of my brain, Stewart says. Keeping one side of my mind busy on organizational creativity I think frees up the other side where the inspirational creativity comes from. [Limited edition Royal blue vinyl.]

Blitzen Trapper - All Across This Land LP (Vagrant)

Acclaimed Portland, OR quintet Blitzen Trapper has built a solid reputation as a band unafraid to take chances. By incorporating a vast array of influences, they have released albums that touch on indie folk/rock, roots, art rock, alt country, psychedelia and pop, while maintaining a sound that is distinctly their own. Though it followed 2013's somewhat experimental VII, a futuristic hip-hop/country-rock hybrid, 2015's All Across This Land, in contrast, is a top-down, tightly defined piece of classic rock and roll, full of big riffs, bigger hooks and compelling, instantly relatable lyrics. In sound and scope it recalls two of the band's more beloved albums, 2008's breakthrough fourth effort, Furr, and 2011's landmark American Goldwing. I think it's a return to the sort of more 'classic' Blitzen Trapper thing, for sure, Eric Earley said.

David Bowie - The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders From Mars LP (Parlophone)

Just in time for its 50th anniversary, here’s a new reissue, half-speed mastered at Abbey Road. Available as limited edition picture disc and standard black vinyl pressing. Both include a bonus poster.

Everly Brothers - Hey Doll Baby CD (Warner Records)

Hey Doll Baby is a newly remastered 17-track compilation that collects some of the lesser-known, buried treasures in The Everly Brothers' rich catalog with songs assembled by Adria Petty, Tom Petty's daughter, who worked closely with both Everly families on the project, with help from Phil's widow Patti and son Jason, who provided track-by-track commentary for the liner notes, as well as Don Everly, prior to his passing last summer, and his widow Adela. Hey Doll Baby holds the bittersweet distinction of being the final project Don worked on. [Released on vinyl for Record Store Day and still available, now also on CD.]

Lucius - Wildewoman LP (Mom+Pop)

Limited marbled vinyl pressing. Wildewoman is the 2013 critically acclaimed debut album by Brooklyn indie pop band Lucius.

Lucius - Good Grief LP (Mom+Pop)

Limited metallic copper vinyl pressing. Good Grief is the 2016 sophomore album by Brooklyn indie pop band Lucius.

Lucius - Nudes LP (Mom+Pop)

Limited crystal amber vinyl pressing. Nudes is a fully acoustic, 10-song collection of reimagined fan favorites.

Prince - The Gold Experience CD (Sony Legacy)

The Gold Experience was the first full-length Prince album to be credited to his unpronounceable symbol and was released at the most public, heated stage of his battle with the major label industrial complex. With the word SLAVE written on one cheek, Prince shined on the opulent ballads The Most Beautiful Girl in the World and Gold and the defiant single Eye Hate U, and the album earned widespread critical acclaim. [Exact replica of 2xLP promo vinyl with additional remixes is released on June 18 for RSD Drops.]

Slade - Slayed? CD (BMG)

Deluxe CD reissue of Slade's third studio album Slayed?, originally released on November 1, 1972. Entered the UK album chart at #1 and remained in it for 34 weeks. It was certified Silver in early 1973. Includes "Gudbuy t' Jane" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" continues to be a nonstop party, from the riotously self-fulfilling prophecy of "The Whole World's Goin' Crazee" to the down-key but still eminently stompalong-able "Look at Last Nite, " the latter a reminder that, even at its loudest, Slade was still capable of some fetching balladry.

Steel Pulse - True Democracy LP (Law Records)

Limited red, green and gold colored vinyl LP pressing. this 1982 release, steel pulse's first for elektra, marks the band's move toward a more buoyant, pop-inflected sound. 'true democracy' does not have the edgy roots feel of albums like 'handsworth revolution'; instead, it demonstrates the group's synthesis of reggae rhythms with high production values and well-crafted melodies. but while the album's stylistic corners may be sanded for radio-ready accessibility, 'true democracy' contains some of the band's boldest, most explicitly political songwriting. the opener, 'chant a psalm,' invokes the names of biblical figures and puts the listener on notice of the album's conscious, spiritually minded tone. there are classic rasta themes, such as 'worth his weight in gold,' a song based on the teachings of marcus garvey, and songs that overtly address social and political issues. 'a who responsible?' takes on the history of racial injustice, 'leggo beast' is an indictment of prostitution, and 'man no sober' looks at alcoholism. yet for all its seriousness, 'true democracy' has a light, danceable vibe, exemplified in the party anthem 'ravers,' one of steel pulse's best tunes. though sometimes overlooked in favor of the early island albums, this is one of the band's most consistent and enjoyable releases.

Jeff Tweedy - Love Is The King / Live Is The King 2xLP (dBpm Records)

Out on dBpm Records, Love Is The King, a beautifully honest ode to love and hope, is the follow-up to 2018's WARM and 2019's WARMER, and comes on the heels of Tweedy's second book, How To Write One Song. At the beginning of the lockdown I started writing country songs to console myself. Folk and country type forms being the shapes that come most easily to me in a comforting way. 'Guess Again' is a good example of the success I was having at pushing the world away, counting my blessings - taking stock in my good fortune to have love in my life, comments Tweedy. A few weeks later things began to sound like 'Love Is The King' - a little more frayed around the edges with a lot more fear creeping in. Still hopeful but definitely discovering the limits of my own ability to self soothe. This deluxe edition will include a second disc of live material, all in the same sequence as the studio recording plus a Neil Young cover bonus track titled The Old Country Waltz. Previously released on CD, now on vinyl.

Various Artists - Summer of Soul OST 2xLP (Sony Legacy)

Double vinyl LP pressing. The Summer of Soul (... Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Original Motion Picture Soundtrack accompanies Questlove's directorial debut documentary Summer of Soul (... Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), which won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. It notably took home six top honors at the Critics Choice Awards, including Best Documentary Feature, Best Director, Best First Documentary Feature, Best Editing, Best Archival Documentary, and Best Music Documentary, and was winner of Best Documentary Award from the National Board of Review.

Whitesnake - Greatest Hits 2xLP (Rhino)

2022 collection. Whitesnake continue to revisit their multi-platinum career with new remixes of some of it's biggest hits for a new collection that spotlights updated versions of classic tracks like "Still Of The Night," "Here I Go Again," and "Is This Love."

Zola Jesus - Okovi LP (Sacred Bones)

15 year anniversary edition. For over a decade, Nika Roza Danilova has been recording music as Zola Jesus. She's been on Sacred Bones Records for most of that time, and Okovi marks her reunion with the label. Fittingly, the 11 electronics-driven songs on Okovi share musical DNA with her early work on Sacred Bones. The music was written in pure catharsis, and as a result, the sonics are heavy, dark, and exploratory. In addition to the contributions of Danilova's longtime live bandmate Alex DeGroot, producer/musician WIFE, cellist/noise-maker Shannon Kennedy from Pedestrian Deposit, and percussionist Ted Byrnes all helped build Okovi's textural universe. With Okovi, Zola Jesus has crafted a profound meditation on loss and reconciliation that stands tall alongside the major works of it's genre. The album speaks of tragedy with great wisdom and clarity. It's songs plumb dark depths, but they reflect light as well. [Limited edition clear with black vinyl.]