Beyoncé and Taylor Swift loom so large these days that it's easy to overlook the overwhelming amount of good music headed our way over the next three months. So we enlisted a big, round number to do the heavy lifting: 50 new albums out during Spring 2024 that have us almost as excited as act ii and The Tortured Poets Department.
If you're more of a podcast person, you can listen to All Songs Considered's Robin Hilton discuss a dozen or so of these releases on his latest podcast episode. (You won't go wrong by following the show on Apple and Spotify.)
Jlin: Akoma
Planet Mu
March 22
The Pulitzer Prize-nominated electronic musician returns with an thorny album featuring some living legend collaborators: Björk, Kronos Quartet and Philip Glass. The rarefied air hasn't changed her, though — the Gary, Ind., native names the penultimate track here after her grannie's cherry pie.
— Otis Hart
Julia Holter: Something in the Room She Moves
Domino
March 22
Fluidity is the key force within this album from perhaps our most ambitious art-pop experimentalist. Julia Holter sought to create something akin to "the body's internal sound world," discovering a space that is just as mutable.
— Sheldon Pearce
SiR: Heavy
TDE
March 22
The world has gotten undoubtedly heavier since TDE's SiR dropped his last full-length album in 2019. In the five years of politics, pandemics, culture shifts and over-stimulation on all fronts, one of Inglewood's most reliable serves up an antidote to apathy. With features from Anderson .Paak, Isaiah Rashad and more, Heavy holds recipes for logging off, lucking out and loving deep.
— Sidney Madden
Tyla: TYLA
Epic
March 22
Fresh off winning her first Grammy in the inaugural category of best Africa music performance for the viral hit "Water," Tyla is South Africa's popiano phenom ready to move from being a TikTok sensation to a major name in Africa's robust music scene with her self-titled debut.
— Sidney Madden
Waxahatchee: Tigers Blood
ANTI-
March 22
Singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield's voice is the centerpiece of her music as Waxahatchee. It's shaky in a way that feels resilient. She's talked a lot about her sobriety over the last few years, about how sometimes there's this fear when you're getting sober that you're going to lose your muse. For Crutchfield, it's been the exact opposite. She's finding herself on Tigers Blood. You can hear the confidence shining through.
— Raina Douris, World Cafe
Timo Andres: The Blind Banister
Nonesuch
March 22
Finally, we get a recording of Andres' piano concerto, The Blind Banister, shortlisted for a Pulitzer in 2016, with the composer at the keys. That the album contains the cinematic cello concerto Upstate Obscura, with Inbal Segev, makes it worth the wait.
— Tom Huizenga
C.P.E. Bach: Symphonies - From Berlin to Hamburg
Harmonia Mundi
March 22
A crackling survey of symphonies from Johann Sebastian's most innovative son proves that C.P.E. Bach's startling, unpredictable music — which prefigures ideas Beethoven would apply 30 year later — sounds as fresh as ever in the hands of the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.
— Tom Huizenga
Alice Coltrane: The Carnegie Hall Concert
Impulse!
March 22
This revelatory live recording from 1971, available in full for the first time, captures Alice Coltrane on both piano and harp, leading an incantatory group with two saxophonists, two bassists and two drummers. (For a sense of what we're dealing with, consider that the saxophonists are Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp.) Long before the term "spiritual jazz" was marketing copy, this music positively hums with a higher vibration.
— Nate Chinen, WRTI
Rosie Tucker: Utopia Now
Sentimental
March 22
Self-deprecatory, pop-punk-ish indie rock for the most anxious among us. Rosie Tucker's been at this a minute, but early singles for their fourth album have demonstrated a wit and humor smartly entangled in ridiculously catchy pop songs.
— Lars Gotrich
Aoife O'Donovan: All My Friends
Yep Roc
March 22
The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter surveys the history of women's rights in America, with the women's suffrage movement as a central inspiration, in this expansive set featuring her friends — among others, Anäis Mitchell, Sierra Hull and O'Donovan's husband, Eric Jacobsen, music director of both the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra.
— Ann Powers
Future and Metro Boomin: We Don't Trust You
Epic
March 22 & April 12
Future's new project with fellow ATLian Metro Boomin (who produced the rapper's halcyon hits "Mask Off" and "Jumpman") couldn't be confined to a single album. The duo have worked together on and off since Metro's first official production 11 years ago, but this pair will mark their first album-length collaboration since 2015.
— Otis Hart
Beyoncé: Cowboy Carter
Parkwood/Columbia
March 29
Beyoncé's been tellin' us she's country for a while; the world's finally listening. "Texas Hold 'Em" debuted at No. 1 on the country chart, causing all kinds of ruckus, and "16 Carriages" is a country ballad that touches on the same themes as Lemonade's "Daddy Lessons," itself a clue of what was to come. Will the rest of Cowboy Carter channel the same sound? We'll find out.
— Lars Gotrich
Reyna Tropical: Malegría
Psychic Hotline
March 29
Guitarist and songwriter Fabi Reyna lost her musical partner, Nectali "Sumo" Díaz, in 2022 while they were making Malegría (which translates roughly to joy and sorrow), but she continued to work on the album using the beats that he produced. The result is at turns tranquil, breezy ... even danceable, and gorgeously encapsulates the complex emotion of its title.
— Raina Douris, World Cafe
Wisp: Pandora EP
Interscope
April 5
To call Wisp a TikTok shoegazer is a little unfair, but that platform is where the artist found her devoted audience. The 19-year-old musician's songs follow a familiar formula — wobbly guitar effects, shimmering distortion, coo'd vocals — but feel cool to the touch. Pandora is Wisp's debut EP.
— Lars Gotrich
Fabiana Palladino: Fabiana Palladino
XL Recordings/Paul Institute
April 5
Fabiana Palladino's bona fides are unimpeachable. She's the daughter of revered bassist Pino Palladino and close confidant of the reclusive Jai Paul. She cut her teeth working as a session musician with Jessie Ware and Sampha. But that's just prologue now. This late-night collection of yearning R&B, which Fabiana produced herself over several years, will have no trouble entrancing an audience all on its own.
— Otis Hart
Pernice Brothers: Who Will You Believe
New West
April 5
Joe Pernice is a workhorse of a songwriter who delivers hard truths with the softest of whispers. Previous descriptors of his classic American pop music (lush, winsome, devastating) still apply, but these songs reflect a world crumbling down even as we pick up the pieces. Neko Case guests.
— Lars Gotrich
Vampire Weekend: Only God Was Above Us
Columbia
April 5
Vampire Weekend are doing that thing that's so hard to do when you release a long-awaited album, which is sound like yourself, but do something just different enough to make it feel like it isn't reheated old stuff. The rhythms are kind of weird. It feels fuzzier. It's more discordant. There's a griminess to it. It's as if those fresh-faced boys went away in 2019 and came back with a 5 o'clock shadow.
— Raina Douris, World Cafe
Maya Beiser: In C
Islandia Music
April 5
Armed with a looping machine and a pair of percussionists, the intrepid cellist offers a joyful and meditative rendition of Terry Riley's minimalist milestone, In C, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.
— Tom Huizenga
Phosphorescent: Revelator
Verve
April 5
Phosphorescent's Matthew Houck has said in interviews how hard he finds it to make music, and that sometimes he's thought that he wouldn't make another record. And then comes along Revelator, a beautiful, thoughtful album that sounds like the farthest thing from writer's block.
— Raina Douris, World Cafe
Vegyn: The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions
PLZ Make It Ruins
April 5
The British producer (and Frank Ocean associate) has been toying with us over the past few years, releasing unwieldy albums packed with tracks only occasionally exceeding 2 minutes. On The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions, he's finally ready (or is it willing?) to join the ranks of Four Tet and Fred again.. as a trafficker of anthemic breakbeat pop.
— Otis Hart
Khruangbin: A La Sala
Dead Oceans
April 5
The Houston lo-fi funk trio is set to return with 12 new Shazam-able jams for springtime soirées ... and coffee shops ... and outdoor malls. You get the point: Khruangbin's chill amalgam of The Meters and DJ Screw sounds great just about everywhere, and A La Sala picks up right where they left off.
— Otis Hart
Young Miko: att.
Universal
April 5
Young Miko splashed on to the Latin trap scene in 2021 with a sultry voice and sapphic, bilingual bars. After her 2022 EP Trap Kitty, the 25-year-old ascended to the reggaeton mainstream with a string of collaborations, including a bellaca boygenius moment alongside Bad Gyal and Tokischa. Her debut album, att. is expected to cement Miko's effortless swag and unapologetically queer lyricism as one of the most important voices in Latin music today.
— Isabella Gomez Sarmiento
girl in red: I'm Doing It Again Baby!
Columbia
April 12
The stakes may have seemed high for girl in red after the success of 2021's debut, If I Could Make It Go Quiet. But after signing with a major label and opening for Taylor Swift's Eras tour, the Norwegian singer is coming back with a sophomore album that's every bit as joyful and animated, with songs that further refine her addictive mix of pop and rock.
— Robin Hilton
Maggie Rogers: Don't Forget Me
Capitol
April 12
If 2022's Surrender was a joyfully dense, workshopped pop affair, Maggie Rogers' Don't Forget Me feels like a well-loved pair of jeans. The album was written over five days; the recordings lean into a first-thought-best-thought spirit, favoring first takes over fussy overdubs. It's a mode that hearkens back to Rogers' earliest days, yet maintains the sophistication she's cultivated since.
— Lars Gotrich
Shabaka: Perceive its Beauty, Acknowledge its Grace
Impulse!
April 12
The saxophonist Shabaka takes up a variety of flutes for a Zen experience that boasts input from a stellar ensemble cast: André 3000, esperanza spalding, Moses Sumney, Brandee Younger, Floating Points, Laraaji, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Saul Williams, Elucid and more. All in service to music of epiphany.
— Sheldon Pearce
METZ: Up On Gravity Hill
Sub Pop
April 12
The three guys in the Toronto-based METZ have been making thunderous, chaotic rock for more than 25 years, leaving audiences slack-jawed in awe with chest-rattling live shows that feel like end-times. But for their fifth full-length studio album, they pair up with composer and violinist Owen Pallett for the trio's most melodic and hookiest release yet.
— Robin Hilton
Still House Plants: If I don't make it, I love u
Bison
April 12
Still House Plants' stilted and jilted music is just askew from what's happening in London's vibrant post-punk scene. On If I don't make it, I love u, the trio slows its roll for something more soulful, yet nevertheless unsteady.
— Lars Gotrich
Meshell Ndegeocello: Red Hot & Ra - The Magic City
Red Hot
April 12
The remarkable, shapeshifting bassist and visionary takes on the interplanetary works of Sun Ra with a stacked list of jazz luminaries (Deantoni Parks, Immanuel Wilkins, Darius Jones and current Arkestra bandleader Marshall Allen) and guest vocalists (Pink Siifu, Kenita Miller).
— Lars Gotrich
Taylor Swift: The Tortured Poets Department
Republic
April 19
You'd be forgiven if you couldn't keep up with Taylor Swift's pace. Just in the last five years, she has released eight albums — four of them re-recordings — toured the world and released a box office-shattering concert film. She does not sleep. The Tortured Poets Department reportedly features Post Malone and Florence & The Machine, but we know little beyond song titles right now.
— Lars Gotrich
Melissa Aldana: Echoes of the Inner Prophet
Blue Note
April 19
Tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana has spent the last decade or so deepening her focus as a composer and bandleader in the modern jazz mainstream. Here she takes another stride forward, leading a quintet with Lage Lund, her producer and co-conspirator, on guitar and electronic effects.
— Nate Chinen, WRTI
T Bone Burnett: The Other Side
Verve Forecast
April 19
The Americana artist/producer/mastermind returns with his first solo singer-songwriter album in almost two decades, inspired by his purchase of some new guitars that, he's said, seemed to speak for themselves. Lucius, Rosanne Cash and Weyes Blood add their voices to the mix.
— Ann Powers
Cadence Weapon: ROLLERCOASTER
MNRK
April 19
Toronto rapper Cadence Weapon (aka Rollie Pemberton) is back with his first album since winning the 2021 Polaris Prize, which is kind of like Canada's version of Britain's Mercury Prize. His collaborators this time around include indie rock star Bartees Strange, electronic producers Jacques Greene and Machinedrum and, as Pemberton puts it, "fellow Black weirdos."
— Raina Douris, World Cafe
Marta Sánchez Trio: Perpetual Void
Intakt
April 19
Marta Sánchez has already distinguished herself as a pianist and small-group composer with a jazz language informed by her native Madrid. This is her first trio album — and a stunner, featuring the full commitment of Christopher Tordini on bass and Savannah Harris on drums.
— Nate Chinen, WRTI
Iron & Wine: Light Verse
Sub Pop
April 26
Much of Iron & Wine's work has followed a common trajectory for bands that enjoy more commercial success, becoming more polished over the years with pristine production. But the early singles (including one with Fiona Apple) from the group's seventh full-length, Light Verse, show Sam Beam and company getting back to Iron & Wine's roots, a little scruffier and warmer, as though they grew out of the earth instead of a studio.
— Robin Hilton
John Adams: Girls of the Golden West
Nonesuch
April 26
Adams' opera about the California Gold Rush is no happy-go-lucky story of miners panning for shiny nuggets. It's a clear-eyed, often bleak, view of American greed and racism that, in this debut recording, stars the magnificent Julia Bullock.
— Tom Huizenga
Inter Arma: New Heaven
Relapse
April 26
You can toss any number of adjectives at the Richmond metal band — psychedelic, progressive, dissonant, sludgy, doomy — but few acts capture the sublime wonder and terror that Inter Arma evokes. Metal with an intense curiosity.
— Lars Gotrich
Kyshona: Legacy
Soundly
April 26
Kyshona (pronounced kuh-SHAUN-uh) is a new name to the national stage, but that's only because the roots musician is so focused on her local community in Nashville. She got her start writing songs as a music therapist at mental health and rehabilitation facilities, and that heartfelt empathy is evident on Legacy, an inspiring collection of gospel, folk and blues.
— Otis Hart
Elkka: A Prism of Pleasure
Ninja Tune
May 3
After a string of excellent EPs, the London-based electronic producer and DJ known for her wildly fun, bubbly dance music (check out last year's thumper "DJ Friendly") finally releases her debut album.
— Hazel Cills
Jessica Pratt: Here in the Pitch
Mexican Summer
May 3
The elusive artist Jessica Pratt is known for her warm, spell-binding folk music that sounds like it time-traveled out of obscurity from the 1970s into present day (and on to Troye Sivan songs). In May, she's set to release her fourth album and first in five years.
— Hazel Cills
Kamasi Washington: Fearless Movement
Young
May 3
The sax titan Kamasi Washington is calling this a "dance album," though not in the traditional sense. He longs to evoke movement as a declaration of the soul. Just as well: Listening to the eight-minute "Prologue," there seems to be a kinetic energy coursing through the music.
— Sheldon Pearce
Mdou Moctar: Funeral for Justice
Matador
May 3
Following the colossal triumph of Afrique Victime, the Nigerien band fronted by Tuareg guitarist Mahamadou Souleymane ups the ante on an album that is even more furious and defiantly political than its predecessor.
— Sheldon Pearce
Amen Dunes: Death Jokes
Sub Pop
May 10
The Damon McMahon project's first album on Sub Pop and first album since 2018's Freedom considers American isolationism. Inspired by Lil Peep, J Dilla's Donuts and UK Garage, it brings drum programming and sampling to the Amen Dunes realm in search of a less violent, more connected way of being.
— Sheldon Pearce
I. Jordan: I Am Jordan
Ninja Tune
May 10
The English producer I. Jordan's energetic, house-inspired dance music has made them one of the genre's most exciting names to watch since their 2019 debut EP DNT STP MY LV. That renown is sure to continue with their debut album, described as a project dedicated to the joy they feel living as a trans person.
— Hazel Cills
Yaya Bey: Ten Fold
Big Dada
May 10
One of the most calculating soul artists working returns after a welcome breakthrough with an album that is less thematic than previous work but no less thoughtful. Featuring production from Butcher Brown's Corey Fonville, drummer Karriem Riggins, DJs Jay Daniel and Boston Chery, the record is as groovy as it is expressive.
— Sheldon Pearce
Ron Miles: Old Main Chapel
Blue Note
May 10
Ron Miles, a cornetist and composer fiercely admired in jazz circles, died two years ago, at 58. So any scrap of unheard music is precious — but especially something like this, a 2011 live date with two of his closest compatriots, guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Brian Blade.
— Nate Chinen, WRTI
Beth Gibbons: Lives Outgrown
Domino
May 17
The Portishead singer with a singular voice returns with her first official solo album, a gorgeous, moody reflection on what life looks like when you've got more years behind you than you have ahead. Gibbons sees no silver lining or simple solutions for undoing the march of time but offers one piece of advice: Be brave.
— Robin Hilton
Kaia Kater: Strange Medicine
Free Dirt
May 17
One of Americana's most thoughtful and inventive artists returns after six years with a meditation on those who've survived and thrived against marginalization and oppression. Guests include Taj Mahal, Aoife O'Donovan and Kater's Canadian spiritual sister, Allison Russell.
— Ann Powers
Machinedrum: 3FOR82
Ninja Tune
May 24
Seeking inspiration in Joshua Tree, the electronic producer Travis Stewart emerged from a moment of clarity with a new album that spans the dance spectrum. The project's wide-ranging yet refined collaborators (Tinashe, Mick Jenkins, aja monet) hints at its architect's discriminating taste.
— Sheldon Pearce
Jon Muq: Flying Away
Easy Eye Sounds
May 31
From his youth busking on the streets of Kampala, Uganda, through time spent honing his soulful sound on a Norwegian cruise ship and establishing himself in Austin, Jon Muq has developed a globally aware soul sound perfected here with The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach behind the boards.
— Ann Powers
Goat Girl: Below the Waste
Rough Trade
June 7
Co-produced with John Spud Murphy (Lankum's producer and "fifth member") and recorded at Hellfire Studios in Ireland, this follow-up to 2021's On All Fours promises more soothing noise from the London post-punks. Take, as an offering, "ride around," which produces splendor out of sludge.
— Sheldon Pearce
Charli XCX: brat
Atlantic
Release date TBD
The English pop provocateur follows up her critically acclaimed, 2022 album Crash with the club-inspired brat, out sometime in the next three months. And by the sound of the fun lead single "Von dutch," it sounds like a club built for debauchery.
— Hazel Cills
Angélica Garcia: Gemelo
Partisan
release date TBD
A master of honoring identity, tangled lineages and spiritual belonging, Angélica Garcia is always on a quest to write — and sing — about where she comes from. Four years since her LP Cha Cha Palace dug its heels into her Salvadoran-Mexican roots in east Los Angeles, Garcia returns with a meditation into her deepest self yet.
— Isabella Gomez Sarmiento
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.