Every Friday, 88Nine music director Erin Wolf and Lilliput Records co-owner Tanner Musgrove tell you about the new albums you can’t miss on a new episode of On Vinyl. Check out their top picks and a list of this week’s other releases, and listen to their full conversation using the player on this page or on the 88Nine airwaves at 1 p.m. every Friday.
The notable releases on vinyl this week are a total mixed bag sonically, but three of them are U.K.-flavored (and one Icelandic), so there’s a little bit of continuity with the far-flung theme.
Travel along with us as we hit up the spring-fevered dancefloors with Jessie Ware; discover the depths of Icelandic singer Laufey; and get the latest hit of slightly wonky, crashing indie rock from both Brighton’s Lime Garden and London’s My New Band Believe, (the latest project from Cameron Picton, formerly of black midi.) Wax wise, there are loads of fun colors, picture discs and booklets to ogle while you’re jamming out.
Happy New Music Friday!
Best new albums out April 10
Jessie Ware, Superbloom
Ware’s first album in three years arrives just in time for spring fever. The overall themes of love and infatuation combined with upbeat disco vibes are totally on point for the season. She shared that she’s been trying to write songs focused on fantasy and escapism, playing with the idea of dress-up, glamour and fun. The album’s lead single, “I Could Get Used to This,” is a good example that Ware described as if “Minnie Riperton decided to walk in another Garden of Eden.”
There are a few variations of Superbloom that look super fun: plain black, indie-exclusive peacock blue and a picture disc. Check ‘em out at your local shop.
Lime Garden, Maybe Not Tonight
We’ve both been fans of England’s self-described “wonk pop” band for a while, and this album promises to be really good all the way through. The group had a hand in producing the record and in general do a great job of blending all sorts of genres, from disco to surf and everything in between, with a playfulness that’s all their own.
Maybe Not Tonight is available on blue vinyl, or you can visit your local shop to try and get your hands on the hand-numbered autographed Rough Trade exclusive on orange and black splatter vinyl (limited to 300 copies!).
Laufey, A Matter of Time: The Final Hour
The Icelandic singer with Chinese heritage has taken the pop and jazz worlds by storm because of her ability to blend jazz pop, classical and bossa nova styles. She makes music for the “old souls” out there, with plenty to keep the newbies interested. Her new record is being called a “closing chapter” to her Grammy-winning third album, A Matter of Time.
Featuring four new songs, the full 19-track deluxe album is about learning to live with one’s anxieties — embracing uncertainty, accepting the passage of time and finding calm after the storm. If you want/need the latest from Laufey on vinyl, it’ll be available as a double LP on a special Dreamsicle-colored variant, with the standard on watercolor vinyl that includes a 16-page booklet distributed by AWAL.
My New Band Believe, My New Band Believe
After black midi went on hiatus in 2024, member Cameron Picton started releasing music under the alias Camera Picture and shortly after formed My New Band Believe. The press release explained this record to a tee, noting, “Picton leads his band so that each track forms, scatters and re-groups, the uplift of one song crashing head-long into the rush of another. … My New Band Believe is both all-encompassing and constantly in flux.”
They’ll take the stage June 7 at Constellation in Chicago if you’re looking to catch them live. And if you wanna pick up this album on wax, it’s available on standard black vinyl and an oxblood variant that comes with an additional 10” at an independent store near you..
More of our picks
- Joe Jackson, Hope and Fury
- Holly Humberstone, Cruel World
- Hyper Gal, Our Hyper
