Every week, Vulture gathers new albums you can listen to right now. We don’t have a problem admitting it: keeping track of everything that’s released can be overwhelming, but finding out about interesting music doesn’t have to be work. Read our picks below, and share your thoughts in the comments.
Snoop Dogg, Neva Left (Doggystyle Records/EMPIRE)
Every time Snoop Dogg releases a new album, someone invariably states that the album he released is “actually good.†Of course, if each Snoop Dogg album was “actually good,†then it doesn’t leave much room for any of them to be bad, right? Sort of. The truth is that most Snoop albums — from the last decade at least — are decent enough. They are usually too long, but there are some good songs and interesting moments. Snoop has so effectively nailed down what it could look like to be a still-famous middle-aged rapper, that you have to respect it. His voice is still one of the best in rap. It’s pointy and biting, but calm too. Snoop has two modes: relaxed, or menacing and relaxed, and he will continue to rap about weed until there is no more weed left on the planet. It is with that caveat that I say that Neva Left is a Snoop Dogg album that is not only “actually good†but also a really fun listen. He’s joined here by a roster of rappers that seem like they’re there because they should be, not because they’re supposed to be: Redman, B Real, Method Man, Wiz Khalifa, and — inexplicably — KRS One (among others) all appear here, and it feels genuine. Los Angeles hip-hop is in the midst of a creative renaissance that has already lasted years, and this album sounds like it has been taking a few cues. —Sam Hockley-Smith (@Shockleysmith)
The Mountain Goats, Goths (Merge)
John Darnielle has finally pulled a full 180. The Mountain Goats front man made a name for himself in the ’90s recording lo-fi, hyperliterate singer-songwriter records, then gradually expanded, adding a full band. Now with Goths, he’s released an album without a single guitar-led track. Still present is Darnielle’s sharp humor, as evidenced by songs like “The Grey King and the Silver Flame Attunement,†in which Darnielle has a lot of fun with the line “I’m hardcore / But I’m not that hardcore.†—Gabe Cohn (@gabescohn)
Aldous Harding, Party (4AD)
The name of New Zealand singer Aldous Harding may be new to you, but that’s probably because she’s been attempting to avoid her destiny as a musician since she was 13, when she recorded her first song with her musician mother. It took her until 2014 to officially succumb to the family trade, releasing a collection of gothic-tinged folk songs, but it’s her sophomore effort, Party, that’s poised to bring her eerie and arresting music to a wider audience. On Party, Harding dials back the folk in favor of something more amorphous; the stripped-down and often foreboding arrangements highlight her ever-changing voice, which can shift seamlessly between hushed coos and a deep-throated howl. The songs, too, can be either austere or full of emotional intensity (if you want to know just how intense, watch Harding command a crowd). Party isn’t a party record in the traditional sense, but if you’re more of the type for quiet gatherings, play this at one. —Samantha Rollins (@SamanthaRollins)
Linkin Park, One More Light (Warner Bros.)
Linkin Park hails from a time when hard-rock music dominated the mainstream. As the years have passed, though, the band’s answer to the dilemma of staying relevant is to crank the pop dial. The result is an album that borrows heavily from current chart trends, giving it a surprisingly up-to-date sound that comes at the expense of originality. The overriding goal here seems to have been to sound like everyone else, which it achieves. You can stream this album, but honestly, it feels a little strange listening to Linkin Park in a format that’s not purple Memorex CD-Rs burned from a Napster-loaded orange iMac. —GC
Nick Hakim, Green Twins (ATO Records)
No matter what happens, you will always feel like you were the one who discovered Nick Hakim. The reason for this is that his debut album, Green Twins, sounds like the kind of thing you’d find on your parents’ record shelf, warped and dusty but filled with an entire previously undiscovered musical world. It’s psychedelic bedroom soul that sounds like it’s broken, and that’s part of the appeal. Listening to it, you probably won’t get the sense that Hakim is destined for bigger things — though he likely is — instead, it feels like a secret. Hold onto it while you can. —SH-S
(Sandy) Alex G, Rocket (Domino)
Rocket begins with a dog barking in the near distance. By the time Philadelphia songwriter Alex Giannascoli, who is now recording as (Sandy) Alex G, begins singing, the dog is nearly inaudible, but it never quite goes away. That dog — which sounds just far enough away to evoke a series of interlocked suburban backyards — is a great way to describe the album as a whole. Rocket is a collaged mishmash of intimate folk, warbled noise experiments, and effects-laden vocal workouts. Like every album Giannascoli has recorded before (and there are a lot), it is appealing not because it sticks to any one specific sound, but because of its honesty and intimacy. When, on “Powerful Man,†he sings, “Mom’s in a mood this week / because she thinks her family is going crazy / guess it started with the baby / she went in for a hug then it bit her on the cheek / that was pretty funny to me / but I guess I should have more sympathy / I ain’t never raised a kid, but I bet I’d do a good job if I did†it is inexplicably heartbreaking, like spying on someone else’s intimate and mundane family moment. —SH-S