10 New Releases You Need to Hear Right Now [October 2024]
More amazing music than the average person can shake a stick at!
Welcome to another installment of the new release rundown column I typically share monthly as part of the Best Music of All Time newsletter.
This post showcases some recent releases I’ve had in heavy rotation recently (i.e., albums that have dropped in the past few months—some of them take a second or two for me to get to). One or several of these records will definitely be on my longlist for the “best of the year” compilation I’ll drop before the holidays.
If you want to catch up on other recent releases, I recommend checking out other blogs with the same tag. There won’t be a November 2024 edition of this column as I prepare for end-of-year content, but there’s more than enough here to keep your streamer busy until then.
Finally, please hit that subscribe button if you’re enjoying this newsletter and want to expand its reach. Everything I post is totally free, and sharing it with your network is the best way to support this work.
Let’s go:
“King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2” by Denzel Curry
As Denzel Curry projects go, King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2 isn’t his best, nor is it his most emotionally vulnerable release in the vein of Melt My Eyez See Your Future. However, what I can say is that it’s his most back-to-basics collection of tracks in a while and, by that measure, delivers a strong spiritual sequel to the first volume in this mixtape series, which dropped in 2012.
The allusions to Curry’s Southern roots are plentiful on Vol. 2. Aside from guest spots from respected spitters like Juicy J, the production winds the clocks back to a certain strain of distorted, horrorcore rap that he initially made his name with. “Sked” and “Black Flag Freestyle” are two highlights that stand above the rest, giving vibes akin to Three 6 Mafia’s heyday.
“Across the Tracks” by Boldy James & Conductor Williams
Genre: Hip-Hop, Alternative
Label: Near Mint
Release Date: June 28, 2024
Vibe: 👻
Boldy James is one of my favorite emcees working today, partly because of how subtly he’s able to deliver emotional gut punches. His latest effort, Across the Tracks, sees him teaming with Missouri native Conductor Williams for an LP that’s as conflicted as it is brooding and as precise as it is calm, cool, and collected.
James’ writing and delivery shouldn’t be dismissed as shallow despite his laid-back flow. It just won’t hit you over the head with its message, but if you meet him on his level, the music’s power is undeniable. Consider a moment on “Flying Trapeze Act,” where James encapsulates how it feels to have avoided a worse fate: “Used to feel trapped in the ghetto, tryna to break free/On a 30-year run, I feel like an escapee.” He’s truthful, nostalgic, and refuses to take anything for granted.
“Big for You” by Zsela
Genre: Art-Pop, Singer/Songwriter
Label: Mexican Summer
Release Date: June 14, 2024
Vibe: 😍
As I revealed in my essay about Sade’sDiamond Life, I’m a sucker for soulful, sexy contraltos. If you’re like me and a fan of intricate, intimate R&B, you’ll dig Big for You, the full-length debut from Brooklyn-based Zsela. Her voice, an utterly hypnotic instrument that does mysterious as well as it does seductive, pulls you in the way a newfound crush might in a crowded room. I hung on every word.
This debut LP doesn’t mean that Zsela is an industry newbie, either. She cut her teeth working with performers like Caroline Polachek and Arooj Aftab, with the latter’s Night Reign, released earlier in 2024, making for an exceptional companion piece with this record. As an artistic statement, Big For You signals the arrival of a noteworthy presence in pop and neo-soul.
“Sentiment” by Claire Rousay
Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Experimental
Label: Thrill Jockey
Release Date: April 19, 2024
Vibe: 🥲
Is ambient emo a thing yet? If not, it’s now a term I’ve coined to describe the latest album from Claire Rousay, Sentiment. In a brisk 37 minutes, the singer/songwriter establishes herself as an artist cut from the isolated, always-online cloth of the times we live in. It’s intensely vulnerable in its confessional approach to music-making, which translates to a raw but frequently dazzling listening experience.
My favorite aspect of this record is one I’ve highlighted in other albums recently, which is the inclusion of found sound mosaics. Here, it lends so much texture and immediacy to Rousay’s songs to the point that I wanted more of it. Of course, there has to be a sonic balance somewhere, but by grounding the compositions in snippets from her reality, the themes become far more personal.
“#gigi” by Skaiwater
Genre: Hip-Hop, Alternative
Label: Capitol
Release Date: June 14, 2024
Vibe: 😵💫
On first listen, #gigi sounded all over the place. Dipping its toes in everything from autotune-heavy R&B, Jersey club, neo-soul, and Latin funk, LA-based rapper/producer Skaiwater throws a lot of musical ideas out there, almost like an eclectic tasting menu for an unsuspecting dinner guest. But the more I played this LP, the more it broke down my (admittedly cynical) defenses.
At the core of this impressively diverse and delectably distorted collection of tracks is a classic soulfulness you’d associate more with the gold standards of the 70s or 80s. Cuts like “Run” and “Rain” could’ve turned heads in previous R&B eras, while the more overtly electronic songs are just as compelling. Overall, this record has sneakily become one of my favorites from this year.
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Buy me a coffee“Heis” by Rema
Genre: Afrobeat, Amapiano
Label: Anti
Release Date: July 11, 2024
Vibe: 🥲
I saw Rema at the Afro Nation festival in Miami in 2023, right as “Come Down” was cresting as one of the year’s biggest singles. At that point, he sounded like he was primed to take the next step as a global emblem of Afro-fusion success. But, with Heis, the Nigerian star raises his game with an LP that feels fresh, adventurous, and bolder than his previous album.
Full of feel-good club tracks, this release is the epitome of all killer, no filler. With standouts like “Yayo” and “Ozeba,” it also purposely distances itself from other leading voices in the genre like Asake and Fireboy DML, who were preoccupied with manufacturing pleasant but derivative victory lap records. The only issue with this one? I wish it had gone on a bit longer.
“**Passage Du Desir**” by Johnny Blue Skies & Sturgill Simpson
Genre: Alternative, Country, Soft Rock
Label: High Top Mountain
Release Date: July 12, 2024
Vibe: 🥲
It turns out you can ask complicated, possibly unanswerable questions of the universe without bogging yourself down with inescapable emotional tumult. Or, at least that’s what Sturgill Simpson accomplishes on his latest album, Passage Du Desir, released under his Johnny Blue Skies moniker. It’s not simply country or soft rock bliss—it’s soul-searching on a cosmic plane.
Even when the record gets dark, like on “Who Am I,” Simpson’s matter-of-fact approach sounds more like an honest dialogue than a despairing confessional. He carefully keeps the light at the end of the tunnel from fading, regardless of the subject matter. Additionally, any man who can segue from the album’s best song to a Prince cover gets his share of bonus points.
“Smoke & Fiction” by X
Genre: Alternative, Punk Rock
Label: Fat Possum
Release Date: August 2, 2024
Vibe: 🤘
Smoke & Fiction comes to us at a bittersweet point in X’s career, following the band’s announcement that they’d be hanging it up after more than four decades together. If this album is indeed their swan song, it’s a worthy coda for a group that’s had an untold amount of influence on the punk rock scene, particularly for bands coming up in the West Coast scene.
This record is also a reminder of why there’s so much to love about punk rock that threads the needle between in-your-face ferocity and catchy, sometimes pop-leaning sensibilities. The band comes through with some memorable riffs, fabulous hooks, and, perhaps most impressively, songs with something important to say all these years later. An out-and-out instant classic.
“Endlessness” by Nala Sinephro
Genre: Jazz Fusion, Electronic, Experimental
Label: Anti
Release Date: September 6, 2024
Vibe: 🤩
If you’re unfamiliar with the singular jazz stylings of Nala Sinephro, you’re in for a treat. The Caribbean-Belgian experimental artist has made a name for herself as an expert melder of styles and tones, shaping the potential future direction of the genre in the process. If that sounds overblown or grandiose, just listen to Endlessness and tell me if I’m overreacting. I doubt it.
I won’t spoil sonic specifics for you here, as this album is best experienced if you know almost nothing going into it. I will, however, mention that Sinephro literally had her hands all over every facet of the creation process. She composed each piece, performed on multiple instruments, spearheaded the recording, and even mixed the final tracks. A true virtuoso among us mortals.
“Ritual” by Jon Hopkins
Genre: Electronic, Ambient
Label: Anti
Release Date: August 30, 2024
Vibe: 🌃
Let’s cap this post off with a known name returning with another tour de force: Jon Hopkins. The electronic mastermind’s latest is a work of complexity and grandeur, rising to dizzying heights and plunging to incredible depths, expanding and folding in on itself all at once. But, like his other work, there’s an intimacy and stillness in his work, too, that lends focus and clarity.
Split into eight different movements, Ritual works best if you play it all the way through without interruption, letting each symphonic twist wash over you like a tidal wave. Unlike other ambient records that have made it into this column, Hopkins isn’t content to tease you with a pleasant background aesthetic. This is muscular, purposeful ambient experimentation as pure art.
Did any of these recent releases make it into your rotation? What new music have I missed that I should check out? Sound off in the comments.