BY: JOEY REAMS
On Fridays, the world is blessed with new music from a handful of artists. To help you find your next favorite album, we’ve discovered what new alternative and indie albums have been released. This week’s notable artists include Angel Olsen and Lorde. Check out the list below:
Angel Olsen – Aisles
Singer-songwriter Angel Olsen has released her fourth EP, Aisles, via Jagjaguwar. This five-song record is Olsen’s debut release on the label’s imprint called somethingcosmic, a collection of covers, collaborations, and one-off singles from the St. Louis singer. The EP features various ’80s covers. Olsen first shared her own version of Laura Branigan’s “Gloria.”
“I know it’s not really in my history to do something unintentional or just for the hell of it, but my connection to these songs is pretty straightforward,” Olsen said in a press release. “I just wanted to have a little fun and be a little more spontaneous, and I think I needed to remember that I could!”
Holy Holy – Hello My Beautiful World
Holy Holy, an Australian indie rock band, has shared their fourth studio album, Hello My Beautiful World. This is the first studio album since the band’s 2019 My Own Pool of Light. This 11-track album was created mainly during the pandemic. The band recruited Gab Strum, otherwise known as Japanese Wallpaper, for production value.
“When we work with people from different genres, it’s not that we’re totally different from them. There are heaps of similarities too. Music genres aren’t black-and-white, there isn’t some sort of binary,” guitarist Oscar Dawson said in a statement. “It’s all about the grey zone where the two of you meet in the middle – you realize that you connect on a certain level, but you also have access to a different perspective. You’re similar enough to be together in the first place, but where you differ is where the light can come through.”
Jake Bugg – Saturday Night, Sunday Morning
English singer-songwriter Jake Bugg has released his fifth studio album, Saturday Night, Sunday Morning. This follows his 2017 release Hearts That Stain. Bugg released “All I Need” as the first single from the album. On top of the album, Bugg announced a 2022 UK tour that will start in March.
‘Anything that kind of stops people from seeing any form of art or anything that can bring some kind of happiness to someone, I don’t think could be a good thing but at the same time, I think most people have been vaccinated as well so if more people get vaccinated, I think it’ll become less of a problem I imagine,’ Bugg said regarding his upcoming tour.
Lorde – Solar Power
New Zealand headliner Lorde has announced her third studio album, Solar Power, via Universal Music. She recruited Bleacher’s Jack Antonoff to co-write and produce the album. Lorde last released a studio album in 2017 with Melodrama. More recently, Lorde released Going South, a memoir documenting her 2019 visit to Antarctica. The new album has received mixed reviews from critics.
“Well, I thought I was going to make this big acid record but I don’t think it was an acid album. I had one bad acid experience in this album and was like meh, it’s a weed album. It’s one of my great weed albums,” Lorde told The New York Times. “I haven’t made a Jack Antonoff record, I’ve made a Lorde record and he’s helped me make it and very much deferred to me on production and arrangement.”
Pile – Songs Known Together, Alone
Boston indie-rock band Pile has released their 10th studio album, Songs Known Together, Alone, via Exploding in Sound. The band’s last studio album was 2019’s Green and Gray. Pile began as a solo career for Rick Maguire but slowly formed into a group as time went on. The band’s plans to tour were derailed during the pandemic. As a result, the album was made using various parts of previous songs throughout Pile’s career.
“This was an opportunity to revisit the format of performing alone but with material that has been fleshed out by the group,” says Maguire of the project, “and while solo performances have been a part of the identity of the project throughout its existence, up until this record I hadn’t given it much studio attention in the past 12 years.”
Switchfoot – Interrobang
San Diego alternative rock band Switchfoot has shared their 12th studio album, Interrobang, via Fantasy. The Christian rock band’s last studio album was 2019’s Native Tongue. Switchfoot’s first single off the new album was titled “I Need You (To Be Wrong).” During the pandemic, the band released an EP titled Covers featuring covers by Frank Ocean, Vampire Weekend, The Chainsmokers, The Verve, Harry Styles, and Jon Bellion.
“More than ever, we want our music to be a bridge, reaching out with melody and lyrics to sing an honest song for anyone who’s got ears to hear,” Foreman said regarding the new album in a statement. “Interrobang is an album that celebrates the journey, even when the arrival is unsure,” he added. “‘Interrobang’ is the sound of joy and pain, faith and doubt against the backdrop of the strangest, most difficult year we’ve ever experienced.”
Villagers – Fever Dream
Irish indie rock band Villagers has released their sixth studio album, Fever Dream, via Domino. The band’s last release came in 2018 with The Art of Pretending to Swim. The band released the first single, The First Day,” earlier this week, with a music video directed by Daniel Brereton. Villagers is set to go on tour in UK and Ireland later this year.
“I had an urge to write something that was as generous to the listener as it was to myself. Sometimes the most delirious states can produce the most ecstatic, euphoric, and escapist dreams,” said lead singer Conor O’ Brien.