8 New Albums You Should Listen to Now: NxWorries, Normani, the Decemberists, and More
NxWorries’ Knxwledge and Anderson .Paak, photo by Israel Ramos
With so much good music being released all the time, it can be hard to determine what to listen to first. Every week, Pitchfork offers a run-down of significant new releases available on streaming services. This week’s batch includes new albums from NxWorries, Normani, the Decemberists, Zsela, This Is Lorelei, Cola, Sideshow, and Fana Hues. Subscribe to Pitchfork’s New Music Friday newsletter to get our recommendations in your inbox every week. (All releases featured here are independently selected by our editors. When you buy something through our affiliate links, however, Pitchfork earns an affiliate commission.)
NxWorries: Why Lawd? [Stones Throw]
NxWorries: Why Lawd?
Why Lawd? is the second NxWorries studio album, following Anderson .Paak and Knxwledge’s beloved 2016 collaborative debut, Yes Lawd! In his review of the new album, Dylan Green writes, “Knxwledge supplies .Paak with some of the most breathtaking production of his career. The beats on Why Lawd? are ornately constructed, each a treasure hunt for the tell that it’s all made from tiny bits of other songs.” In addition, he adds, “Why Lawd? leans into a rawness and fear Yes Lawd! only hinted at.”
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Normani: Dopamine [RCA]
Normani: Dopamine
Normani’s time with Fifth Harmony came to an end in 2018 after spending six years with the girl group. Add on another six years and we have the singer’s debut solo album, Dopamine. The 13-track release includes the Cardi B collaboration “Wild Side,” as well as additional tracks with Gunna (“1:59”), James Blake (“Tantrums”) and star songwriter and producer Starrah (“Big Boy”).
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The Decemberists: As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again [Yabb]
The Decemberists: As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again
The Decemberists announced their first album in six years with “Joan in the Garden,” a 19-minute prog epic inspired by a painting of Joan of Arc’s visitation by angels. They are, in short, back to their old tricks, with all the jangly opulence and winding storyline for which one could hope. Guests on As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again include the Shins’ James Mercer and R.E.M.’s Mike Mills.
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Zsela: Big for You [Mexican Summer]
Zsela: Big for You
Zsela has been building up to her debut album, Big for You, for a good half-decade, after debuting in 2020 with the promising EP Ache of Victory. The New York singer-songwriter produced the album in tandem with Daniel Aged (a Frank Ocean and Kelela collaborator) and sometime War on Drugs producer Gabe Wax. Guests include Marc Ribot, Nick Hakim, Casey MQ, and Slauson Malone 1’s Jasper Marsalis. The title, Zsela said in press materials, “touches on the causal versus intentional dance we play between being ‘full of you’ and ‘full for you’—the complexity and magnitude of the space we take and fill up for love.”
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This Is Lorelei: Box for Buddy, Box for Star [Double Double Whammy]
This Is Lorelei: Box for Buddy, Box for Star
This Is Lorelei is the solo project of Nate Amos, one half of the cult-making New York art-pop duo Water From Your Eyes. Despite a string of low-key releases, Box for Buddy, Box for Star is the project’s debut album, willed into existence while Amos lay “on the ground at Stonehenge for 40 minutes and decided to stop smoking weed,” as he put it in press materials. The album employs a more straightforward approach to songcraft than his other band, but lacks none of its oddball musical wit.
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Cola: The Gloss [Fire Talk]
Cola: The Gloss
On their second album, The Gloss, Cola keep scratching the itch for playful, moodily tuneful indie-rock explored on their 2022 debut, Deep in View. Formed from the ashes of cult Montrealers Ought, the band of Tim Darcy, Ben Stidworthy, and session musician Evan Cartwright (a U.S. Girls and the Weather Station collaborator) mixes jaunty, Television-style hooks with a comic deadpan that bridges nostalgia and absurdism, in similar fashion to the band’s synth-pop counterpart Destroyer.
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Sideshow: F.U.N. T.O.Y. [10k]
Sideshow: F.U.N. T.O.Y.
Tigrayan rapper Sideshow worked on his new album, F.U.N. T.O.Y., with producers including Popstar Benny, Tony Seltzer, Ayochillmannn, and Jam associate Alexander Spit. Plus, longtime collaborator Ryosuke Tanzawa directed the video for single “Sell Me Sickness Sell Me Health (Eazy T).” The new album follows last year’s underrated 2MM Don’t Just Stand There!
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Fana Hues: Moth [Bright Antenna]
Fana Hues: Moth
Fana Hues busts open an R&B wonderland on Moth, which was led by the exuberant singles “Rental” and “Paper Tigers.” She executive produced the follow-up to 2022’s Flora + Fana herself, and said of the title, “Moths fly through darkness constantly searching for light even at the risk of harm. I’m always en route on a journey to find the reason for a feeling in its purest form, even if it hurts.”
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Originally Appeared on Pitchfork
