THIS WEEK'S KEY RELEASES
Mew _ "Visuals"
Elaborating on the synth-laden pop lusciousness that its predecessor, "+-," relished, "Visuals" finds Mew continuing to move away from the experimental art-rock tendencies of " And the Glass Handed Kites" and "No More Stories ... " and towards a gentler, starrier, and more accessible foundation. Whether or not that's a benefit or detriment is in the eye of the beholder, but it'd be difficult to deny that "Visuals" isn't as charming and catchy as anything else they've done. _ Jordan Blum
Willie Nelson _ "God's Problem Child"
To hear any sort of organic instrumentation on a modern country album is a breath of fresh air, a relief from the claustrophobia of the NashVegas assembly line. Always a Nashville outsider, Willie Nelson here plants his flag firmly within the land of Texas country and its longstanding tradition of exceptional songwriters and musicians. _ John Paul
Sarah Shook and the Disarmers _ "Sidelong"
Sarah Shook released "Sidelong" independently in 2015 to rave reviews in her home state of North Carolina. Bloodshot Records is making this debut available nationally, with a second album already in the can. After 10 years of making music, Shook is deservedly in line to become one of Americana's next big players. _ Ed Whitelock
Mary J. Blige _ "Strength of a Woman"
Sylvan Esso _ "What Now"
Feist _ "Pleasure"
Gorillaz _ "Humanz"
Juliana Hatfield _ "Pussycat"
JMSN _ "Whatever Makes U Happy"
Mark Lanegan Band _ "Gargoyle"
Thurston Moore _ "Rock n Roll Consciousness"
Ryuichi Sakamoto _ "async"
NOW HEAR THIS
TW Walsh _ 'Terrible Freedom'
Growing up in the "greed is good" era of Reaganomics, AIDS, the war on drugs, and MTV, TW Walsh, like many Gen-Xers, sees many parallels to our current time of Trump, deregulation, rising populism and the renewal of the Cold War that was still going strong throughout the '80s. Echoing our existential anxiety, Walsh _ who has worked previously with Pedro the Lion, Headphones and the Soft Drugs and is presently with Lo Tom _ frames his new album Terrible Freedom as a meditation on fear and liberation, space and time, and the self and the mind. _ Sarah Zupko
(http://popm.at/2pwdskl)
Coco Hames _ "I Don't Wanna Go"
Those early days of courtship. That horrible moment when the bubble you have created for yourselves is burst by the inevitable routine of real life. Going to work, planning meals for one, putting the bins out, thoughts that can be pushed to one side, the longer you stay wrapped up in the hazy dream of a nascent relationship. This is the feeling that Coco Hames evokes in her latest offering. After making her name with Nashville garage rockers the Ettes, "I Don't Wanna Go," Coco Hames strikes out on her own. It's a loose garage rocker with the simple catchiness of early Ramones if they grew up in Nashville rather than New York. _ Paul Carr
(https://youtu.be/qDtczYCvtbI)
WATCH THIS
Kendrick Lamar _ "HUMBLE."
It's the sign of a master at work that we can fully expect greatness and be blown away by what we get anyway. Even the title of Kendrick Lamar's latest has layers, the period and all-caps type belying the word itself. The contradictions within are just as stark; Kendrick is political, and he is sexual, he is confident, and he is angry, his braggadocio game is strong even as he preaches humility. It is intense, and it is immediate, spending a very non-"To Pimp a Butterfly" sub-three-minute runtime to get its message across. _ Mike Schiller
