New Music Reviews (3/2)

Each week KEXP's Music Director Don Yates shares brief insights on new and upcoming releases. See what's coming up this week below, including reviews for new releases from Lucy Dacus, Haley Heynderickx, The Breeders, Camp Cope, and more.

Lucy Dacus – Historian (Matador)
This young Richmond, VA artist's second album is a knockout set ranging from intimate folk-pop to grungy, hook-filled guitar-pop, with buzzing electric guitars along with occasional horns and strings accompanying her warm, serene vocals and sharply crafted lyrics balancing heartache and loss with hope and resilience. 

A.A.L. (Against All Logic) - 2012-2017 (Other People)
The New York-based Chilean-American producer/composer Nicolas Jaar dusted off an old alias for this excellent soulful, beat-driven collection of previously unreleased house and techno grooves liberally injected with funk and soul samples. 

Jonathan Wilson – Rare Birds (Bella Union)
This LA-based musician/producer's ambitious third album is his most adventurous and finest work to date, ranging from driving '80s-steeped rock and psych-tinged folk-rock to motorik space-rock and stark piano ballads. Clocking in at over 79 minutes, the album combines a lush, beautifully crafted sound with personal lyrics of heartbreak and loss. 

Camp Cope – How To Socialize & Make Friends (Run For Cover)
This Melbourne, Australia trio's second album is a strong set of emotive, punk-tinged rock with a dynamic, tension-filled sound combining cathartic song hooks with Georgia Maq's piercing vocals and frank lyrics of identity, inequality, and sexism. 

Haley Heynderickx – I Need to Start a Garden (Mama Bird)
This Portland artist's debut album is an impressive set of intimate, psych-tinged folk-pop, with a spare sound combining acoustic guitar along with occasional electric guitar, trombone and keyboards with her rich, fluttering vocals and reflective, existential lyrics. 

The Breeders – All Nerve (4AD)
The first album in ten years from this legendary Dayton, OH-based band led by Kim Deal features the classic Last Splash-era lineup on a strong set of songs ranging from angular, tension-filled rockers to dreamy, atmospheric ballads.

Titus Andronicus – A Productive Cough (Merge)
This New Jersey band's fifth album is a potent set of folk-tinged barroom-rock sing-alongs, featuring a loose, classic rock-steeped sound combining searing guitar riffs, saloon piano, honking horns and other instrumentation with boisterous gang vocals and often-dark, anxiety-fueled lyrics. 

The Men – Drift (Sacred Bones)
This Brooklyn band's excellent seventh album is one of their more diverse sets, ranging from icy, industrial synth-punk, motorik prog and raging punk to psych-tinged folk-rock and haunting desert rock. 

Superorganism – Superorganism (Domino)
This 8-piece London collective's debut album is a playful set of breezy, psych-tinged electro-pop combining shimmering synths, spoken-word samples and a variety of ambient sounds with sugary harmonies and Oronu Noguchi's deadpan lead vocals. The album starts off strong, but then mostly tails off during the second half. 

Guided By Voices – Space Gun (Guided By Voices, Inc.)
Allegedly the only studio album that will be released in 2018 by this notoriously prolific band led by Robert Pollard, Space Gun sounds like a bit more care than usual went into it, with the songs ranging from soaring power-pop and moody psych-rock to shape-shifting prog and crunchy hard-rock. 

Olden Yolk – Olden Yolk (Trouble In Mind)
The debut album from this New York project led by Shane Butler of Quilt and Caity Shaffer is a dreamy, '60s-steeped blend of folk and psych-rock. 

Swedish Death Candy – Swedish Death Candy (Hassle)
This London-based band's debut album is a potent set of heavy, shoegazerish psych-rock inflected with stoner-rock, motorik German prog and more, combining distortion-drenched guitars with pummeling rhythms and anthemic song hooks.

Jorge Elbrecht – Here Lies (self-released)
This Costa Rican born musician/producer's previous projects include Lansing-Dreiden and Violens. He's also worked extensively with Ariel Pink and produced recent albums from Tamaryn and No Joy. His latest release under his own name is a diverse set ranging from soaring electro-pop to atmospheric dream-pop and chiming folk-pop. 

Andrew W.K. - You're Not Alone (Sony)
This New York-based artist's latest release (and first proper album in eight years) is an often-potent set of motivational arena-rock ranging from anthemic, '80s-steeped rockers to soaring power ballads, and while the energy flags a bit at times, the high points are irresistibly inspirational. 

Gwenno – Le Kov (Heavenly)
The second solo album from the former Welsh frontwoman for The Pipettes is another strong set of psych-tinged dream-pop. While her debut album featured mainly songs sung in Welsh, this one finds her singing in the considerably rarer language of Cornish. 

Suuns – Felt (Secretly Canadian)
This Montreal band's fourth album is another fine set of driving, hypnotic prog-pop reminiscent at times of Radiohead. 

Dessa – Chime (Doomtree)
This Minneapolis artist's fourth album brings a considerably more polished and pop-oriented approach to her expansive hip-hop sound combined with chamber-pop, R&B, and electro-pop. 

Dick Stusso – In Heaven (Hardly Art)
The second album from this Oakland artist (aka Nic Russo) is a stripped-down, slightly warped blend of quirky psych-rock and glam with noirish, old-school rock 'n' roll and countrypolitan. 

Walter Martin – Reminisce Bar & Grill (Family Jukebox)
The latest solo album from the former bassist/organist for The Walkmen is a playful set of well-crafted folk-pop combining a warm sound with personal lyrics of approaching middle age leavened with wry humor. 

Moby – Everything Was Beautiful, And Nothing Hurt (Mute)
This veteran LA-based artist's 15th studio album is a somber set of brooding trip-hop inflected with soul and gospel, combining moody synths, slow-rolling beats and occasional guest vocals with his own modest, hushed vocals and spiritually-minded lyrics.

Charlotte Day Wilson – Stone Woman EP (self-released)
This Toronto vocalist/producer/multi-instrumentalist's second EP is a fine set of R&B-tinged electro-pop combining a spacious atmospheric sound with her satin vocals and intimate lyrics. 

The Regrettes – Attention Seeker EP (Warner Bros.)
This young LA band follows up their promising 2017 debut album with this fine five-song EP of hook-filled garage-pop comprised of two new songs, a Dion cover and acoustic versions of two others from the debut album. 

Close Encounter – Lost Time (Look Up)
This Seattle band's second album is a fine set of atmospheric dream-pop with jangly guitars, shimmering keyboards, hazy vocals and wistful melodies.

In Tall Buildings – Akinetic (Western Vinyl)
The third album from this Chicago artist (aka Erik Hall) is a solid set of atmospheric indie-pop.