September has plenty of new album releases in store, but there are three particular records coming out this month that we can’t wait to hear. Don’t miss out on August’s releases.
Bob Moses – Battle Lines
The Vancouver-bred, Brooklyn-based duo Bob Moses started out in the borough’s underground scene before getting signed to the tastemaker electronic label Scissor & Thread. From there, the duo moved to Domino, which released 2015’s debut full-length, Days Gone By. The album was well received by critics — Allmusic called the band “the masters of restrained bliss house” — but it was the band’s years of nonstop global touring that put Bob Moses’ name on the map. Well, that and the Grammy nods. Standout single “Tearing Me Up” was nominated for Best Dance Recording and RAC’s remix of the song took home the award for Best Remixed Recording.
With Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance, the men behind Bob Moses, touring relentlessly since the release of Days Gone By, no new music arrived for the better part of three years. The group’s first new track, titled “Heaven Only Knows,” came out in May 2018. Influential radio station KCRW featured the song, hailing its “classic songwriting with slinky guitar work and an EDM beat.” An announcement of the duo’s sophomore album, Battle Lines, arrived shortly thereafter, as did two other tracks, “Enough to Believe,” and lead single “Back Down.”
Battle Lines is due out Friday, September 14, via Domino and is available to pre-order through Amazon, Domino Mart, and iTunes.
The Chills – Snow Bound
Martin Phillips, leader and singer-songwriter of The Chills, describes his band’s forthcoming album, Snow Bound, as an “epic journey … about consolidation, re-grouping, acceptance, and mortality,” adding “hopefully a kind of Carole King ‘Tapestry’ for aging punks.”
On Snow Bound, lost heroes are lamented, relationships are re-evaluated, atonement is sought, mortality is mulled over, and fake news is undercut. It’s serious stuff, the thoughts of a dysfunctional 50-something wrestling with maturity and discovering that post-punk DIY beliefs still have a real voice that resonates between the fans of their early years and can now pass down to the next generation.
Though Snow Bound is only the band’s second studio album since 1996’s Sunburnt, reviews of its immediate predecessor, 2015’s Silver Bullets, suggest listeners should be excited for the forthcoming full-length. The Chicago Tribune declared, “There are no throwaways on this album,” and Drowned in Sound called it the band’s “most compelling album to date.” Early singles “Scarred,” “Complex,” and “Lord of All I Survey” bolster that suggestion with the melodic, occasionally rocking, occasionally melancholic character the band is known for.
Snow Bound is due out Friday, September 14 via Fire, and is available to pre-order through Amazon, Fire Records’ online shop, and iTunes.
Cypress Hill – Elephants on Acid
Hip-hop legends Cypress Hill announced the release of their forthcoming ninth studio album, Elephants on Acid, in early August. Elephants on Acid is the group’s first album in eight years — following 2010’s Rise Up — and marks a newly inked partnership with BMG.
DJ Muggs returns to his role as producer for the first time since Til Death Do Us Part. Per the album announcement, “Muggs traveled across the world to collect the vibe and sounds” that appear on the album. Early single “Band of Gypsies” features live instrumentation from Egyptian street musicians, while Sadat and Alaa Fifty Cent, pioneers of Egyptian mahraganat, provide vocals for the song’s hook. Closer to home in Los Angeles, Muggs also recorded in Joshua Tree with Ganjasufi. As Muggs put it in a Rolling Stone interview, “It’s like a fuckin’ spiritual vortex out there.” Other guests on the album include singer Brevi Wood and drummer Eric Correa.
Elephants on Acid is due out Friday, September 28via BMG and is available to preorder through Amazon and iTunes.
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