Hey there!

We are only thirty days into the new year and already there is so much good music for you to hear! So let's see what our writers wanted to shout out this last Friday of January...

Ba bam!

Indira Paganotto – Arte Como Amante [ARTCORE]

Rumor has it that Spanish DJ and producer Indira Paganotto’s third album has been in the making for 14 years, even before she started DJing at high-profile events and clubs, like Barcelona’s Sónar Festival. A techno and psytrance enthusiast, Paganotto gives her dance floors a psychedelic edge, something clearly on display in Arte Como Amante. She has also described the album as deeply personal and “high-pressure.” Be that as it may, the record pushes Paganotto out of her comfort zone numerous times — we hear her singing over Nile Rodgers’ guitar licks in a collaboration between the musicians, and incorporating flamenco elements into her techno sound. It’s something of a mixed bag, but well worth a listen. – Amanda Cavalcanti

Isma – Made in Cohab [Altafonte]

Isma is a Brazilian singer fresh from the disbanding of Irmãs de Pau, a duo with Vita Pereira that had a meteoric rise over the past few years. Hailing from São Paulo’s LGBTQ+ baile funk and electronic scene, Isma now had to prove she could hold both the pen and the mic on her own — and she did. Accompanied by some of the scene’s standout DJs and producers, including Clementaum, FUSO!, and DJ Dayeh, the album blends personal and political, always with good humor. Its lyrics range from declarations of trans pride (the album was released yesterday, on Brazil’s Transgender Visibility Day) to a plea for her lover to stop doing coke, and even a hilarious tribute to Cardi B. With Made in Cohab, Isma is sure to remain a fixture on Brazilian dance floors. – Amanda Cavalcanti

Jenny Wilson – Dream vs. Dream [to whom it may concern.]

Whether you’re new to the world of Swedish avant-pop maverick Jenny Wilson, or just reconnecting with it, let DREAM vs. DREAM be your guide. Collecting 20 of her personal favourites from the past 20 years, and adding two new Wilson reworks, DREAM vs. DREAM throws a spotlight on the restless creativity that has defined one of the most unpredictable discographies in all of Scandinavia. Across her seven solo albums, Wilson has continually pushed outwards from the vibrant DIY synth-pop of her peppy debut Love & Youth, threading in auteurish art-pop, gospelized funk jams, defiant EBM, orchestral drama, claustrophobic rock, and a whole lot more besides. DREAM vs DREAM doesn’t even touch on her other projects and productions, which include collabs with Robyn, The Knife, trentemøller, and Kleerup, but there’s plenty here to provoke and entertain in equal measure. – Alan Pedder

Joyce Manor – I Used to Go to This Bar [Epitaph]

On I Used To Go To This Bar, Joyce Manor’s fifth LP and latest chapter in their long-running career, the band enters a subtle but notable experimental phase that feels both surprising and deeply comforting. Staying true to form, the album is nine tracks long and clocks in at a brisk 19 minutes. It raises an obvious question: how much new ground can a band cover in less time than an episode of SpongeBob? The answer reveals itself in small but meaningful detours, including Morrissey-tinged vocal turns on “All My Friends Are So Depressed,” rockabilly spaghetti western guitar twang on “The Opossum,” and a sequencing approach that makes each song feel like a perfectly formed standalone single. Make no mistake, this is still Joyce Manor. The songs are quick, punchy, and irresistibly hooky. What’s changed is the finish, with a bit more polish, a bit more curiosity, and a wider range of sonic references. The band nods to the past while continuing to refine the alt-pop-punk ethos they helped usher in years ago. Lyrically, frontman Barry Johnson sounds sharper and more playful than ever, firing off compact one-line bars with the efficiency of a high-stakes croissant-bar verse from Watch the Throne. They are funny, disarming, and unexpectedly relatable, often all at once. I Used To Go To This Bar is not a reinvention of Joyce Manor, but it does mark a nearly imperceptible step forward. It is the sound of a band quietly leveling up while doing what they have always done best, boiling slappy, heart-on-sleeve pop punk and emo into the most condensed, sticky sweet nine tracks you will hear all year. – Ricky Adams

Marta Del Grandi – Dream Life [Fire Records]

Milan-based singer/songwriter Marta Del Grandi sharpens her focus to deliver her most confident and playful album yet in Dream Life. The broad impressionism of 2023’s Selva makes way for a greater emphasis on pop structures, but carefully so. Del Grandi is too attuned to the abstract to ever play things totally straight. She describes the album as “more like a photobook, more defined and detailed,” and that holds true for songs like the searching “Alpha Centauri”, with its joyous burst of horns, and the Talking Heads-ish eco-art-pop groove “Antarctica”. Del Grandi’s use of misdirection and contrast keeps things fresh, invoking a sort of mellow sleep–wake tension that’s coolly addicting. – Alan Pedder

Radium Dolls – Wound Up [Self-released]

You want a fun punk rock record? Here's one: Australia's Radium Dolls just shared their sophomore album, Wound Up, a frazzled DIY freak out that cycles through the good and bad with gruff vocals, pounding drums, and shaky guitars. It comes at a turning point for each member; whether getting new jobs, leaving or starting relationships, debuting in big festivals, or finding power in live performance, this record simply thrashes. The first track "Radio" itches with frustration, with vocalist William Perkins chanting over an interpolation of the prickly Halloween theme song. The album rushes on, with slight dips into a softer side with rock ballads like "Moving", "Favourite", and "All That Falls". Wound Up plays like a record that would sound good live: many moments visualize swinging fists, ecstatic screams, and big group moments that punctuate all the most biting and direct choruses that plea for balance and change. – Victoria Borlando

Sébastien Tellier - Kiss The Beast [Because Music]

Six years since his brief dip into meditative lo-fi, the French DJ Sébastien Tellier returns to the disco with Kiss The Beast, a record that's capital "Q" Quirky and capital "D" Disco. Note the live instrumentation mixed in with the modular synths, giving the violin pomps at the heart of each French Touch track a crisp, luxurious feel. They make the breakdowns in tracks like the poppy "Thrill Of The Night" (feat. Slayyyter and Nile Rodgers) and the infectious "Copycat" all the more euphoric and effective. Moreover, Kiss The Beast is primal: Tellier's heavy breathing in ballads "Naïf de Coeur", "Mouton", and "Loup", coupled with the thick lyrical description, sung mostly in low growls or melodic pants, makes these songs pant and sweat — a nod to the hairy sexuality at the heart of this record. There are dreamy dance interludes, a surprising yet delightful Kid Cudi feature on "Amnesia", and a bunch of subtle freakiness in Kiss The Beast. Amusez-vous ! 
– Victoria Borlando

Stabbing – Eons of Obscenity [Century Media]

When it comes to Texas death metal, Dallas-Fort Worth isn’t the only metro area holding down chunky meathead riffs with visceral ferity. Houston-based brutalists Stabbing unleash their chunkiest slabs of rotten death to date with their Century Media debut, Eon of Obscenity. Recorded by Ben Gott and mixed/mastered by Ocean of Slumber's Chris Kritikos (Necrofier, etc.), the Texans’ 11-track sophomore effort features a guest appearance by Suffocation vocalist Ricky Myers, who Stabbing frontwoman Bridget Lynch filled in for during a string of Suffocation shows back in 2023. It’s already a contender for AOTY. — Nic Huber

Tyler Ballgame – For The First Time, Again [Rough Trade]

The singer-songwriter Tyler Ballgame marks his official solo debut with a record that took years in the making. For The First Time, Again is sunny power pop meant to brighten the listener's day with its reaffirming, meditative lyrics. It documents a lot of the philosophical transformations the artist underwent while moving to LA, literally starting his life over from the cold bleakness of New England to pursue a career in music. Each track focuses on the love that comes from change; "Got A New Car" sways to a Beach Boys-like beat as he beams with excitement over newfound independence. "I Believe In Love" begins with the happiest acoustic guitar melody, finding a glam rock groove as Ballgame breaks into cathartic shouts. The music is warm and familiar — a highly curated cut of all the power pop, folk rock, and 60s revival — and Tyler Ballgame ties it all together with gorgeous, evocative lyrics. – Victoria Borlando