Happy almost-spring everyone! (Or, if you're in the southern hemisphere, happy almost-fall.)

Today's release day is pretty large, so we are zeroing in on eight albums for your eyes and ears and hearts. Check 'em out!

Chalk - Crystalpunk [ALTER Music]

Dance, scream, thrash, freak out — all might not only be encouraged but also deemed irresistible while listening to Crystalpunk, the debut record by Belfast punks Chalk. The duo of Ross Cullen and Benedict Goddard came up through the Belfast underground in 2023 with the Conditions EP, a plucky, experimental hardcore sound that certainly had a stylish, synth punk, danceable flair. Now, they've seemed to have developed their tastes for EBM into a full record that fuses techno with elements of hardcore and rock. "I.D.C.", for instance, thrusts forward in a Nine Inch Nails-esque momentum, pairing the violent thumps of an industrial beat with melodic, autotuned lyrics that express nonchalance on a loop. "Pain" and "Can't Feel It", on the other hand, delve into break and rave with a raging drum pounding against sharp synths and Cullen's breathy vocals that revel in an almost masochistic desire for touch. Chalk's music is hot, dark, intense, and a full in-the-body experience; if that's your thing, then give this album a spin. – Victoria Borlando

Jack Harlow - Monica [Atlantic]

The oh-so-charismatic rapper Jack Harlow celebrates his 28th birthday today with Monica, which takes a step back from hip-hop and makes its way forward into neo-soul. After a nearly three year hiatus, a move to New York's Electric Lady Studios, and a cryptic rollout featuring thoughts on romance, Monica hands Harlow back to a world of yearning and fantasies. He keeps it cozy while he croons about the ups and downs of falling in love. Themes of juggling two women at once ("My Winter") and missing his lady ("Say Hello"), are not uncharted territory for him, but the instrumentals gently breathe a new life into his already rich voice. - Dana Badii

James Blake – Trying Times [Self-released]

How sad can the dancefloor be? And how danceable can sadness be? Those seem like the questions James Blake has been trying to answer ever since his self-titled debut record came out to much acclaim in 2011. Since then, the British producer has evolved his artistry a bunch, diving into R&B and art pop a lot more than anyone had anticipated. On his 6th solo record (and first self-releasing via his own Good Boy imprint), Trying Times, he seems to merge all of his skills better than ever, relying a bunch on acoustic instrumentation but also including the quirky beats and pitch-altered vocals that were once his bread and butter. It's a mature and profound collection of tracks that, from what I gathered in a few listens, might be his best one since 2019's Assume Form. – Amanda Cavalcanti

Morgan Nagler – I've Got Nothing to Lose, and I'm Losing It [Little Operations Records]

Singer-songwriter Morgan Nagler has been in bands and writing rooms for years, fronting Whispertown and Supermoon while collaborating with folk, punk, and alternative rock acts like Phoebe Bridgers, HAIM, Gillian Welch, Madi Diaz, and more. Now, she's offering I've Got Nothing to Lose, and I'm Losing It, a return to solo writing that's also a raw, semi-psychedelic, yet totally real study of hope and fortitude. The L.A. artist begins on a frazzled, guitar-heavy note with "Cradle The Pain", pleading for optimism during one's lowest moments. Her lyrics are as realistic and gut-punching as they are lighthearted and witty. When there's a stripped back, hoarse introspective on heartbreak ("Hurt"), a short, sweet, country-tinged ode to weed and all life's little pleasures is shortly on the way ("Grassoline"). In between, there are musings on our place in the world, in finding ways to center ourselves, and knowing that suffering both shapes us and brings us together. – Victoria Borlando

Olive Jones – For Mary [Nettwerk]

Raised on a diet of classic soul and shaped by years of toil on the UK grassroots circuit, Olive Jones is a breath of fresh air on her debut album For Mary. Named after a woman who is not a singular person but a representation of many women, the album gather together songs written over several years, often in borrowed studio time between other commitments, giving it a patchwork quality of sorts. In Jones’s hands, soul music is treated as a living language almost, with phrasing borrowed from jazz and a kind of intimacy that feels closer to folk at times. – Alan Pedder

Ora Cogan – Hard Hearted Woman [Sacred Bones]

On Hard Hearted Woman, her first album since signing with Sacred Bones, Nanaimo-based singer/songwriter Ora Cogan turns her gothic folk gaze toward a world that feels increasingly brittle. The hardness she refers to has more to do with endurance than emotional withdrawal, and that sense of inner strength runs throughout the record – albeit streaked with residues of anger, disillusionment, and grief. Cogan’s songs have always been sensitive to the violence and absurdity of existing, but the warmer, communal band sound here turns that heaviness from individual weight into a shared condition, with moments that feel almost celebratory. – Alan Pedder

Sweet Pill – Still There's A Glow [Hopeless Records]

Philly emo titans Sweet Pill released their long-awaited sophomore record today, and they sound more confident than ever. Discussing the album's themes, frontwoman Zayna Youssef explains, “I went through some depression last spring, and then I went into therapy. It was also a big turning point in my life as I was about to turn 30, while I’d written our first record when I was graduating from college–that’s a big change. I could’ve kept making bad choices because they’re easy, but I had to come clean to myself. Half the album was written before and the other half after, so the songs are kind of hard on myself but some are also hopeful, with a light at the end of the tunnel. You put out a fire, there’s still an ember that’s still glowing–that’s the record. It’s about being at a low and climbing out of it.” What resulted is a gripping 40 minutes of emo music with rousing riffs to boot. – Leah Weinstein

Tenderness – True [Amorphous Sounds]

Six years on from the last Peggy Sue album, Katy Beth Young steps out on her own with her solo debut True. Built from demos she originally recorded in London, between pandemic lockdowns, with producer Euan Hinshelwood, the full Tenderness project grew over several years with the help of friends including members of La Luz and Deep Throat Choir, plus Peggy Sue’s Olly Joyce and Clay Slade, pedal steel player Harry Bohay, and producer Chloe Kraemer (Paris Paloma, Rachel Chinouriri). There’s a communal country glow about these ten songs, with plenty of “Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy-style guitar, as well as textural synths and electronic drones to add a touch of dusky colour, but overall the mood is steady and sparse, and – to risk a chorus of eyerolls – certainly tender. The clue is in the name. – Alan Pedder