Another week, another Today's Release Highlights, where the TND writers shout out a helping of new releases we'd like to draw your ears to.

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Alison Goldfrapp – Flux [A. G. Records]

Electronic pop chanteuse Alison Goldfrapp continues her sojourn away from her main gig with a second solo LP. Flux follows 2023's The Love Invention, and sees the iconic singer, songwriter, and producer doubling down on the hi-fi groovey, dance-pop sheen of that album. Flux was produced by Goldfrapp, Richard X, and Stefan Storm, plus one cut featuring songwriting and coproduction from James Greenwood (Ghost Culture), and includes danceable singles like "Finding Xanadu" and "Sound & Light". While we're not sure when (or if) Alison will go back to her duo with Will Gregory (Goldfrapp), her solo work continues to showcase how well she knows her way around a dancefloor.

Cassandra Jenkins – My Light, My Massage Parlor [Dead Oceans]

This companion piece to last year’s My Light, My Destroyer reshapes Cassandra Jenkins’s stargazing third album into a garland of tranquil instrumentals and field recordings that flirt with New Age fancies – in a loving way as opposed to pastiche. The massage parlor concept leaps directly from the lyrics to My Light’s lead single “Only One”, a song recast here in the glow of a neon window sign, incense smoke, crickets’ song, and rippling piano. We hear from Jenkins herself only rarely across these eight tracks, coming in softly with short whispers of dialogue to keep the theme going, but her undeniable skill and intuition as a sound artist holds the spotlight with ease. It’s not a gimmick or a joke for Jenkins, but something wholly organic, absorbing, and very on-brand. – Alan Pedder

Cass McCombs – Interior Live Oak [Domino]

Singer-songwriter Cass McCombs is back with his first solo LP or new material since 2022's Heartmind (in between, he released a compilation of archival tracks called Seed Cake on Leap Year and an album of children's songs he composed with Mr. Greg). Interior Live Oak is pitched as one of McCombs's most personal and vulnerable to date, and features a sweeping 16 tracks and almost 80 minutes of material. Partially inspired by going back to those aforementioned archival recordings, McCombs worked with some of his oldest collaborators on Interior Live Oak, including Jason Quever and Chris Cohen. – Jeremy J. Fisette

Dijon – Baby [R&R/Warner]

On the heels of his extensive collaborations on Bon Iver's SABLE, fABLE and Justin Bieber's surprise drop SWAG, Dijon surprise(ish) dropped an album of his own today: Baby. This is his first full length release since his seminal 2021 debut, Absolutely, and much has changed in Dijon's life since we'd last heard from him. As the title implies, the record tackles Dijon's newfound fatherhood. Baby was made at home, mostly in isolation with his new family, along with musical kindred spirits Andrew Sarlo, Henry Kwapis, and Michael Gordon (a.k.a. Mk.gee). With a record just as unique and ambitious as his debut, Dijon continues to prove himself as one of today's most influential musicians. – Leah Weinstein

Marissa Nadler – New Radiations [Sacred Bones]

This tenth official full-length album from Marissa Nadler billows out leisurely through a parched and minimal backdrop, like a slowly moving dust storm, revolving with restrained but still-potent intensity. Stripped down to only the essential textures – a touch of Hammond organ here, a foreboding synth line there – New Radiations hinges primarily on Nadler’s lush but ghostly harmonies, expertly layered, acoustic guitar, and outsider storytelling that reaches from the desert floor all the way into orbit. There are echoes of her early albums here, enriched with over 20 years of perfecting her very particular craft, but the emphasis is often on momentum – swirling ever forward through time, space, sky, and turbulent psychic terrains. – Alan Pedder

Pool Kids – Easier Said Than Done [Epitaph]

Florida emo band Pool Kids have returned with their third record Easier Said Than Done, their first record after signing to legendary rock label Epitaph. Over the course of five weeks, they recorded the self-funded record in Seattle with producer Mike Vernon Davis (Foxing, Great Grandpa), and spending their nights couch surfing to save money. The record sees Pool Kids continuing with their distinct brand of emotional, bombastic and musically deft pop punk, proving them to be one of the most consistent emo bands working today. – Leah Weinstein

Preservation & Gabe ‘Nandez - Sortilège [Backwoodz]

New York producer Preservation returns for another fully collaborative hip-hop record, this time with rapper Gabe ‘Nandez, who is making his full-length debut on Billy Woods’s prestigious Backwoodz label with Sortilège. You might know Preservation from his work with Ka on Days With Dr. Yen Lo, or, more recently, Woods’s 2022 record Aethiopes. Their professional relationship began with ‘Nandez’s appearance on that very record, and the result is a record where the vocals wind up sounding as worldly and weathered as the esoteric production behind it. – Thomas Stremfel

Racing Mount Pleasant – Racing Mount Pleasant [R&R]

Michigan indie folk band Racing Mount Pleasant (FKA Kingfisher) has released their eponymous debut album today, following their recent name change. Racing Mount Pleasant began as a group of friends and like-minded musicians in Ann Arbor, anchored at a single creative house that various members of the band have frequented and lived in near the University of Michigan. Now the band has entered exciting post-graduation lives, and is documenting this new chapter with an intricate, challenging debut album. The band will be supporting critical darling rock band Geese on tour during the west coast and midwest dates this October as they inch towards a true indie breakthrough. – Leah Weinstein