Lots of goodies this week, from sprawling narrative pop to crushing metallics – and everything in between... and everything around it, too.

Anyway, check out the releases below that the TND writers would like to nod your head to.

Ba bam!

Algernon Cadwallader – Trying Not to Have a Thought [Saddle Creek]

Philly DIY legends Algernon Cadwallader have returned with their first studio album in 14 years today, Trying Not to Have a Thought. In their miraculous and gradual comeback (the band played several shows supporting the likes of Joyce Manor over the last couple years), Peter Helmis and the rest of the band's original lineup from the 2000's haven't skipped a beat. The twinkly, tapped licks and impassioned, yelped vocal performances that made them beloved and influential are consistently present, but never feel trite. They've matured as people and musicians in their time away, and the product is their most polished and tightest work yet. After all, there's no "I" in Algernon. – Leah Weinstein

Crippling Alcoholism – Camgirl [portrayal of guilt]

Boston’s Crippling Alcoholism call their sound “Murder Pop”, and with Camgirl, their third full-length, they push it further than ever. The record blends their gothy, noise-rock roots with a new, synth-heavy bops that lands somewhere between New Wave and nightmare fuel. Lead single “bedrot” might be the best example of this shift. Imagine a modern-day "Monster Mash" with Norman Bates mommy issues. When Tony Castrati sings, “It’s all for mom, yeah everything I’ve done / So other men can’t have her,” you probably do not want to know what everything means. It is twisted, it is catchy, and it seeps into your. It bleeds into the tame parts of life like black smoke slipping under a door. Across 15 tracks, Camgirl moves between pulsing, danceable synths and heavier gothic noise, keeping that grime-coated unease the band has built their name on. – Ricky Adams

Der Weg einer Freiheit – Innern [Season of Mist]

Bavarian black metallers Der Weg einer Freiheit — German for "The Way of Freedom" — masterfully outdo themselves once again on their sixth studio outing Innern, out now via Season of Mist. Extreme metal critics No Clean Singing called the album the band’s best since 2015’s Stellar, which is high praise considering its what brought the band to the international forefront. Produced, mixed, and mastered by vocalist Nikita Kamprad, Innern (German for "Inside") navigates blistering aggression with haunting tranquility over six tracks. — Nic Huber

Djo - The Crux Deluxe [AWAL]

Djo, the musical project and alter-ego of Joe Keery, released his breakthrough third album, The Crux, earlier this year, led by the viral hit “End of Beginning”. Today, he surprise-drops The Crux Deluxe after teasing fans all week with standalone singles — “Carry The Name” on Monday, “It’s Over” on Tuesday, and “Awake” on Wednesday. Recorded and produced by Keery alongside collaborator Adam Thein, the 12 tracks were originally written during the same sessions as The Crux, but completed over the summer. The result is a collection that carries over the same sonic palette and lyrical themes, while expanding the album’s atmosphere into darker, more reflective territory — a shift underscored by its cover art. A press release for the LP explains the concept further: “Now, it is nighttime at The Crux Hotel, reflected as an inverse from the original album, as Djo prepares to embark on a new day." - Drew P. Simmons

Jens Lekman – Songs for Other People's Weddings [Secretly Canadian]

Singer-songwriter Jens Lekman has been turning out songs that dance between melancholy and humorous, replete with hyper-detailed and almost literary lyricism, for over two decades, now. But this new LP, Songs for Other People's Weddings, might be his most ambitious yet. Stretching over 80 minutes – set across 17 songs, including one that's a whopping 10 minutes long – the album tells a complete narrative story, about a wedding singer and the love and heartbreak that defines this part of his life, specifically with a woman named V, voiced beautifully by Matilda Sargren. (Lekman himself has been a wedding singer-for-fire for many years now.) As the two weave and bob through the ups and downs, Lekman details their story with rich inner lives, humanity, pathos, and a healthy dose of humor. The album coincides with a book of the same name written with David Levithan, which traces the story in a more straightforward novel format, but the songs give you enough layers to get the picture. It may be the most Lekman-y Lekman record yet, but maybe that's for the best. – Jeremy J. Fisette

Kassa Overall – Cream [Warp]

Jazz maverick Kassa Overall has one hell of an intriguing concept record out this week. We know that plenty of classic hip-hop rides on jazz samples; what Kassa has done with CREAM is flip the script. The eight instrumentals here are jazzy re-interpretations of hip-hop classics. Kassa doesn't play it safe, either; just check out the 15/4 time signature driving Digable Planets homage "REBIRTH OF SLICK (COOL LIKE DAT)". If you enjoy cover songs that turn the originals upside down, or want to imagine a parallel universe where rap's heyday preceded the rise of jazz, give this one a spin. – Tyler Roland

Lorna Shore – I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me [Century Media]

Modern deathcore heavyweights Lorna Shore have returned with their new LP, and fifth overall, I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me. Your one way ticket to maximalist, dialed-to-100 songs, complete with absurdly fast drums, virtuosic guitars, and vocalist Will Ramos doing his best demon impression over top. While it may not be for everyone, the band have somehow managed to capture the hearts and ears of millions of people, headlining massive festivals and playing on arena tours, all thanks to the power of blastbeats. – Shaye Frenkel

Motherless – Do You Feel Safe? [Prosthetic]

Chicago metal outfit Motherless’ eight-track studio debut Do You Feel Safe? takes everything you love about hardcore and metal and slings that shit on a wall. What is left is what you get, and it is one caustic ride. Featuring veterans of Chicago’s heavy music scene — Stavros Giannopoulos and Alex Klein of The Atlas Moth and Gary Naples and Anthony Cwan of Without Waves — their Sanford Parker-produced debut brings the riffs with ruthless aggression. The band released a video for “Reptile Dysfunction” featuring a bit of ass-shaking, nipple tape, and metal swagger. It’s worth checking out. — Nic Huber

saturdays at your place – these things happen [Many Hats]

Michigan pop punk trio saturdays at your place made themselves a band to watch with their 2023 always cloudy EP, and today they've followed it up with their second full-length. these things happen is a clean, compact, lightning-in-a-bottle emo record with hooks for days. Over infectious tiffs, the band find ways to resist the urge of blaming the world for their problems and begin to look inward. The band has become the poster children of their tight-knit scene in Kalamazoo, showing the increasingly East Coast-dominated genre that nobody captures pain quite like midwesterners. – Leah Weinstein

The Sound of Animals Fighting – The Maiden [Born Losers Records]

It’s been seventeen years since The Sound of Animals Fighting, the proggy post-hardcore supergroup made up of members of L.S. Dunes, RX Bandits, and The Autumns, released a full-length album, but today brings their fourth LP The Maiden. Several band members have said that The Sound of Animals Fighting has always been about creative output. The project fills a need they could not quite satisfy within their other bands, and on this sprawling new record that intent comes through loud and clear. You move from fast, guitar-heavy riffs with layered vocals that recall a heavier Mars Volta, like on the title track “The Maiden,” to something closer to a somber trip-hop song on “The Horror,” where the chorus chants “Thinkin’ about Nancy Drew / Thinkin’ about Nancy Drew / Look at what Nancy drew.” That track even sneaks in a Dido “Thank You” nod, and maybe I am off here, but the beat sounds eerily close to Janet Suhh’s “I’m Your Psycho”, the theme from the Netflix K-drama It’s Okay to Not Be Okay.… I’ll throw the link here so you can compare for yourself. The Maiden delivers on everything fans might expect: proggy flourishes with a post-hardcore edge, striking vocals from all three singers, and moments of left-field experimentation. Read more about The Maiden in a new TND interview with vocalist Anthony Green here. – Ricky Adams