With so much good music being released all the time, it can be hard to determine what to listen to first. Every week, Pitchfork offers a run-down of significant new releases available on streaming services. This week’s batch includes new albums from Kurt Vile, Alex G, Anitta, Axel Boman, Koloah, and Moten, López, Cleaver. Subscribe to Pitchfork’s New Music Friday newsletter to get our recommendations in your inbox every week. (All releases featured here are independently selected by our editors. When you buy something through our affiliate links, however, Pitchfork earns an affiliate commission.)
Kurt Vile: (watch my moves) [Verve]
(watch my moves) is Kurt Vile’s first full-length since he released Bottle It In back in 2018. Vile recorded the LP with his band the Violators and self-produced it alongside Rob Schnapf. The new album includes a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Wages of Sin” and features guest contributions from Cate Le Bon, Warpaint’s Stella Mozgawa, Chastity Belt, percussionist Sarah Jones, and James Stewart of Sun Ra Arkestra. Vile released a handful of singles ahead of the album: “Like Exploding Stones,” “Hey Like a Child,” and “Mount Airy Hill (Way Gone).”
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Alex G: We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Milan]
Writer and director Jane Schoenbrun enlisted Alex G to score their debut feature film We’re All Going to the World’s Fair—a coming-of-age story about a teenage girl who becomes drawn into an online role-playing game. Schoenbrun is a longtime fan of the singer-songwriter. “Whenever it rains at night I put on Alex’s score and listen to how the rain on my roof sounds mixed with Alex’s beautiful, lonely music,” the filmmaker said in press materials. “It was literally a dream come true to get to collaborate with him on my first feature. I can’t imagine a better or more moving accompaniment to the film.” The soundtrack is Alex G’s first full-length release since his 2019 studio LP House of Sugar.
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Anitta: Versions of Me [Warner]
Brazilian pop star Anitta is back with a star-studded follow-up to her April 2019 album Kisses. The new one, Versions of Me, boasts features from Cardi B and Myke Towers (“Me Gusta”), Saweetie (“Faking Love”), Ty Dolla $ign (“Gimme Your Number”), Khalid (“Ur Baby”), and more. The 15-track record has been in the works for roughly three years. “This album represents myself on so many levels, so many layers,” Anitta said in a press release. “Yes, there are the sounds of Brazil, like funk and pagodão, which are part of my origins. But there are also references that formed my musical taste, like hip hop and pop, sounds that are global.”
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Axel Boman: Luz / Quest for Fire [Studio Barnhus]
Luz and Quest for Fire are two new albums from Swedish producer Axel Boman—his first solo full-lengths in nearly 10 years. Each LP comprises nine songs, and guests include Bella Boo, Baba Stiltz, saxophonist Kristian Harborg, Off the Meds frontman Kamohelo, Man Tear, and Miljon. Boman’s last studio album, Family Vacation, arrived in 2013. He’s since released one-off solo tracks, as well as collaborations with Acid Andy, Miljon, and others.
Listen on Apple Music: Luz / Quest for Fire
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Koloah: Serenity [Salon Imaginalis]
Kyiv-based producer Koloah has been a fixture in his local club scene for over a decade. After fleeing his city amid the ongoing Russian invasion, he has released a new album called Serenity—a reflection on the atrocities and war crimes committed against the Ukrainian people. “In daily hell, music became my support, my therapy,” Koloah wrote on the album cover. “Now I want to share my strength and support with others. I created this album to reflect on what is happening to us: tears, nostalgia, dreams of the future, and faith in a bright tomorrow. We will survive, return to our hometowns, and rebuild the country when the war is over.” All proceeds from album sales will go toward the Refugee Support Fund.
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Fred Moten / Brandon López / Gerald Cleaver: Moten/López/Cleaver [Reading Group]
Moten/López/Cleaver is a collaborative LP from cultural theorist, poet, and 2020 MacArthur Fellow Fred Moten, double bassist Brandon López, and drummer Gerald Cleaver. The three men have been playing improvisational music together for years, but the new album is their first recorded work together. The album was captured at GSI Studios in Manhattan at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and national unrest over the murder of George Floyd.
