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, mixtapes, and projects from Earl Sweatshirt, FKA twigs, Cat Power, Grace Cummings, and Panoram. 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.)
Earl Sweatshirt: Sick! [Tan Cressida/Warner]
It’s been over two years since Earl Sweatshirt released his brief-but-fantastic project Feet of Clay. Now, the rapper is back with his 10-track release Sick! Earl Sweatshirt had been working on a separate project when the pandemic hit, causing him to shift gears. “A wise man said art imitates life,” Sweatshirt said in press materials. “People were sick. I leaned into the chaos cause it was apparent that it wasn’t going anywhere. These songs are what happened when I would come up for air.” Sick! features guest spots from Zelooperz and Armand Hammer, as well as production from the Alchemist, Black Noi$e, and more. Earl Sweatshirt released the songs “2010,” “Tabula Rasa,” and “Titanic,” ahead of the new album.
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FKA twigs: Caprisongs [Atlantic]
Caprisongs is a new mixtape from FKA twigs, which she’s referred to as her “journey back to [herself] through [her] amazing collaborators and friends.” Those amazing friends include the Weeknd (on “Tears in the Club”), Shygirl (“Papi Bones”), Rema (“Jealousy”), Pa Salieu (“Honda”), and plenty more. The 17-track mixtape was executive produced by FKA twigs and El Guincho, who also contributed production, as did Koreless, Mike Dean, Arca, Warren Ellis, Sega Bodega, and others.
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Cat Power’s new covers album finds her paying tribute to a varied group of artists. There’s a rendition of Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange song “Bad Religion,” a version of Bob Seger’s “Against the Wind,” and a take on “Pa Pa Power,” originally by Ryan Gosling’s group Dead Man’s Bones. Chan Marshall’s previous Cat Power album was 2018’s Wanderer. She’s since worked on music for the Echo in the Canyon documentary, as well as the Sean Penn feature Flag Day.
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Buy at Rough Trade
Grace Cummings: Storm Queen [ATO]
Storm Queen is the sophomore album from Melbourne singer, songwriter, and producer Grace Cummings. The self-produced full-length follows 2019’s Refuge Cove and marks Cummings’ first LP for ATO Records. The 10-track album includes “Heaven,” “Up in Flames,” “Raglan,” and a title track. Many of the songs on Storm Queen were captured during the first few takes of the recording process.
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Panoram: Acrobatic Thoughts [Running Back]
Panoram is the enigmatic producer also known as Raffaele Martirani. Martriani has worked with the likes of Amen Dunes (on 2018’s Freedom) and the Bloody Beetroots, but his ambient work as Panoram feels more akin to Boards of Canada. Panoram’s latest record Acrobatic Thoughts follows a string of releases that landed between 2014 and last year, starting with his debut Everyone Is a Door and ending with Pianosequenza Vol.1. The new project was written and produced by Panoram, with the exception of “Healing Codes,” which was written by Panoram and Shaun Sutkus.
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