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[MadhattanJack]

[MadhattanJack]

I already mentioned the albums this week from Tori Amos, The Black Keys, Kacey Musgraves, American Football, Arcade Fire (sort of), and Super Furry Animals. I didn't mention the new one from Young The Giant because I honestly didn't think they were all that popular, but I guess I was wrong about that, sorry. As for the new Zara Larsson LP, I guess you'll just have to make up your own minds on that one...

In addition to those, for the 90's-era types out there, the Boo Radleys have a new one called In Spite of Everything. It's basically a straight-up pop album, but I like it better than their last one, which was also a straight-up pop album. And that's fine really, I just wish they would stop making straight-up pop albums. There are also new LPs by Laibach (Musick) and The Claypool-Lennon Delirium (The Great Parrot-Ox and the Golden Egg of Empathy), which I'm sure are fantastic if you like those bands. (I don't dislike them, personally... they just don't quite do it for me.)

My problem this week is that I can't decide between my Top Three picks. I realize this is cheating, so I'm going to describe how each would be the pick-of-the-week if I had to decide based on one of three different "deciding factors" - most listenable, most interesting, and most everything else.



Most Listenable: White Flowers, Dreams For Somebody Else. Normally this would be the easy #1 choice, except that this album isn't as good as their last one (Day by Day), so that's disappointing, but it's still pretty darn good. They're a male-female dreampop/trip-hop duo from Preston in the UK, and she's got one of those soft, breathy, waifish voices, but it doesn't sound totally like Portishead — more like Still Corners, or (if you must) Alvvays. I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff, and I know it, so I won't be miffed if nobody else likes it. (Okay, maybe a little.)

Most Interesting: Kind of unexpected, but there's another duo (who were apparently a trio until recently) called "youbet" who have a new self-titled LP, but it's not their debut, it's actually their third album. And yes, it's a terrible band name, since it doesn't just sound like an online betting platform, it is in fact an online betting platform. But the album is really cool, and very musical and clever — not quite early-XTC-style clever, but still pretty darn clever. According to Rolling Stone (paywalled), both band-members are music teachers, and one of their students went on to be a member of Geese, though I guess you'll have to be a Rolling Stone subscriber to find out which member of Geese it was and what they were supposed to be teaching them. Also, I'm pretty sure both members of youbet are trans/non-binary people, which I think makes them my all-time favorite trans/non-binary band ever (beating out Disiniblud by just a scoche). But maybe that only makes it all the more important that they get a better band name...?

Most Everything Else: Noveller, I Am the Weather. Sarah "Noveller" Lipstate hasn't made an album since 2021's Aphantasia, because she's been playing guitar in Iggy Pop's backing band and also doing soundtrack-type work, which has apparently allowed her to upgrade her home recording studio quite substantially. Her music is usually described as "effectronica," since she does it by manipulating dozens of guitar effects pedals, which (to me at least) makes her the Coolest Active Musician Today. Word is that this album is going to be less ambient and more "cinematic" and neo-classical, with percussion and even piano on some of the tracks. The only preview track, "The Girl Who Was Death," features Iggy on vocals — the first and only vocal ever to be heard on a Noveller album, and it's Iggy! Those of you who are into offbeat 60's British TV might also recognize that song title as having been the name of an episode of The Prisoner, and it's clearly intentional because there's another track on the LP called "Portmeirion," which is the name of the Welsh resort where The Prisoner was filmed. So, extra points for that.

So... again, sorry for cheating, but I just couldn't help myself. There were about ten more albums that were, uhh, just okay, good-but-not-great, so if anyone wants me to post those too, just say so. (This post is already way too long.) And next week will be even more problematic — new albums from two of my current-favorite bands in the world, The Asteroid No.4 and The Haunted Youth! How to choose between those two? It may be impossible.

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[MadhattanJack]

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RELEASE DAY EVE: May 8th, 2026.

Black Gaze: And the casements of the heavens were opened! ☂️


Det Hjemsokte Hjertet (2026) by Panopticon

Genesis 6:5. AND the Lord saw that the evil of the human creature was great on the earth
and that every scheme of his heart's devising was only perpetually evil.
AND the Lord regretted having made the human on earth and was grieved to the heart. (Robert Alter transl.)

Panopticon are right up there with Godspeed You! Black Emperor at constructing epic dystopian soundtracks for the fall of modern civilization. As I make like Noah and start building my own personal ark to bide out the forthcoming flood, I honestly cannot think of a better backdrop soundtrack than whatever Panopticon rains down on us tomorrow.

What May 8th, 2026 release(s) do YOU have your ears & heart set on when midnight strikes?! 🔭👀

[MadhattanJack]

I guess the Big Rock Album Releases tomorrow are the new Broken Social Scene LP, Remember The Humans, and Social Distortion's new album Born to Kill? Normally they try to avoid these situations where similarly-named bands release albums on the same day, but we're fully into the TikTok Era of Modern Music now, so I guess nothing matters anymore.

There's also the new LP from Aldous Harding, Train on the Island — the album cover photo has her face hidden by blue paint, but it's on 4AD so I guess we have to give them the benefit of the doubt there. The Lemon Twigs have a new album called Look For Your Mind!, which strikes me as more of the same from them, though that's not necessarily a bad thing. And speaking of lemons, Lemoncello are releasing their second LP, Perfect Place, continuing their effort to drag Irish/Celtic folk music kicking and screaming into the synthesizer-and-beatbox era. Finally, for the geriatric set there's a new Midge Ure album, A Man of Two Worlds (no BC link yet); early-80s post-punkers The Loft are back with a second post-reunion LP, Badges, which actually sounds really good; and last but not least, Amy Grant has a new album called The Me That Remains, her first LP in 13 years. Hard to believe her first album came out almost 50 years ago! And I still haven't heard it.

Of course, all of this is of little consequence to me personally, as I'm mostly just concerned with The Asteroid No.4's new album, In Praise of Shadows, and The Haunted Youth's Boys Cry Too. Which of these is the most recommendable? Which one am I most excited about as a music listener and human torque converter? And which is likely to have the most impact on global culture and pop music history in general? (If any?)



Honestly, I think it's a toss-up in nearly every respect.

Boys Cry Too is the more immediate and ear-grabby of the two, but In Praise of Shadows (which is somewhat more subtle) will probably be more rewarding after repeat listens. Haunted Youth frontman/singer (and only stable member) Joachim Liebens has a better voice for the material than the Asteroids' Scott Vitt, but the Asteroids have always been good vocal arrangers, and Liebens, not so much. His two or three emo-screamo moments on this album are also a bit questionable in my opinion, like he's just trying too hard. The Asteroids have been around a long time and are more experienced musicians and songwriters, both in the psychedelia and shoegaze genres, and while that doesn't make them better, there's definitely more going on in there. Finally, in terms of titling and cover art, I'd have to give the nod to The Haunted Youth — neither of these album covers are spectacularly great, but the broken-heart motif has more visual impact and so does the title (even though some people will assume it's a reference to The Cure, which it probably is). Meanwhile, "In Praise of Shadows" has been used as an album title by well over a dozen bands prior to this album, whereas "Boys Cry Too" has been used by only two, maybe three others.

So... I'd have to conclude that Boys Cry Too is more recommendable to most people who are likely to have read this far, but I'll probably have In Praise of Shadows ranked higher on my 2026 year chart... eventually. Whereas if you've skipped all the explanatory material above and are just reading this one paragraph, you'll probably like the new album by Quebecois post-punk band Cola, entitled Cost of Living Adjustment. More on them in a future post, maybe! 😄