New Music Reviews (9/16)

Each week, KEXP’s Music Director Don Yates shares brief insights on new and upcoming releases. See what's coming up this week below, including reviews for new releases from Sampa The Great, (Sandy) Alex G, Alex Cameron, and more.

Sampa The Great – The Return (Ninja Tune)
The debut album from this Zambia-born, Botswana-raised and Melbourne-based rapper is an expansive blend of hip hop, R&B, jazz and various African influences. The diverse set of songs ranges from funky hip hop bangers to lush fusions of jazz and R&B, with many of the lyrics reflecting on culture, identity and home. — DY

(Sandy) Alex G – House of Sugar (Domino)
The ninth album from this Philly-based artist (aka Alex Giannascoli) is an excellent set of eclectic, adventurous psych-tinged pop ranging from poignant folk-pop and hazy jangle-pop to warped, beat-driven pop and ominous soundscapes. No matter the style, the songs are loaded with memorable melodies and imaginative textures, while the often-dark lyrics revolve around human failings. — DY

Alex Cameron – Miami Memory (Secretly Canadian)
The first two albums from this New York-based Australian artist featured sharply drawn character studies satirizing toxic masculinity, and while he still dips into that on his excellent third album, it’s by far his most personal release to date, with songs reflecting on love and being a stepdad. Sonically, the album features a warm barroom-rock sound with echoes of ‘80s Springsteen. — DY

Charli XCX – Charli (Atlantic)
This British artist’s third official album is an adventurous set of pop that’s also her most personal to date, ranging from brightly colored dance anthems of affirmation and community to dark ballads of anxiety, isolation and self-destruction. Produced by PC Music’s AG Cook, the album’s gleaming sound incorporates a variety of unconventional sounds and arrangements. The impressive supporting cast includes Christine and the Queens, Lizzo, Sky Ferreira, HAIM, Big Freedia, Clairo and Yaeji. — DY

SassyBlack – Ancient Mahogany Gold (self-released)
The third SassyBlack album from Seattle artist (and former THEESatisfaction member) Catherine Harris-White is an often-transportive set of futuristic soul and funk with an atmospheric, psych-tinged sound combining spacy keyboards, warm guitars, occasional flute and blunted beats with her jazz-tinged vocals and lyrics of love, self-care and moving forward. — DY

Octo Octa – Resonant Body (T4T LUV NRG)
The fifth album from this Brooklyn-based trans producer (aka Maya Bouldry-Morrison) is an often-euphoric set of celebratory house and rave grooves with energetic breakbeats, bright keyboards and looped vocal samples of self-affirmation. — DY

Gruff Rhys – Pang! (Rough Trade)
The sixth solo album from the frontman for the veteran Welsh band Super Furry Animals was produced and mixed by South African producer/musician Muzi (who also worked on the recent Africa Express album). He helps bring a buoyant, Afropop-inflected take to Rhys’s psych-tinged folk-pop, while Rhys sings in Welsh (and occasional Zulu) throughout the album. — DY

The Paranoyds – Carnage Bargain (Suicide Squeeze)
This LA band’s debut album is a potent blend of energetic garage-rock and New Waveish post-punk, combining buzzing guitar riffs, chirpy organ lines, driving rhythms and hypnotic song hooks. — DY

Devendra Banhart – Ma (Nonesuch)
This Venezuelan-American artist’s 10th album is a fine set of dreamy, psych-tinged folk-pop with a warm, ‘70s-steeped, subdued orchestral sound combining acoustic guitar, strings, brass, woodwinds, keyboards and gentle rhythms with his delicate croon and sometimes somber, sometimes playful lyrics of love, connection, loss and mortality. — DY

Y La Bamba – Entre Los Dos EP (Tender Loving Empire)
The latest release from the Portland-based project of Luz Elena Mendoza quickly follows up the album Mujeres (released in February) with a seven-song EP offering an adventurous, densely produced blend of dreamy psych-pop, folk, various Latin styles and more. — DY

Chelsea Wolfe – Birth of Violence (Sargent House)
This Northern California artist’s sixth album is a potent set of goth/doom-tinged folk-rock featuring a stripped-down, often acoustic-oriented sound accompanying her ethereal vocals and dark lyrics. — DY

Men I Trust – Oncle Jazz (self-released)
This Montreal band’s debut full-length is a 24-song double album of dreamy, jazz-tinged electro-pop with a warm sound combining glowing synths and ethereal vocals with wistful melodies. — DY

Pernice Brothers – Spread The Feeling (Ashmont)
The first album in nine years from Joe Pernice & co. is a well-crafted set of hook-filled indie-pop with jangly guitars and buoyant melodies often-juxtaposed with dark lyrics. — DY

The Lumineers – III (Dualtone)
This Denver band’s third album is a concept album combining a mostly spare and acoustic-oriented take on the band’s anthemic folk-pop with lyrics depicting the ravages of addiction. — DY

Bethlehem Steel – Bethlehem Steel (Exploding In Sound)
This Brooklyn-based band’s second album is a dynamic set of emotive, post-hardcore rock with an often-brooding, shapeshifting sound. — DY

Metronomy – Metronomy Forever (Because Music)
This British band’s sixth full-length is a 17-song double album ranging from slinky, funk-inflected electro-pop to a variety of atmospheric electronic interludes. — DY

Belle and Sebastian – Days of the Bagnold Summer (Matador)
This veteran Scottish band’s latest release is a soundtrack to the film of the same name. It features 11 new Belle and Sebastian songs (along with re-recordings of two older ones), ranging from cinematic instrumentals to gently jangly folk-pop. — DY

Pixies – Beneath The Eyrie (Infectious/BMG)
This veteran Boston-bred band’s sixth album (and third since reuniting in 2004) features a cleaner, more subdued sound than usual. — DY

Long Beard – Means To Me (Double Double Whammy)
The second Long Beard album from New Jersey guitarist/vocalist Leslie Bear is a well-crafted set of atmospheric dream-pop with fuzzy shoegazerish guitars, ethereal vocals and lyrics revolving around the meaning of home. — DY

Wolfram – Amadeus (DFA)
The second album from this Munich-based Austrian producer (and first in eight years) is a solid set of sleek Eurodisco combining moody synth washes, piano and propulsive beats with hypnotic melodies. A few guest vocalists also contribute, including Peaches and Egyptian Lover. — DY

Sheena, Anika and Augusta – Simple Pleasures EP (Asian Man)
The debut EP from this trio comprised of Sheena Ozella of Lemuria, Anika Pyle of Katie Ellen and Chumped and Augusta Koch of Gladie and Cayetana is a well-crafted four-song set of spare, acoustic-oriented indie-folk with acoustic and muted electric guitars and occasional strings accompanying the trio’s warm harmonies and intimate lyrics. — DY

Luke Temple – Both-And (Native Cat)
The sixth solo album from the Here We Go Magic frontman is a diverse set ranging from gentle, psych-tinged folk-pop and space-rock ballads to motorik psych-rock jams and more ambient experimental fare. — DY

SISTERS – We Can Get Together EP (Tender Loving Empire)
This Seattle duo’s latest release is an EP of buoyant electro-pop featuring two new songs along with remixes of three others from their last album (2017’s Wait Don’t Wait). — DY

Dumb Thumbs – In The Wild EP (self-released)
This Seattle band’s second EP is a sunny set of rootsy, ‘70s-steeped garage-rock with jangly guitars, bright Farfisa organ riffs, energetic rhythms and buoyant song hooks. — DY

Trupa Trupa – Of The Sun (Glitterbeat)
This Polish band’s fifth album is a solid set of psych-tinged post-punk with a dark, atmospheric sound featuring ominous guitars, stern rhythms and haunting melodies. — DY